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valzhangMy first foray into Sylvia Plath! I've heard good things about The Bell Jar (though I never particularly felt the desire to read it myself), so when I saw her name at the library and that pretty red and blue cover I thought I'd try this story out.
And I'm grateful I did! It was a great story, and wonderfully concise especially after the behemoth that was Anna Karenina. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom perfectly builds characters, creates an atmosphere, and conveys a plot all in the span of 40 pages.
Train stories are always a pleasure, and this one builds the vibe of it so well, even if in this case the train isn't just a setting but also an essential and core element of the story. The whole story reads like a dream, very surreal and absurd but no less gripping for it.
Initially I thought the ninth kingdom was a metaphor for death in general. But as I continued reading and neared the ending the picture that formed in my head was that the train and its ticket were suicide, that all of its passengers had killed themselves; and that the ninth kingdom was hell. The world that Mary emerges into at the end isn't the living world but rather heaven, or just another more ideal plane of existence, having successfully escaped the damnation of hell.
The train could also be, inversely, life. Considering it's Mary's parents who set her on the trip to the ninth kingdom to begin with, one could say it's more about deciding your own path in life... that instead of going to someone else's desired destination, Mary chooses for herself to escape, and she comes out of it on the other side happier.
Of course the book is very much up to interpretation though. It trusts its reader to make something out of it, which is something I enjoy. The writing style is lovely, so descriptive and atmospheric. The part leading up to Mary's escape, and her back-and-forth with the old lady, was very tense and well-written. Fast-paced as it is, it feels well built up to and appropriately exciting.
I do wish it was a bit more in-depth. If it had 10 or so more pages, I would've loved to read what Plath could've cooked up, perhaps more details that would lend itself to the picture in her head. Because while I did compliment its vagueness and how open to interpretation it was, I would have appreciated just a little more to chew on.
Regardless, what a brilliant story that gets an 8.5/10 from me.
And I'm grateful I did! It was a great story, and wonderfully concise especially after the behemoth that was Anna Karenina. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom perfectly builds characters, creates an atmosphere, and conveys a plot all in the span of 40 pages.
Train stories are always a pleasure, and this one builds the vibe of it so well, even if in this case the train isn't just a setting but also an essential and core element of the story. The whole story reads like a dream, very surreal and absurd but no less gripping for it.
Initially I thought the ninth kingdom was a metaphor for death in general. But as I continued reading and neared the ending the picture that formed in my head was that the train and its ticket were suicide, that all of its passengers had killed themselves; and that the ninth kingdom was hell. The world that Mary emerges into at the end isn't the living world but rather heaven, or just another more ideal plane of existence, having successfully escaped the damnation of hell.
The train could also be, inversely, life. Considering it's Mary's parents who set her on the trip to the ninth kingdom to begin with, one could say it's more about deciding your own path in life... that instead of going to someone else's desired destination, Mary chooses for herself to escape, and she comes out of it on the other side happier.
Of course the book is very much up to interpretation though. It trusts its reader to make something out of it, which is something I enjoy. The writing style is lovely, so descriptive and atmospheric. The part leading up to Mary's escape, and her back-and-forth with the old lady, was very tense and well-written. Fast-paced as it is, it feels well built up to and appropriately exciting.
I do wish it was a bit more in-depth. If it had 10 or so more pages, I would've loved to read what Plath could've cooked up, perhaps more details that would lend itself to the picture in her head. Because while I did compliment its vagueness and how open to interpretation it was, I would have appreciated just a little more to chew on.
Regardless, what a brilliant story that gets an 8.5/10 from me.