You call Bell Jar the "typical sad girl summer", but I think what especially made it stand out, is the fact that no one had written so openly about the subject before and it wasn't really something people talked about back then. Also the writing is just really great in general.
Your comment reminds me of classic horror movies. The first time I watched Psycho it felt like there were so many cliches, but they weren’t cliches when the movie was made, they are now because so many recent movies copy the classics (which I had seen before I watched Psycho).
@@cam5556 possibly - tho to my mind there is a determination to defend everything Silvia has ever written, which is fine, as it doesn't hurt anyone, but maybe in the end it detracts from the brilliance of some her poetry, like Tulips, or the bee poem series.
@@jamesduggan7200 I must admit that I haven't read any of her poems yet, but I might check them out! That said, you can't really take away the impact The Bell Jar had, even though you personally prefer her other works.
Sylvia Plath's writing is heavily inspired by her own life, so I'd highly recommend reading her journals and letters :) Apart from The Bell Jar (which I love, because I'm obsessed with Sylvia Plath ^^) I also read Klara and The Sun last year, but sadly I didn't enjoy it. I adoooore Coraline, both the book and the movie. I'm actually in the middle of listening to The Graveyard Book and I totally agree that Neil Gaiman is one of the best narrators :) I'm half way through "A Game of Thrones" as well, my husband and I started rewatching it last week (It's the 3rd time for me, and the 2nd for him) :p I'm really glad you're also enjoying it so much and that you had such a good reading month. :) I managed to finish only 2 books in October: Tales from Moominvalley and Villette :)
It’s great to see you’ve read amazing books in October. I can tell that you’re really passionate of every single book that you read. Keep up the good work and God bless you.
Thank you, Carolyn!🌷I’ve read The Housekeeper and the Professor” and I found it heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Definitely a great read!
As you know from Tolstoy's Calendar Of Wisdom,Marcus Aurelius crops up a bit.It's always wonderful to hear you select and read passages from books that engage you!💝
Yay! Another Carolyn video !! Also I love your greeting ! If you love books with a narrator told by someone with diff viewpoint, you should read “the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime!” It’s from the perspective a boy with autism
I’m so happy to hear someone else also enjoyed Marcus Aurelius!! I finished «Meditations» a couple of months ago, and I just felt privileged to read his thoughts, you know? Although the book is almost 2000 years old, you still feel that connection to the author, and how amazing is that? 🥰
Hi, Carolyn - While I liked Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, I found it about half too prudish and tending toward the martinet. The other half is well-stated stoic philosophy, yes. He was a sharp guy but not of our times, obviously. Glad you're enjoying it. And yes, Coraline is superb.
You should now have a copy of The Bell Jar from your birthday book haul. ;-) Speaking of which, when you said that it is a story of a girl in the city with metal health issues, it reminds me of your friend * e m m i e * who moved to Toronto and is now feeling a bit claustrophobic deep in the city. Even when you can't see them (even closing your eyes), the noise of the city constantly reminds one that you are 'stuck' and can't escape the tall buildings, the city and the people. As an introvert, I don't like cities (despite all the culture). Nice place to visit, not a nice place to live. To me, living in the city IS like living in a bell jar. Who would choose that? Per non-fiction for Carolyn, I recommend The Glass Castle (also mental health), and Walden (nature 'essays'). For a fun and interesting (not scary) read, try Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (also on Rory Gilmore list).
_Not My Father’s Son_ is a touching memoir on a troubled father/son relationship. The audiobook is narrated by the author, who is also an actor, so it’s well done.
I love memoirs, but my tastes might not be for everyone. One of my favorites is “smoke gets in your eyes” by Caitlin Doughty, who has a channel on RUclips called “Ask A Mortician”. This memoir is about her experience working in a crematorium before ultimately deciding to start her own business, as she no longer agrees with how the US approaches death and funerals. It’s fascinating and eye opening for anyone who enjoys reading about death and how really it’s not as bad as we make it out to be. Also she’s really funny, you wouldn’t think reading about some of the things she writes about could offer comedic relief.
I'm also not a huge non fiction fan but one of the best I've ever read is called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Its a wonderful book about plants and ecosystems in North America and it's written by a First Nation women who is also a scientist. Kimmerer does a great job at blending both Indigenous and Western perspective and I guarantee you will learn something new!
Read and loved a couple of great books last month, notably the 7 moons of Maali Almeida and the Essex Serpent. As a light read I threw in some Eva Ibbotson which was great. As the first book for November I started reading the god of small things which is beautifully written and hard-hitting. I think it might become a new favorite. By contrast, I am still struggling through the shadow of the wind- not sure if I will DNF it.
Oh nooo, you poor summer child! If only we could've prevent you from watching the 8th season of GoT. You could avoid it and start rehab watching House of the Dragon :D
I love how Chris Riddell's illustrations are so whimsical and creepy all at once. I grew up reading The Edge Chronicles, which he illustrated & co-wrote with Paul Stewart. It's time I check out some of the stuff he did with Neil Gaiman's books.
