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Description
"In 1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life in her London flat. Her death was the culmination of a brief, brilliant life lived in the shadow of clinical depression--a condition exacerbated by her tempestuous relationship with mercurial poet Ted Hughes. The ensuing years saw Plath rise to martyr status while Hughes was cast as the cause of her suicide, his infidelity at the heart of her demise. For decades, Hughes never bore witness to the truth of their marriage--one buried beneath a mudslide of apocryphal stories, gossip, sensationalism, and myth. Until now. In this mesmerizing fictional work, Connie Palmen tells his side of the story, previously untold, delivered in Ted Hughes's own uncompromising voice"--
Media reviews
Connie Palmen geeft Ted Hughes een stem: puur literair genot.
De stijl is altijd verzorgd in Palmens proza, maar ditmaal wemelt het van mooie, lyrische zinnen die op een prettige manier gedateerd aandoen. Slechts eenmaal valt ze buiten dat welluidende register, wanneer gemeld wordt dat Hughes en
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Plath naar klassieke muziek op ‘keihard’ volume luisteren. Juist door dat ene missertje, dat de moeite niet waard is om erover te zeuren, besef je hoe fraai Jij zegt het geschreven is – puur literair genot.
Maar ook is het ‘de dreigende, moordzuchtige stem van een echt zelf dat zich (…) opricht als een slang en sist’ in de poëzie die haar beroemd zou maken. Pure destructiedrift dus, die Palmen ons indringend doet ervaren, als onderdeel van haar rijke palet: dat wat menselijk al te menselijk is. Show Less
Connie Palmen heeft een meeslepend boek geschreven over de Engelse dichter Ted Hughes en zijn Amerikaanse vrouw Sylvia Plath. Toch heb ik Jij zegt het met een onvoldaan gevoel uitgelezen.
Palmen koos een vorm die een helder inzicht onmogelijk maakt: een fictieve monoloog door Hughes. Hij mag zich
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verdedigen en Palmen is zijn advocaat die hem de woorden ingeeft.
Dat doet ze zo knap dat je je als lezer soms moet voorhouden dat hier niet de echte Hughes aan het woord is, maar een door Palmen bedachte.
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Waar je na lezing van Jij zegt het, de nieuwe roman van Connie Palmen, zin in krijgt is het (her)lezen van poëzie. En wel de gedichten van Sylvia Plath en Ted Hughes. En in het bijzonder Hughes' Birthday letters.
Palmen zakt per roman steeds dieper weg in het drijfzand tussen fictie en
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non-fictie.
De grote kracht van Connie Palmen in het goed geschreven Jij zegt het, is dat je eigenlijk meteen wordt ingepalmd door de stem van Ted Hughes. Je vergeet dat het niet zijn stem is, maar die van de schrijfster. Dan heb als romancier je werk gedaan. Klasse. Show Less
Palmen heeft zich grondig in het materiaal verdiept en blijft trouw aan de feiten. Ze noemt exacte data, adressen, de juiste namen van buren en vrienden, de stand van de sterren. Maar meer nog dan in de feiten (voor een roman niet van wezenlijk belang) geeft Palmen Hughes weer in stijl, in
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iconografie. [...] Palmen presenteert zijn universum in gecondenseerde vorm, onbevreesd voor overdaad.
In het begin moet je hard werken om je daar voor open te kunnen stellen (...). Palmen krijgt geen genoeg van die epitheta, onvermoeibaar tot de laatste pagina.
Zo'n stijl is te conceptueel om mooi te zijn, maar alles went, en als je je eenmaal hebt overgegeven aan het stampende bestiarium gebeuren er interessante dingen.
En zo komt Palmen uit bij een van haar vaste thema's: hoe verhalen zich tot de waarheid verhouden en hoe er niet zoiets bestaat als een 'echt zelf' (zoals Hughes wel gelooft), maar dat wie we zijn wordt gevormd door de verhalen van anderen. Een bomvol dwaalboek dat niet je hart, maar wel je hoofd verleidt. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member scottjpearson
This novel, originally composed in Dutch, profiles two famous English-language poets. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes romanced, married, and had two children together. While the children were extremely young, Plath committed suicide after Hughes had an affair. This tale, written from Hughes’
The translation flows well and engages the English-language reader. In fact, I did not notice that English was not the original tongue until after I completed the book. Though a fan of poetry and aware of literary history, I am not familiar with either Plath’s or Hughes’ work, so I cannot critically examine this work for reliability. I entrust the reader to other reviews for such critiques.
Instead, I focus on more traditional measures of novels, like a compelling tale and interesting characters. This book succeeds on both counts. The author tries to put herself in a great poet’s (Hughes’) distinct voice. For the most part, he appears to be unbiased and factual, but one cannot help but feel that he cannot remain objective about his unfaithfulness and his wife’s subsequent death. It had me wondering, is he a reliable narrator or does he, too, have something to hide?
