Alicja toklas autobiography

Wells, Ezra Pound, William James, to name a few. This is, however, more than gossips. This was written out of love. Gay love, but love still. But you wouldn't write these stories. Let me then write them for you.

Alicja toklas autobiography: Publisher: New York: Modern Library,

This is, then, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas written by her great love, Gertrude Stein. With this book, they had become one. Por saber que Gertrude Stein conviveu com pintores e escritores famosos, pensava que ia ficar a saber pormenores interessantes das suas vidas. Ho trovato questo libro monotono e noioso, costituito di razionalismo e celebrazione.

La letteratura di Gertrude Stein — fermandosi qui e nell'attesa di conciliarsi con la lettura di Tre Esistenze e The Making of Americans - non fa che risuonare nel rumore dei salotti, comunicare il piacere della tessitura sociale, investire nella ripetizione discorsiva.

Alicja toklas autobiography: Published by Penguin Press no rubbing/

Tra queste, prima tra tutte, il disprezzo. Self-obsessed snoozefest of a memoir detailing to excruciation the dining habits and interior designs of post-War Paris Bohemia. That Stein can make figures like Picasso boring when disfigured by her ugly syntactic compulsions is a perverse sort of accomplishment, I suppose. Genius my ass. The ego of Gertrude Stein was too hard to swallow, particularly combined with the absolutely atrocious writing.

This woman seriously compared herself to Shakespeare at some point. Shakespeare and this No, just no. Horrible horrible horrible. Worse than Hemingway and Kafka. This is a must-read for anyone interested in artists and writers in Paris in the early part of the 20th century, because every writer and artist of any note who was in Paris at that time encountered Gertrude Stein at some point.

Stein wrote this work in the conversational style of Toklas, who was her life partner. Ostensibly Toklas' autobiography, it is in reality Stein's memoir written as if Stein were Toklas. Whether the voice which emerges is authentically that of Toklas I don't know, but the conversational style is very convincing and comes complete with non sequiturs and digressions.

It's an interesting device, but it doesn't make the book - a relatively short one - easy to read. At least, I didn't find it so. If Stein accurately reproduced the rhythm and content of Toklas' conversation, then Toklas was probably best taken in small doses. Writing about herself as if her partner were the one doing the writing allowed Stein to blow her own trumpet more than would have been seemly in a straight memoir.

There was nothing shy and retiring about Stein and her high opinion of herself never faltered. Here's what she wrote - in Toklas' voice - at the end of the first chapter: I may say that only three times in my life have I met a genius and each time a bell within me rang and I was not mistaken, and I may say in each case it was before there was any general recognition of the quality of genius in them.

I have met many important people, I have met several great people but I have only known three first class geniuses and in each case on sight within me something rang. In no one of the three cases have I been mistaken. I initially suspected that the not infrequent references in the alicja toklas autobiography to Stein's genius were meant ironically, but I was rapidly persuaded that Stein was serious.

She was convinced that her writing had great merit and could not understand why her literary genius went so long unrecoginsed. They had initially been good friends, but fell out when Hemingway disparaged Sherwood Andersonwhom Stein considered had been a great influence on Hemingway's writing. Reading what Stein had to say about Hemingway in this book - almost all of it extremely unflattering - made me realise that Hemingway's portrait of Stein in A Moveable Feast was effectively his revenge.

This is unlikely to be enjoyed by anyone not interested in the writers and artists with whom Stein was acquainted and in that particular period in the history of Paris. Stein, of course, would have wanted the book read for the pleasure of reading the work of a literary genius. Sadly, I think I would prefer to read more about Stein than more of her writing.

This is what Wikipedia says about him. What makes this book memorable for me is this interesting idea: a pseudo-autobiography. Gertrude Stein wrote this book from the perspective of her lover, Alice B. It is like an autobiography yet Stein put herself in Toklas' shoes. I am still to read Stein's first novel, Three Lives and her long The Making of the Americans both of which were mentioned a lot of time in this book but I have an inkling that Stein's writing style or voice here is different from what she used in those two books.

Her intention was to mimic the speaking style of Toklas: crisp and very conversational. A couple of months back, i. In the book's intro, she said that one of her fondest dreams was to write her own book. I thought of buying it but when I leafed through the pages, I saw that it had nothing except French alicja toklas autobiography recipes with exotic ingredients that obviously will not be available in a third-world country like the Philippines.

So, I did not buy it and now I am regretting it big time. I forewent the chance of having a memento from a fascinating literary non-fiction character. The better half of a self-proclaimed genius: Getrude Stein. Based on this book, it is too early for me to say that Stein is really a genius. The idea of her writing and describing herself as one using Toklas just sounds presumptuous to me.

