|
February 18th, 2013
 | 08:10 am - #21, 22
While we manned the table at the convention, I got a fair amount of reading done.
First book finished was Drek!: The REAL Yiddish Your Bubbe Never Taught You. Now, I speak and read a fair amount of Hebrew. I stumble over the liturgical language in the prayer books, but I know some colloquial language. This book isn't Hebrew, though, it's another language entirely. Most of the Yiddish I ever learned came from my father, may he rest in peace; a bit more from peers who used some of it in conversation. I never learned to read it, and I certainly haven't learned any grammar in it. This book isn't really a way to learn the language, but it contains some juicy material, and reviewing it connected me with Dad in ways nothing else has since he passed. Cool book.
Second was Osprey Fortress #71: The Walls of Rome, which I found interesting, if for nothing more than a bit of geographical information about the town in ancient days. (Note my reading of many books of mystery set in Ancient Rome) A fairly good read.
|
You might like Michael Wex's Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All Its Moods. I chuckled at his writing that the kids in his neighborhood got off on the Yiddish cussing that peppered some of The Three Stooges' shorts (particularly the ones mocking Hitler), and the fact that yeshiva students who discuss "Moses and Aaron" with each other are not talking about Jewish history. Ahem. Terry Gross interviewed Wex on Fresh Air on 12 Dec. 2005; this interview is what prompted me to buy the book. It's in the To Be Read stack. I'll get there, I promise! |
|
|
|
|
|
LiveJournal.com |
mycroftca
