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I am truly saddened to hear that some people believe “The Bell Jar” is a superior work of art compared to this collection of short stories, dismissing it as “lackluster” and “mediocre.” I firmly believe that people are misinterpreting Plath’s short stories. One must truly delve deep into them to fully understand and appreciate these tales. Not all of these stories are masterpieces, but some are incredibly unique, unlike any other short stories I have ever encountered. “The Bell Jar” was a decent piece of work, yet there are numerous authors who have surpassed her in the “explicit-depressive-novel” genre (e.g., Fernando Pessoa, Celine (original translation), Sarte, etc.). Let’s take “Tongues of Stone” as an example. In this story, we follow a young woman with a mental illness who is ultimately institutionalized. We discover her envy for nature: “She envied the green grasshoppers.” Due to her ability to closely observe nature, she becomes aware of one of her limitations as a human—the lack of freedom. Our protagonist’s disposition is: Why live if you are, in fact, like a farce to all these free creatures around you? When our protagonist attempts suicide, she expresses her dissatisfaction with her own nature; her “dumb instinct in her body that fought to go on living.” Another story I thoroughly enjoy reading is “Superman and Paula Brown’s New Snowsuit,” which I believe has a similar literary impact. However, in this one, she touches on the theme of immortality. Superman was a metaphorical character, like a dreaming, walking America in those years when America was basically Superman, seen as immortal. And she concludes this story powerfully:
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“I lay there alone in bed, feeling the black shadow creeping up the underside of the world like a flood tide. Nothing held, nothing was left. The silver airplanes and the silver capes all dissolved and vanished, wiped away like the crude drawings of a child in colored chalk from the colossal blackboard of the dark.”“The Wishing Box,” “The Sunday at the Minton’s,” and “Among the Bumblebees” are also among my favorites from Plath’s collection of short stories. I can easily envision Plath on the same short fiction level as Angela Carter, although considering Plath’s short life, this comparison may seem absurd. Ten more years, and it might have been a different story! Plath展现出了比在《钟形罩》中更丰富的创造力。她甚至自己承认，她不希望那部特定的小说代表她的作品；它并不巧妙，甚至缺乏想象力；它只是存在而已。在她的短篇小说中，她塑造了一些（在某些人看来）不讨人喜欢的角色，并将他们置于自己自私的混乱困境中。从那里，她构建世界并对其进行操控以引发意义。 If you want to read a poet similar to Plath, although not as dense, read Ingrid Jonker. She is so understated (and by the way, she also committed suicide). If you want to read someone who has that intense lyrical severity like Plath, read Sarah Kane’s play 4:48 Psychosis (and by the way, she also committed suicide). If you want to read a memoir that is literary and very intelligent, read Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation. I know it might sound ridiculous to some, but Wurtzel is a very talented woman. Plath's prose is what吸引了我. And these short stories bring out a little bit more of that, especially more than, say, "The Bell Jar" had.
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“I lay there alone in bed, feeling the black shadow creeping up the underside of the world like a flood tide. Nothing held, nothing was left. The silver airplanes and the silver capes all dissolved and vanished, wiped away like the crude drawings of a child in colored chalk from the colossal blackboard of the dark.”“The Wishing Box,” “The Sunday at the Minton’s,” and “Among the Bumblebees” are also among my favorites from Plath’s collection of short stories. I can easily envision Plath on the same short fiction level as Angela Carter, although considering Plath’s short life, this comparison may seem absurd. Ten more years, and it might have been a different story! Plath展现出了比在《钟形罩》中更丰富的创造力。她甚至自己承认，她不希望那部特定的小说代表她的作品；它并不巧妙，甚至缺乏想象力；它只是存在而已。在她的短篇小说中，她塑造了一些（在某些人看来）不讨人喜欢的角色，并将他们置于自己自私的混乱困境中。从那里，她构建世界并对其进行操控以引发意义。 If you want to read a poet similar to Plath, although not as dense, read Ingrid Jonker. She is so understated (and by the way, she also committed suicide). If you want to read someone who has that intense lyrical severity like Plath, read Sarah Kane’s play 4:48 Psychosis (and by the way, she also committed suicide). If you want to read a memoir that is literary and very intelligent, read Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation. I know it might sound ridiculous to some, but Wurtzel is a very talented woman. Plath's prose is what吸引了我. And these short stories bring out a little bit more of that, especially more than, say, "The Bell Jar" had.
