The Awakening and Selected Stories of Kate Chopin (1899)

a perfect story ( )

this was great!! i only gave it a 4/5 though because i felt abruptly jarred out of the awakening and into the other stories int he collection. it was only on going back and re-reading the ending of the awakening that i felt, ah, yes. okay. that's over now. clearly i wasn't ready for it to be over. the other stories in this collection were interesting. i don't tend to fare well with short stories as i feel like i am missing something or they are too ambiguous/unfinished. i wish this were the case as many writers i like and respect are masters of the genre and, yeah -- i feel like a failed reader. that's my long ramble way of saying some of the other stories in the collection were fine and some weren't. on its own, the awakening is a 5-star read. this collection is a 4-star as the other stories i would only rate as a 3-star collection. if that makes sense? ( )

Chopin is good shit. Kirs picked it up for me after finding with horror that I'd never read her; she has literally never steered me wrong with books, so it's hardly surprising. (I wish I could say I had the same track record with her. Sorry about Kavalier and Clay!)

"The Awakening" makes an interesting pair with Madame Bovary; the themes are nearly identical, but the execution is as different as it can be. Edna is an ambiguous character, and it's easy to feel that she's making some questionable decisions. Even her attitude toward her children is similar to Emma's. But overall, she's way more sympathetic than Emma.

And I love novellas, man. They're a perfect afternoon.

Her short stories are mostly good too: short, sharp things with fierce denouements. "Désirée's Baby" and "A Respectable Woman" were my favorites.

I totally dug this.

----------------------

Edition notes: eh. For one thing, this is mysteriously missing "Story of an Hour," probably her most-admired short story; I'll have to try to find that online. The intro is cursory, and the book itself is one of those little things where you have to fold half of it way back to get the margins to show.

Most importantly: there's an endnote to "The Awakening" that spoils the ending if you're paying any attention. Specifically, it's note 4 to chapter XXI. Some of the others are helpful, but avoid that at all costs if you haven't read the book before. ( )

This classic was published in 1899, but many people may not have had the opportunity to read it. Even though it’s over one hundred years old, the themes it raises are very relevant to us today and should spark a lot of discussion.

The Awakening is remembered as an early feminist work. When Chopin published it, its subject was so radical that the book was denounced and the author was shunned by both readers and publishers. It is about a young wife and mother, Edna Pontellier, who finds herself changing during a pivotal summer at the Grand Isle resort in Louisiana.

No longer content to remain in her traditional role, Edna awakens to a desire to live as she feels inside and finds it impossible to conceal her innermost passions from the world. But her desires conflict with the conventions of society. Women have come a long way since then, but we can still relate to how Edna feels and the obstacles she faces. ( )

Disappointing. I have no sympathy for Edna, mostly because I don't like her or the way she reacts to her "awakening." I suppose an argument could be made for the oppressiveness of Edna's time not allowing her space to become the woman she is trying to become, but I can't help but think that she didn't try very hard to carve out that space. I feel the injustice of making such a proclamation from 2008 and I suspect that I may be missing the point, but I can't help but think of books like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre where women living in societies not disposed toward women's liberation or independence in any way manage to discover who they are; maintain their own, individual senses of self; and find happiness in the time they were born into. Ultimately, The Awakening seems to be about how oppressive times destroy a woman--which does not make for a particularly affirming or enjoyable read. ( )