The Awakening shocked turn-of-the-century readers with its forthright treatment of sex and suicide. Departing from literary convention, Kate Chopin...
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Jan 10, 2011
Kim
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The Awakening ~ A Review in Two Parts ~
Me, 20 years old, circa early ‘90s
Okay, so I just read The Awakening. What a novella before its time! You’ve got Edna Pontellier, manipulated into a stodgy marriage, her husband expecting her to conform to society’s rules and trappings. She now has 2 children and is feeling the pull of wanting to be her own person. An artist, a free thinker, not meant to stay at home and accept visitors. On a More...
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Nov 10, 2011
Chuck
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This book is not Madame Bovary, though I am probably going to have to read Madame Bovary again to be more precise about that. Still, the story was very good, to the extent that at certain points you found yourself saying to either husband or wife or both, "Don't do it!" Almost all of fiction is the study of human frailty, and this is one of the more interesting ones.
The stories are good too. The most memorable involves a young woman from a Cajun town. She marries a roug More...
The stories are good too. The most memorable involves a young woman from a Cajun town. She marries a roug More...
Dec 01, 2011
Becky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 10, 2011
Julianne
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I never read The Awakening for school. This edition comes with selected stories from Chopin’s 1894 short story collection, Bayou Folk, and her 1897 collection, A Night in Acadie, and I think if I were forced to read The Awakening without first reading these, I would miss the point entirely.
By reading her stories in chronological order, a reader can trace Chopin’s development as a writer. Reading “Love on the Bon Dieu” and then “At Chênière Caminada” followed by “Athénaïse” is like s More...
By reading her stories in chronological order, a reader can trace Chopin’s development as a writer. Reading “Love on the Bon Dieu” and then “At Chênière Caminada” followed by “Athénaïse” is like s More...
Jan 10, 2011
Dini
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This book was the corpus for my undergraduate thesis. Which means I read it countless times, analyzing the words that portray the character relations and their conversations, marking the important parts, underlining important words. Then I lost the book in a fire. Hmm. It was meant to be, I guess. So, let's see how much I remember about the book. ^^
The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, the wife of an upperclass businessman in New Orleans and mother of two boys. Marrying w More...
The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, the wife of an upperclass businessman in New Orleans and mother of two boys. Marrying w More...
Jul 06, 2011
Danielle
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Kate Chopin's works are deftly written and emotionally astute.
"He felt her absence, though, like a dull, insistent pain." (104)
"Indeed, Cazeau's chief offense seemed to be that he loved her, and Athenaise was not the women to be loved against her will." (114)
"But as he made his way back to the carriage, he was thinking, 'By heaven, it hurts, it hurts!' " (143)
"The persistence of the infatuation lent it an aspect o More...
"He felt her absence, though, like a dull, insistent pain." (104)
"Indeed, Cazeau's chief offense seemed to be that he loved her, and Athenaise was not the women to be loved against her will." (114)
"But as he made his way back to the carriage, he was thinking, 'By heaven, it hurts, it hurts!' " (143)
"The persistence of the infatuation lent it an aspect o More...
Jun 12, 2011
Marcus
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Forget the other stories...I forget the actual story, but I clearly remember the end. I also remember that I interpreted the end entirely differently from those who were reading it in my university course. For me it was a proof of Edna's courageous sole and her strength to find a way out. To the others it was a closure that they found depressing.
Jan 10, 2011
Graham
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THE AWAKENING; it's kind of like an updated version of MADAME BOVARY, told from a different point of view and in a different location in the world. Nevertheless, the two novels reminded me a lot of each other, and I definitely like Flaubert's book more.
This is an important book and fans of women's literature would be wise to check it out. Chopin writes in an easily accessible way, and the way the story twists and turns is well done. My main complaint is that I never really feel drawn More...
This is an important book and fans of women's literature would be wise to check it out. Chopin writes in an easily accessible way, and the way the story twists and turns is well done. My main complaint is that I never really feel drawn More...
Jul 17, 2011
Elaine
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Nice historical novel about one woman's liberation in French Louisiana in the 1850s.
Jan 10, 2011
Dawn
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Read to the exent that it is like an old boyfriend. First read Junior year of highschool in my Augusta bedroom. Read again the next night, same place. Sections of it read during my second SAT 1997 at some North Augusta Hgh school. Read my freshmen year of college while dating Andy Coan. Read after my breakup with David, senior year of college, while in the City Cafe Diner, after which I wrote a letter to my mother which she red back to me in the summer of 2004 (while at the 4th Ave house, Tucson
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Jan 10, 2011
s.c.b.r.
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I don't admire Edna in a lot of ways. I hate that she's a weak, hesitant, selfish, irresponsible woman. But whenever I was asked to recommend a feminist book, 'The Awakening' is always the first choice that came to mind. I see Edna as an ordinary woman; one that I can still find in the society today. Just because she is unstable, incapable and irresponsible doesn't mean she isn't a woman, right?
Oct 06, 2011
Jazz
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These stories and the awakening in particular are too subtle for modern readers as well as a product of a dissent culture and mindset. Some useful points made about feminism and marriage. Short stories are all impeccably crafted.
Apr 27, 2011
Angela
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I haven't finished reading this book yet. I want to enjoy the classics, but I'm having a very hard time right now getting into these stories. Will try again later.
Mar 27, 2011
Cathy
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37% into the book, I am giving it up. It was interesting in the beginning, but now it just bores me.
Jan 10, 2011
Alexander
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A fantastic little book that shows a woman 'awakening' to her potential, as an artist, as a woman, and as a sexual, autonomous, and dynamic human being. But even more, it is a discussion on femininity and individuality in an age when neither were virtues.
Jan 10, 2011
Alex
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"The Awakening" (and the the other stories) provide a snapshot of turn of the century Louisiana. "The Awakening" deals with a woman who becomes aware of and rebels against the constrictive social pressures of 19th century America.
Jan 10, 2011
Becky
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I've only read part of The Awakening and I'm hoping that Chopin's other short stories that I've read (The Story of an Hour and Desiree's Baby) are included in this edition because they are such powerful stories.
Jan 10, 2011
Martha
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I wasn't completely thrilled with "The Awakening", but I really like the other stories in this book. However, after reading several of them, I could guess how the next one would end after the first few pages.
Nov 11, 2011
Josh
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It swirls the senses: we feel awakened along with Edna, through Chopin's plaintive rendering of the sights, smells, colors of her Louisiana setting.
Jan 10, 2011
Mark
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Some of the short stories were much better than The Awakening.
Read the feedbooks epub version: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342
Read the feedbooks epub version: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/342
Jan 10, 2011
Emilee
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I HATE THIS NOVELLA! Edna fights for freedom and then gives it all up in the end. It is absolutely ridiculous.. I hate Edna AND her ocean!
Jan 10, 2011
La Petite Américaine
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The Awakening = Madame Bovary in 19th century Louisiana. Hells yeah!
Other stories = Twisted and rockin.
Kate Chopin is the master.
Other stories = Twisted and rockin.
Kate Chopin is the master.
Jan 10, 2011
Kriste
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I found it charming and surprisingly far more relevant than most books of that era that I've read.
Jan 10, 2011
Leila
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empowering "feminist" author whose mission is not to solely improve the social conditions of women but to find personal freedom
