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Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen
The Comma Queen returns with a buoyant book about language, love, and the wine-dark sea.
In her New York Times bestseller Between You & Me, Mary Norris delighted readers with her irreverent tales of pencils and punctuation in The New Yorker’s celebrated copy department. In Greek to Me, she delivers another wise and funny paean to the art of self-expression, this time filtered through her greatest passion: all things Greek.
Greek to Me is a charming account of Norris’s lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, goes searching for the fabled Baths of Aphrodite, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English. Filled with Norris’s memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine—and more than a few Greek men�Greek to Me is the Comma Queen’s fresh take on Greece and the exotic yet strangely familiar language that so deeply influences our own.
In her New York Times bestseller Between You & Me, Mary Norris delighted readers with her irreverent tales of pencils and punctuation in The New Yorker’s celebrated copy department. In Greek to Me, she delivers another wise and funny paean to the art of self-expression, this time filtered through her greatest passion: all things Greek.
Greek to Me is a charming account of Norris’s lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, goes searching for the fabled Baths of Aphrodite, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English. Filled with Norris’s memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine—and more than a few Greek men�Greek to Me is the Comma Queen’s fresh take on Greece and the exotic yet strangely familiar language that so deeply influences our own.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2019
329 people are currently reading
7,607 people want to read
About the author
Mary Norris
16books253followersMary Norris began working at The New Yorker in 1978. Originally from Cleveland, she now lives in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
June 23, 2019
Greek to Me
Mary Norris’s book will be one I read again. . . and I’m half convinced to learn Greek! I have been a fan of the Greek Gods since my first contact with the D’Aulaires� Book of Greek Myths larger-than-I could-carry book came out in 1962. I memorized every story, every page, every drawing, and have been lost in love with all things Greek since. The first time I saw the book cover running through the ŷ updates, I “hooted� for joy! Found it in Libby and check it out � had to wait 12 weeks for a kindle version. . .and then ended out buying the audio from audible � truly a festival of formats, but so worth the wait!
My other love is words, where they come from, how and who shaped them into the words that I’ve been taught. I thought that was what Greek to Me would be about � it was, but it was sooooo much more! There were stories of the culture, of her travels, of the words that fell out of her mouth, of her career and life and times, including naked swimming (in the sea that birthed Aphrodite)! Who can pass up a book with naked swimming? A delight, and fantastically re-readable. So glad I have a copy to listen to over and over.
I know that every one of those Olympians has a copy of this book, and is proud of Ms. Norris. And yes, I’m going back after her first one, Between You & Me!
Mary Norris’s book will be one I read again. . . and I’m half convinced to learn Greek! I have been a fan of the Greek Gods since my first contact with the D’Aulaires� Book of Greek Myths larger-than-I could-carry book came out in 1962. I memorized every story, every page, every drawing, and have been lost in love with all things Greek since. The first time I saw the book cover running through the ŷ updates, I “hooted� for joy! Found it in Libby and check it out � had to wait 12 weeks for a kindle version. . .and then ended out buying the audio from audible � truly a festival of formats, but so worth the wait!
My other love is words, where they come from, how and who shaped them into the words that I’ve been taught. I thought that was what Greek to Me would be about � it was, but it was sooooo much more! There were stories of the culture, of her travels, of the words that fell out of her mouth, of her career and life and times, including naked swimming (in the sea that birthed Aphrodite)! Who can pass up a book with naked swimming? A delight, and fantastically re-readable. So glad I have a copy to listen to over and over.
I know that every one of those Olympians has a copy of this book, and is proud of Ms. Norris. And yes, I’m going back after her first one, Between You & Me!
March 22, 2019
As an early reviewer I'm finding it difficult to be objective as naturally people will span the range of opinions from loving it to finding it boring. I think I had different expectations than the way the book was described so part of my low opinion is based on what I thought I was going to read. Having never read any of Mary's books before, I don't know if this style of writing is common in other books but found the sentences long-winded and clunky. So many thoughts packed into single sentences, she truly is a comma queen, dragging words down and around. Is she showing off her vocabulary? Does she rule at Scrabble with 5-letter+ words?
I grew weary of the thought process as well when she bounced from one topic to another, especially when discussing her personal life that had nothing to do with her travels and rambled on about her childhood and parents at unexpected moments when discussing something about her trips. I didn't expect to get that kind of detailed biography and what I did get I didn't find interesting or witty. In addition the storyline did not feel not chronological and so felt tossed all over the place when going back and forth from a particular trip to descriptions of mythology or to college experiences.
Also, I felt I would learn a few words in Greek but when you only list the Greek alphabet spelling and the definition, how about adding the phonetic pronunciation too (which was sporadic). Am I expected to keep referring to the alphabet in the index?
One positive thing I learned and can instantly recall - the Nashville Parthenon. I'd actually visit that, assuming I never make it to Greece, and would hope it would be equally stunning. My daughter and I are big fans of Athena and would love to take her there.
I think there's too much going on in one book. Either focus on the Greek mythology or concentrate on your Greek travels but to smash those together along with extensive Greek history, woes of crumbling architecture, Greek people and all the people you've ever met who taught or wrote in/about Greek and all the people who ever inspired you and your sex life and so on, I'm just done. I could use a good murder mystery right now....
