Genres: Fiction
Being endured by an obsession with Sylvia Plath, I had waited too long to get my hands on this book. This is book is interesting for a multitude of reasons. The main reason being it’s Sylvia Plath’s proses, not poems. Previously, I had read The Bell Jar and her Journals, and certainly I was more fascinated by her journals rather her only novel.
This collection of her proses, short stories and a few pieces from Cambridge notes which were sad but also enthralling, written in time and some published here and there while others not, starts with a Ted Hughes introduction. The introduction is mere telling of what the book contains and why some pieces from her journals are left out from this book as it contain direct references to people Plath being surrounded or had relations, and as they might have a tendency to be offended from her written words. Few of her stories are based on real people or incidents around her and my favourite was Snow Blitz. Some people have criticised her for being selfish and narcissistic but that isn’t her at all, I get the sense reading her “notes” part that maybe she is possibly overwhelmed by life.
I did not find The Bell Jar as amusing as this collection, and Plath gets more creative in her short stories than she did in The Bell Jar. Nevertheless, I would recommend Sylvia Plath to anyone for there is something quite haunting in the way she writes and there is a real sense of realism but also perhaps idealism of how things ought to be but aren’t.
3.5 out of 5!
I’d love to get my hands on this book (after reading The Bell Jar that is). I love exploring the backgrounds and contexts of authors I love – it just adds another dimension to my view of them and also makes for a guaranteed great read!
This book needs someone who can spend time with it, just like one human to another. I did a mistake by reading it in a single day. I was pretty excited when I got my hands on it. 🙂 Happy Reading!
Good post 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Great post! I just picked up the “Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath” and cant wait to dive in! 🙂
That’s a wonderful memoir! One of my favourites. I hope you enjoy reading it! 🙂
Have been wanting to read The Bell Jar for quite some time! 🙂
Go ahead and read it. It’s wonderfully written!
[…] Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams and Other Prose Writings by Sylvia Plath […]
I actually enjoy Sylvia Plath’s short stories more so than her longer works, like the Bell Jar, too. My favorite story is “Fifteen-Dollar Eagle,” which inspired me to get a tattoo.I could also see a different mindset in her stories versus the Bell Jar, as if she was somewhat less introspective at times and more absorbed in her surroundings? Maybe it’s just me.
I think you are right about the mindset. I like this book better than Bell Jar and her memoir of course. 😄