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litteratursaga's review against another edition
3.0
Det här var en mycket intressant novell som analyserar hur förväntningar på kvinnan kan komma att rubba allt. Sättet Stein skrivit verket på föll mig inte riktigt i smaken, men jag är glad att jag läst det. Novellen tar upp ett viktigt ämnen som ledde till en tankeställare.
jackiesam's review against another edition
2.0
I understand why this book is important to literature but I really did not enjoy it. This was one of a very small handful of books that made me look for excuses not to read. I forced myself to finish it because I was curious but it was not long drawn out process that I don't usually associate with reading.
jmontg18's review
Had to stop after the first page of "Melanctha." The racist stereotypes were too much
booksandbulletjournaling's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
attytheresa's review against another edition
3.0
Of course I knew who Gertrude Stein was, the most influential in the early 20th Century on the arts, from writing to painters. Her Paris salons were peopled by Picaso, Cezanne, Matisse, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cocteau, just to name a few. She coined 'lost generation' to describe the creative americans who abounded in Paris during and between the WWs. I also knew she lived openly -- and famously -- with Alice B. Toklas as a couple. I also knew she collected art, wrote articles and even a book or two. Yet, for all that, I'd never read any of her work. At some point I picked up a special Barnes & Noble Classic edition, which has some very useful notes and introduction to it.
[b:Three Lives|993531|Three Lives (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)|Gertrude Stein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328753244l/993531._SY75_.jpg|61928206] was self-published by Stein in 1909, having been written between 1905 and 1909. These were not her first written works but are the first published. It is two short stories and a novella: The Good Anna is about a German immigrant to the US who is a stern even bullying servant to others while also generous and kind, Melanctha is the story of an African-American woman's love affairs and ultimately tragic life, and The Gentle Lena is about the life of a dreamy, patient, clueless german immigrant maid. All are trapped in their societal rank, with little power or control over their lives.
There is no plot, little action, being studies of the mind, emotions, and characters of three women. There is much repetition of phrases and sentences in each, calling to my mind [b:The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|76527|The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Laurence Sterne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403402384l/76527._SY75_.jpg|2280279] from the 18th Century, and foreshadowing [a:James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615569948p2/5144.jpg] and even the plays of [a:Tom Stoppard|293|Tom Stoppard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1659005707p2/293.jpg]. There is a starkness to the writing that clearly influenced Hemingway's [b:The Sun Also Rises|3876|The Sun Also Rises|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509802323l/3876._SY75_.jpg|589497] written and published in the 1920s. Her writing is abstract, eccentric, and ground-breaking. Stein herself said that she set out with these stories to both reject the realism that influenced writing at the turn of the 19th Century, and bring to literature the aesthetics of Picaso, Matisse, and Cezanne [for context - the Cubist and Impressionist Armory Art Show in NYC was in 1913, where Nude Descending a Staircase and other such works rocked the American art world]. Contrast - at this time Proust was writing and publishing the first volume of A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, which to say is filled with florid writing is an understatement.
For me though, what is particularly revolutionary is the subject matter. Had anyone let alone a woman writer ever before mapped the emotional landscape of 3 such distinct women - 2 german immigrants and an african-american using what became known as stream of consciousness techniques? Not that I recall although my knowledge is not extensive here. It is clear that Stein's influence was not just in gathering creative genius around her, but also in literally demonstrating to budding writers what direction they should be pursuing. Stein is breaking ground for the upcoming avant garde writers, although I don't know that she is ever properly credited with that.
A warning to readers: Stein's racial and ethnic descriptions would be unacceptably racist and offensive today, though they are reflective of the world she depicts and the people she is describing. Perhaps it helps to know that [a:Richard Wright|9657|Richard Wright|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209848296p2/9657.jpg] championed Melanctha, considered it the first true work to capture accurately the unique vocabulary and speech-rhythms of African-Americans, and he would read it aloud to African-American dockworkers who recognized grandmothers and uncles in the characters' voices.
For all that, I struggle to give it even 3 stars. I found both The Good Anna and The Gentle Lena mesmerizing and touching stories, my reading flowing. But Melanctha was a stuggle after the first 20 or so of its 110 pages. This is the most internalized stream of conscious of the three, and definitely not a style of writing I particularly enjoy. I don't always need to read books with plots, but I definitely do not particularly revel in observing someone's mental and emotional journey for 100+ pages -- just too 'brainy' for me.
One more comment, something that amused me greatly: I was really surprised that her subject was set in America with American subjects. Why was I surprised? Because even though I know Stein was American, I think of her as part of the French artistic establishment, which somehow had me assuming her subjects would be French. Silly and gave me a really good laugh at myself!
[b:Three Lives|993531|Three Lives (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)|Gertrude Stein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328753244l/993531._SY75_.jpg|61928206] was self-published by Stein in 1909, having been written between 1905 and 1909. These were not her first written works but are the first published. It is two short stories and a novella: The Good Anna is about a German immigrant to the US who is a stern even bullying servant to others while also generous and kind, Melanctha is the story of an African-American woman's love affairs and ultimately tragic life, and The Gentle Lena is about the life of a dreamy, patient, clueless german immigrant maid. All are trapped in their societal rank, with little power or control over their lives.
There is no plot, little action, being studies of the mind, emotions, and characters of three women. There is much repetition of phrases and sentences in each, calling to my mind [b:The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|76527|The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman|Laurence Sterne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403402384l/76527._SY75_.jpg|2280279] from the 18th Century, and foreshadowing [a:James Joyce|5144|James Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615569948p2/5144.jpg] and even the plays of [a:Tom Stoppard|293|Tom Stoppard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1659005707p2/293.jpg]. There is a starkness to the writing that clearly influenced Hemingway's [b:The Sun Also Rises|3876|The Sun Also Rises|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509802323l/3876._SY75_.jpg|589497] written and published in the 1920s. Her writing is abstract, eccentric, and ground-breaking. Stein herself said that she set out with these stories to both reject the realism that influenced writing at the turn of the 19th Century, and bring to literature the aesthetics of Picaso, Matisse, and Cezanne [for context - the Cubist and Impressionist Armory Art Show in NYC was in 1913, where Nude Descending a Staircase and other such works rocked the American art world]. Contrast - at this time Proust was writing and publishing the first volume of A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, which to say is filled with florid writing is an understatement.
For me though, what is particularly revolutionary is the subject matter. Had anyone let alone a woman writer ever before mapped the emotional landscape of 3 such distinct women - 2 german immigrants and an african-american using what became known as stream of consciousness techniques? Not that I recall although my knowledge is not extensive here. It is clear that Stein's influence was not just in gathering creative genius around her, but also in literally demonstrating to budding writers what direction they should be pursuing. Stein is breaking ground for the upcoming avant garde writers, although I don't know that she is ever properly credited with that.
A warning to readers: Stein's racial and ethnic descriptions would be unacceptably racist and offensive today, though they are reflective of the world she depicts and the people she is describing. Perhaps it helps to know that [a:Richard Wright|9657|Richard Wright|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209848296p2/9657.jpg] championed Melanctha, considered it the first true work to capture accurately the unique vocabulary and speech-rhythms of African-Americans, and he would read it aloud to African-American dockworkers who recognized grandmothers and uncles in the characters' voices.
For all that, I struggle to give it even 3 stars. I found both The Good Anna and The Gentle Lena mesmerizing and touching stories, my reading flowing. But Melanctha was a stuggle after the first 20 or so of its 110 pages. This is the most internalized stream of conscious of the three, and definitely not a style of writing I particularly enjoy. I don't always need to read books with plots, but I definitely do not particularly revel in observing someone's mental and emotional journey for 100+ pages -- just too 'brainy' for me.
One more comment, something that amused me greatly: I was really surprised that her subject was set in America with American subjects. Why was I surprised? Because even though I know Stein was American, I think of her as part of the French artistic establishment, which somehow had me assuming her subjects would be French. Silly and gave me a really good laugh at myself!
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