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The Bell Jar

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The Bell Jar

By: Sylvia Plath
Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
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About this listen

READ BY THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ACTRESS MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

'A modern classic.' Guardian

'A near-perfect work of art.' Joyce Carol Oates

I was supposed to be having the time of my life . . .

Working as an intern for a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. Esther's vision of the world shimmers and shifts: day-to-day living in the sultry city, her crazed men-friends, the hot dinner dances . . .

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, is partially based on Plath's own life. It has been celebrated for its darkly funny and razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'

'As clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing.' New York Times Book Review

©2015 Sylvia Plath (P)2015 Faber & Faber Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Indigenous Creators Mental Health Awareness Women's Voices Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Witty Mental Health
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I love this story but I do need to turn my earphones onto the highest setting and I find it hard to hear.

Audio is really quiet

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Maggie Gyllenhaal was an excellent narrator. One of the best audiobooks I've listened to, Sylvias writing is just so powerful and poignant.

outstanding

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The performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal really makes this book, she is great to listen to and really brings the main character come to life. The story is interesting and I enjoyed the book a lot.

Good story, great performance

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I loved this novel, I was so sad when it ended. I think the narrator does an excellent job at conveying the tone of the protagonist. I will say it is definitely of it’s time with some racist and fatphobic commentary, something to be aware of before reading!

Great Narrator and story

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I'd managed to passively ignore this book for years, thinking it would be too fancy and literary for me. Like the books we were forced to dissect in high school.

This book was an absolute joy to listen to, Sylvia Plath was such an intelligent and drily funny writer. Extremely clever. I enjoyed the insight into her own descent into mental illness, I think it will make me a better person to be aware of the signs and the feelings.

Maggie Gyllenhaal's narration was next-level great and really helped bring the story to light. Highly recommended.

Not the literary chore I thought it would be

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Maggie was perfect
Plath is a wordsmith
Esther broke my heart
Dead at thirty one

Celia Sylvia

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so much said in such a short space. a towering talent. lucky I am to have come upon this incredible text.

brilliant

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Any additional comments?

Enjoyed the performance, thought it complemented the story well. Sped it up slightly while listening to most of it.

Good listen

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I loved this book. I've often heard it in popular culture, it always seemed to be referenced as an intense read, controversial feminism, and highly intellectual (10 things I hate about you, little fire everywhere, as examples), and always felt too daunted to tackle it. But I'm so happy that did, as it didn't end up being daunting at all, I couldn't stop listening! It is beautifully written, the descriptions of people, places, scenarios are so poetically written, that you could picture and feel exactly what SP was intending for you to imagine/feel. I think the themes are something a lot of people, not just women, relate to, even in 2020.

Brilliant, MG was the perfect narrator!

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Sylvia Plath is so descriptive - so honest about her mental health and her brilliant observations , brutal and beautiful.

A classic- so ground breaking

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