The Bell Jar

| 4.20 | 1,024,129 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Bryony Gordon, The CEO Library Community (through anonymous form), Tim Kendall, and 3 others. See all reviews

Ranked #1 in Depression, Ranked #3 in Mental Health — see more rankings.

Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grip of insanity.

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... more
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Bell Jar from the world's leading experts.

Bryony Gordon As a teenage girl, you have to read The Bell Jar. It’s a rite of passage. (Source)

The CEO Library Community (through anonymous form) One of the best 3 books I've read in 2019 (Source)

Tim Kendall Despite its subject matter, The Bell Jar is often a very funny novel. Perhaps we miss it because the pall of Plath’s biography descends across the whole work and reputation. But The Bell Jar is viciously funny. There are people still alive today who won’t talk about it because they were so badly hurt by Plath’s portrayal of them. (Source)

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