I grew weary of the thought process as well when she bounced from one topic to another, especially when discussing her personal life that had nothing to do with her travels and rambled on about her childhood and parents at unexpected moments when discussing something about her trips. I didn't expect to get that kind of detailed biography and what I did get I didn't find interesting or witty. In addition the storyline did not feel not chronological and so felt tossed all over the place when going back and forth from a particular trip to descriptions of mythology or to college experiences.
Also, I felt I would learn a few words in Greek but when you only list the Greek alphabet spelling and the definition, how about adding the phonetic pronunciation too (which was sporadic). Am I expected to keep referring to the alphabet in the index?
One positive thing I learned and can instantly recall - the Nashville Parthenon. I'd actually visit that, assuming I never make it to Greece, and would hope it would be equally stunning. My daughter and I are big fans of Athena and would love to take her there.
I think there's too much going on in one book. Either focus on the Greek mythology or concentrate on your Greek travels but to smash those together along with extensive Greek history, woes of crumbling architecture, Greek people and all the people you've ever met who taught or wrote in/about Greek and all the people who ever inspired you and your sex life and so on, I'm just done. I could use a good murder mystery right now....
March 24, 2019
Mary Norris, whose last book, “The Comma Queen,� has done it again; this time by making learning to speak Greek seem easy and traveling the not-so-beaten paths of Greece. While I enjoy Mary’s writing style, I envy her adventurous spirit of travel and her joy of life-long learning.
Mary gives us a few more glimpses of her childhood back in Ohio and her wonderous work environment at the revered, “The New Yorker.� (Even though we’re the same age, I still want to be Mary when I grow up!)
If you had the pleasure of reading her last book in 2015, you might remember that Mary left the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio in 1970 to attend Douglas College, then the women’s college of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ. (Rutgers didn’t become coed until 1974!) graduating in 1974. She then earned her Masters in English from the University of Vermont two years later. In 1978 she was hired by, “The New Yorker� magazine has remained there to this day as copy editor, and now Author.
Can you tell how proud I am of Mary? I’m also a tiny bit jealous since I’m an alum of Rutgers too. She now lives in NY and I live in OH. Stop laughing.
Okay, back to the book. Mary describes her love of languages and learning, and how one of her colleagues at the New Yorker, Ed Stringham, got her interested in Greece, and then her desire to learn the language. After taking several classes at Columbia and Barnard she has been to Greece many times. During her study of the Ancients she took part in a few plays, starting out in the chorus in Electra and playing Hecuba in The Trojan Women in the next.
Katharine Hepburn had played Hecuba in a 1971 movie version of The Trojan Women. I was a fan of Hepburn, making a point of going to revivals of her films at the Thalia, but I had missed The Trojan Women, and I didn’t dare watch it now, when I had to play the role myself, in a dead language, without her cheekbones.
I decided to write Ms. Hepburn a letter, delivered through her publisher. I asked Ms. Hepburn how she had varied her performance. I had had a little experience in musical comedy, but was it possible, in tragedy, to play it for laughs?
It was a typewritten note on letterhead stationery, dated January 15, 1985, with the name Katharine Houghton Hepburn engraved in red. “Dear Mary Jane Norris,� it began.
“I’m sorry that you missed the movie of The Trojan Women,� Hepburn wrote, and I could picture her chin quivering and hear her intonation. “Of course, we played it for laughs. It’s the only way
Especially Hecuba –� She signed off, “Good luck and you are certain to be a big hit.� It was liberating to know that Hecuba could be outrageous.
Later, at the play:
“Who among Spartans heard you scream?� A woman in the audience laughed! (Hepburn would have been proud.)
The book is strewn with glorious tidbits like these, and I didn’t even include all her adventures while traveling through Greece. Sometimes on foot, or a bicycle, or on a boat talking with Greek sailors. Oh Mary, you’re a clever one. Really, you must read this book.
Every traveler with a shard of imagination ought to be able to discern from a distance the word ΤΑΒΕΡΝΑ and head there confident that in the TAVERNA there will be a narrow straight-backed wicker chair (a little uncomfortable for a big American ass, but you can’t have everything) and a
glass of ouzo, with ice and water, and something to eat� maybe a plate of tiny fried fish, such as one might feed a seal, or feta cheese cut into cubes the size of dice. And, of course, a cat begging under the table.
Πάμε, as the Greeks say. Let’s go!
Thank you to NetGalley, W.W. Norton and Co. and Mary Norris
April 21, 2019
“Why do we lean on dead languages for new things? Perhaps expressing these things in the language that is oldest, in words that we have in common with many other languages, gives us a touchstone.�
Greek To Me: adventures of the Comma Queen is a memoir by self-admitted philhellene and best-selling American author, Mary Norris. She has been on the staff of The New Yorker for some 35 years, and a Page OK’er for twenty of those. Norris has been referred to by some as a prose goddess, or a comma queen. She begins by declaring her fascination with all things Greek, and explaining how and why she came to study ancient Greek under the aegis of The New Yorker.
