A Pair of Silk Stockings (Dover Thrift Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Creol blues
Review: I came on this book by chance, having never heard or Kate Chopin or her more famous book "The Awakening." This slim volume of short stories is my only experience with her still.

The easy pace of the stories, the charming lilt and rhythm of the dialogs, gives a good impression of bayou life, something that I am not very familiar with. Pace is something in common with all of the selections, with none of the characters getting very excited or overwrought, even in the midst of a fight or falling in love. "The Big Easy," they call it, and I believe it from these tales. They are small, psychological portraits, well written and engaging.

"Desirees Baby" was an almost Lovecraftian psychological horror tale, of hidden ancestries creeping unwanted across generations. "The Dream of an Hour" is in a similar vein, with a twist ending. Most of the stories are gentle, understated love stories both romantic ("A Night in Acadie") sad ("At the Cadian Ball," "Azelie,"), forbidden ("A Respectable Woman") and funny ("Madame Celestins Divorce.") I must admit to being charmed by each love story, and hoped the best for everyone involved. "A Pair of Silk Stockings" and "A Gentleman of the Bayou Teche" are both brief glimpses into a small world, and equally good.

I am glad to be introduced to Kate Chopin, and look forward to seeking out "The Awakening."

Rating:
Summary: Translation, please
Review: Some of these stories were a mere five pages long, so when i first started reading this collection, i thought i'd be done in no time at all. Of course, i had not realized Kate Chopin had some of her characters speak in dialect. This is something that i have never been able to overcome. There is a reason why written language is standardized, so that it is comprehensible! I don't care if it's in English or Spanish; i have a hard time going through that kind of text. Those stories took me a long time to read, and eventually i lost interest and skipped through entire paragraphs.

The best story, in my opinion, is the one that gives name to the collection. We are creature comforts, and need the occasional pampering. The woman in the story lets herself be spoiled just for one day, no matter how good and unselfish her intentions were for the money. I can identify with her weakness.

The 'romantic' stories were quite bland, and that, combined with the incomprehensible Acadian-speak, did not leave me with a good impression about this author.

Rating:
Summary: A Bargain
Review: The first story alone was worth the [money] I paid for this book. It was a sad, gentle social commentary (or maybe not so gentle) that seems very much like the work of someone who would raise so much public outcry (for "The Awakening") that she would never be published again. One or two of the stories struck me as being bitter, but the others were up to her current day reputation. Many of the stories hinge on careful character studies of Acadians, the Acadians being descendants of French families relocated to the United States when Canada become unarguably British. The French dialect used in some of the stories only made the collection richer, in my mind. It would have seemed false to have these people speaking proper English. On reading the other reviews, I tend to agree that it might be a good idea to skip this book and buy Bayou Folk or another more thorough collection. If you know you love Kate Chopin's writing, do that. Otherwise, this collection is a good introduction although it can't beat "The Awakening."