Customer Reviews

The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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Having just begun teaching English As A Second Language to a group of Asian adults, a relative thought I might enjoy "The Education of Hyman Kaplan". The novel takes place entirely at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults. There under the tutelage of Mr. Parkhill, Hyman Kaplan, Miss Mitnick, Miss Caravello, Mrs. Moskowitz and an assortment of Jewish and Italian immigrants struggle with the complexities of the English language, anxious to master the language and learn about the history and culture of their newly adopted home. The irrepressible Mr. Kaplan takes center stage in the classroom with his singular logic in using the English language. Abraham Lincoln becomes Abram Lincohen, King George III of England is an autocrap, and Valley Forge becomes Velly Fudges. Kaplan conjugates the tense to die as "die, dead, funeral", and when talking of the contents of a newpaper he can't understand why he must say "it said", instead of "he said", since the paper is decidedly of the masculine gender. It's the Harold Tribune after all. This is a hilarious yet touching book. We are never laughing at Hyman Kaplan's linguistic foibles but with him, as we appreciate the struggles of all immigrants, those seventy years ago, or those today to come to terms with becoming Americans and learning the language that binds us together.

Hyman Kaplan is a leader of men, an inspiring, eloquent orator with a true sense of drama. He forges his own paths, makes his own rules.

Unfortunately, those rules only rarely coincide with those of grammar, spelling and pronunciation. And so he eternally flunks the beginners' grade in English despite awing both friend and foe.

What moves me to write a review is what the other reviewers seem to miss: H*Y*M*A*N, for all his mistakes, is a winner of a character, not a loser. This book is true testimony to the talents of immigrants as well as their tribulations.

The Education of Hyman Kaplan is an almost lost creation of Leo Rosten, a book I discovered a few years ago. On the face this book is a comedy of language set among the immigrant students of an adult language school in New York. There is no doubt the Rosten has a flair for bringing out the hilarious subtleties of the English language, and the book moves so quickly it seems unfairly short. Mr. Parkhill's beginners grade classroom is the scene of countless battle and wars, where the students struggle against syntax, diction, and each other. Some of the botched quotes from Shakespeare are masterpieces in themselves. I had no idea a book of this kind could be such a riot, and never knew our language was so close to lunacy.

The hapless hero, Kaplan, provides a wonderful vehicle for Rosten to maneuver through the pitfalls and traps of the many idiomed English Language. However, behind the books' mangled metaphors, garbled grammar, and reinvented history, lies the world of the immigrant in New York City. The light-hearted episodes are interspersed with an occasional look into the difficult life of a brand new American. These chapters show the optimism and the will to succeed that Kaplan's fellow students brought with them to America. Kaplan himself is an emblem of endurance; forever doomed to stay in the beginners grade, yet never despairing of the always elusive verb tenses.

This book has only one "weakness": it does not cater to cynicism. It looks ahead, from the eyes of each of the characters, to a better time, a better place, with better pronunciation. This is a glimpse of the Dream of America that I had not seen, a different view that fascinated me. I think the strangest thing is that the book is never preachy. It is likely this is because Rosten wrote this book as a mature writer, with many other works under his belt. His tendency to constant revision has left this book a polished gem. Read, laugh, and enjoy.

With Hyman Kaplan and Mr'Pockhill'and classmates Leo Rosten shows that he is the Grand Master of phonetically rendered dialogue.

This,and its suceesor,The Return of Hyman Kaplan,are hysterically funny books which are also as important to the meaning and experience of migration and immigration as dozens of scholarly and worthy tomes on the subject.

Bravo,Leo Rosten!

Rosten wrote a series of timeless short stories about students at an adult education class learning English as a second language. Instead of making fun of the teachers and the students, he makes them heroes.

Nothing compares to the quality of writing and humor. These stories can be re-read countless times.

Fentastik! My! such vonderful void? How is Kaplan tinking of such a void?
This book is absolutely great. Taking place entirely within the confines of an English class for prospective American citizens, it captures the essence of a remarkable generation of immigrants. Of course, this is not a sociology book. It is good-natured humor, and a good look at human nature. Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this book, and if you are any kind of linguist it is even better. The poor souls in the beginners class are characters for the ages, including, of course, the inimitable and irrepressible H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. This book is warm and humorous with no ridicule or mean-spiritedness at all. If written today it might be characterized as belittling to immigrants, but anyone who reads it in its true spirit will find it enjoyable and uplifting.

