The Awakening Options

[xenosaga]

has anyone read that book? I'm planning to read it, but i don't know if it'll be good.

can anyone tell me what the story is mainly about?

[*Kathleen*]

This is way-late, but I figure I'll respond for future people reading the book. Basically it's about a woman living in New Orleans circa 1860's-turn of the century. I can't remember. Anywho, she moves there with her husband who is of creole society, unlike her. They have a couple kids and then she falls in love with this guy named Robert I believe. So then when she kind of has this affair with Robert (they never have sex, although she confesses her love to him and vice versa, but he leaves for Mexico because he knows they could never be together since she was married). After Robert leaves, she has an actual affair with this guy Alcee (I think his name was) while her best friend, Adele, has a kid. The thing is Adele is the perfect creole woman, and it tears Edna (main character) apart because she doesn't feel comfortable being that and she can't do it. Ultimately she kills herself in the end via drowning. I guess you can compare it to the conflict in "Desperate Housewives," as many people do. I personally didn't like the book because of Chopin's style.

[Jackaroe]

This book was relatively all right. I'm not a fan of it, but to sum up my opinion of it in one word, I'd have to say that it is incredibly DEPRESSING.

It's about a young, married woman, Edna Pontellier, who gradually separates herself from the expectations of society by breaking the norm. She has an affair outside of her marriage, hardly pays attention to her children, and is, overall, selfish.

She later commits suicide because none of the extremes in her life (liberal vs. conservative) will accept her. She can never truly be an artist and live freely, nor can she fulfill the duties of a good wife and mother. Therefore, she kills herself.

Chopin's style was fairly eloquent and refined. I just didn't like the protagonist or the plot. However, if you like that sort of thing, you should read it. It IS a classic, so it's worth the read even if you end up disliking it in the end.

[tokyo-rose]

I would say that this book is pretty good. The two people above me already summarized it for you, so I won't do that. Kate Chopin's writing style is very thick and may be difficult to get through at times but it's worth it. I think I was the only person in my class who liked the book when we read it last year; everyone else said it was boring.