The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: Transcripts from the Original Manuscripts at Smith College

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A literary event...The book has a raw immediacy that will only add to Plath's iconic reputation." -Harpers & Queens The first half of this book is absolutely remarkable. Especially for being just a journal. After she married, however, I think her tone changed. Her journaling was permanently altered. She made herself so little when compared to the “great Ted Hughes”. She refrained from “nagging” him, but he could nag her, because of his “superior seat”. Out of the pair he was always the better, bigger and smarter in her eyes. Her feminist words of before were somehow not put into action, and she became rather submissive and accepting too much of his behavior and betrayals. I understand her position and era of misogyny, but after being so entirely compelled by this woman’s words, I can’t lie here and say her submission didn’t bother me. I decided I was going to read this for two reasons: Sylvia Plath intrigued me; and I need to write better journal entries. The introspection halted and her diaries started resembling a drone list of clipped everyday happenings and to-do lists. The student Sylvia was interesting, incredibly eloquent and contemplative; alive and iridescent, even at her worst depressions. The working, married Sylvia was washed out and colorless. But that’s when she wrote her most important masterpieces. So I suppose she just transplanted her magic from journaling to higher purposes. The complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath—essential reading for anyone who has been moved and fascinated by the poet’s life and work.

The journal entries included in this volume are dated as early as July 1950, when Plath is an eighteen year old just about to begin college, and reveal a refined style and outlook that seems way ahead of her time. An all-American girl on the surface, she craves both independence and sexual freedom, and has ambitious in an age when success for women was defined as being wives and mothers. Thus, although often preoccupied with dating and husband-hunting she is calculating in romance, knowing the precarity of women in the 1950s. Unable to see herself in the hallowed image of a domestic subservient, she wants equality; she negotiates her femininity vis-a-vis the 'masculinity' of her aspirations and often mentions her envy for the ease of male living.

Though Plath's sensibility is dark, and though she twists nature to her own effect, like so many other poets and fiction writers, there is something uncommon about her work and the strength and momentum that builds poem-to-poem. There is a forcefulness of the persona speaking through her work, and then too, there is her strong inclination toward wholeness and harmony; although, many only see the jaded and sardonic undercurrents. this loneliness will blur and diminish, no doubt, when tomorrow i plunge again into classes, into the necessity of studying for exams. but now, that false purpose is lifted and i am spinning in a temporary vacuum. at home i rested and played, here, where i work, the routine is momentarily suspended and i am lost. there is no living being on earth at this moment except myself."

Plath discusses authors that she admires. She dissects how they write so she can learn from them. It is fun to observe her analyses of books and authors you have read yourself! Both she and I are fans of D.H. Lawrence. Like Shakespeare’s Ariel, the spirit of Plath’s work appears to be driven toward an understanding of enslavement and the necessity of freedom. The work speaks to the alchemy of person-hood and art formation. For Plath, this was a quest for liberation, and a means to end her suffering.My admiration for Plath and her oeuvre is therefore often accompanied by a sense of unease, given the degree to which her life and works are obscured by her oft-mythologised struggle with mental illness and eventual suicide. Reading her has time and again led me to see her a kindred soul, to believe that I can commune with her and that she gets me—although I am but one among the millions of women who feel the same. What is that if not the mark of a superior writer? Sylvia Plath photographed with typewriter in Yorkshire, September 1956 In her journals, Plath is vivacious, multidimensional, and intensely human, passionately recording her life and observations lest they slip away, coaxing herself to write more and do more and be more. Hers is an obsession with living, with creativity and success, and it is this that makes her such an irresistible figure. To know Plath more closely, one may want to read her journals. They give the reader a glimpse into the ways she worked and into the associative powers of her mind. The journals allow the reader to separate the person from the persona. It gives a sense of the ordinary, and humanizes the writer. Unfortunately, some of her journals went missing or were destroyed. But the journals that remain allow a close reader to see some of her ideas before they appeared in print. They give a sense to how she may have approached her work. It is because of this that I maintain that Plath was brilliant and that she created her final poems with genius. Her final book, known as Ariel, was a swift achievement. Many of the poems written in the final months of her life were characterized by a propulsion, or forward momentum, a gallop toward an end. Although Plath's mythology may at times be off-putting due to a kind of forcefulness and rancor, it is a distinct voice full of human emotion. The world she creates is recognizable, but only as far as a dream may be recognizable. In truth, what we encounter cannot be Plath herself. Her final poetry is a brilliant invention, prepared by a writer in pursuit of her very best.

A genuine literary event.... Plath's journals contain marvels of discovery." — The New York Times Book Review However, if you believe Plath is one of the more important poets of the 20th century and that she's had a lasting effect on lyric poetry, one cannot deny the import of her work. Although, beware, her work is seen through many lenses. Even admiring lenses can cloud one's judgment. A major literary event–the complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath, published in their entirety for the first time. Sylvia Plath’s journals were originally published in 1982 in a heavily abridged version authorized by Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes. This new edition is an exact and complete transcription of the diaries Plath kept during the last twelve years of her life. Sixty percent of the book is material that has never before been made public, more fully revealing the intensity of the poet’s personal and literary struggles, and providing fresh insight into both her frequent desperation and the bravery with which she faced down her demons. The complete Journals of Sylvia Plath is essential reading for all who have been moved and fascinated by Plath’s life and work. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath – eBook Details Sylvia Plath's journals were originally published in 1982 in a heavily abridged version authorized by Plath's husband, Ted Hughes. This new edition is an exact and complete transcription of the diaries Plath kept during the last twelve years of her life. Sixty percent of the book is material that has never before been made public, more fully revealing the intensity of the poet's personal and literary struggles, and providing fresh insight into both her frequent desperation and the bravery with which she faced down her demons. The complete Journals of Sylvia Plath is essential reading for all who have been moved and fascinated by Plath's life and work.

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A major literary event--the complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath, published in their entirety for the first time. she died when she was 30. She committed suicide by suffocating herself to death. She couldn't find her own ability to stand up, but she helped me find mine. It is because of this confusion between the two, that the Unabridged Journals bear the burden of illumination. They are a significant contribution to our understanding of Plath and Plath scholarship.