Friday Memes and 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath

I have finally finished my degree!! I have handed in my last piece of coursework and now all that is left is to sit around and wait for my grades, which isn't nerve-racking at all! It does mean that I now have months left to get as much reading done as I possible can so that is definitely something I'm excited about. But let's get some memes going!


Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's question was suggested by Blue Books and Butterflies:

How do you write your reviews?

I try to write them in one go usually, the day of or the day after finishing the book. I always feel like I should be writing notes while reading the book, but I always think that if I was distracted enough to write while I read, then clearly I'm not intrigued enough by the book itself. And then once I've finished the book and sat down for the review I tend to both write about the things I found interesting and about some logical things such as the feel of the book and the author's writing style.

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. This week's question was suggested by Elizabeth over at Silver's Reviews:


Why would you stop reading a book? Too long, wrong genre, bad language, not what you expected, or something totally different?

Length is definitely not something that can stop me from reading a book. I tend to not pick up books that are the wrong genre though, so that wouldn't be it either. Bad language is a maajor turn off for me and it is not something you can really guess about a book either from the cover either. If an author can't write properly than I have no interest in continuing their book either. Usually it's a good thing when books do the unexpected because I'm tired of reading the same tropes over and over again. Did that just turn into a mini rant?

This week I'm using a book I've been wanting to read for ages. I was waiting for coursework to be over so I could really get into it. That book is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Book Beginnings and Friday 56 are hosted, respectively, Gilion over at Rose City Reader and Freda over at Freda's Voice.

BB:

'It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. I'm stupid about executions. The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick, and that's all there was to read about in the papers - goggle-eyed headlines staring up at me on every street corner and at the fusty, peanut-smelling mouth of every subway.' p.1

I love Plath's writing, she writes incredibly honestly. When I read parts of her diary I was also struck by how much she confided in her own writing without knowing it. She lays a lot of herself bare and it means I'm both excited for and slightly scared of what is about to come.


F56:

'Marco's small, flickering smile reminded me of a snake I'd teased in in the Bronx Zoo. When I tapped my finger on the stout cage glass the snake had opened its clockwork jaws and seemed to smile. Then it struck and struck and struck at the invisible pane until I moved off.' p.56

The way Plath writes about gender is something I always found intriguing. I feel like I have met people before who fit Plath's description of Marco. It is a strange description and yet it's one that works very well.