You’ve got an amazing month! I’ll say calling The bell jar a typical summer sad girl felt a little bit like an insult😂 I think some books that I’ve read about sad girls like 13 reasons why and….John Green books😂 but The bell jar felt like someone is walking inside my head, Sylvia Plath wrote it about herself….It’s the details that makes it a stand out for me…it was just so….brilliant. Coraline I’m so happy you loved it! Neil wrote it for his daughters and it shows! I love Neil Gaiman, like he wrote the book planning every word! Game of thrones is a great book as well and I soooo want to read Every day the way home gets longer and longer it sounds BRILLIANT!
Well, yes, it's clearly autobiographical, and unfortunately Plath's life honestly was more tragic than sad. However, when we push past that we can defend the opinion of Sylvia herself that her novel was a "potboiler." A good novel will have more than one fully developed character, and typically there is a well-defined conflict and resolution, but in The Bell Jar the reader only is let in on the secret of a mental health crisis in the 2d half, and of course that crisis clearly was left unresolved. Tho, it's still a book written by one of the great poets of the English language, so there's that.
For recommendations of memoirs, Carrie Fisher's "The Princess Diarist" is a great one. Her narration of the audiobook is fantastic. It's very funny and brutally honest and it reads very much as an older woman who doesn't care at all what people think anymore.
Ooo i love memoirs! One really well written one that I read this year was Heart Berries. That one was also heavy on the mental health focus. Really enjoyed this video! 😊
I read Meditations this past summer and really got a lot out of it. I liked Marcus Aurelius's mindset of being calm and not letting negative emotions get to you. It made me more interested in stoicism so I read Letters from a Stoic by Seneca and I thought it was just OK. I'm going to read Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus soon. More recently I read Waiting by Ha Jin. It was only the second book of his that I've read and he's already becoming one of my favourite authors because his books follow the daily lives of ordinary people which is my favourite type of book.
Best memoir I’ve read is “in order to live” by Yeonmi Park - but read only after you’ve read 1984 by George Orwell because it has a dark twisted connection with the reality in North Korea, but not only that this book is wonderfully written. Highly recommend!!
I recommend The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee. It left a huge impression on me when I read it somewhere in 2020 and I still think about from time to time. I hope you'll pick it up someday 💖
I haven't read klara and the sun yet but it reminds me alot of a movie called "Bicentennial Man" with Robin Williams very good movie! Love your videos!
I am currently reading: -The Hebrew Bible by Robert Alter -The Literary Guide to the Bible by Robert Alter -Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy -Heaven by Jonathan Edwards -Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken -A lifelong love by Gary Thomas
I too loved "Klara", haunting, sad and the ending left me feeling a little empty. Very few books do that to me. A book I will read it again even though I know the outcome. Worth checking out folks.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey is my favorite memoir ever, I'm about to read it for the third time soon. And I hiiiighly recommend you go the audiobook route for this one!
I'm a big fan of biography/memoir books. About every 3rd book I read falls into that category. If a book can be filled with words about a person, chances are likely that there is something exceptional about that person's story. There is usually some bit of wisdom I can glean from reading it. And also many are just fun. Here are some of my favorites: Slouching Toward Bethlehem (autobiographical essays by Joan Dideon); Hill Women, Me (audiobook read by Elton John OMG!), Leonardo DaVinci (by Walter Isaacson), Out of this Century (by Peggy Guggenheim OMG !) My Life in France (by Julia Child), Tomboy Bride (a wife in 19th cent Rocky Mtns OMG), Positively 4th St (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan et al), Paris to the Moon (Gopnik), Dispatches from the Edge (A Cooper audiobook OMG), Ninth St Women (long audiobook but if you are interested in art and NYC, OMG). And I'm eager to read Picasso's War. Given what I know of you, I think Out of this Century, Leonardo Davinci and Ninth St Women should definitely be on your TBR. I think you would ENJOY listening to Tomboy Bride, Hill Women, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, Paris to the Moon, and Me. I'm almost finished with Ninth St Women but its been a long book to finish up. Now that its almost over, I wish I had taken notes. I've loved it. NOTE: I didn't love Slouching til I was about halfway through the book. But the essays on CA and her arrival and departure from Manh are amazing. Tomboy Bride changed my perspective of the West and still lives vividly with me decades after reading it. If you audiobook Leonardo, have the PDF accompaniment so you can look at the works referenced. With Ninth St Women, I have often stopped the audiobook and googled the artist or poet being discussed so I could see their works from that time period. Hill Women is a very insightful and honest look at modern Appalacchia, Out of this Century, I believe is out of print but you may still be able to get a used copy or a copy at one of the many Guggenheim Museums. Its worth the difficulty in finding it. She is a fascinating and very important woman.
For memoirs and autobiography I recommend "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. I read it earlier this year and thought it was fantastic. I also really enjoyed "I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai which I read a few years ago.
The best memoir I’ve ever read was The Liars Club by Mary Karr. She’s the QUEEN of memoir. My favorite non-fiction book I’ve read was Sapiens. Another great memoir (surprisingly about a good childhood in this case) is Little Heathens about her life growing up on a farm in Iowa during the Great Depression. Oh, and for a great memoir narrated by the author (and a celebrity) is Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Hilarious and heartbreaking.
I completely agree, this is such a great autobiography! Patti has a such way of telling her life stories with vulnerability and openness, this is one of my fav nonfictions
maybe you can start the video with reading a small except of something you are reading that leads to a thought provoking questions or point of discussion. I love your videos and you inspire me to read. I have 10 pages left of Frankenstein and I am looking for a new read for November. The Bell Jar? Although I found that Mary Shelley wrote another book set in in the late 21st century called The Last Man. It would be interesting to she what an 19th century gal thinks about our time. Anxious People is also on my shelf....
I think you'd really like 'Wasted' by Marya Hornbacher. It's a memoir of a young woman whose descent into an eating disorder during her younger years goes on to reveal other underlying mental health issues. Marya wrote another follow-up to 'Wasted' which talks about life after getting a BPD diagnosis and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but 'Wasted' is a really powerful, popular memoir that I think you'll really impactful - based on how you felt about 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' and 'The Bell Jar'. Another book that I'm not sure you will have read or not that falls into a similar vein is 'Girl Interrupted'. The book is not the same as the film which you might have seen and it's really interesting to see how the two things differ. The author didn't like the film adaptation which I can totally understand, but if you enjoy reading a book and then watching the film afterwards for comparison, that's a title I can definitely recommend. x
Oh and sorry for rambling but I forgot to mention some other books about Sylvia Plath that you might enjoy. 'Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath In New York, Summer 1953' is a biography of Sylvia Plath that is the real life behind the story which was semi-autobiographically told in 'The Bell Jar'. If you found that you didn't 'click' with 'The Bell Jar' and you're looking for something non-fiction that you'll enjoy, this might be one you'll appreciate. There is also 'Mad Girl's Love Song' by Andrew Wilson which tells Sylvia's story as she went through college, decided she wanted to become a writer and then met Ted Hughes (whose adultery and treatment of her may have ultimately been the thing that pushed her over the edge). It's a fascinating and powerful read and again, one that I think you'd really enjoy. Okay, I'll stop sending you book recommendations now, lol.
I haven't read I'm Glad My Mom Died but based on your description and your yearning for similar reads, I think you would enjoy The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls if you haven't read it. She describes a very complicated family dynamic beautifully.
Hello from British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦👋👍♥️🌲🧘♀️💥💥💥💥💥🥳 I read The Bell Jar 1979 for Eng Lit. Women's Studies 👍also katherine Mansfield "the fly" short story...all of .the reading selections were excellent. Love biographies ♥️ Ron Howard's (self and brother narrating) Ada Blackjack; sole survivor of a northern expedition (indigenous woman)
For more dementia/memory loss books: Hersenschimmen (Out of Mind) by Bernlef is a great Dutch book about this. It's short, but really emotional (I cried a lot) and as far as I can tell, it's quite an accurate representation. It should be available in translation in the US as well, I think :)
There's a great recent biography of Sylvia Plath I've been wanting to read, The Red Comet. For Christmas time, are you familiar with The Snowman by illustrator Raymond Briggs? We lost him this year, and that book and it's adaptation was always a season favorite.
Perhaps Rashkolnikov is a weak character - perhaps that's the point of the story. A new novel, or perhaps only a short story - like the extra chapter in Burgess' Clockwork Orange - that tells us what becomes of the characters would be useful. Perhaps what makes C&P special is that it's written around a such a weak character. You can compare Rashkolnikov with Shakespeare's Hamlet and discover that the decision around which the novel is built - to kill the money-lender - is deserving of greater deliberation.
@@jamesduggan7200 Yes, Dostoevsky is a russian Shakespeare with russian grammar at its best. Yet, Clockwork orange was a gang of people who were creating new russian words and vocabulary. Perhaps, they are all short stories in our head as a thought yet been written in such an individual style. Hope it helps.
@@Empire_production Not exactly the response I expected, nonetheless if you theorize that on the moon a hammer and a feather dropped simultaneously will land at the same moment, then you have no way to test your hypothesis. Similarly, Rashkilnikov should realize that if the test of his theory is murder, then there is no way to prove it. But, thank you for the reply.
I'm not certain if this recommendation will work with your memory loss explorations, but the book Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay features memory loss as a major plot point. However, it is Fantasy, which is why I'm not certain if it is a good recommendation. Kay researches various cultures for his novels. As a potential plus for the recommendation, Tigana was written using his research into Italian culture.
Just found your videos, we seem to have very similar taste in books:) I think you would like Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. It is one of my favorite memoirs and the audio book performances by Trevor Noah is great!
I watched Coraline a few years ago for the first time. I thought the other mother was terrifying & I was in my late 20’s at the time 😅 I’m glad I didn’t watch it as a kid. I probably would’ve been scarred 😰😂
I recreated the last episode of Game of Thrones in my head. The actual episode felt rushed and left so many loose ends. I like my version much better! Lol
I know I'm a month late but I highly recommend the memoir "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah. It's funny, sad, heartbreaking, inspiring... It's one of my favorite books.
I'm an huge non fiction and I love it. My top 3 books I love which is eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Audrey Hepburn and Lucille ball ball of fire but I don't remember the names of the author
Klara and the Sun: Lifted is a genetic upgrading that makes the children super intelligent. Some children die from the upgrading (this is how the girls sister died).
the bell jar made my physically nauseas. probably my least favorite book ive ever read. i have depression and anxiety, but this really magnified the consequences of that, espcially when she went under her house. knowing the writer died by putting her head in an oven only made it worse. cannot recommend to anyone jennette mccurdy's book really helped me understand my own relationship with my narcassistic mom. my moms case isnt as severe but there are alot of similiarities of her own experience with mine
I invariably want to read more to educate myself but I always end up quitting and get alittle bored of reading , what's the solution to this problem ? I feel like I have wasted so much time
Hi! If you did not "ramble" or were not yourself and just listed titles of books and your opinions on them in a succinct manner, it would be as much fun as an accountant reading columns of numbers. 😴 Don't change. Happy reading to you as well. 🙂
My interpretation of being ‘lifted’ is genetic editing or more precisely, genetic selection of an embryo. Which could be why Josie suffers from a chronic illness (could be a side effect of interfering with someone’s genetic makeup).
Hi Carolyn, I have a gift for you, it has to do with Dickens A Christmas Carol, but it’s not a book! I haven’t been able to find your P.O. Box address, would you please let me know the address or where I could find it? I am so excited to gift you this absolute gem! 💖
You call Bell Jar the "typical sad girl summer", but I think what especially made it stand out, is the fact that no one had written so openly about the subject before and it wasn't really something people talked about back then. Also the writing is just really great in general.
That may be true, tho in terms of writing I much prefer SP's poetry to her novel, which sometimes lacks a clear plan.
Your comment reminds me of classic horror movies. The first time I watched Psycho it felt like there were so many cliches, but they weren’t cliches when the movie was made, they are now because so many recent movies copy the classics (which I had seen before I watched Psycho).
@@cam5556 possibly - tho to my mind there is a determination to defend everything Silvia has ever written, which is fine, as it doesn't hurt anyone, but maybe in the end it detracts from the brilliance of some her poetry, like Tulips, or the bee poem series.
@@cam5556 yes exactly. That's pretty much the same point. Psycho had some originality and newness that many of the later horror films don't have.
@@jamesduggan7200 I must admit that I haven't read any of her poems yet, but I might check them out! That said, you can't really take away the impact The Bell Jar had, even though you personally prefer her other works.
Them: "How fast do you wanna click on a CarolynMarieReads video?"
Me: "Yes"
🥹🥹🥹💕
Sylvia Plath's writing is heavily inspired by her own life, so I'd highly recommend reading her journals and letters :) Apart from The Bell Jar (which I love, because I'm obsessed with Sylvia Plath ^^) I also read Klara and The Sun last year, but sadly I didn't enjoy it. I adoooore Coraline, both the book and the movie. I'm actually in the middle of listening to The Graveyard Book and I totally agree that Neil Gaiman is one of the best narrators :) I'm half way through "A Game of Thrones" as well, my husband and I started rewatching it last week (It's the 3rd time for me, and the 2nd for him) :p I'm really glad you're also enjoying it so much and that you had such a good reading month. :) I managed to finish only 2 books in October: Tales from Moominvalley and Villette :)
I’m really interested in reading villette would love to know your thoughts!
@@Zainzainzain56 I loved it. One of the best Bronte books in my opinion. I really enjoyed the theme of isolation and loneliness. Highly recommend!
It’s great to see you’ve read amazing books in October. I can tell that you’re really passionate of every single book that you read. Keep up the good work and God bless you.
Halloween: I read _Frankenstein, Turn of the Screw,_ and _The House of the Seven Gables_ last month.
I'm glad you had a happy reading month, too.
So happy you posted! Needed my bubbly CarolynMarie fix! ❤
Thank you, Carolyn!🌷I’ve read The Housekeeper and the Professor” and I found it heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Definitely a great read!
As you know from Tolstoy's Calendar Of Wisdom,Marcus Aurelius crops up a bit.It's always wonderful to hear you select and read passages from books that engage you!💝
'Know My Name' and 'Educated' are some great memoirs!
I’m excited to hear your thoughts on the housekeeper and the professor when you read it, I really enjoyed it!
Yay! Another Carolyn video !! Also I love your greeting ! If you love books with a narrator told by someone with diff viewpoint, you should read “the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime!” It’s from the perspective a boy with autism
I’m so happy to hear someone else also enjoyed Marcus Aurelius!! I finished «Meditations» a couple of months ago, and I just felt privileged to read his thoughts, you know? Although the book is almost 2000 years old, you still feel that connection to the author, and how amazing is that? 🥰
The Bell Jar is my favorite book of all time ❤ I just finished reading Sylvia's diaries and that was one of the best experiences ever!
Hi, Carolyn - While I liked Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, I found it about half too prudish and tending toward the martinet. The other half is well-stated stoic philosophy, yes. He was a sharp guy but not of our times, obviously. Glad you're enjoying it.
And yes, Coraline is superb.
'martinet' - great word that's employed far too seldom
You should now have a copy of The Bell Jar from your birthday book haul. ;-) Speaking of which, when you said that it is a story of a girl in the city with metal health issues, it reminds me of your friend * e m m i e * who moved to Toronto and is now feeling a bit claustrophobic deep in the city. Even when you can't see them (even closing your eyes), the noise of the city constantly reminds one that you are 'stuck' and can't escape the tall buildings, the city and the people. As an introvert, I don't like cities (despite all the culture). Nice place to visit, not a nice place to live. To me, living in the city IS like living in a bell jar. Who would choose that?
Per non-fiction for Carolyn, I recommend The Glass Castle (also mental health), and Walden (nature 'essays'). For a fun and interesting (not scary) read, try Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (also on Rory Gilmore list).
Only recently getting into fiction. It is so interesting as a nonfiction person to hear a fiction vlogger curious about memoirs.
Thank you for sharing ☀️ I specially loved your view on Coraline, now I really want to read it 🐾
I just started watching your channel and am in love! U made me interested in reading Tolstoy! Starting War and Peace ❤️❤️❤️love u lots!
_Not My Father’s Son_ is a touching memoir on a troubled father/son relationship. The audiobook is narrated by the author, who is also an actor, so it’s well done.
I love memoirs, but my tastes might not be for everyone. One of my favorites is “smoke gets in your eyes” by Caitlin Doughty, who has a channel on RUclips called “Ask A Mortician”.
This memoir is about her experience working in a crematorium before ultimately deciding to start her own business, as she no longer agrees with how the US approaches death and funerals. It’s fascinating and eye opening for anyone who enjoys reading about death and how really it’s not as bad as we make it out to be. Also she’s really funny, you wouldn’t think reading about some of the things she writes about could offer comedic relief.
« I was somewhat in a reading slump this month »
*proceeds to read 8 books*
I'm also not a huge non fiction fan but one of the best I've ever read is called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Its a wonderful book about plants and ecosystems in North America and it's written by a First Nation women who is also a scientist. Kimmerer does a great job at blending both Indigenous and Western perspective and I guarantee you will learn something new!
One of the best non fiction books I've read this year was Empire of Pain. Highly recommend it!
I love Coraline too! The movie is amazing as well the book. The Bell Jar is one of my favorites. I love Sylvia Plath's writing, it's so ellegant!
I read the Bell Jar in October too!
Hi Carolyn, if you haven’t, I highly recommend Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom ;)
Read and loved a couple of great books last month, notably the 7 moons of Maali Almeida and the Essex Serpent. As a light read I threw in some Eva Ibbotson which was great. As the first book for November I started reading the god of small things which is beautifully written and hard-hitting. I think it might become a new favorite. By contrast, I am still struggling through the shadow of the wind- not sure if I will DNF it.
love the way she talks about books !
Ooooh I’ve read 12 memoirs this year!! Some of my favorites are Just Kids, In the Dream House, Braiding Sweetgrass, and Know My Name!
Oh nooo, you poor summer child! If only we could've prevent you from watching the 8th season of GoT. You could avoid it and start rehab watching House of the Dragon :D
Nice video! I have been wanting to read The Bell Jar as well! I have read her poetry, I wasn't too impressed. Meditations changed my life.
I love how Chris Riddell's illustrations are so whimsical and creepy all at once. I grew up reading The Edge Chronicles, which he illustrated & co-wrote with Paul Stewart. It's time I check out some of the stuff he did with Neil Gaiman's books.
Braiding Sweetgrass is an incredible nonfiction book, has some memoir elements woven in.
I have the same feelings on the Bell Jar!
You’ve got an amazing month!
I’ll say calling The bell jar a typical summer sad girl felt a little bit like an insult😂 I think some books that I’ve read about sad girls like 13 reasons why and….John Green books😂 but The bell jar felt like someone is walking inside my head, Sylvia Plath wrote it about herself….It’s the details that makes it a stand out for me…it was just so….brilliant.
