The Making of Americans
Gertrude Stein
Read by Martha H. Weller
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
Part 01 (3-20) | 54:14 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 02 (20-38) | 56:18 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 03 (38-56) | 55:16 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 04 (56-74) | 58:12 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 05 (74-92) | 59:46 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 06 (92-110) | 58:27 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 07 (110-128) | 59:38 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 08 (128-149) | 1:10:27 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 09 (150-168) | 1:05:33 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 10 (168-186) | 1:03:16 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 11 (186-204) | 1:02:27 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 12 (204-220) | 55:44 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 13 (221-236) | 52:18 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 14 (236-250) | 48:20 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 15 (250-261) | 38:13 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 16 (261-272) | 36:30 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 17 (272-285) | 43:17 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 18: Martha Hersland (287-305) | 59:41 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 19 (305-322) | 59:25 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 20 (322-336) | 54:24 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 21 (336-351) | 56:03 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 22 (351-367) | 58:37 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 23 (367-381) | 53:39 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 24 (382-396) | 51:43 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 25 (396-410) | 50:57 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 26 (410-425) | 49:56 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 27 (426-441) | 52:21 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 28 (441-455) | 50:40 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 29 (456-467) | 41:11 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 30 (468-476) | 29:48 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 31: Alfred Hersland and Julia Dehning (477-495) | 55:32 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 32 (495-510) | 57:10 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 33 (510-526) | 55:36 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 34 (526-541) | 54:21 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 35 (541-556) | 56:36 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 36 (556-572) | 56:16 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 37 (572-586) | 52:48 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 38 (586-601) | 51:41 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 39 (601-616) | 56:21 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 40 (616-631) | 56:31 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 41 (631-646) | 56:51 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 42 (646-660) | 55:36 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 43 (660-676) | 54:10 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 44 (676-691) | 53:46 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 45 (691-705) | 53:02 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 46 (705-719) | 47:51 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 47: David Hersland (721-740) | 1:03:25 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 48 (740-756) | 58:09 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 49 (756-771) | 52:07 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 50 (771-786) | 57:03 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 51 (786-801) | 52:14 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 52 (801-816) | 56:31 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 53 (816-813) | 52:45 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 54 (831-846) | 55:23 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 55 (847-862) | 55:34 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 56 (862-877) | 52:37 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 57 (877-888) | 37:31 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 58 (888-904) | 58:42 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 59: History of a Family's Progress (905-915) | 30:04 | Read by Martha H. Weller |
Part 60 (915-925) | 36:37 | Read by Martha H. Weller |