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

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A major literary event--the complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath, published in their entirety for the first time.

I don't know if I found her or if she found me, all I know is that we have always belonged together. They say that you're an amalgamation of all the books you read, but of all the authors I've ever read she's the one I feel the most myself with. The complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath—essential reading for anyone who has been moved and fascinated by the poet’s life and work. wow, I guess I really took my time to finish this book. no, I mean... I reaAAAlly took my time – Goodreads is telling me I started reading it in April 2018, and have only managed to finish it in August 2020; and what a ride this has been!! Because of her suicide at the age of 30, many critics have labeled her either immature or hysterical--while other critics have taken it upon themselves to defend her integrity. Those who have championed her work find they do so at personal cost. Unfortunately, her personal life, and the circumstances surrounding her death have had an adverse effect on how she is read.The complete, uncensored journals of Sylvia Plath-essential reading for anyone who has been moved and fascinated by the poet's life and work. A literary event...The book has a raw immediacy that will only add to Plath's iconic reputation." -Harpers & Queens It is easier to read a biography than this. There is so much missing. The advantage of this is that you hear Plath’s own words. Next in line for me is to look at the couple’s marriage from Ted Hughes’ perspective. I have already begun Her Husband: Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath - A Marriage.

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. It's astounding how much I relate to Sylvia in these journals. I think all feminine beings need to read this. Her entries are honest and raw: revealing her sensitivities, obsessions, routines, insecurities... i127252940 |b1110003597179 |dmrlaq |g- |m |h8 |x1 |t0 |i0 |j300 |k191011 |n04-02-2022 20:30 |o- |a818.5403 Pla There is a dichotomy between the mechanical and mathematical aspects of poetry and something outside reason. Plath merges form with associative lyricism until the scaffolding of her old style falls away and we are left with Ariel.Our mission is to foster a universal passion for reading by partnering with authors to help create stories and communicate ideas that inform, entertain, and inspire. An additional problem is posed by the fact that insight on crucial moments in her life—such as the birth of her children, her separation from Hughes, and her final days—is often missing due to the fact that Plath simply did not keep a journal during some periods (such as during her senior year of college), and that at least two of her journals have gone missing or been destroyed by Hughes. Moreover, given the control he exercised over Plath's work after her death, it would not be entirely unfounded to suspect Hughes of tampering even with those journals which he released for publication. I don’t believe in God as a kind father in the sky. I don’t believe that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek get ignored and trampled. They decompose in the bloody soil of war, of business, of art, and they rot into the warm ground under the spring rains.” 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.