twilliamson's review against another edition
3.0
First published as a collection in 1937, Rosten's vignettes depict the antics of one particular immigrant student in an adult education night class intended to help foreigners better assimilate to American culture. The humor of the book invariably relies on stereotyping its cast of characters in a way that would have felt warm and light-hearted in the years before the second World War, and Rosten's puns work well with the premise, even if the jokes rely entirely on the suspension of disbelief.
Rosten's book was incredibly well-received throughout the 1930s and 1940s--the original stories, published in 1935, were immediately published by The New Yorker--and Kaplan was popular enough to warrant two further bodies of fiction from Rosten. So popular was Rosten's book, in fact, that it was "drafted" as the first title listed in the American Services Edition paperbacks shipped to GI's during WWII.
The book, however, is demonstrably a remnant of its time. Read now by the wrong audience, it could easily be misinterpreted as something anti-semitic, even though the context of the book's content should demonstrate that no such meaning would ever have been intended, and these sorts of misreadings would be inconceivable during its heyday. Rosten's stories are certainly problematic to modern sensibilities, but I tend to think that they're as much an indictment of the systematic pressure on immigrants to assimilate as it is a favorable political positioning of the practice. Rosten seems to value the cultural background of his protagonists as much as he also sympathizes with their seeming need to become more naturalized citizens of the United States. As the United States marched further toward war, and especially with the rise of anti-semitism in Europe and the closure of America's borders to Jews abroad, the ability of certain immigrants to become more functionally invisible would have been of sincere value--and while Rosten doesn't tackle the subject with any sense of genuine philosophical complexity, he assuredly understood what he was doing with his humor at the time, and thereafter.
I also don't find the book as offensive given that Rosten's style of humor has been a hallmark of many great comedic characters since, including Peter Sellers' (and Steve Martin's) Inspector Clouseau. It may be my postmodern brain that makes such connections, but I couldn't help but feel as though I was reading a lost Pink Panther bit more than once throughout the book.
It's worth a read for those looking for explorations of 20th century immigrant literature, but otherwise, I think it's fine to skip it.
Rosten's book was incredibly well-received throughout the 1930s and 1940s--the original stories, published in 1935, were immediately published by The New Yorker--and Kaplan was popular enough to warrant two further bodies of fiction from Rosten. So popular was Rosten's book, in fact, that it was "drafted" as the first title listed in the American Services Edition paperbacks shipped to GI's during WWII.
The book, however, is demonstrably a remnant of its time. Read now by the wrong audience, it could easily be misinterpreted as something anti-semitic, even though the context of the book's content should demonstrate that no such meaning would ever have been intended, and these sorts of misreadings would be inconceivable during its heyday. Rosten's stories are certainly problematic to modern sensibilities, but I tend to think that they're as much an indictment of the systematic pressure on immigrants to assimilate as it is a favorable political positioning of the practice. Rosten seems to value the cultural background of his protagonists as much as he also sympathizes with their seeming need to become more naturalized citizens of the United States. As the United States marched further toward war, and especially with the rise of anti-semitism in Europe and the closure of America's borders to Jews abroad, the ability of certain immigrants to become more functionally invisible would have been of sincere value--and while Rosten doesn't tackle the subject with any sense of genuine philosophical complexity, he assuredly understood what he was doing with his humor at the time, and thereafter.
I also don't find the book as offensive given that Rosten's style of humor has been a hallmark of many great comedic characters since, including Peter Sellers' (and Steve Martin's) Inspector Clouseau. It may be my postmodern brain that makes such connections, but I couldn't help but feel as though I was reading a lost Pink Panther bit more than once throughout the book.
It's worth a read for those looking for explorations of 20th century immigrant literature, but otherwise, I think it's fine to skip it.
taliaissmart's review
5.0
ASE A-1
Adorable and consistently laugh-out-loud funny. This book is an instant classic for me!!
Adorable and consistently laugh-out-loud funny. This book is an instant classic for me!!
laci's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure. It definitely made me laugh occasionally, but it wasn't as great as I expected, considering how many people praised it to high heavens. (The last chapter, for example, was brilliant, and the ending even more so.)
I do intend to read the Czech translation, though. I'm curious about how it was done, and my grandma had been recommending it for the last maybe 13 years. :)
I do intend to read the Czech translation, though. I'm curious about how it was done, and my grandma had been recommending it for the last maybe 13 years. :)
zzzuzana's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
3.0
A little outdated, having first been published in 1937, but cute nonetheless. I suppose the humor would have been more immediate at the time it was written. It does show many of the reasons why it's difficult for foreigners to learn English! There are so many ways the language can trip you up if you didn't grow up with it.
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