”透過故事主角艾瑟‧葛林伍德,女詩人普拉絲以動人的意象,宛如詩篇的文字,揭露了幾欲令人窒息的成長經驗。
十九歲的艾瑟即將遠離校園,踏入社會;她才華洋溢、功課優秀,又有機會到紐約時尚雜誌擔任實習編輯,年輕的生命正要展現新的色彩。
然而周遭女友放浪行骸,無法與她契合心性,憧憬的愛情也只不過是一場欺騙的遊戲,連創作生涯也因申請寫作班遭拒而頓失重心,虛無感自四面八方襲來,生命只剩下一連串無意義的動作。
艾瑟猶如脆弱的天使,純淨的心靈無法負荷人世的虛偽與不平,所以冷眼看人,更自殘羽翼。她終日晃蕩,生活不知以何為繼…
此書出版後一個月,普拉絲本人,這位曠世才情的女詩人即自殺身亡。”
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels
A realistic and emotional novel about a woman battling mental illness and societal pressures written by the iconic American writer Sylvia Plath.
"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 chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: young, brilliant, beautiful, and enormously talented, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that Esther’s neurosis becomes completely understandable and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such thorough exploration of the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche - and the profound collective loneliness that modern society has yet to find a solution for - is an extraordinary accomplishment, and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
This P.S. edition features extra insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.