Category — Books

Few people enjoy a “word joke” as much as I do. It doesn’t matter the venue or the type — a turn of pronunciation, a ridonculous definition, a case of made-up vocabulary — they get me every time.

I’m reading The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. I’ve known about it for a while (it’s from the 30’s, for goodness sake), but I’ve never actually read it. Hyman is an immigrant in the Beginners Class in the US naturalization program, and his story is one (earnest) word joke after another. There’s some humorous stuff from the English teacher side of things too.

One of my favorite parts so far is when Hyman writes an assigned letter to his brother. He originally signs it “Your animated brother,” but when his class and his teacher, Mr. Parkhill, inform him that he ought not refer to himself as “animated,” he sets out to find the perfect replacement adjective. After rolling through a few common ones, he finally comes up with what he believes is the ultimate answer: “Magnificent!”

The class is in awe, but Mr. Parkhill breaks the spell by pointing out that “magnificent” isn’t really appropriate either. As Hyman leaves class that night, he has a conversation with another student, Mr. Bloom, that is overheard by Mr. Parkhill.

“Kaplan,” said Mr. Bloom enviously, “how you fond soch a beautiful woid?”

“‘Megnificent,’ ‘megnificent,’” Mr. Kaplan murmured to himself wistfully. “Ach! Dat vas a beauriful void, ha, Bloom?”

“Believe me!” said Mr. Bloom. “How you fond soch a woid?”

“By dip tinking,” said Mr. Kaplan.

He strode out like a hero.

Sure, the dialect and the scene are amusing, but what I really like about it is something that’s not on the page — a memory that it conjured up for me.

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. . . Just to See What They Look Like.

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