Sweet and funny. I had to read some of the dialog aloud to understand it which led to concerned looks from my husband. When I finished When Books Went to War I decided to go through the list of American Service Editions and check out some titles I haven't read and this is one of them. A charming book. ( )

Most books which originated as a series of columns do not hold up well when read as a book. This collection got tedious; I should have left it for the occasional read. A friend recommended it because of its ESL connection. Its appeal? It was a window on teaching methods of the 50s. Most of its humor plays off of mispronounced words, but there is at the core a respect for the learner of English.

As the crisis unfolds in Syria (to bomb or not to bomb) this insight (p.50) was timely: "A case of knowing what was wrong, he thought, but not knowing what was right." ( )

"Mr Parkhill read what some unknown Muse in secret visitation had whispered to Hyman Kaplan"
By sally tarbox on 4 August 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Probably *3.5 for this highly entertaining little novel, set in an English language class for immigrants to the US in 1937. Mr Parkhill is the harrassed teacher; the students primarily Italian and Jewish. Although the action is all based around classroom exchanges, we nonetheless get an insight into the main personalities, headed by Yiddish speaker Hyman Kaplan.
"In his forties, a plump, red-faced gentleman, with wavy blond hair, TWO fountain pens in his outer pocket and a perpetual smile. It was a strange smile, Mr Parkhill remarked, vague, bland and consistent in its monotony."
Hyman Kaplan is an unforgettable character, who reminded me of Hasek's 'Good Soldier Schweik'- either a complete fool or- we come to believe- singularly clever, always leaving the authorities with egg on their face. Thus when corrected for the phrasing of his advice to a relative: "if your eye falls on a bargain, please pick it up", Kaplan emerges victorious with his explanation "Mine oncle has a gless eye."

There is a somewhat combative relationship between Kaplan and his fellow students, notably the quiet but more linguistically adept Miss Minick. But little hints from his class work suggest a logical and warm hearted individual.
The humour hinges on the vagaries of the English language: Kaplan conjugates 'to bite': "If is write 'write, wrote, written', so vy isn't 'bite, bote, bitten?" He gives "a fervent speech extolling the D'Oyley Carte Company's performance of an operetta by two English gentlemen referred to as 'Goldberg and Solomon." He gleefully participates in correcting Miss Mitnick's composition on her job: "Aha! Vaitress!", he cried out."Should be a' V' in vaitress!"
Rosten writes a convincing Yiddish acent; very funny. ( )

Read this when a kid of 11 or 12. Little memory of the content but great memory of good laughs to be had. Probably non-PC at the sentence structure and naivete of Kaplan and other pupils who are non-native English speakers.

Still bet it's a delightful take on the immigrant experience, even for our time. ( )

Hyman represents everything an ESL teacher dreads in a student. He's also a bit of a sensitive jerk. Two things that got me to thinking I didn't like the book. But other than that, it's a charming foray into the world of misunderstanding. ( )