Had a moment today
I read Kate Chopin's The Awakening for the first time because, tomorrow, I have to teach it. (I know, I know - bad, unprepared Dana!)
And about 4 days ago, I watched a movie called The History Boys. There's this part where the older teacher says that the magic in books is when you think you have a feeling, or an idea, or anything that you feel is exclusively yours - and then you see it on paper, written by someone else, and you realize you share a connection with this other person, even if the person has been dead for hundreds of years. And you get to share this amazing sense of, like, unity with another person you've never even met.
Anyway, I think I feel in love with Kate Chopin today. I thought I would only read what was due for tomorrow, but I devoured the whole book in one setting. I felt moved, somehow, by the story of this woman - exactly my age, incidentally - who literally awakens from the minutiae of her life with the understanding that she will not give herself up for anything.
Tragic ending, but I think this book just changed my life.
It's short. Read it.
And about 4 days ago, I watched a movie called The History Boys. There's this part where the older teacher says that the magic in books is when you think you have a feeling, or an idea, or anything that you feel is exclusively yours - and then you see it on paper, written by someone else, and you realize you share a connection with this other person, even if the person has been dead for hundreds of years. And you get to share this amazing sense of, like, unity with another person you've never even met.
Anyway, I think I feel in love with Kate Chopin today. I thought I would only read what was due for tomorrow, but I devoured the whole book in one setting. I felt moved, somehow, by the story of this woman - exactly my age, incidentally - who literally awakens from the minutiae of her life with the understanding that she will not give herself up for anything.
Tragic ending, but I think this book just changed my life.
It's short. Read it.