For the love of reading....Za ljubav prema čitanju....Sylvia Plath

Today I shall talk (or should I say write) about two things. Poetry and prose. Not poetry and prose in general, but the poetry and the prose of Sylvia Plath. It might come as a surprise (or even shock) to you, but I didn't care much for The Bell Jar, the only novel that Plath published. I will explain why in this post, as briefly as I can, (you can read my 4000 words long review here). I do consider Sylvia Plath to be a great writer, I just have some issues with that one book. I can't help wondering whether her untimely death had something do to with the novel's success. I've been thinking about that issue for quite some time. Like many times before, I find myself wondering just where does art stop and an artist begings and vice versa. Can we seperate Sylvia Plath from her life? Should we forget about her tragic suicide? Should the power of her poetry be more important than the story of her life? Or should we study both? Perhaps we don't have to choose. Indeed, reading her work in a multiple of ways (including biographical reading) can only benefit our efforts to understand her. What I do find problematic is how sometimes her work is intepreted only in light of her death because honestly that just doesn't feel fair. Sylvia's daugher was deeply hurt by the movie version of her mother's life and in 2003 she had written the following poem:

Now they want to make a film

For anyone lacking the ability

To imagine the body, head in oven,

Orphaning children

 [...] they think

I should give them my mother's words

To fill the mouth of their monster,

Their Sylvia Suicide Doll

Danas ću govoriti (ili bolje da kažem pisati) o dvije stvari. Poeziji i prozi. Ne poeziji i prozi općenito, već o određenoj poeziji i prozi, onoj jedne spisateljice. Možda će vaš to iznenaditi (ili možda čak i šokirati), ali nije me se posebno dojmilo Stakleno zvono jedini roman koji je Plath objavila. Objasnit ću zašto u ovoj objavi, što kraće što mogu (možete pročitati moj ogled koji ima oko 4000 riječi ovdje). Imam nekih problema s ovim romanom, ipak i dalje smatram Sylviju Plath velikom spisateljicom. Ne mogu se ne pitati je li njena prerana smrt imala nekakve veze s uspjehom romana. Već dugo razmišljam o tome. Kao i puno puta u životu, ne mogu se, a ne pitati gdje završava umjetnik, a gdje počinje umjetnost. Možemo li odvojiti Sylviju Plath od njena života? Trebamo li zaboraviti njeno tragično samoubojstvo?  Treba li moć njezine poezije biti važnija od priče njezinoga života? Ili možda trebamo proučiti oboje? Možda ne moramo birati. Jer čitanjem njena rada na više načina, pa i biografskim čitanjem, može samo dobro doći našim nastojanjima da je razumijemo. Ono što ja smatram problematičnim je kako se njen rad nekada tumači samo u svijetlu njene smrti, a to mi se jednostavno ne čini poštenim. Sylvijina kćer je bila veoma povrijeđena filmskom verzijom životne priče njene majke te je napisala sljedeću pjesmu koja je obavljena 2003:

 Sada žele napraviti film

za svakoga kome nedostaje sposobnosti

da zamisle tijelo, glava u pećnici,

djecu koja su postala siročad

...oni misle

da bi im ja trebala dati riječi moje majke

da napune usta njihovoga čudovišta

njihove suicide Sylvia Plath lutke

Fever 103  is one of Sylvia's best known poems and for good reason, I might add. I very much like it, but I must confess that I'm not quite sure that I fully understand it even now. Perhaps it is better that way, for this way I can always search for new intepretations of it. Fever 103 continues to fascinate me to this day. It is  written in typical Plath's style. Her almost simple language is contrasted with the complexity of her themes. Like some other Plath's songs, it is composed of 18 stanzas ( 3  lines each). Feel free to have a look at it (here is a pretty decent study of it). How to you like it?  It strikes me as a very powerful indeed, especially after I had listened to Sylvia's own reading of it. Moreover, I must say that I think that the best way to experience Plath's poetry is not by reading it, but by literally listening to it being read by Plath herself! It was only throught her own physical voice that I understood the depth of her poetical voice. I included one youtube video with her recital below, for more information- well, you know how internet works, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. Plath belongs to the confessional poets. Her poetry is focused on herself and on her personal experiences. For her poetry, Plath has received much critical acclaim. In fact, she is considered one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. Her short stories are equally praised. I haven't read them myself yet, but I plan to.

Groznica 103 je jedna od njenih najpoznatijih pjesama, a ja bi mogla dodati s dobrim razlogom. Meni se jako sviđa, ali nisam sigurna je li ju i sada posve razumijem. Možda je i bolje ovako jer uvijek mogu tražiti nova tumačenja ove pjesme. Dan danas me nastavlja fascinirati. Napisana je u njenom tipičnom stilu. Njen jednostavni jezik je u kontrastu s njenim složenim temama. Kao i neke druge njene pjesme sastoji se od 18  strofa (kitica) od kojih svaka ima po tri stiha. Slobodno je pogledajte (ovdje možete pronaći pristojno tumačenje uz tekst). Kako vam se sviđa? Meni se čini da je veoma moćna, pogotovo nakon što sam slušala kako je sama Plath čita. Štoviše, moram reći da mislim da je najbolji način za iskusiti poeziju Plath ne tako što ćemo je čitati, nego tako što ćemo slušati Plath kako je čita! Tek sam kroz njen fizički glas osjetila i shvatila dubinu njena pjesničkoga glasa. Ispod možete pronaći jedan youtube video s njezinim recitalom, a ako želite znati više, pa znate kako internet radi, zar ne? Inače, ne biste ovo čitali. Plath pripada ispovjednim pjesnicima. Njena poezija fokusirana je na nju samu i njena osobna iskustva.

