The Bell Jar

By: Sylvia Plath

Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Performed by Maggie Gyllenhaal

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels

“A coming–of–age masterpiece.” —Boston Globe

""It is this perfectly wrought prose and the freshness of Plath's voice in The Bell Jar that make this book enduring in its appeal."" —USA Today

The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath’s masterwork—an acclaimed and timeless novel about a young woman falling into the grip of mental illness and societal pressures.

The story chronicles the breakdown of Esther Greenwood, a bright, beautiful, enormously talented college student coming of age in 1950s America, as she navigates the pressures of society along with her own ambitions. While at a prestigious, competitively won position at a New York City magazine one summer, Esther finds herself struggling with the looming expectations of marriage, motherhood, and giving up on her dreams to achieve them. She becomes increasingly disillusioned and her mental health deteriorates, ultimately leading her to undergo harsh treatment and therapy.

""Funny, intense, enormously human"" (Cosmopolitan), The Bell Jar is a poignant exploration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche and remains an extraordinary accomplishment from one of the country's most luminous talents.

Superb story with horrible sounds.

This was my first encounter with Sylvia Plath and I absolutely adore her prose. The narrator was also wonderful.
*BUT*
Between every chapter HarperAudio decided to play a very loud series of piano chords. Many people put on their audio book to fall asleep. So there you are, warm, drifting off to sleep to lovely words and
DING! da_DIN-dingDING DIIING! It may have been tolerable but whoever edited this put the narrator volume at normal but cranked that damned tornado siren of a piano up to 11.

I will be reading more Sylvia Plath but I am gun-shy about HarperAudio ad will read the reviews carefully before getting anything by them, in the future.

Love Sylvia but...

Plath is one of my favorite poets of all time but this book was a chore to get through. I don't feel it shows a slow descent into madness. One day Ester is a conceited college girl and then she's getting electroshock therapy. I struggle with any sympathy for Ester. She has some very progressive ideas and I want her to be a heroine but she isn't. Maybe that's the point of her; I just really struggled with this book and I'm disappointed in that fact.
UPDATE: I've come to the conclusion that the narration really threw me off. I love Maggie but her tone turned the characters sour for me.

Research this Book First

If you could sum up The Bell Jar in three words, what would they be?

Since audible keeps taking down my review, all I'm going to say is, do your research first before you decide to buy this book.

A revelation of beauty in despair

I wondered why I couldn’t remember reading this well-known book. A few paragraphs in it was obvious why. Published in 1963, this marvelous novel would have been thought entirely too frank for my supposedly-tender Southern belle sensibilities. So glad to discover it however late in life. Maggie Gyllenhaal has the perfect voice to embody this brilliant young woman’s cry for air. Bell Jar indeed. Plath’s imagery throughout is stunning. Her poetic artistry shines on every page.

Holden Caulfield meets Randle McMurphy

Sylvia Plath's sad but fascinating semi-autobiographical journey through clinical depression toward suicidal and mental instability is a gripping story. At first it reminded me of "The Catcher in the Rye" then quickly into "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". What captivated me are the thoughts shared by Esther Greenwood along the way and her interaction with the people who she encounters.