The nerd in me...

reviews a book... The Bell Jar...

I just finished it yesterday. It is a classic that I probably should have read in high school or university, but being that I was always busy reading about the sad state of affairs around the world or a moving river that flows ceaselessly (thanks, onigiriman-- by the way, had the opportunity to recite this today to a Japanese colleague as an example of bungo and got quite a reaction!), I didn't have much time to read for enjoyment. Anyway, thanks to K-Fo,

I finally got my hands on this book and read it. You should too-- it was a quicky-- 270 pages and finishable in a mere few hours.

I suppose Esther, the main character, is the ultimate female version of Holden Caulfield, and therefore every young woman can empathize with her in some way; but besides the fact that I am not depressed and don't see myself needing to be "shocked" into reality anytime soon, I found that I am not unlike Esther, or Sylvia Plath for that matter, as Esther is surely based on her own life.

I suppose that no matter how many successes one has, there comes a point when one faces adulthood, and the future stretches forward in a blur. Suddenly, (gasp!) there is no assumed, given direction to turn. I guess for me this came during my last semester at GW. Law school? Grad school? Real work? Japan? New York? DC? Each hangs lazily in front of you, and you are charged with putting forth some initiative and picking something. So, for someone (like me) who has trouble making decisions and has to weigh each matter dozens of times, wouldn't it be so much easier to just avoid making any choice? But, then I guess I would be vegging at home in Cowpie PA letting a stagnant scent of manure wash over me. Much better to pinch the nose, plunge into the cold water and get woken up, if not shaken up, by a change of wind. We'll worry about the next direction when the time comes.