Book Review: The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath

Oh, The Bell Jar. We have a long history. When I was at uni, it was my close friend's favourite book. My boyfriend at the time recommended it to me. When I finally got round to reading it, I was underwhelmed to say the least. I could barely remember the plot when I had finished, which is part of the reason I decided to re-read it, 5 or so years after I first tried. I was convinced that I'd think differently. Did I? No. Not at all.

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, follows a year in the life of Esther Greenwood as she descends into mental illness, resulting in suicide attempts. On the surface, Esther has everything- a successful internship at a fashion magazine in New York, a great social life with many friends- and yet she can't stop depression overwhelming her. The poignancy of the novel is that Plath herself committed suicide just a month after it was published. 

For me, the main problem is that I didn't relate to Esther at all. Although I've had my own (well-documented by now!) issues with mental health, I still found it very difficult to connect to hers. Of course, all mental health problems are different but there was nothing in the way hers were described that were relateable. Though, then again, perhaps my feeling of confusion was intentional in order to feel as disorientated as Esther throughout her breakdown.

It goes without saying that The Bell Jar is quite beautifully written and certainly does a good job of conveying how anybody can be susceptible to mental health problems, regardless of how amazing their life may seem from the outside. Unfortunately, I just couldn't find anything memorable or gripping about it.