> OK, Camille, > > I'm in high umbrage and feel that I must take issue with you on several > points. You see, I built a very large house in SylviaPlathLand and live > there frequently. > First, Bell Jar is in No Way a "female catcher". Oh, don't worry - I in NO WAY made or could see this analogy - it's just something I read somewhere. This is the sort of analogy people make so librarians can know which books they should nestle together on the Paperback stand. I was curious to read it to see whether this analogy stood up, and I definitely thought it didn't at all. > Secondly, although like Salinger, Plath drew upon her experiences with > being committed, etc., Bell Jar is, ultimately a work of fiction. Plath > herself was the first to stand up and say that the cruel, controlling > mother that she wrote about was not her mother, who she was very close > to. Yes, there is insight into Plath in that book, but careful how far > you take that. > Lastly, "mediocre"? Well, no accounting for taste, I suppose. I will > grant you that her writing style was not the best that I've read. I think Plath is a very fine poet. But a fine poet does not a novelist make. Phillip Larkin wanted to be a novelist, but *his* novel was mediocre. TS Eliot wrote some of the world's best poetry but some of the world's most mannered and inscrutable theatre. The point I was making was about the point to which a writer should or does use their own life, and the division between autobiography and utilisation. I think Plath stepped over the line into autobiography - she was simply putting her own thoughts into the mouth of a representative character - whereas Salinger seems to use his own experiences in a manner more akin to sculpture than assemblage. I was expecting to enjoy the book, too. I put it down to experience, but I think Plath was a far better poet than novelist. No umbrage should be taken! I'm sure you're not keen on some of my favourite reading material too (: Camille verona_beach@geocities.com @ THE ARTS HOLE www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442 @ THE INVERTED FOREST www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest