The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

I'm a bit nervous writing a review of this one as it is after all a modern American classic and I am after all just me. I'm not a student of English, nor a graduate in English studies and this review is not meant to be used as a study guide!

I am also nervous about writing my thoughts on this book because of the way this book made me feel.

For the first time in many years I connected with a character in a book. I lived this story with Esther and I understood without any hesitation where it was that she was coming from.

It is a book about confusion, madness, life styles, love and sex. It is a snapshot of a few months in the life of a young woman who does not know where it is that she is going, what she is supposed to do, or how she is supposed to fill the expectations that are demanded of her.

The weight of expectation that she feels in relation to her career, love life, sex life and family life drives her mad. The reality of her madness was very real to me. I could see how and why it happened to her and how she got to a position where to her, suicide was the only real option.

It was a great comfort to me to read this book. It was good to see such honesty and truth about an aspect of life which I think most of us face, in one shape or form, at some stage or other in our lives. The thing is, most of us just don't acknowledge it. It is unacceptable to acknowledge such a thing in polite company, and there is always that stigma associated with depression which makes it almost possible to address it as a topic in a real way.

I realise that many people read this book in school or college and probably analyse it to death. But I would suggest that it is not just a story for young impressionables, it's a story for all women to consider. And if you're a man it's a story which may give you an insight into what it is to be a woman and how difficult it can be at times, if you're open to it that is.

This goes in my top ten favourite books of all times and I'll be re-reading it again soon.

Once

Once is a low budget movie/musical set in Dublin and starring Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames and Marketa Irglova. It's directed by John Carney who used to play with Glen in the Frames and is marked as an up and coming director and one to watch, apparantly. The film won the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Festival this year and I was really excited about seeing it, as I'm a well documented Frames fan!

I remember when it was being shot in Dublin 2 years ago, I know where I was when Glen was doing the busking scenes on Grafton Street. I also knew all the music featured in the movie very well as well as the majority of the locations where it was located. For this reason I found it to be a personal film and I really enjoyed watching it.

The story is best described as a snapshot of two people's lives. A moment in time when two paths cross and how they were both affected by it. It also shows a side of Dublin which I in my cosseted world just wouldn't know in an intimate way. It shows the poor of Dublin, the immigrant community, the disenfranchised and the lonely.

The music is mostly taken from an album written by Glen and Marketa called the Swell Season. I think it's one of the most beautiful albums I've heard in a very long time and I just don't get tired of listening to it.

The film itself is very simpy made. Glen does a good job in his role and is a fantastic live performer. But Marketa steals all their scenes together. She has a very pure and sweet voice and a quiet clarity of beauty that is very attractive and compelling.

It's a film I would happily recommend to anyone even someone with an anti Frames prejudice.