Gertrude Stein wouldn’t be unfamilliar to anyone who has some liking to literature generally. She was a cult figure in the literary modernism in the early 20th century, no doubt. What makes her so prominent, so eccentric, and so charming concomitantly is her seemingly paradoxical attributes within her expressed in her character and her writing style. All of that is portrayed vividly in this short biography which leads us chronologically into Gertrude Stein’s life, not in detailed, but concisely. Miss Stein’s character is quite appealing, even though it is told summarily through a book, via some anecdotes of hers, and her writing style is somewhat mind-blowing even thought it’s mentioned just in its rough surface.
Right in her early years of life, her self-boasted personality which would be her currency later in literary circles already came to the fore, claiming, in her early teens, that she was afraid of having no decent books to read as she would reached 15. Yet, in spite of always making herself outstanding among people, especially among male figures in order to dominate or overwhelm them by her witty remarks, paradoxically enough, Miss Stein almost inclined to elude the use of her own voice in works, masquerading as someone else to convey her ideas, her thoughts.
In addition to her title of self-proclaimed genius which seems to be presumptuous, the talent of rthetoric expressed in her playful retorts and her charming communication is another eminent aspect of her personality. One of the most well-known anecdotes about her, which strikes me fancy the most, is when she and her girlfriend came back to New York in 1934, and faced a slew of questions by journalists, Miss Stein had a sharp-witted reply to a seemingly-wanting-to-tease-her question:
“Why don’t you write the way you talk?”, asked the journalist.
“Why don’t you read the way I write?”, replied Miss Stein.