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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Bell Jar in Books

Mar 18, 2020

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry

7.4

(23 Ratings)

Book Rating

A worthy classic

The Bell Jar is one of those well known classic books that pretty much everyone has heard of, but yet for me I hadn't a clue what the story was actually about. The story centres around a young woman's mental breakdown and descent into depression, and her subsequent slow path to recovery. It's not in the slightest what I was expected, but this is actually a rather good and worthy classic novel.

I wouldnt say Esther is a particularly endearing protagonist, there's a lot about her tale that doesn't make sense or seems a little lacking but I'm guessing this is because it's meant to represent her rather unhinged state of mind. It can get a little frustrating when things aren't explained properly, but for the most part the plot and story is very interesting and I struggled to put this down. It's well written without being pretentious, and it seems to be a very realistic tale about mental illness. The metaphor of the bell jar itself is a rather wonderful term despite the subject matter and one of the best metaphors I've ever come across in literature, as it's so true.

Overall this is a great classic and whilst it may seem a little dated, it's a really good study on mental health.

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gayga (2128 KP) created a post in Smashbomb Council

Mar 19, 2020

Perhaps we should think a little bit out of the box for this. So, as well as the usual apps, games, books etc, there could be suggestions on particular apps etc for each category

Individuals: Depends on age really. If people have issues such as depression, addiction they could be guided towards national or regional websites. If anyone feels lonely during self isolating there’s regional and national friendship and support groups on Facebook and elsewhere.

I think for all categories you could have Netflix/BBCiPlayer/etc box set recommendations and there’s a lot of shows on YouTube.

Perhaps for teens you could recommend games that wouldn’t normally play. Again, they may be afraid of current events and need support so you could recommend groups/websites for people their age to discuss their feeling.

Young families could have ideas for entertaining small children, supporting parents Recommendations for children/baby reading books. Recipe book recommendations since people who want to cook will have more time to do so or may need to cook using limited ingredients.

Couples and older families could have book recommendations. Could advise on hobby apps or websites.

I just think as well as the normal Facebook/Twitter options we could suggest items and options that people may either not have heard of or considered