The Making of Americans
Gelesen von Martha H. Weller
Gertrude Stein
(3 Sterne; 1 Bewertungen)
The Making of Americans is a novel written by Gertrude Stein over a long period of time (1906-1911) and finally published in 1925. It is subtitled “Being a History of a Family’s Progress.” In many places in the work, Stein expresses her desire to know everything about everything! She also tells the reader that she loves the repeating that everyone does. She demonstrates this love by repeating, with only slight variations, her most important themes. In some passages, she is convinced that she really does understand all of the different kinds there are in men and women. In other passages, she is not sure that she has or will ever have a complete understanding of anything or anyone. She laments the fact that few people are willing to listen to her. While exploring the “being” of others, she frequently presents as a conflicted individual who is happy yet sometimes despairing.
In addition to her use of repetition, Stein loves lists and the reader can sense the exuberance with which she plays with her text. The text is generally challenging. It does not fit into our typical expectations of either a novel or a history. Bit by bit, we learn a few details about the lives of the members of the Dehning and Hersland families and some of the people they knew. Stein, however, seems to present details only in support of her classification of kinds and kinds within kinds of men and women. Many of her observations are fascinating, if you can accept the unusual style of presentation. This is an experimental work and is not something for a casual read. There are only a few divisions in the text and no chapters. Stein has a style of writing that is frequently tedious to the modern ear. I think I hear a Germanic sentence structure. She loves long sentences and is inconsistent in the use of punctuation. In narrating this work, I frequently had to reread a passage several times in order to speak the text so that it could be understood. It is likely that I have misinterpreted some sentences, but since she repeats herself again and again, overall the meaning comes through. I recommend listening to or reading at least part of this very long work. In case someone is studying Stein and her works, I have included page numbers for each section recorded. They refer to the version available at archive.org. Summary by Martha Weller (53 hr 19 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
Robert Kaufman
(3 Sterne)
This was an odd book full of repeating that the author chose as her style. From the beginning this was an odd book, through the middle and the end of the beginning of the book it was an odd book. Through the beginning of the middle this was an odd book, also during the middle of the middle and the end of the middle this was an odd book. It was in the beginning of the end of the book and through the middle of the end of the book and during the end of the end of the book it was an odd book full of repeating. I know this was an odd book full of repeating, I think this was an odd book full of repeating, I feel this was an odd book full of repeating, I believe this was an odd book full of repeating. Some would say this was an odd book full of repeating, all might say this was an odd book full of repeating, none could say this wasn’t an odd book full of repeating. 😏