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The Making of Americans

Gelesen von 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

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Part 07 (110-128)

59:38

Read by Martha H. Weller

Part 08 (128-149)

1:10:27

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Part 09 (150-168)

1:05:33

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Part 10 (168-186)

1:03:16

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Part 11 (186-204)

1:02:27

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Part 12 (204-220)

55:44

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Part 13 (221-236)

52:18

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Part 14 (236-250)

48:20

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Part 15 (250-261)

38:13

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Part 16 (261-272)

36:30

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Part 17 (272-285)

43:17

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Part 18: Martha Hersland (287-305)

59:41

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Part 19 (305-322)

59:25

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Part 20 (322-336)

54:24

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Part 21 (336-351)

56:03

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Part 22 (351-367)

58:37

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Part 23 (367-381)

53:39

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Part 24 (382-396)

51:43

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Part 25 (396-410)

50:57

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Part 26 (410-425)

49:56

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Part 27 (426-441)

52:21

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Part 28 (441-455)

50:40

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Part 29 (456-467)

41:11

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Part 30 (468-476)

29:48

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Part 31: Alfred Hersland and Julia Dehning (477-495)

55:32

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Part 32 (495-510)

57:10

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Part 33 (510-526)

55:36

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Part 34 (526-541)

54:21

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Part 35 (541-556)

56:36

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Part 36 (556-572)

56:16

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Part 37 (572-586)

52:48

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Part 38 (586-601)

51:41

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Part 39 (601-616)

56:21

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Part 40 (616-631)

56:31

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Part 41 (631-646)

56:51

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Part 42 (646-660)

55:36

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Part 43 (660-676)

54:10

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Part 44 (676-691)

53:46

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Part 45 (691-705)

53:02

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Part 46 (705-719)

47:51

Read by Martha H. Weller

Part 47: David Hersland (721-740)

1:03:25

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Part 48 (740-756)

58:09

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Part 49 (756-771)

52:07

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Part 50 (771-786)

57:03

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Part 51 (786-801)

52:14

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Part 52 (801-816)

56:31

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Part 53 (816-813)

52:45

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Part 54 (831-846)

55:23

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Part 55 (847-862)

55:34

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Part 56 (862-877)

52:37

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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