Coraline I’m so happy you loved it! Neil wrote it for his daughters and it shows! I love Neil Gaiman, like he wrote the book planning every word!
Game of thrones is a great book as well and I soooo want to read Every day the way home gets longer and longer it sounds BRILLIANT!
Well, yes, it's clearly autobiographical, and unfortunately Plath's life honestly was more tragic than sad. However, when we push past that we can defend the opinion of Sylvia herself that her novel was a "potboiler." A good novel will have more than one fully developed character, and typically there is a well-defined conflict and resolution, but in The Bell Jar the reader only is let in on the secret of a mental health crisis in the 2d half, and of course that crisis clearly was left unresolved. Tho, it's still a book written by one of the great poets of the English language, so there's that.
And every morning is my most beloved book of all time.
For recommendations of memoirs, Carrie Fisher's "The Princess Diarist" is a great one. Her narration of the audiobook is fantastic. It's very funny and brutally honest and it reads very much as an older woman who doesn't care at all what people think anymore.
Yes, I've heard some very good things about that.
Picked up, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, Fredrik Backman, what a writer......
Ooo i love memoirs! One really well written one that I read this year was Heart Berries. That one was also heavy on the mental health focus. Really enjoyed this video! 😊
Also! A book with second half that focused on deteriorating memory: The Swimmers, which came out this year! :)
I read only 2 books this month lol 😭 i read animal farm by George Orwell and I enjoyed it! 💕
Gah, I've been meaning to get to the bell jar, should do it soon!!
Happy early birthday ❤️❤️ can’t wait for the haul ❤️❤️
MEMOIR REC: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado!!!!!!!
Also, you have to read The Master and Margarita ;) that’s if you haven’t of course
I read Meditations this past summer and really got a lot out of it. I liked Marcus Aurelius's mindset of being calm and not letting negative emotions get to you. It made me more interested in stoicism so I read Letters from a Stoic by Seneca and I thought it was just OK. I'm going to read Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus soon.
More recently I read Waiting by Ha Jin. It was only the second book of his that I've read and he's already becoming one of my favourite authors because his books follow the daily lives of ordinary people which is my favourite type of book.
Best memoir I’ve read is “in order to live” by Yeonmi Park - but read only after you’ve read 1984 by George Orwell because it has a dark twisted connection with the reality in North Korea, but not only that this book is wonderfully written. Highly recommend!!
I recommend The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee. It left a huge impression on me when I read it somewhere in 2020 and I still think about from time to time. I hope you'll pick it up someday 💖
empire of pain is great non fiction, the audiobook was amazing! also loved beautiful country by qian julie wang
I haven't read klara and the sun yet but it reminds me alot of a movie called "Bicentennial Man" with Robin Williams very good movie!
Love your videos!
what a coincidence I started reading Klara and the sun last week 😊
Yes, it's on my tbr too, tho Lord only knows when I'll finally get to it!
I am currently reading:
-The Hebrew Bible by Robert Alter
-The Literary Guide to the Bible by Robert Alter
-Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
-Heaven by Jonathan Edwards
-Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken
-A lifelong love by Gary Thomas
I would love if you could do a Coraline audiobook version!
October is usually crazy since it’s the start of the holidays. So it’s normal to not read a lot during that time 🤍
The buried giant by Ishiguro has a theme of memory loss. It's very atmospheric, I think you would enjoy it.
I too loved "Klara", haunting, sad and the ending left me feeling a little empty. Very few books do that to me. A book I will read it again even though I know the outcome. Worth checking out folks.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey is my favorite memoir ever, I'm about to read it for the third time soon. And I hiiiighly recommend you go the audiobook route for this one!
When you said "Oh God" you looked like Emilia Clarke with those amazing eyebrows 😍😂
I would be happy and content listening to Gaiman reading grocery lists
same.
I'm a big fan of biography/memoir books. About every 3rd book I read falls into that category. If a book can be filled with words about a person, chances are likely that there is something exceptional about that person's story. There is usually some bit of wisdom I can glean from reading it. And also many are just fun. Here are some of my favorites: Slouching Toward Bethlehem (autobiographical essays by Joan Dideon); Hill Women, Me (audiobook read by Elton John OMG!), Leonardo DaVinci (by Walter Isaacson), Out of this Century (by Peggy Guggenheim OMG !) My Life in France (by Julia Child), Tomboy Bride (a wife in 19th cent Rocky Mtns OMG), Positively 4th St (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan et al), Paris to the Moon (Gopnik), Dispatches from the Edge (A Cooper audiobook OMG), Ninth St Women (long audiobook but if you are interested in art and NYC, OMG). And I'm eager to read Picasso's War. Given what I know of you, I think Out of this Century, Leonardo Davinci and Ninth St Women should definitely be on your TBR. I think you would ENJOY listening to Tomboy Bride, Hill Women, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, Paris to the Moon, and Me. I'm almost finished with Ninth St Women but its been a long book to finish up. Now that its almost over, I wish I had taken notes. I've loved it. NOTE: I didn't love Slouching til I was about halfway through the book. But the essays on CA and her arrival and departure from Manh are amazing. Tomboy Bride changed my perspective of the West and still lives vividly with me decades after reading it. If you audiobook Leonardo, have the PDF accompaniment so you can look at the works referenced. With Ninth St Women, I have often stopped the audiobook and googled the artist or poet being discussed so I could see their works from that time period. Hill Women is a very insightful and honest look at modern Appalacchia, Out of this Century, I believe is out of print but you may still be able to get a used copy or a copy at one of the many Guggenheim Museums. Its worth the difficulty in finding it. She is a fascinating and very important woman.
