Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
9 journalers for this copy...
This remarkable book is Eva Hoffman's personal story of her experiences as an emigre who loses and remakes her identity in a new land and translates her sense of self into a new culture and a different language.
It was quite interesting to read about the author's childhood in Poland in the 1950s and to read of her emigration experience to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The author is quite introspective and she analyzes her emigration experience. The second half of the book is filled with this introspection. I was somewhat amazed at the length and depth to which her introspection could reach.
Journal Entry 3 by tabby-cat-owner at a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Monday, June 30, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (6/30/2014 UTC) at a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases
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This book has been mailed to lamilla of Minsk, Belarus as a belated birthday gift.
I hope that you find this book interesting, lamilla.
I hope that you find this book interesting, lamilla.
Arrived along with the pretty card. Thank you!
Journal Entry 5 by Lamilla at Санкт-Петербург(St. Petersburg), St. Petersburg (Federal City) Russia on Thursday, January 1, 2015
I'm taking the book with me to Russia to read while in trains
ETA: I devoured Poland and first years abroad parts before the train reached Moscow. The story is very intense. I think you should take the childhood part with the pinch of salt. Nevertheless, it's an engaging read.
ETA: I devoured Poland and first years abroad parts before the train reached Moscow. The story is very intense. I think you should take the childhood part with the pinch of salt. Nevertheless, it's an engaging read.
Reserved for EU already crossed VBB
http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/512007
http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/512007
Is taken from the box by Icila
Sent today from the main post-office as a registered airmail
You've found a travelling book. Hurray!
The book's journey continues by its finder's cooperation and creativity. By making a journal entry on this book, you can add to the book's story as it travels from reader to reader around the world.
Enjoy your reading!
Привет!
Спасибо, что нашли время зайти на сайт и сделать запись в журнале! Напишите, когда и где вы нашли книгу.
Перед тем, как попасть ко мне, она побывала в других уголках света. История ее путешествий записана на сайте, и теперь к ней добавился еще один пункт. Я очень рада, что она нашла нового читателя в вашем лице.
You've found a travelling book. Hurray!
The book's journey continues by its finder's cooperation and creativity. By making a journal entry on this book, you can add to the book's story as it travels from reader to reader around the world.
Enjoy your reading!
Привет!
Спасибо, что нашли время зайти на сайт и сделать запись в журнале! Напишите, когда и где вы нашли книгу.
Перед тем, как попасть ко мне, она побывала в других уголках света. История ее путешествий записана на сайте, и теперь к ней добавился еще один пункт. Я очень рада, что она нашла нового читателя в вашем лице.
Thank you Lamilla, the book arrived this morning. Everybody here now knows where Belarus is, for the best I hope.
Interesting analysis of the way we think according to the language.
I didn't imagine a childhood in Krakow so open-minded.
I didn't imagine a childhood in Krakow so open-minded.
My choice for the second semester of Favourite book of 2015.
New order :
1. Icila
2. Catsalive
3. Fifna
4. Dark-draco
5. elstaplador
6. earthcaroleanne
And back to Icila.
New order :
1. Icila
2. Catsalive
3. Fifna
4. Dark-draco
5. elstaplador
6. earthcaroleanne
And back to Icila.
On its way to Catsalive, welcome to the roundabout !
Roundabout book has arrived, thanks Icila. I haven't read it, & it's not one I'd have chosen for myself, so it should be an interesting read.
cover blurb:
From the war-ravaged, faded elegance of her native Cracow she was brought by her parents to settle in well-manicured, suburban Vancouver. Eva Hoffman was thirteen years old, and the New World loomed as a terra incognita. Entering into adolescence, she endured the painful pull of nostalgia and struggled to express herself in a strange, unyielding new language.
Her spiritual and intellectual odyssey continued in college and led her ultimately to New York's literary world, yet still she felt caught between two languages, two cultures. But her perspective also made her a keen observer of an America in the flux of change.
Hoffman vividly portrays the exile's experience of disruption and the difficulties of living in a bicultural identity. A classically American chronicle of upward mobility and assimilation, her story is also an incisive meditation on coming to terms with one's own uniqueness, on learning how deeply culture affects the mind and body, and finally, on what it means to accomplish a translation of oneself.
"Hoffman raises one provocative question after another about the relationship between language and culture, about prevailing New World assumptions concerning the malleability of human beings in general and the young in particular, and about the emotional cost of re-creating oneself." Newsday
cover blurb:
From the war-ravaged, faded elegance of her native Cracow she was brought by her parents to settle in well-manicured, suburban Vancouver. Eva Hoffman was thirteen years old, and the New World loomed as a terra incognita. Entering into adolescence, she endured the painful pull of nostalgia and struggled to express herself in a strange, unyielding new language.
Her spiritual and intellectual odyssey continued in college and led her ultimately to New York's literary world, yet still she felt caught between two languages, two cultures. But her perspective also made her a keen observer of an America in the flux of change.
Hoffman vividly portrays the exile's experience of disruption and the difficulties of living in a bicultural identity. A classically American chronicle of upward mobility and assimilation, her story is also an incisive meditation on coming to terms with one's own uniqueness, on learning how deeply culture affects the mind and body, and finally, on what it means to accomplish a translation of oneself.
