"Other Voices, Other Vistas," edited by Barbara H. Solomon, is a wonderful anthology of stories. The selections in the book are grouped by geographic region into 5 sections, each containing 5 stories. The regions represented are Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America. In her introduction, Solomon notes that all of the stories are written by major authors who had published fiction after World War II.

The group of 25 authors is full of noteworthy names: Chinua Achebe, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Jorge Luis Borges, and more. The themes in the anthology include love, marriage, parenthood, oppressive governments, art, religion, economic struggle, ideological conflict, and cultural dislocation. The modes range from fantasy to stark reality--there is violence and serenity, beauty and grotesqueness, sorrow and humor.

I especially loved the Chinese stories, which give a vivid portrayal of life under the Communist regime--it's like a real life dystopia. Other strong selections include Yukio Mishima's "Acts of Worship," about a professor's pilgrimage; Isabel Allende's "Clarisa," a colorful character study; and R.K. Narayan's "A Horse and Two Goats," a story of cross-cultural miscommunication. Overall, I would recommend this book both as a classroom text and for individual reading. Recommended companion text: "Caribbean New Wave," a short story anthology edited by Stewart Brown.

This is a pocket-size book, that contains short stories from the best international authors. Each story is a good one. Each one is different from the next. So, this book is good not only for college classes, but anyone who enjoys reading short stories from Asian, Latin, and African authors.

This collection is valuable to the teachers in humanities classes, because it opens up their students' minds (hopefully) to the new and often previously completely unknown world of different cultures. Many best authors are chosen from each culture. All stories, without exception will bring something new to you as a reader, and the reading itself will be nothing but a sheer delight!!!! All stories will also make you think about your own culture and its values. Some stories will make you laugh, yet others will make you cry...

"The Awakening and Selected Stories" is filled with wonderful classic narratives such as Chopin's famous "The Awakening," "Emancipation," and "Lilacs." My favorite short story from this book, however, was called "The Story of an Hour," in which a woman is presented with the news that her husband has passed away in a train accident. At first she mourns the loss of her former lover, but she soon realizes that she is better off without him; now she has the freedom to do whatever she pleases. Just as she realizes that she is joyful that she is no longer bound to her husband, the husband arrives home (he had not been on the train) and gives the woman a heart attack. (And if you think I've given the story away, I haven't -- there is a cruel irony in the ending; you'll need to read it to find out.) Anyway, I thought that "The Story of an Hour" was a fascinating tale that highlights the oppression of some marriages, but it is just one of the thirteen stories in this book that will thrill and charm you as you read this compilation of Kate Chopin's best works.

In "The Awakening", a woman rejects the drudgery of her life and decides to live selfishly, for once. Kate Chopin captivates her readers with a story of transformation and growth, and writes with clarity and ease. Perhaps most enjoyable about "The Awakening" and Kate Chopin's short stories is the vivid New Orleans setting. Chopin pays attention to the charms of Louisiana in this novel--Creole cooking and language, Southern black and French mannerisms of the time--not limiting herself by focusing on members of the elite. Definitely worth checking out!

Like far too many, I was first introduced to Chopin in college. As an educator, I find Chopin's work to be timeless. Chopin speaks to contemporay society--and especially American society--in ways that few authors can and do. I use "The Awakening," as one of the cornerstones (yes; one may have more than one cornerstone) of my literature class--a class that relies on trade publications rather than anthologies and "typical" textbooks for reading material. One of the unexpected rewards I have experienced while teaching this novel is that male students, generally speaking, truly enjoy the work. Given its content and storyline, one might expect the opposite to be true. Nonetheless, the novel speaks to readers of all ages and genders. I believe that virtually ANYONE will identify with the characters Chopin brings to life in "The Awakening." Not only is it the story of a woman in search of her identity--arguably, a rather Maslowian tale of ! "self-actualization"--it is the story of the human condition.

Additionally, given the story of Chopin's life, the book takes on even greater significance (sorry, but you'll have to read the book to understand why I feel this to be so).

