Semi-Autobiographical – DaneCobain.com

Title: The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 216

Rating: 5/5

This is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read for years but which I never got round to. I’ve read Ariel, Plath’s poetry collection, but I eventually had to order a copy of this online after giving up hope of ever seeing it.

Plath’s writing is beautiful here, and she does a fantastic job of capturing the complex emotions that are going through her protagonist’s mind. It’s also interesting because it’s semi-autobiographical, and indeed it foreshadowed Plath’s own tragic end. If you have any interest at all in mental health and its portrayal in literature, this one is a must-read.

All in all, my voice is just yet another one that rings out in praise of The Bell Jar, but what can I say? When people say this is an excellent novel, they’re right. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up on my top books of the year list. I also liked that in the biographical note, it mentioned that the novel was described as like a feminist Catcher in the Rye. I can see that, and I think that if you like one then you’ll like the other.

Click here to buy The Bell Jar.

Charles Bukowski – Absence of the Hero | Review

January 24, 2019 danecobain

Authors A-E (By Surname)Fiction Non-Fiction

Title: Absence of the Hero

Author: Charles Bukowski

Type: Fiction/Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 276

Rating: 3.5/5

I never know how to categorise Bukowski’s prose because it’s technically semi–autobiographical and therefore counts as both fiction and non-fiction. I also always feel like it’s important to say that Bukowski’s work always makes me think about separating the art from the artist. He wasn’t the best of guys, but his work is interesting.

Absence of the Hero isn’t my favourite of Bukowski’s collections, but mainly because it doesn’t really feel cohesive. It’s like it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, and while I enjoyed the majority of the essays and short stories in here, there was no real cohesion and I didn’t understand why they picked those particular stories over others.

I also tend to prefer Bukowski’s poetry over his prose and so maybe that has something to do with it. Still, I’d recommend picking up something like Ham On Rye or Post Office if you’re new to him, and saving this until you’re a seasoned fan. And by that point, you’ll probably have read half of the stories that are in the collection anyway.

And yet despite all of that, I enjoyed it. Bukowski’s writing always gets me thinking, and I particularly like the way that he tackles complex topics with simple language. The work here is pretty typical of Bukowski’s work overall, but I don’t think it’s the best introduction. Go ahead and make of that what you will, but do be sure to check out some of Bukowski’s work if you haven’t already. He’s a genius.