ok, so i like to reread books- mostly because i am an impatient reader the first go-round, and read books through quickly to see what happens in the plot line. the second and subsequent readings are get the finer points of plot development that i missed while finding out what happens in book. this week i dug up sylvia plath's the bell jar- a book about the poet's dip into madness while she was in college- not to be confused with her dip into madness as an adult mother just before she killed herself. the bell jar reminds me of catcher in the rye- for its first person narrative as well as for its strung out and acutely described late-night outings in new york city. in each book there is a feeling that the madness involved was a coping mechanism- that the madness was somehow the only option for the hero/heroine. in the bell jar there is a poignant scene where upon the heroine is standing nearly naked in her hotel room window throwing her ill-fitting but newly purchased clothing out of the window- one piece at a time. it is something that only a madwoman would do- throw new clothes out the window- 'sane' women hold onto them whether they fit or not until the closet just cannot contain them anymore. the heroine seems the sort of woman who is compliant to the will of others about what she should be doing with her college career, her time in nyc, her choice of boyfriend and her life in general. i see this book as a handbook for independent minded women if only to show them what NOT to do. next i think i will dig up catcher in the rye, and see how h. caufield's madness compares.......