Depressing yet surprisingly tender {The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath}

Depressing yet surprisingly tender. 

About The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: Plath was an excellent poet but is known to many for this largely autobiographical novel. The Bell Jar tells the story of a gifted young woman's mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The real Plath committed suicide in 1963 and left behind this scathingly sad, honest and perfectly-written book, which remains one of the best-told tales of a woman's descent into insanity.  

My two cents

Who hasn't heard of Sylvia Plath, the brilliant poet who committed suicide at a young age? That's as much as I know about her, unfortunately. This is one of those books that has remained on my TBR but never gets read; a classic that begs for attention but gets cast aside for the newer things that come my way.

I have to be honest with you. The reason I finally picked this up is because I'll be reviewing an autobiography Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 by Elizabeth Winder and I didn't want to sound totally clueless. Thank goodness for these opportune kick-in-the-pants moments.

***

This is the journey of smart, young, ambitious promising Esther Greenwood in the 1950s from naive to jaded, from success to depression.

I could feel Esther's excitement at the opportunity and honour of being a guest editor in a prestigious magazine: oh the glamorous clothes, the photo shoots, the hobnobbing, free lunches, caviar. It's all enough to turn a young girl's head.

But things soured very quickly and the glitter and glamour only gave way to work, pressure, conformity, depression. This is the bell jar: Esther the specimen under scrutiny, the jar the suffocating reality in which she had to exist.

***

I found that reading this book was a rollercoaster ride. It's emotionally exhausting and heavily depressing, but at the same I felt oddly tender towards Esther. At times I found some scenes strangely hilarious in a shocking sort of way. There are those times when I felt I really couldn't breathe with the horrific descriptions of shock therapy, self-inflicted pain, and just the sheer mental anguish -- then juxtapose this with mundane descriptions about eating caviar (and lots of it), or a rather embarrassing sexual exploit, or of witnessing a live birth (that'll put anyone off from having kids).

I was quite affected by this book as this is told in first person. It's like getting into Esther's head which isn't a very pretty place to be (Thank goodness I'm not depressed or I may have been more affected by this novel than I would have cared to be). Esther is an astute observer and her descriptions of people, her love interests, situations and emotions are spot on, have an uncanny brevity, and interesting word choices and metaphors.

Plath also has quite the commentary about women during the 1950s, and Esther wasn't going to be one of them, she was among those breaking out of the mold. 

Once when I visited Buddy I found Mrs. Willard braiding a rug out of strips of wool from Mr. Willard's old suits. She'd spent weeks on that rug, and I had admired the tweedy browns and greens patterning the braid, but after Mrs. Willard was through, instead of hanging the rug on the wall the way I would have done, she put it down instead of a kitchen mat, and in a few days it was soiled and dull and indistinguishable from any mat you could buy for under a dollar in the five and ten. 

And I knew in spite of all the roses and kisses and restaurant dinners a man showered on a woman before he married her, what he secretly wanted  was her to flatten out under his feet like Mrs. Willard's kitchen mat.  - p. 82 

I'm a little smitten with Plath's writing and will now be checking out her poetry. And it looks like I'll be rereading this one too -- it's worth a closer look. Just let me recover.

Verdict

Dark, broody, depressing. Poor dear Esther. Don't read this if you're depressed. Just don't. I can't say I'm head over heels in love with this book but it's an impressively moving novel in its simplicity and the honest brutality of its telling. Definitely worthy of being a modern classic.

Book Depository

Little Prince Deluxe Pop-Up Book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A book that I desperately must have.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you've watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but haven't read the book, well, you're in for a surprise. Because the book upon which it is based is a totally different story. There is no romantic Somewhere in Time-like saga love story and I seriously doubt that Benjamin Button looked as strapping Brad Pitt did in the prime of his life. Oh, and Daisy isn't anywhere near as hyped nor as engaging as in the movie.

I decided to read this because: Once again, I found out that the movie was based (ok, very loosely) on a book. And it's a classic. So I decided to find out if the movie did the book justice.

First line: As long ago as 1860 it was the proper thing to be born at home.

The book in one sentence: This is about the curious case of Benjamin Button who is born an old man and lives his life in reverse.

I'd recommend it to: Anyone who likes really good short stories. Or anyone who found the movie to be a lot of Hollywood fluff :)

I liked: This is a short story, told succinctly (60 pages, with illustrations) and poses a very simple dilemma ... examining a life lived in reverse! Benjamin is born an old man, then, defying all natural laws, grows younger instead of older, until that point where he disappears into nothingness. By suggesting this impossibility, it can make one re-examine the whole question of living life and mortality in general. I enjoyed the story line and given that this was written in 1921, it probably was a novel and original idea at the time. 


It looks at how a reversed life is both a blessing and curse. For example, Benjamin falls in love with his young beautiful wife at an age where both are more or less the same age; their relationship suffers as he continues to grow younger and she older, both losing physical interest in each other. At another point, Benjamin serves in the war. A decade later he is called back to serve again but he has grown younger and is not taken seriously. And how about being patted on the head by your own son because you physically look like his son? Sounds pretty comic but can be quite a tragedy.

I've never read anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but having dipped my toe into his work now gives me some idea that his work is not necessarily daunting.


Worth mentioning is that this edition of the book has lovely color illustrations by Calef Brown (see insets). They look like the belong in an art gallery!

I didn't like: Story-wise, I love this book. But my gripe is good thing I borrowed this copy ... it really isn't worth $10 for such a short short story. You'd be better off reading this online or maybe buying a collection of short stories. 

Verdict: An interesting and novel question posed in this simple and quick read. Read it when you get the chance! And I'll be looking up more of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books!

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

About Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote: In this seductive, wistful masterpiece, Truman Capote created a woman whose name has entered the American idiom and whose style is a part of the literary landscape. Holly Golightly knows that nothing bad can ever happen to you at Tiffany's; her poignancy, wit, and naïveté continue to charm.

My two cents

I got a hold of Breakfast at Tiffany's and sped-read it, was utterly charmed by Miss Holiday Golightly, Traveling and kept imagining Audrey Hepburn and hearing Moon River. The icon created by Truman Capote has burned itself in my mind, quite unconsciously, and funnily I couldn't help but be pissed that the movie was not the book. (Honestly, I read the book AFTER the movie.)


Holly Golightly is a charmingly heartbreaking character - a street-smart, cynical, tougher-than-nails callgirl (though Capote never called her that ever in the book) who has a tender, childlike side. Deep inside she is only looking for her place in the world. "... home is where you feel at home. I'm still looking," she says. This theme resonates throughout the book, with the mini-story of her "adopted" cat as a metaphor possibly for herself?

Then I read through the three other short stories - "House of Flowers," "A Diamond Guitar" and "A Christmas Memory" - in the same book, and was blown away by Capote's writing. These stories are a far cry from Breakfast at Tiffany's. I especially enjoyed "A Christmas Memory" which tells a heartwarming story about a young boy's friendship with an old lady and how they lived and loved in the countryside.

I felt I understood Capote a little better after having watched Capote, an incredible film which is disturbing account of how he came to write In Cold Blood (a book I am on the lookout for now). Capote passes the book off as non-fiction, but it is based on real events of a brutal Kansas murder. The film explores how a writer can get deeply involved in creating a story ... to the point that it not only absorbs but can swallow you alive.

Capote is one of the most powerful writers I have read so far. And I will surely be reading more of work.

• Read more about Breakfast at Tiffany's, the novel here. Great insights and analysis by Mathew Cash.
• Truman Capote on Wikipedia.