The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

I'm counting this as my first "adult" book as part of the challenge that my friend Dan Weedin issued. (Remember that crazy post about that?) I've wanted to read it for a while now and this was a great excuse to read it. I actually finished it a while ago, as my Goodreads friends are well aware, but I haven't gotten around to writing the review until now because I've been procrastinating it and getting distracted with other fun blogger things.

I feel badly and I apologize.  Now...

The Writing:

Oh-my-sweet-baby-goodness! The writing! I loved it! It was beautiful and used a a very complex and intelligent vocabulary but the diction always made sense and added to the story without confusing the reader. Also, it really added to and fit the character, making her personality much more apparent and real to the reader. Long story short Sylvia Plath was a genius and possibly the most amazing writer, ever. 

The Plot:

I don't really have a lot to say about the plot because there wasn't much of one. The story just followed this lady's life so it wasn't the dramatic roller coaster ride that is common in novels, nor did it have the usual formatting/ markers of plot. (Rising action, inciting incident, climax, falling action, ect.) However some how I was never bored. It was a bit languid and as I said it wasn't a thrilling roller coaster ride and it lacked the typical type of drama, but it didn't hinder me. I ate it up anyways. The ending felt a bit abrupt and like it ended in a weird place, but at the same time I felt it was very fitting. I think it be hard to find a good place to end a story written like that because human lives don't flow or end the way books do. I still thought Plath did a good job with it all.

The Characters:

Plath was an artist. Really. I am amazed by her characters. There were so many characters and we didn't get much time with any of them other than the main girl, Esther, but all of them were just as vivid as Esther. Right away you get a sense of every character's personality and how Esther sees them. They seem to jump off the page and are some of the most real characters I've ever read. Plath utilized Esther and all the supporting characters to really make a statement about how many people touch our lives and how quickly and often they come and go, as well as how they stay with us through the end. Plath said so much about human nature and life itself in the book it was crazy, but it didn't feel like messages were being shouted at you. You had to actually really think about, analyze and absorb what you were reading to recognize and fully understand what they were. 

Esther:

Esther was a very interesting character. She was strong and independent, yet the whole time she was fighting a loosing battle alone and frequently gave in and showed weakness. She was kind of a walking oxymoron. I enjoyed her dry sense of humor, and her love of irony as well as her realistic approach to life and her way of viewing the world that was sometimes very bitter, but in a very good and realistic way. She was lovable, relateable, complex, and understandable, despite the severity of her situation everyone could easily relate to something about her or the book.

Overall thoughts:

It was glorious. (But definitely for High school and up! It addresses some really tough and morally challenging issues, and has a lot scenes that are inappropriate for younger audiences.) Really go read it and bask in it's glory. I give it four and a half stars out of five.

To see it on Goodreads click the cover photo at the beginning of this post. To buy it click here!

General Consensus (gif):

P.S. -Dan Weedin, I challenge you to try reading YA books every once in a while. 

A Challenge Has Been Issued

Wow it's almost like Christmas! I actually got three posts done in a week for y'all! This one is pretty short and to the point though. That'll be a first. I always start out thinking that then rambling forever.

Anyways, in response to my plea for feedback on my blog and how to improve it, what you guys want to see more of or less of, and all that good stuff, my friend Dan (he's the one who wrote Unleashed!) gave me a suggestion that I turned into a bit of a challenge. He thought it'd be interesting to have me read an "adult" book every once in a while, like once a month or so. So naturally...

I don't know how much time I'll have to fit this in until school ends but never the less I will give it my best effort. 

(I just couldn't resist the small child going dancing like her life depends on it, and doesn't Lady Gaga's eye makeup just scream fierce?) Anyways, like I said I'm going to give it a shot and keep you all updated on how it's going. Additionally, I propose a similar challenge for all of you. Try reading a book outside the age group you usually read or genre once a month or so and see how it goes. Feel free to tell me how it's going for you in the comments below, on Facebook or email me at readerwritercritic.blog@gmail.com.