However, as I said it is early for me to say since I am still to read her other works. However in her rented house in Paris before, during and after WWI, she and Toklas hobnobbed with world-renowned artists: painters and writers. Eliot and many, many others I will not mention them because I don't know them yet. They could have a foursome date and that would be interesting the drunkard Miller mentioning Stein in his book and genius Stein doing the same to Miller.

However, it has no sex lesbian scenes and if you don't pay close attention to the narration, it might even escape you that Stein and Toklas were lesbian and lovers. My point is that a gay or lesbian novel can be great even if there are no sex scenes. This just reminds me of Augusten Burrough's Running with Scissors that is written nicely like a autobiography but he included disgusting in-your-face homosexual acts that are so distasteful I almost threw the book against the wall.

I will surely read Stein's other works and see for myself if she is really a genius. And hey, GR says that this is my th read book! Another reason why this book is memorable for me! John Anthony. My first introduction to Stein. This records her life csupposedly through the eyes of her companion and lover, Alice B. In fact, it is Gertrude Stein G.

Both women are American born but throughout much of the book we find them living in Paris. Here they hold court to the artists, writers and musicians of the day. The war years are particularly interesting with both of them doing their bit for the war effort: ferrying injured soldiers to hospital. One may be tempted to give this four stars because of the constant digressions, but then one reflects that it is just Stein brilliantly imitating Toklas' conversational style of speech.

Tired of waiting for Toklas to write her memoirs, Stein amusingly wrote Toklas' autobiography for her. Whether you want to know more about Picasso, Matisse, Stein or any of the number of famous artists that strolled through 27 rue de Fleurus to see all of the famous paintings, then you must read this book. It is insightful, engaging and witty, but it is also an incredible accomplishment of style.

I wish I had met you Stein, rest assured, I will be reading a lot more of your work in the near future. There's a lot of love in this text, both for Stein herself and for her companion. But the one thing I felt lacking was that Stein never informs us of the true nature of her relationship with Toklas. A highly enjoyable read nonetheless. Sunny Lu.

Gertrude Stein is really on to something here. I think she might have found a solution to a fairly widespread problem in the literary world. Writers tortured by their sense of superiority, all too aware of their genius, overwhelmed by their unbridled desire to show off, having to resort to pompous prose as an outlet for their narcissism.

Well, Gertrude Stein came with an ingenious idea. Why use such a cheap subterfuge when she can have other people flat out call her a genius? So she writes The Autobiography of Alice B. It's awfully self-indulgent and ridiculous and not as obnoxious as you'd fear. Gertrude Stein is always referred to by her full name so it's firmly established that you are reading about a person of importance whose name should inspire reverence.

How much her work shaped the course of literature I can't say, but she is very sure of her talent and, considering all the criticism she faced, her self-confidence is quite admirable. The fascination for this book also comes from the impressive group of friends and acquaintances that frequented her Paris salon: Picasso, Matisse, Appollinaire, Braque, Satie, Hemingway and many others.

The multitude of people and anecdotes can make the reading tiring, but there's an undeniable charm that will keep you turning the pages. You end up not knowing much more about Alice Toklas than when you started, as I'm sure wasn't the intention. It was good advertising though. If Gertrude Stein wanted to trick me into reading more of her work, I think she might have just succeeded.

George Ilsley. Author 12 books followers. This book is wonderfully written. It is ironic that it was not Gertrude Stein's favorite, but it is the book that made her much more well known. To this day, I will pick it up and dip into it, anywhere. Absolute bliss. It is an exploration of voice, a demonstration of voice, and for that reason alone can be studied.

Some of this entails love "French style," while at other times a character might drop dead with no more than a mention. Even French soldiers, fighting one of the most savage wars in human history, emote their greatest dramas only when responding to mistakes in Stein's thoughtful, but occasionally absent-minded, letters. The overall effect is comedy, then, and while at times the author reminds us of the Battle of the Marne or the bitter setbacks of artists and couples, the turmoil around and within her characters never overwhelms the characters' insatiable urges to live and laugh.

Against a backdrop of world war, the end result is diminished, if not unresolved. To wit, Stein writes of Toklas, "as Gertrude Stein's elder brother once said of me, if I were a general I would never lose a battle, I would only mislay it. More than eager to help France manage the war--even to the point of driving an ambulance for the A.

She also hosted wayfarers and other visitors at her rue de Fleurus home, where she generously cooked dinner, served wine and critiqued artists' work in-between sleepless nights of work. All this is adorably depicted in the book. One such artist was Hemingway. Depicting him as a callow, earnest newspaper boy with grand ambition, Stein displayed mixed opinions about him and other writing contemporaries while remaining ebullient when such editors and writers, including F.

