Product Description

Kate Chopin was one of the most individual and adventurous of nineteenth-century american writers, whose fiction explored new and often starting territory. When her most famous story, The Awakening, was first published in 1899, it stunned readers with its frank portrayal of the inner word of Edna Pontellier, and its daring criticisms of the limits of marriage and motherhood. From her first stories, Chopin was interested in independent characters who challenged convention.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217871 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Katherine O'Flaherty (1850 – 1904), known by her married name Kate Chopin, was an American author of short stories and novels. In 1899, her second novel, The Awakening, was published to much outrage and harsh criticism based upon moral, rather than literary, standards.

Customer Reviews

Ahead of its time, ahead of the pack
A century after the publication of Kate Chopin's novel, its themes -- a woman's awakening to the full potential of her sexual passion and her sense of being smothered by marriage and motherhood -- have become the staple ingredients of 'chick lit'. It is thus easy to overlook how revolutionary and shocking the events and ideas of this story must have seemed at the time. Then, the book was banned from public libraries; now, it is required reading in some American schools.

In many ways, both in theme and treatment, it resembles "Madame Bovary". Although Chopin lacks Flaubert's scope and breadth of vision, she reaches deeper into the soul of her heroine. Her style is restrained and elegant and some modern readers, accustomed to a pacier and more explicit treatment, may grow impatient at times. But there is beautiful writing here, embodying rich characterizations, strong evocations of time and place and thought-provoking moral ambiguity. An undoubted masterpiece.

Fine work, definately worth a read
I favour this edition as you can compare the novella 'The Awakening' which famously ruined Chopin's career for it's supposed 'sordid' theme, with a collection of her other short stories. I much prefer the short stories as they are far more lively and vivid. My particular favourite is the tragic and highly ironic tale 'Désirée's baby'. Chopin gives the reader much food for thought and there appear to be many underlying morals in her stories. As far as 'the Awakening' goes, Chopin seems to be significantly ahead of her time dealing with a number of taboo issues in her story. It's a beautiful piece with plenty of well thought out description, hence her being known as a 'local colourist'. However the novella is perhaps a little too slow and watery at times. Whereas readers back in the day were shocked by the content, the modern reader would be forgiven for getting quite bored at times. Especially as the only sex scene is so well hidden. I actually missed it the first time round! You get the feeling she wrote this book on Sunday afternoons (!) as the tone is so relaxed. I highly recommend this book to readers who don't mind a lack of action but enjoy words and imagery in their own sense.
NB: It's worth looking out for how many times the main character appears to be 'awakened' in the novella - Chopin cleverly links this in a number of times!

Very enjoyable
Sadly, I had the chance to read only a few of the stories in this book. This was on my reading list for a paper on American literature, and I approached it apprehensively, having never heard of the author before. Stunning prose: poetic, unpretentious and fluid, describing characters whose closeness was painful. 'The Awakening' gained momentum as it progressed. The only problem was the ending, which didn't seem to live up to its promise. Feminist, but without turnings males into cardboard cut-outs!