The Awakening

By: Kate Chopin

Narrated by: Kim Basinger

Kate Chopin’s novel, a landmark work of early feminism, is seen as a precursor to the works of American novelists such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. The upper-class Creole society of New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the 19th century is brought to audio in a stirring performance by Academy Award-winning actress Kim Basinger.

Edna Pontellier, vacationing for the summer with her family on Grand Isle, has a great desire to find and live fully within her true self. However, her struggle to reconcile her unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century South brings the story to a tragic conclusion. The Awakening’s blend of realistic narrative, incisive social commentary, and psychological complexity is the first in a tradition that would culminate in the modern masterpieces of Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"If 'The Feminine Mystique' heralded the second wave of literary feminism, Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel, The Awakening, was a landmark of the first. Edna Pontellier is a rich New Orleans housewife who at first bristles against but then comes to reject the traditional gender norms of the fin de siècle South. 'The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.' Kim Basinger reads the closing lines of the novel - oft-quoted in gender studies classes - in a voice that’s as smooth as the waves buffeting Edna’s body and as resolved as her conviction that though her husband and children 'were a part of her life…they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul.'” (The New York Times Book Review)

Not my cup of tea, pinkie out.

I found this book very well written. I could relate to most of the feelings of the main character. The book made me feel very grateful that I live in a time that I can escape such boring trappings. I don't feel that it is worth listening to the whole book just to be able to say " Thank God above I don't live back then."

ONCE AGAIN THE "A-LIST NARRATOR" IS JUST AWFUL

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Probably if Kim Basinger wasn't narrating. Listening to her was like sticking a rusty fork in my eye!

Has The Awakening turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, it just continues to turn me off from Hollywood "actors" thinking that their skill set makes them into good book narrators.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kim Basinger’s performances?

NOPE!

What character would you cut from The Awakening?

THE NARRATOR!!!

Any additional comments?

As I've said a kazillion times before, I don't know why Audible thinks having actors narrate books will make the listening experience better. IT DOES NOT!!! I've wasted money listening to Elliott Gould ruin a Raymond Chandler classic and Samuel L. Jackson fumble a book written by a black author about black people in Harlem. The only A-List actor who has ever really impressed me as a narrator is Don Cheadle. Everyone else should just stay in Malibu or Manhattan or wherever their movie money allows them to live and leave audiobooks to the professional narrators. Kim Basinger reads this already boring story as if she reading a bedtime story to a 2 year-old. I fell asleep about 30 minutes in and I suffer from chronic insomnia! On top of that, I bought the book because it's supposed to be about Louisiana Créoles. Yet, Basinger can't speak French properly nor does she give the characters any depth because she doesn't know the Louisiana dialect or customs. She can barely get through the ENGLISH parts, stumbling and bumbling through sentences as if English is her second language. I'm glad I only paid about $1.99 for this mess in the Daily Deal. But I still may return it for my $2.00. At least I can buy a beignet on Canal Street with the money! Don't waste your time or your money on this one!

Better to sleep in peace than awake to nightmare?

A question to ponder. The better question is how does one live with joy and gratitude after being awakened to new emotions, feelings and passions after years of commitment, loyalty and love to another? An awakening at some time in life (if even for fleeting moments) is a likelihood. The questions of 'what-if..." and 'why now....' will probably follow. A person's reaction will define his/her character as will his/her course after a weakness is revealed.

Edna Pontellier was a selfish woman from her awakening forward. I detested her, thought she was a blubbering baby much of the time and I found it hard to feel sorry for her because of how immature she acted. Had she been more sympathetic I might have felt more pity for her situation of being stuck with a man she did not love.

Published 43 years after "Madame Bovary" (1856) "Awakening" (1899) is a lesser version but very similar. The Awakening is, of course, set in the US, specifically in south Louisiana. The French names are similar. The affairs are similar, but the later novel is not so much steamy and seems more aimed at the female's point of view in the late 1800s toward sexual repression in a place that was undoubtedly more chauvinistic and backwards than France in the mid-1800s.

I enjoyed the book for a view of life during that period and the raw emotions exposed to the salty air. I know this is frequently used (or always) in feminist studies in academia, so I've always wanted to read this, if for nothing else, to broaden my horizons.

Kim Basinger as narrator did an absolutely impeccable job with the tone, accent and acting the part of Edna Pontellier. I wish she'd do more narrating work on classic novels; she has such a melodic, soft Southern voice.

Pretty good

I'm glad that I re read this (previously read this in high school). It makes so much more sense now, as an adult, as a mother.

I expected more from Kim basinger as the narrator...kind of flat in her delivery. But overall good, quick read.

Interesting novel; horrible reading

Although I don't recommend it as an entertaining read or listen, this is a very interesting book, first published in 1898. It's considered a forerunner of feminism and modern American literature from the south, with influences on Faulkner, McCullers, O'Connor, and others. It took me nearly two thirds of the book to get into it or to just plain get it. After that, the denouement was fairly quick.

I purchased the book as a Daily Deal from Audible.com and had high hopes for the narration by Kim Bassinger, but was SORELY disappointed. The reading is just about the worst of any of the books I've listened to since I enrolled in audible.com. It sounded to me like Ms. Bassinger had put no preparation into her performance. There was no attempt to distinguish among the characters, no use of the accents which would have been prominent among the high-society, working class, and Creole characters. She read in a halting, breathy whisper through most of the book, whether it suited the situation or not.

Up until now, the worst narration (in my opinion and experience) was the choice of reader for the Hunger Games books, but that was because the reader sounded like a middle-aged English teacher rather than a teenage girl with issues. In this case, Ms. Bassinger, who certainly has the ability to deliver a stunning performance narration, chose to do nothing at all to enhance the listener's experience.

With a different reader, this could be amazing

In the end, I grew accustomed to Kim Basinger's odd way of reading, her funny way of pausing midway through a sentence at an unlikely spot as if she had forgotten what she was in the middle of doing. This book is so lovely, though, that I often wished for a better, more sensitive and more dynamic reader.

Good read

I liked it. I was hoping for a happier ending. I thought Kim Basinger did a great job narrating.

Passionless narration a real buzz kill

What would have made The Awakening better?

Is Kim Basinger hadn't read it. She has a soothing voice, but she's so fridges and bland and timeless I felt like I was instantly going to fall asleep whenever she spoke. Also, I never read this as a young woman in my teens or early twenties and I really think that's when this book would be most relevant. For a book hailed as a classic and a key piece of feminist literature, I felt the characters were boring and underdeveloped. It was difficult for me to relate to or care about any of them.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Listening to A Christmas Carol now.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kim Basinger?

Anyone but. It seems terribly ironic that a book that's called the Awakening and is about female passion, sexuality and desire could be narrated in such a dreary, monotone fashion.

Powerful and poetic

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. I chose it at random during the Daily Deal offer and had no pretext for the work. I was surprised to learn how long ago it was written. The protagonist is easy to relate with and has depth. I was in a trance through the whole thing.

What did you like best about this story?

The imagery reads like train-of-thought and the audience is allowed to "wake up" with the protagonist. The plot is well constructed and builds like a house of cards. It is subtle and shows the reader a pre-feminist view of a woman's life.

What about Kim Basinger’s performance did you like?

Her voice is lovely but she reads very, very slowly. I had to speed it up so it wouldn't drive me mad. Aside from that, her breathy voice lends a sort of quiet frustration to the reading and that works well with the story.

Grrrrr....

Can't have a spoiler alert. Suffice it to say I could listen to this book over and over again. Sheer poetry...I wish I could speak as Edna did...velvet words...