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The Awakening  By  cover art

The Awakening

By: Kate Chopin
Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
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Publisher's summary

Edna Pontellier is married, twenty-eight, and at the cross road of her life. She is passionate and artistic, but has no one who understands her deep yearnings. She jumps at the chance to spend a summer away from her husband and the heat of New Orleans at a small costal retreat.

Here she is enveloped in a small circle of friends where she can begin to throw off the strictures and moires of the 1890s bourgeoisie. Stepwise Edna renounces her obligations, takes a lover, and is propelled in a course that frees, consumes, and eventually destroys her.

In what was to be her last novel, Kate Chopin shocked the readers of her day, by showing a woman fulfilled by throwing off the ties of marriage and children.

(P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Interesting and timely...Chopin's oracular feminism and prophetic psychology almost outweigh her estimable literary talents." (Newsweek)

What listeners say about The Awakening

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing Story with So-So Narration

It really struck me that for a book published in 1899, the story is still so fresh and resonates with emotion that is easily understood by the modern reader (or listener). The author excelled at both capturing elusive internal feelings and descriptions of the Louisiana coast and New Orleans of days gone by. It is a real page-turner, and although I had read it years ago, I couldn't wait to hear the story play out. The narration, however, leaves A LOT to be desired. The narrator affects a truly awful southern drawl when characters are speaking which can be extremely distracting. She also mispronounces most French place names and given names repeatedly as well as numerous english words.
Listen and love it for the story, and try to ignore the bad narration.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Love Chopin and Frasier

I absolutely love Kate Chopin--everything she writes is thought provoking and intense, full of double-voice discourse. Personally, I don't think anyone can understand Edna Pontellier unless she is at least 25 and has been married. The book speaks to me each and every time I read/listen to it--in fact, as I become older, I read and react to the book differently (Bakhtin's chronotope). The Awakening is one of my all-time favorite books.

If you are into traditional romances, like Harlequin, you would likely not like this book.

Shelly Frasier is fantastic. Her laid-back rhythm and cadence really evokes the New Orlean vibe and feeling.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Awakening (unabridged)

Exquistely narrated by Shelley Frasier, who captures the accents, cadence, and tone of the New Orleans Creoles with near perfection. Her timbre and languid pacing vividly recreates the atmosphere and sense of culture of that unique corner of the South called New Orleans.

The book, itself a classic, is almost painterly in its use of language and is abundantly reviewed elsewhere including an excellent annotated version of Cliff Notes! Suffice it to say this review is about the narration; listening to this version is worth every minute of time spent tethered to your computer, ipod or parked car (I did all three)!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Horribly Boring and Depressing. I don’t get all the hype.

Based on the reviews claiming this as a literary masterpiece, I kept listening and hoping the story would get better. But instead it just kept droning on in a depressing monotone,until it finally just ended-as pointlessly as the whole story. Left me unsatisfied and wondering why I’d wasted my time.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A book for men And women awakening....

I am personally undergoing "an awakening" in other aspects of life besides dealing with the opposite sex. This book is interesting for both sexes enduring a predicament of choices life presents that may have unpleasant consequences, and possibly impossible to make.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great ending!

I liked this story however it did get hard to comprehend at times and the reader was a little bit fast at times but I love how independent Edna is and this story is a very interesting perspective!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unbearable static buzzing in the background

Other reviewers have mentioned the buzzing as well. Makes it unlistenable.it’s a wonderful novel (read before) but can’t listen to the buzzing enough to evaluate the performance.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A mediocre story with a poor audio book

This book could not under my attention. It was dull and boring. The audio book had a constant static in the background and poor audio.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

So disappointing!

Really, this is the best this lush author can give us as an example of awakening? A vapid rich young woman searching for the thrill of romance while being unable to give and feel real love for her children and the people in her life? And then a vague ending (SPOILER ALERT) suggesting suicide. Or else an ennui born of too little purpose in life. There is so much that can said about the stifling role of wealthy women in the south in the late 1800s. This was a real let down. But beautifully written and read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very nice.

i enjoyed the pronunciation as well as the voices the reader portrayed for every character

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