This book is a MUST read for all who seek to dispell the myth of "June Cleaver." (Ya, I know I am not suposed to say that but this is one VERY cool book--a book that EVERYONE should read.)

Besides, "The Awakening" itself is short enough and compelling enough that one will finish it in a matter of a few evenings. That the Penguin version also contains Chopin's EXCELLENT short stories, and a good deal of equally excellent biographical and critical writing regarding the author and her works makes grabbing a copy for one's personal library a must-do.

(Buy the book.) =)

Critics during the 1899 gave Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" bad reviews. They were shock at the novel because of the issues that Chopin wrote about. Chopin was devasted; she died never writing again. "The Awakening" was revived by feminist critics that knew the work was facinating, also beautifully written and compose. Now, high schools and college across America read "The Awakening".

The Awakening is about a woman named Edna Pontellier. Edna is unhappy in her life as a mother and wife. She starts to "awaken" from her conventional role of mother and wife to a woman that desires independence to become an individual. Edna does not love her husband nor she wants to be a mother to her two sons.

Edna falls in love with Robert Leburn; Robert goes away to Mexico because he wants to stay away from Edna. He knows that they both have feelings for each other, and he leaves because Edna's reputation will be destroyed if they have a love affair. After Robert leaves, she purchases a quaint little house on the corner; she decides that she needs space away from her wifely and motherly duties. While Robert is gone, Edna has an affair with womanizer, Alcee Abouron.

Robert comes back from Mexico; Edna is glad to see him and wants to rekindle the love that they discovered before he left. Edna is called by her friend, Adele, because she is having her baby.

Edna discovers that she cannot awaken fully from society conventions and restraints that are placed on her. She realizes if there was a way that Robert and her could be together, eventually, he would stop loving her. She realizes during her time society will not let her be the woman that she wants and needs to be.

"The Awakening" is about a woman that experiences and realizes that her life is complexed. As Edna struggles to find her identity, she has a wall against her, and it is called conventions.

Kate Chopin was very ahead of her time. When women were supposed to be quiet and entertain their husbands, Chopin had the guts (desperation?) to speak her mind through the characters in many of her short stories and novels. The Awakening pulls the reader into the mind of a woman realizing her spirit and potential... only to end up with the knowledge that she can never be what she wants to be- free and independent. One has to wonder if this is the desperation felt by Chopin as she tried to support her children alone after the death of her husband.

This is a very interesting novel. It came at a time when women were breaking out of traditionally ascribed roles in the male-dominated society. Published in 1899 it still captivates and challenges the reader.

We read that theirs is a perfect society but there are no particulars about health,, education, child-rearing, or politics. The author seems to be saying that only without men or sex can we achieve a Utopian culture. It was much more a treatise on feminism than a novel with 3-dimensional characters and an interesting story line.

In her Utopian novel Herland, written in 1915, Charlotte Perkins Gilman anticipates many of the problems of the 20th century, from pollution to over-population. Essentially a work of science fiction, the novel portrays a culture developed in isolation that has focused on principles of love, sharing, nuturing, reason and continuous improvement. While not great literature, Herland offers fascinating insights into a rational approach to designing a society. The Signet Classic edition also contains 20 intriguing short stories written from a feminist perspective. This is the book I will be giving at the holidays! It deserves a wider audience.

The subtitle of this anthology promises "30 Stories About Money and Class in America," from which one might reasonably conclude that the assembled stories would provide some insight into the nature of class in America and its relation to wealth. Unfortunately, such is not the case.

Instead, what Ms. Solomon (a professor of English and women's studies at Iona College) has done has been to assemble a tired collection of stories many of which protest various social wrongs as perceived by different authors at various times in our country's history. Unfortunately, yesterday's cause du jour has a stale taste to the modern reader.

Readers who are interested in the ongoing relationship between money and class in America will find their time better spent reading "Class" by Paul Fussell, "Old Money" by Nelson W. Aldrich, either "Money and Class in America" or "Lapham's Rules of Influence" by Lewis Lapham, or anything by E. Digby Baltzell.