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A review by waytoomanybooks
A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Unrelated to the stories themselves: I really like these miniature Penguin Classic short stories and short story collections because I’m interested in reading more classic short stories, but I have no interest in printing out pdfs or downloading pdfs onto one of my devices. I can see myself collecting these as I stumble upon them.
As for the stories themselves, they are all quintessential examples of Chopin's work: southern, French, feminist, and racist. Any sort of sympathy and recognition she may inspire in me with her female characters, she loses in me with her black and/or poor characters. It always baffles me that someone can be so progressive (for their time) in one domain and then be so hateful in another. The arrangement of these five short stories gave me whiplash.
Chopin does, however, give us a good impression of the mind of a white, middle class woman in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and that insight, as abhorrent as it often is, is invaluable in understanding the culture, values, and social landscape of the period, which will never cease ro fascinate me and make me want to know and understand ever more and more about the period and its people.
As for the stories themselves, they are all quintessential examples of Chopin's work: southern, French, feminist, and racist. Any sort of sympathy and recognition she may inspire in me with her female characters, she loses in me with her black and/or poor characters. It always baffles me that someone can be so progressive (for their time) in one domain and then be so hateful in another. The arrangement of these five short stories gave me whiplash.
Chopin does, however, give us a good impression of the mind of a white, middle class woman in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and that insight, as abhorrent as it often is, is invaluable in understanding the culture, values, and social landscape of the period, which will never cease ro fascinate me and make me want to know and understand ever more and more about the period and its people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism