This book sat on my bookshelf for years before I got to it. And when I finally did, it was one of the blurbs that really caught my eye. Specifically, the one written by Josek Skvorecky - whose work I've admired - The Cowards and The Engineer of Human Souls (read them in Czech). He praised the book:
A profound and beautiful book. The author manages to capture the essence of the exile experience in wonderfully human terms, against the background of a sharp and searching intellect. This is how tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people have felt in this century. Eva Hoffman speaks movingly for all of them.
Lost in Translation is a memoir that explores the author's sense of identity, language and belonging through the lens of her immigrant experience. Divided into three parts, the book reflects on the different stages of Ewa Hoffman's life. Beginning with her childhood in post-war Poland, the so-called "exile" in Canada and the transition from her mother tongue to English. It finishes with her rediscovery of herself as an adult in the US.
The book is remarkable, not only for the way it's written, but especially for the thoughtful perspective it takes on observing and immersing oneself in another culture. From what it takes to start living in the foreign language, going beyond basic vocabulary, to practical day-to-day use, up to being able to enjoy the inner beauty of the language. English, often denounced as simple, dry and possibly unpoetic, serves as a good foundation for such a stark contrast.
The mental process described in the book is something I only wish I could describe, having experienced it myself when moving abroad. From the struggle to carry on basic conversations, to being able to perceive the written text on the level that you are (or were) used to. And even though I haven't lived the experience to the same extent, there is something deeply personal for me in this book. The fact that my own experience left me "lost in translation". Far from being able to think only in Czech, and still unable to find my own voice in English.
Rating: ★★★★★ ?