Date: 30 December 2018
Location: Reynolds & Linda
The Happy Bookers December meeting was at the home of Linda and Reynolds. We had a lively discussion of The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leo Rosten (using the pseudonym Leonard Q. Ross), followed by a meal of hearty soups and sides. We ended our meeting with our second annual Dirty Santa book swap.
The Education of Hyman Kaplan appeared first in the 1930s as a series of short stories in the New Yorker magazine. The setting is an English language class in the American Night Preparatory School for Adults and the main character is the eponymous Hyman Kaplan and the stories are told from the point-of-view of the teacher, Mr. Parkhill. Later, the author gathered the tales into two books, the first of which was published in 1937.
I recommended the book, remembering it from a long-ago reading, as light and humorous, full of word-play, and containing a “Christmas” chapter that would lend itself to our usual December fare of a light read during the holidays. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the Happy Bookers were sharply divided in their reactions to the book! Some felt strongly that it was the most “politically incorrect” book they had ever read, and hated it…or were so repulsed that they didn’t finish it. Others, loved the book and laughed out loud as they read or re-read the book.
Rosten’s detractors felt that he was making fun of the immigrants in the night school class in general, and Hyman Kaplan in particular, from a position of privilege and education. Rosten’s supporters pointed out that it seemed to be the teacher Mr. Parkhill (educated and privileged), who was the object of Rosten’s gentile satire, not the immigrants themselves. All agreed that Hyman Kaplan–enthusiastic, outgoing, and exuberant–is in direct contrast to the cautious, staid, and undemonstrative Mr. Parkhill. Those of us who enjoyed the book felt that much of the humor came from the “logic” that Hyman Kaplan used to explain or understand the often illogical and idiosyncratic English language. We laughed again when someone brought up “die, dead, funeral”, and “good, better, first-class” and “bad, worse, and rotten.”
I am glad to report that in spite of a lively debate and widely varying opinions, none resorted to blows at our December meeting. After all, this is the group that loved Word by Word by Kory Stamper, and enjoyed Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn: word nerds and readers all. I conclude this report with “God Bless Us Everyone”, a Christmas blessing from that wordsmith who created the immortal Mrs. Malaprop, who, I maintain, is a direct ancestor of Hyman Kaplan.
—Bonnie