^-A really cool book!
Explaining Lost in Translation from Ella Frances Sanders results in, well, losing things in translation. This little hardcover book—and you want it in book, as there is no way that the Kindle version does the illustrations justice—is only 112 pages. The binding feels good, and the colors are simple and vibrant.
Sanders presents the reader with words that do not come well into English, alongside an extended definition. These words come from current languages and fading languages. Japanese, Gaelic, Urdu, German, Wagiman, and Yaghan all have a mention, as do Dutch, Yiddish, and Arabic.
The only complaint that I can make about this book is that there are places where the word or definition attempt blends too easily into the illustration. For example, “Jayus” blends well into the artwork behind the word, and the definition of “Szimpatikus” was a little hard to pull out from the artwork. Again, they can be seen—I think it’s more a matter of how well my eyes are working, or not working, on any given day.
This book will take you more than a pisan zapra to read, but in the span of kalpa, it’s not much. So don’t be a warmduscher, pour up a tretår, and don’t practice tsundoku with this one. You might even experience a bit of forelsket as you read it.
This was a free book, and worth twice what I gave for it. Actually, it was free in exchange for the review. It looked cool. It is actually more than a little cool.
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