“The Bell Jar” Sylvia Plath (1963) Review | Young woman and her uncertainty

The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath, 1963
244 pages
Read in 2026.03
Check the synopsis and details on amazon.com

✔ A modern classic about a young woman and her uncertainty
✔ She seems to be successful, yet her mental health falls apart
✔ Though it's more than 60 years old still relevant

★★★★★ A summer job at a magazine in New York, all looks well yet nothing is going well. Modern classic coming of age novel about young women's fear and anger, still very relevant today.

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

The famous, the classic.
A young woman from a poor family studies hard and wins all prizes including a summer job at a magazine in New York.
All looks well, except nothing was actually going well and she ends up in an institution. 

I am glad I didn't read this in my 20s because I'm not sure if I could take it.
Esther's fears are what any young women fear, and her anger, hopelessness, hatred, they are all familiar. 
She's determined but if you let go one small rope, you lose yourself in the ocean.
Seemingly successful doesn't always mean happiness.
The author herself took her own life a few weeks after the publication. 

It was written in the 60s so the world around these issues has changed, a bit, it's kinder now.
But 60 years on, it's still not that crazy to feel how she felt.
As long as there are girls in this world, this book will be read.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Bell Jar: A Timeless Coming-of-Age Classic (Perennial Classics)