Lost in Translation is, first of all, a beautiful little book. The words and phrases it contains are, without fail, interesting or poignant and the artwork by Ella Frances Sanders is fantastic.
I ordered this book to review but I had trouble finishing that assignment because when I would look for it I'd find that some other member of my family (my husband, a daughter) had run off with it. This is the first book I've had to review that I had to share with the other readers in my house before I got finished. I'd say that's a pretty good endorsement from at least three of us.
English is such a collector language, taking in words from different origins and making them our own. With that amazing stretching ability, I'd definitely like to see words like Samar, Gezellig, Glaswen, Hiraeth, and Saudade added to our lexicons.
A few others jumped out as, "oh, so that's what you could call that". Things like Kilig, Boketto, Karelu, Trepverter, Struisvogelpolitiek and Drachenfutter (German has such excellent words), or Tsundoku.
One Difficulty with Lost in Translation
I have only one criticism: some of the designs are difficult to read, because of the art or the font chosen to illustrate those specific pages. You can generally figure them out but a few of them really strain your eyesight.
Anyone who appreciates vocabulary and writing would enjoy looking through this book. And If you have someone on your gift list who loves interesting words or turns of phrase, this book would make a lovely gift or stocking stuffer.
These words and ideas may be Lost in Translation, but they certainly needn't stay that way.
You can find out more about this author and her art at her website: Ella Frances Sanders.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.
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Thanks for leaving a link to your review at the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. This book sounds lovely. I may have to search out a copy for our language-loving family.