Customer Reviews

Gertrude Stein: The Language That Rises : 1923-1934

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What better way to get to know Gertrude Stein than to be guided through some of her key writings by one of the world's best Stein scholars, Ulla Dydo! It's not "Stein For Dummies," but it certainly is a very readable book which analyzes Stein's texts bringing in information from her life as appropriate to get a clearer picture of not only what she wrote, but why and how she wrote what she wrote. A must-have book for anyone who is really serious about reading and understanding Stein, as well as a great introduction to Stein's other works if the only thing you've ventured to read is THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS, which is also, by the way, addressed in this book.

Gertrude Stein is one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. She has influenced all modern art, literature and theatre. She has often been ignored or set aside as unreadable,unperformable, opaque. Yet when approached with an open mind; the genius is awe inspiring. Ula Dydo, is another gift, someone who has taken the time to sit down and explore, to play in her own scholarly way. Dydo's love of Stein is contagious. She has created an opening that I hope a lot of curious people step into.

Since I first read Three Lives in high school I became fascinated with the writing of Gertrude Stein. During the past three decades I have read all her work. Because she requires so much effort, so much attention and concentration to detail, I have also tried reading as much about her as I could find; none as enlightening, as lovingly researched, as clearly written as Ulla Dydo's The Language That Rises. Hers is truly an "elucidation!"