Review: Well done, even if it's not my cup of tea
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2014
These days, The Awakening is often included in courses on “women’s studies” (which might explain why I've never taken any of those classes). While it’s a very, very well-constructed novel from a literary standpoint -- which earns it three stars from me instead of two -- it left me cold.Essentially, The Awakening is a Bildungsroman, the story of a woman who comes to want more out of life than the society of the time allowed her.  Even though she is married with children, she wants the man she loves (not her husband), and a life of her own.  As such, it’s probably good for a college course, but as a novel, it’s pretty dreary ... especially the ending, which I will not divulge here.  Suffice it to say, I couldn’t help thinking that the protagonist was a pretty selfish person.  But then, I tend to think that of a lot of people who put their own happiness ahead of that of their children, so perhaps I'm not a very good judge.A semi-classic, The Awakening is definitely worth reading, but I think women’s issues were dealt with in a much more entertaining fashion by Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, and others.