What Language Do I Dream In?
Author(s): Elena Lappin
A moving and erudite memoir on the importance of language to who we are, and an ode to the language that has given the author a home in exile
Elena Lappins life could be described as five languages in search of an author. She now lives in London, but she was born in Russia and has lived in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Israel, Canada and the United States. As a multiple migr, her decision to write in English was the unexpected result of many wanderings, and this memoir tells the story of finding a voice in a language that is not ones own. Russian, Czech, German, Hebrew and finally English: How do they, and the family roots and cultures they represent, define who Lappin is, and how has adopting English allowed her to be a writer?
The story of Lappins identity is unexpectedly complicated by the discovery, in middle age, that her biological father was an American living in Russia. Their encounter introduces an element of mystery to the search for her roots, and a surprise: suddenly, English is more than the accidental home in exileit is the language she may have been close to from the very beginning.
Review(s):
Elena Lappin is a marvelous writer. Her riveting memoir describes living in five languages and as many countries. The family relationships and the political upheavals which so often shape them are complex, yet her writing is as readable and warm as a letter from a friend.
Captivating . . . so sparkly with vitality, humour and genuine charm.
A meditation on family secrets, loss, and personal belonging, Lappins book reveals how, in the absence of rootedness, language can become the shelter and home that nurtures selfhood and identity. A thoughtful, unique meditation on exile and homecoming.
Elena Lappin is a marvelous writer. Her riveting memoir describes living in five languages and as many countries. The family relationships and the political upheavals which so often shape them are complex, yet her writing is as readable and warm as a letter from a friend.
Lappin presents a thoughtful migrants memoir that will speak to all those of us who find their lives suspended between nations, cultures, languages.
Elena Lappins tale is an archetype of post-war political upheaval, her travels and migrations a reflection of world events. But it is also an extraordinarily personal account of a modern life that is uniquely Jewish. . . . Remarkable.
In characteristically elegant prose, Lappin takes readers on a brave personal journey as she uncovers painful family secrets set against a backdrop of political cruelty and perpetual motion. . . . [A] book full of optimism, deeply resonant with todays world of global dislocation.
ISBN:9781554684632