Impending NaNoWriMo AKA Doom TIme

My dear writing friends, November is approaching, NaNo is coming. I finally admit it and am very quickly sliding into my total freak out mode. My fellow writing friends have reminded me and pestered me for a very long time about this but all of the sudden it has finally sunk in. I find myself pinning everything NaNo, and creating my own NaNo memes to express my crazed emotions to friends such as this beauty:                                                                    
I know, I have issues, just hush and keep reading. Only the insane attempt this challenge and only special, special people are mentally unstable enough to finish it. I mean a 50,000 word novel in 30 days? Come on! You know you are completely off your rocker when you realize that as a full time student, or as a full time employee, or as a full time parent, or just as a human being, life doesn't exactly pause to let you get those ever so important words in, and yet you are still attempting this. If you are new to this whole concept of balancing say, school with NaNo let me just tell you now. Don't hope for balance it isn't going to happen. Period. Don't argue with me. I have been there. Basically the only way to fit both life and your NaNo baby in is to get creative when it comes to those things that humans need like say eating, or sleeping. Eating is a pretty easy thing to combine with writing. MULTITASK PEOPLE! Sleeping however that is a little trickier. You will soon find that sleep really doesn't happen or else it is extremely lacking. So when the inevitable writers block hits you are so exhausted you just finally loose it and have a good old fashioned meltdown. Your friends and family will ask you if you are ok and you will look a little like this.

But you will recover eventually and push through because you have already spent way too much time and sacrificed far too much to give up now! Soon if any life form that tries to intervene with your NaNo time, they will find their very lives in danger.

And when some important life event or emergency scare interrupts you writing time right when you get on a roll despite your screaming, yelling, and threats, and you loose that grand idea, or train of thought. You look a little something like this.

But as with emotional break downs you will eventually get over it and move on. You blink and BAM! November is over. It is all over! Congrats! You survived! Well sorta... Now weather you completed all 50,000 words or not you feel a lot like this.

Because you are completely exhausted, running on no sleep, all your creative juices are gone and now, now you must return to life. If you did complete the 50,000 you will happy dance and be joyful but still the feeling of just being done will be lurking right along side. Then, no matter however long you wait or don't wait before going back and reading what you have written you have this moment...

But you did it all the same! Yay you! And despite all this trauma there will be amazing moments just enough so that when the next November rolls around you are totally stoked to do it all over again. That is why only the certifiably insane attempt NaNo.

Please do not be frightened by this post. NaNo is actually really great and a ton of fun and it defiantly has a lot of pluses, and there is always a whole community of fellow crazy NaNo-ers to help you along the way so I highly recommend it. Feel free to add me and we can be crazies together! Happy almost NaNo everyone and good luck! And be sure to keep an eye out for that fab Tuesday post of mine!

A-Z Edits

I promised myself I wasn't going to do this. I always always power through even the crappiest books I begin to read it has only ever happened 2 times before this that I have just given up. I am usually a good portion into the book before I simply can't handle it anymore. I can not force myself to suffer through it any longer. There will always be a few books in this world that in the hands of the wrong reader literally make reading the last thing they want to do. Sadly, The Testing by Joelloe Charbonneau, thus far, has been one of them. Suzanne, of Liberty Bay Books, asked me to read it, as it was currently their number one, so happily I complied. I started reading it almost immediately, and put it on my A-Z reading challenge list. I am sorry to say that I have decided I have to give up on this book. I am only 44 pages in but I just can't stand it anymore. It is slow moving and has wayyyyyy more rising action than necessary. I mean 44 pages and the only exciting event is that Malencia is chosen for testing, and that is no surprise because it says that happens in the synopsis because the whole book is about her going through "The Testing!" I am 44 pages in and she hasn't even left for testing yet! It is slow, bland and just generally a snore so far and I can't handle it anymore. I am changing the letter T on my A-Z challenge. I will go back and change it on the list but I thought you all should know. I am so very sorry it has come to this. My new T book will be Touch by Jus Accardo.

Briana

Briana and Catherine's A to Z Reading Challenge

As I was perusing the blogging world today I found this lovely challenge. The way it works is you read 26 books which titles begin with the letters of the alphabet with in a certain period of time. My girl, Catherine from A Stray Imagination, and I decided to do one of our own together. Our dead line is this Valentine's day and we start it today! Plus, we will have a little Valentine's Day, swoon-filled, surprise post for y'all upon finishing. Any titles in black I have yet to read, and any titles in red are ones I have already read. I will update it periodically as I go. Here is my A to Z TBR list!



A. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
B. Beg for Mercy by Shannon Dermott
C. Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett
D. Deception by C.J. Redwine 
E.Expiration Day by William Campbell Powell
F. Fallen Angel by Heather Terrell
G. Gilt by Katherine Longshore
H. Hunted by Elizabeth Heiter  
I. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson 
J. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
K. Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman
L. Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
M.  My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
N. Nomansland by Lesley Hauge
O. The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman 
P. Pulse by Patrick Carman 
Q. The Queen's Lady  by Eve Edwards 
R. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
S. A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron
T. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau   Touch by Jus Accardo
U. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris  
V. Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst 
W. Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach
X. XIV by Julia Karr
Y. You Have Seven Messages by Stewart Lewis 
Z. Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

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Briana