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Fifty Sounds: A Memoir of Language, Learning, and Longing
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About This Book
In this dazzling debut, Polly Barton reflects on her experience of moving to the Japanese island of Sado at the age of twenty-one and on her journey to becoming a literary translator. Written in fifty semi-discrete entries, Fifty Sounds is a personal dictionary of the Japanese language that draws together a variety of cultural reflections – from conformity and being an outsider, to the gendering of Japanese society, and attitudes towards food and the cult of 'deliciousness' – alongside probing insights into the transformative powers of language-learning. Candid, humane, witty and wise, Fifty Sounds is remarkable work that takes a transparent look at language itself, lifting the lid on the quietly revolutionary act of learning, speaking, and living in another language.
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Reviews
"In Barton's revelatory and candid memoir, she frames her experiences in Japan in 50 dictionary entries, journeying through her vulnerabilities, otherness and identity in a foreign place and finding solace (and humour) in writing."
"Barton as a writer is searching, analytical, sharp; the character of younger Polly she portrays is precocious, naive, and stubborn, sometimes frustratingly so (but she's twenty-one, so you can't hold her to it)."
"Barton's sharp, belletristic debut is a culture-shock story that cannily avoids the conventions of the genre ..."
"It is doubt that eventually makes her a successful Japanese translator."
"Barton presents a candid blend of memoir and exploration of linguistics ..."
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