Now, that we have talked a bit about Plath's poetry, let's talk about her novel, the only thing written by her that I didn't quite like. I know, shocking, for it is considered a great work of art, the holy grail of feminism, and what not.  It might be considered a classic, but in my opinion, it is not deserving of that title. My experience of reading it lead me to conclude that it lacks depth. It may have something due to the fact that Plath was trying to write a potboiler (she wrote so both in a letter to her mother and in her journal). I had a feeling like Plath was holding herself back when I was reading this one. She was trying to make herself more accessible, but that didn't work out well.  You can still feel a bit of her brilliance for Plath was uniquely talented. She was never meant for the masses and when she tried to work for the masses she failed....or did she? That's the question of the day. Did you read her only novel? That might not be your experience but in my view, this chaotical narrative told by a protagonist that isn’t exactly sympathetic, doesn’t have much going for it.  However, it talks about important themes and that is one of the reasons why I don't regret reading it. 

Sada, kada smo malo pričali o njenoj poeziji, popričajmo o njenom romanu, jedinoj stvari koju je napisala a koja me nije oduševila. Znam, šokatno jer se smatra velikim umjetničkim postignućem, svetim gralom femizima i što sve ne. Da, smatra se klasikom, ali po mome mišljenju to i nije zasluženo. Moje iskustvo čitanja navelo me da zaključim da mu nedostaje dubine. Možda to ima veze s time što je Plath željela napisati roman koji će se dobro prodavati (napisala je to u piscu majci i u svojim dnevnicima). Imala sam osjećaj da se Plath suzdržavala kada je pisala ovaj roman i to nije ispalo dobro. Pokušavala je učiniti svoje pisanje pristupačnim, ali nije tako ispalo. Ipak se može osjetiti ponešto njene briljantnosti jer je ona bila jedinstveno nadarena. Nikad nije bila za mase, a kada je pokušala pisati za mase, nije uspjela...ili je? To je pitanje dana. Jeste li vi pročitali njen jedini roman? Možda to i nije vaše iskustvo, ali po mome mišljenju, ova kaotična priča koju priča junakinja koja i nije baš simpatična, baš i nema previše prednosti. No, govori o važnim temama i to je razlog zašto mi nije žao što sam je pročitala. 

Plath published The Bell Jar novel under a false name, because she considered it a pot boiler (something written for the masses). Original reviews and reception of this novel were lukewarm, but nobody knew who wrote it back then. It makes me wonder how we would feel about this book if it was not Plath's name on the cover. I can help but wonder what if....What if Sylvia never killed herself? Would she have EVEN let us know that she is the author of this novel? Would she had kept it a secret? Would she go on to write better things? Ironically, it was her suicide that gave this novel its life. Perhaps that is why I kind of dislike it. It is not that this novel killed her, but I feel like it took an unfair advantage of her death. I suspect that much of the praise The Bell Jar got was to make up for Plath's suicide, like our belated praise will do her any good. Let's not judge Sylvia Plath for what she did. We shouldn't idolize her either. There is no need. She truly was exceptional in many ways.  A great writer indeed. Her poetry is raw and powerful. Let's appreciate it as such. We should not look at everything in the light of her mental illness and suicide. Plath was more than that and she deserves better.

Plath je objavila Staklenku pod lažnim imenom, jer ju je smatrala trivijalnom književnošću (nečim napisanim za mase). Originalni ogledi i doček ovoga romana su bili mlaki, ali tada nitko nije znao tko ga je napisao. Pitam se što bismo doista misli o ovom romanu da na njemu ne piše Sylvia Plath? Ne mogu se ne pitati što bi bilo kad bi bilo.... Da se Sylvia nije ubila bi li nam IKADA dopustila da znamo tko je autorica ovoga romana ili bi to zadržala u tajnosti? Bi li napisala nešto bolje? Ironično, ali njeno samoubojstvo je dalo ovome romanu život. Možda ga zato i ne volim vrlo. Nije da je ovaj roman ubio, ali imam osjećaj da je nepošteno iskoristio njenu smrt. Čini mi se da je dobio puno dobrih kritika samo kako bi se nekako nadoknadilo njeno samoubojstvo, kao da će zakašnjele kritike učiniti joj dobro. Nemojmo osuđivati Sylvia Plath za ono što je učinila. Ne bismo je trebali ni idealizirati. Nema potrebe jer doista je na puno načina doista bila izvanredna. Sjajan pisac. Njena poezija je sirova i moćna. Cijenimo je kao takvu. Ne gledajmo sve u svijetlu njene mentalne bolesti i samoubojstva. Bila je više od toga i zaslužila je bolje.