I loved these stories so much. My faves are obviously The Awakening, Desiree's Baby, A Pair of Silk Stockings, and The Kiss.

Not quite this edition - downloaded from Project Gutenberg and read on my Kindle.

My first reading of Kate Chopin, although I have known her name for a while. She creates extraordinary impressions of heat, humidity, passion, freedom and despair with little obvious effort - her use of language is amazing.

Quite an intense read, not the sort of thing I could just lose myself in - not without feeling light-headed when I put it down!

now this lady was gutsy. she knew what feminists started fighting for a hundred years later. love the louisiana setting as well.

"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say 'Here, Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both."

3/5 stars

Technically the edition that I read also contained some of Kate Chopin's short stories, but as I only chose to read a few of them and I find it hard to judge short stories (due to their brevity), I'm rating only the main novel.

Plot: 3/5 - The Awakening is often cited as a classic of feminist fiction, and I can easily see why. The story focuses on Edna Pontellier, a wife and mother in New Orleans at the end of the 19th century, as she ascertains what she wants in life- even if it means going against society norms and propriety. The themes of the plot are what kept me engaged, but as for the actual events this is definitely a story that would be described as "character driven". The story unfolds, as so many classics do, over the course of very mundane day-to-day events. Hosting visitors. Reading letters. Playing the piano. It's all very of it's time. I either needed a lot more of Edna's introspection or a lot more spice when it came to her choices (like moving out was exciting and all but... you didn't actually leave your husband). Also... the ending was... a choice

Characters: 3/5 - I found Edna and Mademoiselle Reisz to be the most interesting characters, by far. I didn't dislike Robert but I never felt like I actually knew him, which really stood in the way of me rooting for his and Edna's relationship. As for Mr. Pontellier.. I don't really know why Edna didn't love him? Or why she fell out of love with him? It seemed like there was never an inciting incident or a reason, she just was like "Hm, don't want that anymore, thanks." And frankly I found Arobin to be the most compelling male character of the story yet we hardly had any time with him? And of course there's Madame Ratignolle... she was a nice foil to Edna's change in character, but that's about the only purpose she served.

Pacing: 3/5 - Fine I suppose. Novellas/short stories aren't my favorite format, there's always something I want more from them. In this case, it was what I mentioned in the plot section.

Writing: 3/5 - Kate Chopin peppers a lot of French into her writing, especially due to the story's setting, which is probably awesome if you know French. I do not, so that hampered my understanding from time to time. Other than that I had no issues with comprehension, it was just much less quotable than I imagined a "classic of feminist literature" being. Other than the one at the top of my review my favorite quote was "He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world." But those were the only two I jotted down.

Enjoyment: 3/5 - Overall, it's one that I don't regret reading but not one I'm sure I'd ever reread. If you feel like it's something that calls to you, give it a shot, but if it doesn't seem like your kind of book, you needn't bother.

Once again, this book gripped me quickly and did not let go until the last page. I finished it while waiting for a work meeting to begin, and cried when I closed the book. Edna is trapped between two worlds. Her public world is one of expectation. Her husband, her children, her peers all expect her to be a certain person. Her "real" world is one of some despondency at having these expectations. She is bold, though, and tries to live on her own. It went well for a time.....

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 surveying European painting from the 12th century to the fifteenth. Her characters become rounder, her plots more complex—the timbre of her work changes, though the themes remain the same. Very much like Edna in The Awakening.

Though I don’t wish to equate Edna with Chopin, tracing Chopin’s development as a writer allowed me to read Edna’s story with a fuller appreciation for its ambiguities and paradoxes. What constitutes personal growth? Does “being true to oneself” come only at a price? That seems to be so for Chopin…is it so for Edna?

sadge

A simple story about a woman who realizes that what she has, while seemingly extravagant and lush, is not what she wants.

I thought this book was a good read and I found myself cheering for Edna every time she broke society's rules. This story was inspiring.