Scott Fitzgerald, recognized her work. When pointing out the strengths and foibles of her fellow artists she also, along the way, made shrewd observations about art; these commentaries are well worth a look. Both the insider who cavorted with Picasso and the outsider whose alicja toklas autobiography was a target of mockery, Stein maintained a self-image that mirrored the contradictory inspirations around her.

Altogether forgetful, telling us through Alice "she has a bad memory for names," a genius-by-association, and a genius personified, she constantly picked herself up, pulled herself together, then embarked on new adventures. Gertrude Stein is all about adventure and challenge, and since she succeeds in both with a shrug and a laugh, she's also an eminent character.

As she conveys through this literary conversation with herself and Alice B. Toklas, Stein might not know why, either; but the answer to why, for this writer, is subordinate to the question. In this work, as observation-upon-observation unfolds, enveloping "the real," "the truth" and "the whole" in both criss-crossing patterns and repetitive sounds, Gertrude Stein searches for deeper, more indefinable truths about her friends and acquaintances--not in terms of form, but in terms of the unconscious.

She would vigorously contradict this point, but her work with Radcliff's psychologist William James is evident when she so probes the essences of her characters without killing her patients. Loved the entire book. I had read the paperback issue years ago but this book actually made me read the book again because of the colorful illustrations.

For anyone interested in Paris during the 20s this is a good book to read. The conceit of Stein writing Alice's autobiography creates some disorienting moments as well as some moments of amusement.

Alicja toklas autobiography: Alice Babette Toklas (April

As in Sylvia Beach's book Shakespeare and Company this book reveals the amazing number of writers and artists who were in Paris at the time. An interesting sideline is Stein and Toklas' work with the French wounded during the war. Edith Wharton is another writer whose wartime contributions are not commonly known. Any writer trying to get published will commiserate with Stein's efforts to get her own works out to the public.

While Stein's writing can be difficult to read this book is not. Its lack of commas and sparsity of capital letters soon is hardly noticed. Finally Stein's wit can often catch the reader off guard in a delightful way. I got this version of the book because I love the woman's artwork. The book is very heavy, with very thick pages. As far as the content, some of it is very interesting, anecdotes about Picasso, Derain, Matisse, Gris, Vollard, Hemingway, etc.

There are a few funny stories, and it is fun to see Picasso from the point of view of his good friend; his social life, etc. It was written for Stein's contemporaries - upper middle class and wealthy educated people who were born between and would like it best. It would take a year to read if I stopped to research all of the names dropped in this book.

Many artists, some writers, and lots of wealthy people Stein and Toklas stayed with or visited as they galavanted between Paris, Southern France, Italy, London, etc. So many names we've never heard of make parts of the book dull. Name after name, who pleased Gertrude Stein and who did not. We alicja toklas autobiography not interested in every detail of who and how and what process she went through for everything she wrote and published.

Her writing style is a bit annoying, because she took pride in rarely using commas in her long sentences, so they don't always make sense until you read them again, figuring out where the pauses and emphasis belong. An "autobiography" of Alice B. Toklas, by Gertrude Stein. This is my first Stein book, and I found it very well written. I enjoyed reading about the various famous although they weren't famous at the time people that were involved in the avant-garde movement in Paris in the early 's; Hemingway, Picasso, Matisse, Man Ray, Juan Gris, etc.

I'm not sure there is any "point" to the book except to describe the incredible coalescing of greatness in one point in time and space. I think the book could have been half the length and still be interesting. It's only slightly shy of pages, but even still, it seems a bit long. After a while I found myself not caring that Picasso was going off to Spain again with a different girlfriend, or that the Matisse's had permanently moved out of Paris.

Alicja toklas autobiography: The charm of The Autobiography

There is also a huge number of people that have become mere footnotes to history, if even a footnote. One truly prophetic statement: "[Gertrude Stein] thinks Fitzgerald will be read when many of his well known contemporaries are forgotten. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape "Donate to the archive" User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest.

Sign up Log in. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. Metropolitan Museum Cleveland Museum of Art. Internet Arcade Console Living Room. Before I Came to Paris [ edit ]. My Arrival in Paris [ edit ]. Gertrude Stein in Paris, — [ edit ]. The War [ edit ]. After the War, — [ edit ]. Literary significance and criticism [ edit ].

See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Writings — New York: Library of America,p. Modern Library. Gertrude Stein. Toklas Everybody's Autobiography A List Leo Stein brother Alice B. Toklas The Alice B.