Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language

This was quite the enjoyable read. My professor for my senior seminar on translingual literature assigned the book, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of it. You'll definitely laugh, and probably cry at a few of the more depressing moments of the book. I'll be honest that I'm reading well out of my normal comfort zone here. I normally only read science fiction, fantasy, young adult literature, or crime novels (though I am making attempts to branch out). I've only read a few other autobiographies before this one, and was caught off guard by how brutally honest the author was (or at least attempted to be) as she mapped out her transition from Poland to America. From frank talks on her thoughts towards sex as a kid to her admitted drug use during the hippie era, the book is rife with the experiences and explorations of her generation as seen through the mind of an immigrant attempting (or sometimes not) to assimilate into a foreign culture. The book, in my opinion, only suffers in one crucial area, while the prose is eloquent, and as stated in the title, quite often poignant, the book suffers from an excess of that prose. Perhaps it is just par for the course when it comes to autobiographies, but parts of the book become a chore to read. Thankfully, when the prose does become a chore, it was broken up by intense or intriguing debates between figures in her life, it was given analysis by the personification of her internal struggle between her English voice and her Polish voice, or it was taken to new heights by her occasionally profound insights on life. Though the author currently lives in London, she has a solid grasp on the American way of life. The book was an enjoyable and quick read that I managed to finish in two days in brief moments while at work and home.

"Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language" by Eva Hoffman is a non-fiction piece detailing the author's life from her youth through her thirties.Part I, “Paradise”, is centered on the author's early years in Poland. Even though, life is rather difficult it is all the Polish people know and overall it is a good life. Also found in this section are the socio-economic conditions and how their society had been affected by the war, which ended about two months before Eva was born.Part II, “Exile”, demonstrates the Wydra family leaving Poland to immigrate to Canada. This section does a great job at capturing the confusion and disorientation of a young girl in a foreign country and how the family must learn to adapt to a new environment, especially its customs and language.Part III, “The New World”, kicks off when Eva receives a scholarship to Rice University in Houston, Texas. In Texas, Hoffman actually receives her first taste of "Americanization" and also meets her future husband. Part III depicts Eva's evolution as she goes through college and eventually moves east to go to Harvard. While the author is highly accomplished and successful, the struggle to define her identity is never quite done.One of the more thoughtful books I have read, this book is a highly reflective memoir that deals with numerous topics, such as immigration and anti-Semitism. Hoffman moves from Poland to Canada at a young age and her insights on what she is going through parallels with many of the lives of her readers and what they have gone or will go through. A must read indeed.

As a Polish immigrant to the US, I really wanted to love this book. The first part was delightful to read and get lost in Cracow together with her. I really struggled with the second part. It requires you to read it with a dictionary for the use of obscure vocabulary. This part also gets overly philosophical and convoluted making it a really difficult read. I ended up not finishing the book, that was my biggest disappointment.

Eva Hoffman, born in Cracow, Poland in 1945, emigrated to Vancouver, B.C. with her family in 1959 when life in post-war Poland became increasingly difficult for the relatively few remaining Jews. This is a story about learning about life be struggling with a new language. The prose is dense and difficult, but for linguists and other scholarly folk, it is a joy.The author traces her teen-age years in Vancouver, describing through adolescent trauma through the eyes of an "other", her college years in Houston, and subsequent years at Harvard and beyond. Family relationships, love life, and friendships are explored through the medium of one who thinks in two languages for years and inherent difficulties as a result; ultimately she triumphs when she begins to think almost exclusively in English after many years.The reader is advised to have a dictionary handy when perusing this book. Though interesting, it is not a good "read" for the casual reader.

Like Eva, my father came to America from Poland via Canada to become an academic. Like Eva's, my father's family is from Krakow area. My family is not Jewish but was "different" enough not to fit in in Poland, socialist before WWII, anti-communist after the war. My maternal grandmother survived a Nazi concentration camp.I came to join my father years later. I can relate to Eva's story of a person starting anew in an entirely different environment.Here is my own immigrant's tale available on Amazon, not as well written (I am an engineer and I am dyslexic), but I hope interesting-How to Improve America: Education, Immigration, Health Care, and more: Immigrant's Perspective:http://www.amazon.com/How-Improve-America-Immigration-Perspective/dp/1495269884

A description of life between two cultures - both philosophical and poetic.

Como autobiografia, o livro dá testemunho do sofrimento psíquico que pode desencadear submeter-se a uma outra língua, a uma outra cultura. Muito bom.

日本の大学入試の英語長文問題の英文が、原典の英文をどの程度書き換えているのかに興味があり、購入しました。元の英文は、「歴史的現在」や「比喩」が用いられるなど、文学的な表現になっていて、少し難しく感じるかもしれませんが、辞書を使えば、高校生でも、十分に楽しめる内容だと思います。２００２年度センター試験英語本試験第６問を解いた後、「主人公」のエヴァが、カナダ移住後、どのような人生を送ったのか、興味がある向きには、オススメです。

... for writing this book. I will definitely read it again and again and then I might get used to the feeling that I will be forever stuck between two worlds, two languages, two cultures, two identities.

映画とはまったく関係ありません。Eva Hoffmanさんの自伝（Autography)です。幼いころから現在（出版当初）に至るまでの彼女の人生を描いた本です。美しい描写で書かれていますが、ノンフィクション作品にあまり興味がないため面白いとは残念ながら評価できません。

I loved this book. I think Eva Hoffman is a beautiful writer and she covers the themes of loss, identity, being and belonging with real insight and authenticity. Yes, it is certainly wordy, indulgent and earnest for the most part but somehow, that just added to its charm. She certainly invites the reader into her search for meaning and clarity! I enjoyed it immensely.