Re: the literary life
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Thu, 08 Oct 1998 16:52:15 +1000
> 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