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Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting Study of Plath
Review: I bought a used version of this book because I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. I have not read tons of Plath criticism, but I felt this was the first I have read to really articulate what makes her poetry so compelling for me. Chapter Two on Orality and Writing I thought was just deadly accurate about Plath's work. I kept thinking, "Exactly! Wonderful!" Rose takes a few psychoanalytic ideas from Kristeva and Freud and makes them really work--this chapter should be a model for how to use psychoanalytic theory in interpreting literature in a productive and succinct way. I would have liked to see this chapter expanded--the ideas in it can be a little dense and quick (like Plath) and I would have liked to see Rose expand this to an analysis of more poems. I felt truly enlightened after reading this. The fourth chapter on Plath, feminism and fantasy is also excellent: Rose gave me so much to think about. She really opened up a way to read Plath again and she negotiated the question of Plath's relation to feminism very well. (To me) her ideas were unique and original.
My only criticism is that throughout I would have liked to see Rose analyze more poems. This book in fact struck me as a blueprint or outline for what should be a longer, more extensive analysis of the work. But overall, it will leave you inspired to do your own readings of Plath. I feel grateful for the provocative and helpful insights of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Study of Plath
Review: This a truly fascinating account of Sylvia Plath's life, as a person, as a poet, as a literary persona, and as a wife and a mother. It is also an in-depth analysis of just WHO Sylvia Plath was ... who gets to define Sylvia for us? Does Sylvia herself do it? Do Sylvia's great poems do it? Does Sylvia's mother do it? Does Ted Hughes do it? Do Sylvia's friends and acquaintances do it? Do Sylvia's critics do it?Who was Sylvia Plath? That is the real question this book attempts to ask and answer. Its answer is only partially successful, and it admits that. There are some things we will simply never know about Sylvia. Fortunately, we have her great poems to enrich our lives, and we have great books like this one to ponder her life, her work, and the question of just who this poetic genius really was. I highly recommend this book to everybody.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating, In-Depth Sequence
Review: This a truly fascinating account of Sylvia Plath's life, as a person, as a poet, as a literary persona, and as a wife and a mother. It is also an in-depth analysis of just WHO Sylvia Plath was ... who gets to define Sylvia for us? Does Sylvia herself do it? Do Sylvia's great poems do it? Does Sylvia's mother do it? Does Ted Hughes do it? Do Sylvia's friends and acquaintances do it? Do Sylvia's critics do it? Who was Sylvia Plath? That is the real question this book attempts to ask and answer. Its answer is only partially successful, and it admits that. There are some things we will simply never know about Sylvia. Fortunately, we have her great poems to enrich our lives, and we have great books like this one to ponder her life, her work, and the question of just who this poetic genius really was. I highly recommend this book to everybody.
Rating:
Summary: Harrowing
Review: This is a fascinating account of the controversal life and death of one of America and England's most wondered-about poets. Gives many new details and fresh insights. Highly recommended!
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