"Hoffman raises one provocative question after another about the relationship between language and culture, about prevailing New World assumptions concerning the malleability of human beings in general and the young in particular, and about the emotional cost of re-creating oneself." Newsday
Interesting & complex. Do we think differently in different languages? I wonder. I too was amazed at her inspection & analysis of every thought - even as a child? or only in looking back? Introspection isn't a bad thing, but to be examining everything you say & think can't be comfortable, in fact, I think it would make one extremely anxious. I can understand the culture shock but I've never considered language-shock before - most thought-provoking.
I do like the final sentence, "I am here now." This is one of the hardest things to be, right here, right now, in the moment, but it is a wonderful mindfulness exercise, and can do wonders for anxiety.
The language is excellent. Perhaps worth reading just to enjoy the use of words. Maybe this could only be created by a non-native English-speaker - it is all so correct (allowing for variations of usage in English-speaking countries). If it wasn't for the ...Translation it could sound slightly pompous & condescending, like an academic text instead of an autobiography.
I do like the final sentence, "I am here now." This is one of the hardest things to be, right here, right now, in the moment, but it is a wonderful mindfulness exercise, and can do wonders for anxiety.
The language is excellent. Perhaps worth reading just to enjoy the use of words. Maybe this could only be created by a non-native English-speaker - it is all so correct (allowing for variations of usage in English-speaking countries). If it wasn't for the ...Translation it could sound slightly pompous & condescending, like an academic text instead of an autobiography.
Journal Entry 15 by 
catsalive
at Favourite Book Roundabout, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, August 15, 2016
catsalive at Favourite Book Roundabout, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, August 15, 2016
Released 7 yrs ago (8/15/2016 UTC) at Favourite Book Roundabout, Bookring -- Controlled Releases
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Sent to Fifna for the Favourite Book of 2015 Roundabout.
Arrived safely, thanks catsalive! Looks good.
I'm in two minds about this book and I think I wanted to enjoy it much more than I did. It's a subject that interests me: I emigrated at the age of five and now I work as a translator, so I'm drawn to this kind of story. And yet I felt there was too much introspection.
Thanks for sharing this in the roundabout, Icila!
Thanks for sharing this in the roundabout, Icila!
Released 7 yrs ago (10/1/2016 UTC) at Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom
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On its way to dark-draco.
Journal Entry 19 by 
dark-draco
at Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 12, 2016
dark-draco at Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 12, 2016
This was waiting for me when I returned from holiday - thank you. Have started reading it straight away.
First of all, despite not finishing this book, I want to say that I didn't actually dislike it. I read the first section of the memoir, dealing with Eva's childhood in Poland just after the war. The writing was good, if sometimes so lyrical it was hard to follow what the author actually wanted to say. Occasionally, the juxtaposition between one event and the next was a little jarring, but I soon found that I got used to it and enjoyed how her mind skipped from one thing to another.
The main reason I didn't finish it was that I paused after the first section to read something else that caught my imagination more. Once I'd done with that, I found that I had no overwhelming urge to pick this back up and find out what happened next. With so many other books to read, I decided that was a good enough reason to leave it uncompleted!
The main reason I didn't finish it was that I paused after the first section to read something else that caught my imagination more. Once I'd done with that, I found that I had no overwhelming urge to pick this back up and find out what happened next. With so many other books to read, I decided that was a good enough reason to leave it uncompleted!
Journal Entry 21 by dark-draco at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Monday, November 21, 2016
dark-draco at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Monday, November 21, 2016
Released 7 yrs ago (11/19/2016 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to the next recipient of the 'Favourite Book of 2015' Book Roundabout.
Journal Entry 22 by elstaplador at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Received in the Favourites of 2015 roundabout.
Journal Entry 23 by elstaplador at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Sunday, January 22, 2017
I very much enjoyed this book: it was a vivid and nostalgic examination of a life across two continents and several decades. I particularly liked the focus on language as a medium for understanding oneself.
Journal Entry 24 by elstaplador at By Mail, Book Ring -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, January 22, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (1/22/2017 UTC) at By Mail, Book Ring -- Controlled Releases
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Sent to the next participant.
Journal Entry 25 by 
earthcaroleanne
at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, January 28, 2017
earthcaroleanne at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Saturday, January 28, 2017
Worried about getting a backlog and of course this doesn't arrive alone. At least I'm last in the roundabout and don't need to panic about reading it quickly.
Journal Entry 26 by earthcaroleanne at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, February 23, 2017
earthcaroleanne at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, February 23, 2017
Not for me I'm afraid. Reached page 50 and seriously wondered whether I wanted to keep reading. Then I was stuck on a bus in the snow for over 6 hours this morning trying to get to work and I managed to reach page 58. That answered my question. I'm not going back to it even although I still have a commute home and nothing to read.
Journal Entry 27 by earthcaroleanne at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France on Sunday, February 26, 2017
earthcaroleanne at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France on Sunday, February 26, 2017
Released 7 yrs ago (2/27/2017 UTC) at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France
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On it's way back to Icilia.
The book is back with me. Thank you all. Perhaps the subject is more understandable to non-native English speakers.
On its way to a new home. Enjoy !
Arrived to snowy Sipoo today. Looks interesting, but there is a queue of tags ahead of this. Thanks for tagging me, Icila!
