Tyler’s Comments (group member since Feb 26, 2011)

Tyler’s comments from the Summer Reading '11 group.

that's one way to do it, Alaska.

I read in my edition of The Bell Jar that Plath is writing autobiographically, so much so that she had to publish the novel under a pseudonym not to give away the people she knew and grew up with. And being that Plath also lost a father when she was young and that she killed herself, I'm not sure that we can assume that Ester Greenwood ever does escape the bell jar permanently.

It seemed like Ester's depression is linked to the uncertainty of her future. She has a million dreams but can’t hone in on one. Part of her wants to be a writer, part a housewife, part a world traveler, etc. Gender issues aside, I think that many about to graduate college (or high school) or in any transitory life stage can relate to Ester. We don’t know what’s up ahead. Even those who seem well supplied with an awesome, relevant degree aren’t guaranteed the job.

I’m not saying that the uncertainty is the only factor, but my question is, How do we escape our own bell jars?—and this is referring to the anxiety and depression, which doesn’t necessarily result in suicide or suicidal thoughts. How can we help the Ester Greenwoods who we come into contact with? Psychologists often say that the key to getting out of depression is being others- focused, but would that help Ester?

You guys are making this book too more complicated than it needs to be. The real theme of this book is: "What the hell am I going to do with my English major?" Just kidding. I think you're bringing up some good things, but I don't do feminist criticism so well, so I'm going to start a new thread on psychological criticism.

I'm Tyler, founder and CEO of this book club (I've always wanted to say something like that). I'm a senior English Education major, student teaching this fall and graduating in December--finally! I just read on facebook that a girl in my high school graduating class just got her Master's, and I'm still working on my Bachelor's--total side note.

There were two reasons I started this book club: 1) it seemed like a fun summer idea that would get my friends to dig deep into the same book and 2) I wanted to get familiar with online book club possibilities for my future students.

My literary tastes began in high school with C.S. Lewis' _Till We Have Faces_, and in college, before I decided to major in English, I fell in love with Romantic, Victorian, and Modernist poetry. Right now some of my favorite authors include Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, Shakespeare, Matthew Arnold, and Thomas Hardy--if only more people would rediscover the depth and beauty of Thomas Hardy. May I remind you that he was Holden Caulfield's favorite author? When Victorian writers were mocked by modernists, D.H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, and others stood up for Hardy.

Anyway, I'll preach later when we do read Tess. I'm looking forward to an interesting summer of reading.

Ashley suggested that we switch the two books. Anyone opposed?