Kate Chopin is an author that I find very interesting. She was born Catherine O’Flaherty as her father was Irish and her mother came from a line of upper class French. Throughout her childhood she was surrounded by strong females, which I believe gave her the courage to write such strong female characters into her stories. I feel a connection to her as I have worked almost my entire life in a male dominated field. I know the risk that a woman takes to try to be something different from what society expects. Kate Chopin was not afraid to write stories in which her characters went against what were common and comfortable thoughts for people in society at that time.
In her short story, The Story of an Hour, she created a female character that behaves in a manner much unlike the rest of society upon learning of the death of her husband. Where most women would be petrified by the idea that they were now alone, the character of Louise says, “Free, free, Free!....Free! Body and soul free!”(Kirszner; Mandell, 107) In the 1899 story, The Storm, the main plot is the act of the main character, Calixta, committing adultery. “The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached” (Kirszner: Mandell, 167). It was an outrage at this time period for a story to be printed where a woman displayed such indiscretions. This further shows just how much Kate Chopin was willing to take a risk with her writing.
Source: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/node/903/
Source: http://www.katechopin.org/
An author that has captivated me with his work is James Alfred Wight who published his work under the name of James Herriot. His novels reflect his everyday life as a veterinarian in England. The stories bring to life the strange occurrences that happen when working with animals, and also the people that he met along the way from visit to visit. Being an animal lover, I treasured each chapter as the writing was so down to earth and real that I could picture one of my own neighbors creating each situation. Parallel to his stories, I can also relate to experiences with animals that seem just bizarre enough to impossibly not be fiction. Nothing is hidden from the reader as the reality of always apparent.
In the book, All Creatures Great and Small, James Harriet shows us the unglamorous side of being a veterinarian. “I had been warned long before I qualified that country practice was a dirty, stinking job. I had accepted the fact and adjusted myself to it but there were times then this side of my life obtruded itself and became almost insupportable (481). Another perfect example of the life of a county veterinarian can be found in All Things Bright and Beautiful. “It had started with the aggressive shrilling of the bedside phone at one a.m. And it was Sunday morning, a not unusual time for some farmers after a late Saturday night to have a look rounds their stock and decide to send for the vet (1). I love that each book gives the reader such an honest account of what his life was like. We get to vividly experience each chapter of his life with him.
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