Of course, such questions are fodder for book clubs and discussions, of which this book will surely spawn many. It poignantly depicts the struggles of two prominent poets. (Hughes even went on to become poet laureate of England.) Fans of twentieth-century poetry will enjoy seeing these two dramatized. with many avenues of intersectionality and intrigue opened. It’s a reminder of how much death can haunt life.
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perspective (apparently later in life), imagines how his inner life was haunted by her downfall. It accurately captures human nature and the depths of two poets’ struggle with the unfolding of life and fame.The translation flows well and engages the English-language reader. In fact, I did not notice that English was not the original tongue until after I completed the book. Though a fan of poetry and aware of literary history, I am not familiar with either Plath’s or Hughes’ work, so I cannot critically examine this work for reliability. I entrust the reader to other reviews for such critiques.
Instead, I focus on more traditional measures of novels, like a compelling tale and interesting characters. This book succeeds on both counts. The author tries to put herself in a great poet’s (Hughes’) distinct voice. For the most part, he appears to be unbiased and factual, but one cannot help but feel that he cannot remain objective about his unfaithfulness and his wife’s subsequent death. It had me wondering, is he a reliable narrator or does he, too, have something to hide?
Of course, such questions are fodder for book clubs and discussions, of which this book will surely spawn many. It poignantly depicts the struggles of two prominent poets. (Hughes even went on to become poet laureate of England.) Fans of twentieth-century poetry will enjoy seeing these two dramatized. with many avenues of intersectionality and intrigue opened. It’s a reminder of how much death can haunt life.
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LibraryThing member saschenka
An imaginative work based on documentary evidence from, and about, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, written from Hughes’ POV. Usually referring to Sylvia as ‘bride’ cleverly brings attention to both the relationship and the controversy after her death as to which surname to use. Portrayal of
Palmen does an excellent job of showing how Hughes has been perceived without critique or admission. Many thoughts attributed to Hughes could apply equally to either of them: “ of a poet who has stood eye-to-eye with everything he has been forced to conceal.” Each had abandonment issues (Hughes’ brother, Plath’s father), a need for external validation, and a love/hate relationship with themselves.
The reader is left feeling saddened for both and complicit in the aftermath. Real lives do not have a narrative arc, only individual scenes; in this case, a Bergmanesque scenes from a marriage.
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Hughes is neither as sinner or saint, but aims to show both as deeply flawed, real people, who ultimately brought out the worst in each other. The book reminds us that most biographies, to various extents, reduce people to “hackneyed” archetypes. Hughes can be seen as both a besotted lover and a 1950s self-absorbed misogynist, a man who wanted to play the hero (“It was up to me to raise her from that death.”) without understanding the role; Plath as caught in that cruelest of nets, the almost healed. Palmen does an excellent job of showing how Hughes has been perceived without critique or admission. Many thoughts attributed to Hughes could apply equally to either of them: “ of a poet who has stood eye-to-eye with everything he has been forced to conceal.” Each had abandonment issues (Hughes’ brother, Plath’s father), a need for external validation, and a love/hate relationship with themselves.
The reader is left feeling saddened for both and complicit in the aftermath. Real lives do not have a narrative arc, only individual scenes; in this case, a Bergmanesque scenes from a marriage.
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LibraryThing member edwinbcn
Sylvia Plath wrote very personal and detailed diaries, which were published in an unabridged edition in 2000 (The unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950 - 1962. Transcribed from the original manuscripts at Smith College). They are a very impressive document that illustrate both her tremendous
The English title of Jij zegt het (nl Your Story, My Story) is more telling than the less explicit original title in Dutch. The novel reads like a fictionalized account of the diaries. It describes the life of Sylvia Plath up to her death by suicide in what seems to be a factual account. However, this version is written from the point of view of Ted Hughes, the man who destroyed her dictionaries, censored publication of the other volumes, and may have driven her to her ultimate act of desperation. Whether Hughes actually had a role in it, or whether he feared he might be framed of having a role in it, are all shrouded in the mysteries left due to the destruction of Plath's final diaries.
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talent as a writer, and her doomed life. Prior to the publication of the unabridged edition, censored selection had appeared, edited by her husband, the poet Ted Hughes. It was Hughes who destroyed the final volume of Plath's diaries about their married life together.The English title of Jij zegt het (nl Your Story, My Story) is more telling than the less explicit original title in Dutch. The novel reads like a fictionalized account of the diaries. It describes the life of Sylvia Plath up to her death by suicide in what seems to be a factual account. However, this version is written from the point of view of Ted Hughes, the man who destroyed her dictionaries, censored publication of the other volumes, and may have driven her to her ultimate act of desperation. Whether Hughes actually had a role in it, or whether he feared he might be framed of having a role in it, are all shrouded in the mysteries left due to the destruction of Plath's final diaries.
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Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2022)
Boekenbon Literatuurprijs (Nominatie — 2016)
Libris Literatuur Prijs (Winner — 2016)
Inktaap (Nominee — 2017)
Language
Original language
Dutch
Physical description
5.31 inches
ISBN
9044628100 / 9789044628104