Sylvia Plath * The Bell Jar Book Review
Trigger warning: scenes contain suicide, thoughts of self-harm and detailed thoughts on depression.
I have never read such a good introspective work musing on the nature of life, lack of purpose, sinking into depression, analysis of psychological treatments of mental disorders in the middle of the 20th century and such detailed thoughts of suicide that would put Cuelho’s Veronica decides to die to shame.…
Quotes from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Here we’ll explore quotes from The Bell Jar, an influential modern novel that took mental illness head on in a chronicle both terrifying and tender.
The Bell Jar wasn’t published in the U.S. until 1971, in accordance with the wishes of Ted Hughes, to whom she had been married at the time of her death (though they were separated at the time).…
If my father loved me * Rosie Thomas
Rosie Thomas brings forward an interesting novel of the complexities of family and the sacrifices we make for the ones we love. Sadie’s life is calm and complete. She is a mother, a good friend, and the robust survivor of a marriage she deliberately left behind.…
Antonia Pozzi – Sublime voice of the twentieth century – Restless soul, vibrant with poetry
Who’ll sell me a flower today?
I have so many in my heart:
but all clasped
in heavy bunches –
trampled –
done in.
…
Shooting Stars 01 Cinnamon – V. C. Andrews Book Review
For Cinnamon, dreaming of imaginary worlds and characters is her only escape from her mother’s breakdowns. Her grandmother’s overbearing control. Her family’s turmoil. But Cinnamon is discovering something special about herself, a gift from deep within that sets her apart: a talent for the theater that would finally give her a chance…to truly escape.…
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Book Review
I wonder if there is anyone left in the world that can be objective about John Green. And if there is, can they be objective about a John Green book about teens dying of cancer?
…“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
Existential depression – Margaret Atwood* Moral Disorder excerpt
I got stuck reading Margaret Atwood again. And there is a passage in Moral Disorder which seems to talk clearly about existential depression.
Story is called The Other Place and this woman is analysing her life so far in comparison with her parent’s.…
Mama Cass Biography Book * Dream a little dream of me
Mama Cass – she would have made a great friend if she were still alive.
A proud and large woman with a wonderful voice to rival Whitney and Amy Winehouse. And brought down by the same monster that haunted the other two women: drugs and booze and an unhealthy lifestyle.…