Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed Tender buttons by Gertrude Stein
Review of 'Tender buttons' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Well this isn't for everyone but like some of the others here on Goodreads I have an unjustifiable love for Tender Buttons. Is it just a small selection of modernist gibberish? Maybe. Is there a great key that can be used to unlock significant meaning from Stein's famous tome of word salad? Maybe not. I don't really know. Keeping in mind her project (to paint with language like an artist... just the words, not the grammar... sort of) gives one at least some way to talk about the unusual poems here when discussing them without feeling like some kind of literary bully. Then again, that is how I'm starting to think of modernism in general.
All meaning making aside, I love this book. Honestly? I couldn't tell you why. I just like the way the words sound. The pleasurable catharsis of meaning always feels just out of reach so the …
Well this isn't for everyone but like some of the others here on Goodreads I have an unjustifiable love for Tender Buttons. Is it just a small selection of modernist gibberish? Maybe. Is there a great key that can be used to unlock significant meaning from Stein's famous tome of word salad? Maybe not. I don't really know. Keeping in mind her project (to paint with language like an artist... just the words, not the grammar... sort of) gives one at least some way to talk about the unusual poems here when discussing them without feeling like some kind of literary bully. Then again, that is how I'm starting to think of modernism in general.
All meaning making aside, I love this book. Honestly? I couldn't tell you why. I just like the way the words sound. The pleasurable catharsis of meaning always feels just out of reach so the work never provides that sort of satisfaction. Still, in a weird sort of tantric way, there is simply joy in the way Stein rolls around in language. Here's one:
A PETTICOAT
A light white, a disgrace, an ink spot, a rosy charm.
That's the entire poem. Frustrating if read in a certain way, beautiful if read in another. There were longer poems and certainly poems that tested my endurance and focus but all in all this is a book I'm going to dip into every once in a while because it reminds me what the best poetry can: that language doesn't only convey meaning in one way and that reading language doesn't always have to recite the same discourse.
