These are such tricky and great questions. I think all writing is a 'part of us' even if a reflection of what we see in others. Kundera (famous for metafiction) talks of the way that all his characters are fragments of himself in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. But I guess 'autobiography' implies something else -- facts and specific plot-lines. We hear to 'write what you know' then are warned that the 'personal novel' can be trite or emo. But I don't think it is -- I think it has to be what we know or who we are, reinvented. I guess the reinvention is key.
I've always found Ariel to be so full of life -- as you discuss, such an interesting opposition to the coming real-life suicide. It's as if the life force or contained emotions were too much for Plath to channel even after a release in poetry.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments and observations, Kathleen. I agree - Ariel is bursting with vibrancy and life and energy - and perhaps this is where the author of Euphoria took a lot of her inspiration. The way the author channels Plath's love for her children is the same.
& also Matt Haig though completely different life experience, re this discussion of life force/suicide. Not only his books but his instagram very interesting.
I have just read Meg Mason's 'Sorrow and Bliss'! It was a very strong, unflinching portrait of mental illness, told with a similar black humour to Plath's Bell Jar, now I think of it!
I have to confess that I haven't yet read Marshall's book - it is on my tbr pile! But reading around Marshall and her work, it sounds as though she would fit well with writers such as Rhys.
Exactly so. That is why I suggested it. She was also associated with the Harlem Renaissance (like Zora Hurston) through her association with Langston Hughes. I like both Their Eyes Were Watching God and Brown Girl, Brownstones, but they are not similar works.
These are such tricky and great questions. I think all writing is a 'part of us' even if a reflection of what we see in others. Kundera (famous for metafiction) talks of the way that all his characters are fragments of himself in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. But I guess 'autobiography' implies something else -- facts and specific plot-lines. We hear to 'write what you know' then are warned that the 'personal novel' can be trite or emo. But I don't think it is -- I think it has to be what we know or who we are, reinvented. I guess the reinvention is key.
I've always found Ariel to be so full of life -- as you discuss, such an interesting opposition to the coming real-life suicide. It's as if the life force or contained emotions were too much for Plath to channel even after a release in poetry.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments and observations, Kathleen. I agree - Ariel is bursting with vibrancy and life and energy - and perhaps this is where the author of Euphoria took a lot of her inspiration. The way the author channels Plath's love for her children is the same.
I have to read Euphoria!
PS have you read Meg Mason?
& also Matt Haig though completely different life experience, re this discussion of life force/suicide. Not only his books but his instagram very interesting.
I have just read Meg Mason's 'Sorrow and Bliss'! It was a very strong, unflinching portrait of mental illness, told with a similar black humour to Plath's Bell Jar, now I think of it!
Love this book.
I wonder what you think of Paule Marshall's novel Brown Girl, Brownstones.
I have to confess that I haven't yet read Marshall's book - it is on my tbr pile! But reading around Marshall and her work, it sounds as though she would fit well with writers such as Rhys.
Exactly so. That is why I suggested it. She was also associated with the Harlem Renaissance (like Zora Hurston) through her association with Langston Hughes. I like both Their Eyes Were Watching God and Brown Girl, Brownstones, but they are not similar works.