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Three Lives Audiobook
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(2.80) - 20 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Three Lives was written in 1905/06 and published in 1909 at the author’s expense. The work consists of three independent novellas: The Good Anna, Melanctha, and The Gentle Lena. Each of the titular characters lives in Bridgepoint, a fictional town based on Baltimore.
The Good Anna explores the life of strong-willed Anna Federner, a woman of “solid lower middle-class south German stock.” The story follows the relationships Anna develops with the women in the households in which she works as a servant, and explores in particular the theme of bonding between women.
Melanctha is an unconventional novella in which Stein explores what it is to seek meaning and fulfillment amidst the complexities and challenges of life. Melanctha, the daughter of a black father and a mixed-race mother, is unsatisfied with her life in segregated Bridgepoint. She launches into a passionate search for knowledge and power, within complicated cross-currents of race, sex and gender.
The Gentle Lena recounts the life of Lena, who (like Anna in the first story) is an immigrant from Germany, now living in Bridgepoint. Lena is also a servant, but ends up marrying Herman Kreder, at the behest of the elders in their lives. In contrast to Anna Federner, who is willful and determined, Lena’s life is marked by a consistent passivity, which Stein explores throughout the narrative.
The three lives presented by Stein are compelling, and reflect the author’s philosophical and literary values. Her use of repetition is particularly pronounced in both Melanctha and The Good Lena.
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"possibly the only modernism book that I feel I understand from cover to cover... very artifully constructed. worthwhile, educations, rewarding read. Not one to curl up on the sofa and feel warm with. "
— Anita (5 out of 5 stars)
Three Lives Listener Reviews
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" (6/10) Innovative, important, at times penetrating, and pretty fucking tedious to actually read. "
— Rob, 2/12/2011 -
" OH. MY. WORD. This book will absolutely kill your soul. Avoid at all costs. That's all I have to say. "
— Taylor, 1/30/2011 -
" To me, this book was unreadable. Once I realized that the characters had been speaking in the same circles for 20 pages, I recognized that I needed to find a different book to read. "
— Charlotte, 1/9/2011 -
" I respect this piece, but never want to read it again. "
— Cait, 12/27/2010 -
" Read alongside Flaubert's Three Lives... "
— Heather, 11/15/2010 -
" Simply put, Gertrude Stein's repetitive, irritating, experimental style isn't any fun to read. "
— Mike, 11/11/2010 -
" Melanctha was mighty long and might close and Lena was sleepy; the good Anna reminded me of my mother, and Stein's style was put to very sensible use here. "
— Farren, 8/8/2010 -
" "Lena was patient, gentle, sweet and german." "
— Emily, 4/21/2010 -
" Not my favorite Stein work, but the introduction by Lyn Hejinian makes this edition worth the read. "
— Christine, 3/26/2010
About Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) was born in Pittsburgh to a prosperous German-Jewish family. She was educated in France and the United States, worked under the pioneering psychologist William James, and later studied medicine. With her brother Leo she was an important patron of the arts, acquiring works by many contemporary artists, most famously Picasso, while her home became a popular meeting place for writers and painters from Matisse to Hemingway. Her books include Three Lives, Tender Buttons, and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.