This book, along with its sequel, "The Return of H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n," (and don't be fooled, those stars are important) is a beautiful work and one that I'm surprised hasn't been rediscovered by critics and readers alike. Originally published as a series of stories in a magazine, these stories were finally collected into book form and later combined with its sequel in a grand form called O, K*a*p*l*a*n, My K*a*p*l*a*n (which is now out-of-print, but worth reading if you find it in a library or rare book store, since it was edited and improved by the author, with new characters and stories).

The stories all revolve around a group of immigrant adults attending the American Night Preparatory School for Adults in New York City in the 1930s. Under the tutelage of the fastidious, but patient and kind, Mr. Parkhill, the book chronicles their challenges in learning the English language. This is in and of itself a masterpiece: Leo Rosten (who had to publish the stories under a pseudonym since he wrote them while living off a fellowship and did not want to let his professors know that he was working on totally unrelated research) has found humor in GRAMMAR!! He not only shows how difficult English is to master, but how irrational and arbitrary the grammatical rules are that we all, as students, desperately try to commit to memory. Moreover, he writes with an expert ear, hearing the subtle differences in the accents and common foibles of English speakers from various language backgrounds. The fact that these passages are life-out-loud funny (and not at all in the sense of laughing at any character's mistakes but at the English language itself for torturing non-native speakers so) is astounding enough.

But this is the story, however, of a true comic hero - Hyman Kaplan. Leo Rosten has created a character as complex and poignant as Shakespeare's Falstaff, or John Kennedy Toole's Ignatius J. Reilly. Hyman Kaplan is a force of nature, yet distinctly human -- irrascible, dogmatic, determined and yet sensitive, noble and joyous. He is a man who refuses to kow-tow to the rules and guidelines of the English language and who truly relishes the joys of wrestling with learning. Since his exuberance leads him into constant conflict with his fellow students, his character is one of the greatest literary devices ever devised by an author. The stars emblazoned in red, green and blue crayon that are part of his signature, only serve as the ultimate monogram, defining this character as one worthy of the ages.

While this book is about efforts by foreigners to assimilate as Americans, it also highlights the glories of America's immigrant, melting-pot past -- a heritage and tradition that is sadly rapidly being forgotten and lost in this modern globalized world. Moreover, with the advent of the politically correct era of hypersensitivity, it is likely that this book will never experience a renaissance of popular support that it richly deserves. This is a true treasure -- I discovered it as a teenager and have often enjoyed returning many times to visit with these charming, inspiring characters. I cannot recommend it enough!

"The Education of Hyman Kaplan" is a delightful, funny, enchanting book. Always excited to work and participate in class, Mr. Kaplan embarks on his mission to impress his teacher, Mr. Parkhill--and be graduated from the begginer's grade. Unfortunately, he is not quite successful. This book is one of the funniest that exists, so I suggest: READ IT!

Most of the stories in this very short and very funny book appeared in The New Yorker...almost 70 years ago(!)

Great humor is indeed timeless. I recently re-read this book. The other reviews listed here say it all.

It is impossible to read this book and not laugh out loud.

As a new ESL teacher, my husband thought I'd enjoy this book. H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N* is an irrepressible immigrant to the US, struggling to master English, but that doesn't stop him from communicating at every opportunity. Waves of malapropisms spoken with a thick Eastern European accent don't get in the way of his enthusiasm. Set in the 30's, this is a world where teachers and students are Mr., Mrs. and Miss, immigrants worked in garment factories, and all still believe in the American Dream. Even Mr. Parkhill, the god-like teacher, can't help but be infected by Mr. Kaplan's unique interpretations of the great works of English literature--the Shakespeare story was a classic. Definitely dated, certainly politically incorrect, these stories hail from a simpler, but maybe tougher time--Leo Rosten originally wrote under the name Leonard Ross. A lovely little collection of stories!