Alice Kaplan

Being a former third-culture kid and current expat, I read a lot of immigrant and transcultural lit, so, unless it was as bad as "Emily in Paris," there was no way that "French Lessons was getting less than three stars from me. But I'm happy to report that it's a genuinely good book, which is more remarkable still when one considers that the author was relatively young when she wrote it.

I can't predict other readers' reactions, but I'm not sure that I'd call much in "French Lessons" revelatory. The book's forté is that Kaplan gets the small stuff right. She describes how she struggled to pronounce specific sounds in French. She recalls how one of her French boyfriends used to edit her letters to him, making a "t-t-t" sound by putting his tongue up against the roof of his mouth, something that is, apparently, characteristically French. (And, yes, quelle jerkface!) She learns to cross her sevens and loop her twos, which is, incidentally, something that also do. Most importantly, perhaps, she provides a good description of what it's like to crave assimilation into a culture that you know will wholly accept you.

This last point -- which I think is central to much of the expat experience -- is especially important because Kaplan decides to focus her doctoral thesis on collaborationist French intellectuals. In fact, she got the opportunity to interview one of the last pro-Vichy intellectuals. I'd call this an act of tremendous bravery, and not just because Kaplan is Jewish: it's one thing to want to live in a culture or country not your own, but it takes a special kind of moral clarity to get past the heady rush of leaving your own native land behind to in order to identify how your new culture chosen culture is also flawed. And flawed her subjects were -- even taking into account his horrible political background, the letter she receives from her interview subject is almost unbelievably hurtful.

I'm happy to say that the book ends on a positive note. In an afterword, Kaplan tells us that "French Lessons" did better than expected, commercially, and that her risky decision to write a midlife memoir paid of handsomely from a professional point of view. As we leave her, she's planning her next project: learning an Algerian-French dialect that few people outside of Algeria ever try to learn. At this point, I wished her well. As a person who was born and raised overseas, I never once considered studying a foreign language in college. But Kaplan's books is illuminating for a number of reasons. "French Lessons" ably shows how hard people who undertake this sort of endeavor work -- the sheer hours she dedicated to learning every variety of French is impressive. This book also argues that French Studies is useful specifically because it holds a mirror up to French culture that native-born French people might be unwilling to look into. Lastly, and, for me, most importantly, it justifies the desire that some people have to voluntarily leave their cultures of origin to adapt, as best they can, to a place where speak, live, and do almost everything differently.… (meer)

Insights into Camus’ Stranger. An English professor investigates the background and history of Camus’ The Stranger - which won the Nobel prize and was often used as an example of exploring existentialist philosophy - although Camus denied that. It follows Camus throughout his life until his death and examines his struggles with writing the Stranger - as well as his indebtedness to other writers. I certainly ended with a deeper appreciation of the book.
I just recently read the book and as a 78 year old retired surgeon perhaps have a different perspective on the concept of life as ‘absurd.’ I saw too many people undergo potentially life threatening procedures and struggle to stay alive and recover to be able to identify with the idea of life as ‘absurd’ and that suicide is a legitimate choice. Nonetheless I find the book and its examination fascinating.… (meer)