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slichto3's review
2.0
This was a chore for me. It's probably because I'm dumb, but that's who I am. I had a difficulty getting engaged in the stories and characters in this book. The stories were tough because the prose often lost me. I think I need more practice reading classics. The characters lost me because I couldn't understand them. They seemed petulant with little reason.
The Awakening and Selected Stories is a compilation of stories. The longest of these is called The Awakening. The Awakening is about a young married woman named Edna Pontellier. She falls in love with another man. This man moves away, because he realizes he's falling in love with Edna. Then Edna determines that she's not happy being married. She grows more and more distant from her husband, then kind of moves away and ghosts him. Meanwhile, she has an affair with another man and sort of enjoys her bachelorhood.
You can probably tell that I wasn't too sympathetic to Edna. I just felt that her motivations either didn't make sense or were incredibly selfish. Her husband wasn't really a bad guy, but she treated him like shit. She could have at least tried to communicate with him, but instead she just blew him off. I guess I can understand how frustrated women must have felt in marriage at the time. It really was a cage, and it seems like it would be really tough to have a satisfactory identity under those circumstances. But the book didn't communicate that! Instead, I had to try to reason it out for myself. Further, the book doesn't really make clear what she really wants to do. The other men that she's with seem pretty crappy. She becomes a painter, but doesn't seem to really care about it. I just don't get the character, so I didn't get the story. I understand that the situation for women really sucked, and that this was a novel attempt to show this, but... ugh, it felt ineffective.
I enjoyed the other short stories more, but, after reading The Awakening, I just wanted to get this book over with. Still, they are incisive and have some twists and engaging moments. My mind still wandered quite a bit while reading, but if you're more disciplined than me, you'll probably get more out of it.
On the whole, I wouldn't recommend this book. I felt that Madame Bovary was similar but much, much more affecting. Still, if you think I'm dumb, I'd love to hear what you think.
The Awakening and Selected Stories is a compilation of stories. The longest of these is called The Awakening. The Awakening is about a young married woman named Edna Pontellier. She falls in love with another man. This man moves away, because he realizes he's falling in love with Edna. Then Edna determines that she's not happy being married. She grows more and more distant from her husband, then kind of moves away and ghosts him. Meanwhile, she has an affair with another man and sort of enjoys her bachelorhood.
You can probably tell that I wasn't too sympathetic to Edna. I just felt that her motivations either didn't make sense or were incredibly selfish. Her husband wasn't really a bad guy, but she treated him like shit. She could have at least tried to communicate with him, but instead she just blew him off. I guess I can understand how frustrated women must have felt in marriage at the time. It really was a cage, and it seems like it would be really tough to have a satisfactory identity under those circumstances. But the book didn't communicate that! Instead, I had to try to reason it out for myself. Further, the book doesn't really make clear what she really wants to do. The other men that she's with seem pretty crappy. She becomes a painter, but doesn't seem to really care about it. I just don't get the character, so I didn't get the story. I understand that the situation for women really sucked, and that this was a novel attempt to show this, but... ugh, it felt ineffective.
I enjoyed the other short stories more, but, after reading The Awakening, I just wanted to get this book over with. Still, they are incisive and have some twists and engaging moments. My mind still wandered quite a bit while reading, but if you're more disciplined than me, you'll probably get more out of it.
On the whole, I wouldn't recommend this book. I felt that Madame Bovary was similar but much, much more affecting. Still, if you think I'm dumb, I'd love to hear what you think.
murder_unicorn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
myliteraryseaside's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
mg_in_md_'s review against another edition
4.0
beautiful writing...interesting insights to women's lives in the late 19th century...
catherinedsharp's review against another edition
1.0
DISCLAIMER - I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased. I also only read The Awakening, not the rest of the text.
Slow narrative that was highly descriptive. Wasn’t my cup of tea but I can see why people would read it.
Slow narrative that was highly descriptive. Wasn’t my cup of tea but I can see why people would read it.
bluemaiden's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
middleone95's review against another edition
5.0
Read this in one sitting and loved the bleak humour of The Awakening. I also really enjoyed Desiree’s Baby and Story of One Hour in the short story collection. Chopin’s Louisiana roots are particularly interesting as a setting for her stories.
munlight's review against another edition
3.0
On one hand, I enjoyed Edna reaching beyond the roles she was placed within society, but then, I want to smack her too. It is okay to be an individual and fight for who you are, but she completely abandons everything. She thinks of herself before her own children. She is attempting to be stronger, yet she makes herself only appear weaker.
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A review just on The Awakening. I haven’t yet read the short stories.
I’ve been assigned this work twice now, and each time I’ve read it, I’ve loved it and gotten more out of it. It’s always incredible to me when a work from 100+ years ago still resonates so deeply. I hate how much I can empathize with Edna, but I appreciate having her as a character I can look to for comfort, almost, or maybe to feel seen and understood.
However, I can’t and won’t ignore how this narrative and other feminist narratives of this time period have huge issue regarding race and eugenics. Those topics need greater recognition and acknowledgement when early feminist media is discussed. It’s awful to think that these white women were begging for freedom and rights, yet would step on black women, poor women, disabled women, etc. to get where they wanted to be.
Both of these points of view can exist simultaneously, people!
I’ve been assigned this work twice now, and each time I’ve read it, I’ve loved it and gotten more out of it. It’s always incredible to me when a work from 100+ years ago still resonates so deeply. I hate how much I can empathize with Edna, but I appreciate having her as a character I can look to for comfort, almost, or maybe to feel seen and understood.
However, I can’t and won’t ignore how this narrative and other feminist narratives of this time period have huge issue regarding race and eugenics. Those topics need greater recognition and acknowledgement when early feminist media is discussed. It’s awful to think that these white women were begging for freedom and rights, yet would step on black women, poor women, disabled women, etc. to get where they wanted to be.
Both of these points of view can exist simultaneously, people!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Suicide
Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Infidelity, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Racism, Death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs