Giving Up by Jillian Becker, 1898490317, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

a wonderful insight

I found this (yet again!) another compelling book about Sylvia Plath. So honest, pure and true to memory. i could not put it down and read it instantly (it was only short) but i found it refreshing to read a new perspective about Plath and her life/works. the views on her and hughes, their break up, what someone else saw and thought.

Giving Up: the Last Days of Sylvia Plath.

This is a tactful and personal account of the final weeks of Plath's life. Written by a friend who supported her during this time it clarifies both the frailty and autonomy of Plath, whose life has been over-romanticised by myth and assumptions. Well worth reading.

"Plath in all her Humanity".

"Giving Up" may be very brief, but its pithy prose and sharp insights give us a portrait of Sylvia Plath that avoids hagiography or demonization. The feminist icon of Plath as saintly, if neurotic victim, as damaged genius, does little justice to her erudition, her intellect, and her poignant longing for happiness. Becker's work presents us with an extraordinary mind, not simply overflowing emotions, and her view of Plath is utterly plausible, for it is the view of a critical, but always devoted friend.

Becker's depiction of Hughes is also persuasive, including some scathingly perceptive comments on his pseudo-humility and arrogant spite. "Giving Up" is also a masterly piece of brisk literary criticism, and its demolition of the cruel excesses of Hughes's "Birthday Letters" is especially impressive.

It is difficult to categorize such an original work -- memoir? Essay? Literary analysis? "Giving Up" is all of these, and Becker's writing is always lucid, often extremely affecting, and illuminated by flashes of mordant wit. The conclusion of this work is deeply moving, and -- like "Giving Up" as a whole -- it makes one see Plath through new eyes.

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