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Hemphill ambitiously undertakes a fictionalized portrait of Sylvia Plath in poems, many of them inspired by Plath's own works. Hemphill stays true to the basic framework of the poet's life, highlighting her major milestones: her childhood, college years, her hospitalization and first suicide attempt, as well as her first meeting with poet Ted Hughes—whom Plath would marry (in a poem from his viewpoint, he describes her as "Blond and tall as a magazine/ swimsuit model. I nibble/ at the whippet's neck./ Her lips fury-red, she bites/ me—teeth tearing my cheek./ I retreat, imprinted, stunned")—and her suicide ("She could not help burning herself/ From the inside out,/ Consuming herself/ Like the sun./ But the memory of her light blazes/ Our dark ceiling," Hemphill writes, in the style of Plath's poem "Child"). Accompanying each entry, the author includes footnotes with background information about the people and events alluded to in the poems. Plath committed suicide during a prolific time in her life. Her autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, had just been published, and she was working furiously on a collection of poems (Ariel) which would be published posthumously. Hemphill's innovative portrait may not shed any new light on this tragic figure, but it could well act as a catalyst to introducing Plath to a new generation. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationCaylin.D
Posted December 22, 2008
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Your Own Sylvia is an enormously amazing book about the tourchered soul of Sylvia Plath. From the days of her young girl hood, to that Febuary day where she famously stuck her head in an oven and killed herself. I am a big fan of Plath's work, Hemphill does an amazing job of protraying real life situations in Sylvia's point of view also her brothers, her friends, her many boyfriends, and mother. I would recomend this book to anyone who is a serious reader, loves a good deep book, and is abit of a fan of Sylvia's work. I'm 14 and i understood it but some people my age wouldnt so age range 16 +.
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Posted May 16, 2008
This is the best book I read this year. It will make you want to read all of Sylvia Plath's books, journals, and poems. It is so sad that her talented life was cut short.
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Posted October 24, 2008
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Overview
On a bleak February day in 1963 a young American poet died by her own hand, and passed into a myth that has since imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of millions. She was and is Sylvia Plath and Your Own, Sylvia is a portrait of her life, told in poems.With photos and an extensive list of facts and sources to round out the reading experience, Your Own, Sylvia is a great curriculum companion to Plath's The Bell Jar and Ariel, a welcoming introduction for newcomers, and an unflinching valentine for the devoted.
From the Hardcover edition. ...