For memoirs and autobiography I recommend "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. I read it earlier this year and thought it was fantastic.
I also really enjoyed "I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai which I read a few years ago.
Ohhh, I’m so excited you want to get into philosophy! Read Seneca and Ralph Waldo Emerson!
The best memoir I’ve ever read was The Liars Club by Mary Karr. She’s the QUEEN of memoir. My favorite non-fiction book I’ve read was Sapiens. Another great memoir (surprisingly about a good childhood in this case) is Little Heathens about her life growing up on a farm in Iowa during the Great Depression. Oh, and for a great memoir narrated by the author (and a celebrity) is Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Hilarious and heartbreaking.
For non-fiction, I think you should read "Just kids" by Patti Smith 💜
I completely agree, this is such a great autobiography! Patti has a such way of telling her life stories with vulnerability and openness, this is one of my fav nonfictions
One of my favorite books of all-time.
maybe you can start the video with reading a small except of something you are reading that leads to a thought provoking questions or point of discussion. I love your videos and you inspire me to read. I have 10 pages left of Frankenstein and I am looking for a new read for November. The Bell Jar? Although I found that Mary Shelley wrote another book set in in the late 21st century called The Last Man. It would be interesting to she what an 19th century gal thinks about our time. Anxious People is also on my shelf....
I think you'd really like 'Wasted' by Marya Hornbacher. It's a memoir of a young woman whose descent into an eating disorder during her younger years goes on to reveal other underlying mental health issues. Marya wrote another follow-up to 'Wasted' which talks about life after getting a BPD diagnosis and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but 'Wasted' is a really powerful, popular memoir that I think you'll really impactful - based on how you felt about 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' and 'The Bell Jar'. Another book that I'm not sure you will have read or not that falls into a similar vein is 'Girl Interrupted'. The book is not the same as the film which you might have seen and it's really interesting to see how the two things differ. The author didn't like the film adaptation which I can totally understand, but if you enjoy reading a book and then watching the film afterwards for comparison, that's a title I can definitely recommend. x
Oh and sorry for rambling but I forgot to mention some other books about Sylvia Plath that you might enjoy. 'Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath In New York, Summer 1953' is a biography of Sylvia Plath that is the real life behind the story which was semi-autobiographically told in 'The Bell Jar'. If you found that you didn't 'click' with 'The Bell Jar' and you're looking for something non-fiction that you'll enjoy, this might be one you'll appreciate. There is also 'Mad Girl's Love Song' by Andrew Wilson which tells Sylvia's story as she went through college, decided she wanted to become a writer and then met Ted Hughes (whose adultery and treatment of her may have ultimately been the thing that pushed her over the edge). It's a fascinating and powerful read and again, one that I think you'd really enjoy. Okay, I'll stop sending you book recommendations now, lol.
I haven't read I'm Glad My Mom Died but based on your description and your yearning for similar reads, I think you would enjoy The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls if you haven't read it. She describes a very complicated family dynamic beautifully.
Nonfiction: Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (top 10), The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (graphic novel)
Hello from British Columbia Canada
🇨🇦👋👍♥️🌲🧘♀️💥💥💥💥💥🥳
I read The Bell Jar 1979 for Eng Lit. Women's Studies 👍also katherine Mansfield "the fly" short story...all of
.the reading selections were excellent. Love biographies ♥️ Ron Howard's (self and brother narrating)
Ada Blackjack; sole survivor of a northern expedition (indigenous woman)
I absolutely love Coraline 💕
Loved this video! 🥰
For more dementia/memory loss books: Hersenschimmen (Out of Mind) by Bernlef is a great Dutch book about this. It's short, but really emotional (I cried a lot) and as far as I can tell, it's quite an accurate representation. It should be available in translation in the US as well, I think :)
Have you read A Gentleman in Moscow? I think you would really enjoy it.
There's a review of that just posted, and it made it sound intriguing, to say the least.
There's a great recent biography of Sylvia Plath I've been wanting to read, The Red Comet.
For Christmas time, are you familiar with The Snowman by illustrator Raymond Briggs? We lost him this year, and that book and it's adaptation was always a season favorite.
