Sincerely, Avisyarbrough

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  • The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Book Review

                    When I first read The Bell Jar, I was about eighteen or nineteen years old, and I remember thinking that the book was good. So good that I picked up a biography about Sylvia Plath from the library and found out that some of what happens to Esther in The Bell Jar, happened to Plath. I did not remember most of the details from the book from my first reading and reading it again I was devastated.

                    To watch a brilliant young woman descend into a disorganized mind and wanting to kill herself was hard to read.  Esther Greenwood, the main character, in The Bell Jar, is in New York when the book opens and is on the brink of an amazing future, but stuff starts to go wrong. Most of the men in the book are clueless and damaging to Esther’s psyche, and she is left vulnerable to figure things out on her own. By the time Esther leaves New York she is broken, and her only hope is that she gets into a writing workshop, which she finds out that she does not get into.

                    At home she is unable to sleep, read, or write and starts thinking about killing herself which she eventually attempts and that lands her in an asylum.  The Bell Jar was published in 1963 and is Plath’s only novel. Plath killed herself a few weeks after it was published. Known as a poet, the pleasure of reading The Bell Jar is the imagery in the book. From Esther trailing her fingers across a New York building, or the image of a bell jar covering and suffocating her.

                    The title of the book had me Googling, ‘what is a bell jar?” It is a bell-shaped usually glass vessel designed to cover objects or to contain gases or a vacuum. The novel moves back and forth from the past to the present without too many transitions, so you must pay attention.  What made the book so devastating to me was that Plath killed herself after the book was published, and I could not help but think that the book was a cry for help.

                    The Bell Jar ends on a note of hope that Esther can resume her life. As with classic literature the portrayal of people of other races could make one feel uncomfortable. There is a scene in the book where Esther is in an asylum and her food is delivered to her by a black man. The scene with the black man is funny, but also could make readers feel uncomfortable.

                    The book is written in the first person, and it allows readers to get intimately inside of Esther’s head which gives them a chance to witness her descent into madness.

                    So, should you read this book? I think The Bell Jar is worth reading, but it was really disturbing to me, and it might be the same for you. Also, read some of Plath’s poetry. It really is something.

    Sincerely,

    Avis Yarbrough

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  • What I Will Next Be  Reading: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

    I  will  next  be reading “The Bell Jar”  by Sylvia Plath.  It is the story of a  young woman  who is  a  writer  that  is  also struggling  with  some issues.   Some facts I got from the  book are that it was published  a  few  weeks  before Sylvia Plath  committed  suicide  and  under  a pseudonym.  The book is written in the first  person and  is  just  over two hundred  pages.

    I  first read this book many years  ago and liked  it a lot. I  myself  was going through depression, and the book made me feel  not so alone. I can’t remember if I knew she committed  suicide, I think I did and this made me sad.

    It  was  the  only  novel  by  Sylvia  Plath  that  was  published.  The book will be a nice change from “Women in Love”  and  I am looking forward  to reading it. As  always if you want to join me  reading  “The Bell Jar”  then feel free.   When I  am  finished  reading it, I will post a review.

    Sincerely,

    Avis Yarbrough

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  • D. H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love Review

    I  just  finished  reading D. H.  Lawrence’s  “Women  in Love.”  I  have  read  the  book  before  and  loved  it  but this time  my  feelings  are  more  muted.  I liked  it  a lot  but  it  was  a hard  read  to get through.  I  don’t  know  what  propelled  me  to read it the first  time  but  maybe  it is  my age(I am fifty-one years  old  now),  but  I don’t recall it being as  difficult to get  through  as  I  did reading it the second  time.

    The  story takes  place in the twentieth  century  and  focuses  on the relationship  of  Rupert Birkin,  Ursula, Gudrun,  and Gerald.   Ursula and Gudrun are  sisters  and  Rupert  and Gerald  are good friends.  The one thing I always enjoyed  about  D.H.  Lawrence is that he writes  about love  seriously.  He is  trying to find a  new  way  of talking about love  and  as  someone  who  grew  up reading romance  novels is  intrigued  me  to no  end  and  because  of that I went on to  read  more of his  books.  

    As  the story  progresses,  Birkin and Ursula  get  involved and so does Gudrun  and  Gerald.  There  is a lot  of talk about the new order of things in industry and man.  There is a lot of talk of love;  of  what it is and isn’t.   Lawrence’s  talk  about  love is interesting but hard  to grasp  and understand. Although  I  appreciated  his effort.

    There  is  a  lot  in Women  In  Love  that  makes  me  recommend it.  The  women  are  a  bit  neurotic  and  fecund  is  the word  of the day  but  it is a classic  that  is worth  reading.  The  writing  in  the book  is  beautiful. There are passages talking  about  nature    will  make  you  want to reread  them.

    The opening of  the  book has one of my favorite  openings  in any  book- A bride and groom race to the door  of the  church they are  getting married  in.  Ursula  and  Gudrun are intriguing. They  are school  teachers and Gudrun is also an artist.  They have the intellect,  self  sufficiency,  and  confidence  that  it makes  their  romantic  relationships  interesting.

    If you  decide to read “Women In Love”  there are some things  you just  won’t  get  and that is all right  but  the  crux  of the novel is  about love  and how the  industrial  industry  is  changing  man.  The  writing  can  be  seen  as pretentious  but I think  Lawrence  was  really  trying  hard  to  say something unique and  overall he  succeeds.      

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  • Let Me Introduce Myself

    I  am  Avis,  the person  behind Sincerely,  Avis.  My  blog  is about  reading classic literature, and how  I think it enriches  one’s  life  to read  the classics.  I  don’t  mean that  in a pretentious  way,  but  in a way  that  you  read  anything  which  is for the good  stories  because  that  is  essentially why  the classics  have lasted  so  long  is  because  they  are  good to great stories.

    I will write reviews  on the books I am  reading.  I  will  tell you beforehand  what  book I will be  tackling.   If you want  to join me,  feel  free.  To tell you a bit about myself, I grew  up  reading  romance  novels  and around my  teens  decided  to tackle  the classics. 

    Around a  decade ago something happened to me  that made reading difficult, and I stopped  reading.  I  started to read again  about  two years ago  but  still not at the pace that I  used  to  but now I am back  to reading, and I realized how much I missed it.

    I decided to start this blog  to  share my love of classic  literature and  because I wanted to revisit the  classics, and I figured  if I had a blog I won’t give  up  on my goal.  I have an  A. A in English  Literature from a community  college,  but I don’t have a  teaching background,  and  I hope you  know that  my views on classic  literature  is  not  set in stone.  I am a layperson just  giving  her  opinion.

    So join me on my blog  and  let’s  read  some  classic  literature.

    Sincerely,

    Avis

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