John S. Littell
Auteur van French Impressions : The Adventures of an American Family
Werken van John S. Littell
The Clay minstrel 1 exemplaar
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geslacht
- male
- Woonplaatsen
- New York, New York, USA
Leden
Besprekingen
Statistieken
- Werken
- 3
- Leden
- 95
- Populariteit
- #197,646
- Waardering
- 3.3
- Besprekingen
- 6
- ISBNs
- 6
It wasn't. Mainly, the book is not particularly well written. It has the feel of writing done by a high school student. Its very basic, pedestrian writing is peppered with things that are supposed to make you laugh, but I didn't laugh, except at one story where Mary got very drunk. Many paragraphs, too many paragraphs, end with a gratuitous sentence that could well have been left out. S'il vous plait.
For the most part, Mary seemed to me to be an ignoramus who not only didn't so much as make a list of a few pertinent French words to take with her when she went out on her errands, she clearly had no interest in learning the language at all. Nor was she interested in learning anything about French food or how to cook. She was determined to buy canned goods and was able to do so because she found a local shop that stocked some cans and since no one else was buying them, she had the whole stock to herself. When she went to visit Marseilles, her attitude to trying bouillabaisse was one of fear, not interest. At the end of their year, when her husband was offered a very well paid job in Paris, her only thought was to return home, to America, land of white bread where she could speak English in peace and have her American groceries delivered. And at the end of it all, neither she nor her husband ever encouraged their two boys, both of whom had become fluent in French, to practice that language (her husband did speak French), throwing away that golden opportunity for the two boys to remain bilingual.
Zut!… (meer)