I'm reading Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment. Hopefully will finish it by end of this end. Very interesting and intriguing. Recommended!
Perhaps Rashkolnikov is a weak character - perhaps that's the point of the story. A new novel, or perhaps only a short story - like the extra chapter in Burgess' Clockwork Orange - that tells us what becomes of the characters would be useful. Perhaps what makes C&P special is that it's written around a such a weak character. You can compare Rashkolnikov with Shakespeare's Hamlet and discover that the decision around which the novel is built - to kill the money-lender - is deserving of greater deliberation.
@@jamesduggan7200 Yes, Dostoevsky is a russian Shakespeare with russian grammar at its best. Yet, Clockwork orange was a gang of people who were creating new russian words and vocabulary. Perhaps, they are all short stories in our head as a thought yet been written in such an individual style. Hope it helps.
@@Empire_production Not exactly the response I expected, nonetheless if you theorize that on the moon a hammer and a feather dropped simultaneously will land at the same moment, then you have no way to test your hypothesis. Similarly, Rashkilnikov should realize that if the test of his theory is murder, then there is no way to prove it. But, thank you for the reply.
Hi I love watching your vids, you should read these! “The boy who came back from heaven” and “I have lived 1,000 years” their are amazing books 💗💗
For memoir recommendations, check "Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller and "Lost & Found" by Kathryn Schulz 🙂
I'm not certain if this recommendation will work with your memory loss explorations, but the book Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay features memory loss as a major plot point. However, it is Fantasy, which is why I'm not certain if it is a good recommendation. Kay researches various cultures for his novels. As a potential plus for the recommendation, Tigana was written using his research into Italian culture.
If you tell by gregg olson! This book shook me to my core and made me cry lol
Carolyn Please Read Indian Writer Books And Make a Review on it please
Love from India
For non-fiction reads, check out Ross King. He writes about different artists like Monet, da Vinci and the Last Supper.
Nonfiction rec: Me Elton John if you're a fan of his music. The audio is FABULOUS!
I loved your hairs ❤
Braiding Sweetgrass is an wonderful nonfiction book and is narrated by the author!
Oh that’s been in my TBR for ages! Thank you for reminding me of it! 📖✨😄
Just found your videos, we seem to have very similar taste in books:) I think you would like Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. It is one of my favorite memoirs and the audio book performances by Trevor Noah is great!
I watched Coraline a few years ago for the first time. I thought the other mother was terrifying & I was in my late 20’s at the time 😅 I’m glad I didn’t watch it as a kid. I probably would’ve been scarred 😰😂
I recreated the last episode of Game of Thrones in my head. The actual episode felt rushed and left so many loose ends. I like my version much better! Lol
What about: "Hey Ho bitches! What we all reading!!"
I love it! Yes 🤣
@@CarolynMarieReads LOL!!
I know I'm a month late but I highly recommend the memoir "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah. It's funny, sad, heartbreaking, inspiring... It's one of my favorite books.
Hi, love your channel, I have read Clara and the Sun and I thought that "lifted" ment genetically modified.
I'm an huge non fiction and I love it. My top 3 books I love which is eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Audrey Hepburn and Lucille ball ball of fire but I don't remember the names of the author
An intellectual Memoir that O also highly recommend is We the Living by Ayn Rand
Klara and the Sun: Lifted is a genetic upgrading that makes the children super intelligent. Some children die from the upgrading (this is how the girls sister died).
the bell jar made my physically nauseas. probably my least favorite book ive ever read. i have depression and anxiety, but this really magnified the consequences of that, espcially when she went under her house. knowing the writer died by putting her head in an oven only made it worse. cannot recommend to anyone
jennette mccurdy's book really helped me understand my own relationship with my narcassistic mom. my moms case isnt as severe but there are alot of similiarities of her own experience with mine
You will absolutely want to watch HotD after season 8. Season 8 might make you sad so you need something else to get hyped up
I invariably want to read more to educate myself but I always end up quitting and get alittle bored of reading , what's the solution to this problem ? I feel like I have wasted so much time
Hi! If you did not "ramble" or were not yourself and just listed titles of books and your opinions on them in a succinct manner, it would be as much fun as an accountant reading columns of numbers. 😴 Don't change. Happy reading to you as well. 🙂
Don't see the fuss with the bell jar, didn't finish it.
Highly recommend Michelle Obama’s book if you haven’t yet read. I’ve also heard Trevor Noah and Brandi Carlisle’s books are fantastic!
My interpretation of being ‘lifted’ is genetic editing or more precisely, genetic selection of an embryo. Which could be why Josie suffers from a chronic illness (could be a side effect of interfering with someone’s genetic makeup).
Hi Carolyn, I have a gift for you, it has to do with Dickens A Christmas Carol, but it’s not a book! I haven’t been able to find your P.O. Box address, would you please let me know the address or where I could find it? I am so excited to gift you this absolute gem! 💖