She explains how the Greek alphabet derives from the Phoenician, and many other alphabets from Greek; why Athena is a good model for a copy editor; and she declares her respect for those authors of definitive works on Greek and Greece.
This is a memoir that isn’t bound by chronology but is filled with Norris’s love for Greek, and her experiences with Greek and in Greece. Norris takes us on her somewhat comic pilgrimage to Elefsina in search of the Eleusinian Mysteries; she details her short stage career in Greek tragedies, one that had her recalling her family’s own tragedy and drawing on experiences of her own and those close to her; she describes days copy editing, nights immersed in Greek; skinny-dipping in Aphrodite’s Bathing place in Crete; visits to, and exploration of, the Acropolis.
The echoes and connections in the English language that Norris makes with ancient Greek are sometimes obvious, sometimes personal and quite tenuous: when she explains it, an anthology is a word bouquet; Dipsás? (Are you thirsty?) has an obvious connection with dipsomaniac.
Norris notes today’s reverse trends: audio books taking us back to the oral tradition; reading on devices requiring scrolling so many thousands of years after scrolls were abandoned for books; and texting language that omits vowels, just as the Phoenician alphabet did.
On alphabets, she tells us: “A ‘character� is a symbol for recording language� the word comes from the ancient Greek charásso, meaning ‘to make sharp, cut into furrows, engrave.� The leap from a symbol graved in stone to a person endowed with a sharply defined personality is a good example of the way a word ripples out into metaphor.�
For the unenlightened, there is much to be learned from this memoir: where the terms uppercase and lowercase come from; that omicron literally means small O and Omega, big O; how the direction of text originated; the absence of spacing; the irony that the modern Greek word for eucalyptus derives from ancient Greek, but via English, as the English botanists who named it in Australia in 1788 did so from ancient Greek.
The etymology is often interesting: “If surgeons knew that the word surgery comes from the ancient Greek cheirougia (hand + work) meaning ‘handiwork�, and could apply as well to needlepoint as to brain surgery, they might not be so arrogant.� Informative and entertaining.
Greek To Me: adventures of the Comma Queen is a memoir by self-admitted philhellene and best-selling American author, Mary Norris. She has been on the staff of The New Yorker for some 35 years, and a Page OK’er for twenty of those. Norris has been referred to by some as a prose goddess, or a comma queen. She begins by declaring her fascination with all things Greek, and explaining how and why she came to study ancient Greek under the aegis of The New Yorker.
She explains how the Greek alphabet derives from the Phoenician, and many other alphabets from Greek; why Athena is a good model for a copy editor; and she declares her respect for those authors of definitive works on Greek and Greece.
This is a memoir that isn’t bound by chronology but is filled with Norris’s love for Greek, and her experiences with Greek and in Greece. Norris takes us on her somewhat comic pilgrimage to Elefsina in search of the Eleusinian Mysteries; she details her short stage career in Greek tragedies, one that had her recalling her family’s own tragedy and drawing on experiences of her own and those close to her; she describes days copy editing, nights immersed in Greek; skinny-dipping in Aphrodite’s Bathing place in Crete; visits to, and exploration of, the Acropolis.
The echoes and connections in the English language that Norris makes with ancient Greek are sometimes obvious, sometimes personal and quite tenuous: when she explains it, an anthology is a word bouquet; Dipsás? (Are you thirsty?) has an obvious connection with dipsomaniac.
Norris notes today’s reverse trends: audio books taking us back to the oral tradition; reading on devices requiring scrolling so many thousands of years after scrolls were abandoned for books; and texting language that omits vowels, just as the Phoenician alphabet did.
On alphabets, she tells us: “A ‘character� is a symbol for recording language� the word comes from the ancient Greek charásso, meaning ‘to make sharp, cut into furrows, engrave.� The leap from a symbol graved in stone to a person endowed with a sharply defined personality is a good example of the way a word ripples out into metaphor.�
For the unenlightened, there is much to be learned from this memoir: where the terms uppercase and lowercase come from; that omicron literally means small O and Omega, big O; how the direction of text originated; the absence of spacing; the irony that the modern Greek word for eucalyptus derives from ancient Greek, but via English, as the English botanists who named it in Australia in 1788 did so from ancient Greek.
The etymology is often interesting: “If surgeons knew that the word surgery comes from the ancient Greek cheirougia (hand + work) meaning ‘handiwork�, and could apply as well to needlepoint as to brain surgery, they might not be so arrogant.� Informative and entertaining.
February 2, 2019
I wanted this book to figure out whether it wanted to be a book about Greek language and culture and its influence on ours or a memoir about the author's love of all things Greek. Instead, it tried to be both, but wasn't long enough to do either aspect justice.
March 1, 2019
Mary Norris had a great job -- copywriter for the New Yorker. She deliberately worked the night shift to leave her days free to pursue her hobby, which was Greece and all things Greek, ancient and modern. By living in New York, she was able to take advanced graduate courses at such institutions at Columbia, learning how to speak the language and read classics and acting in several plays in the original. Of course, she's travelled to Greece and familiarized herself with using the ferry systems between islands, allowing her to pursue this hobby with a freedom some might find daunting. At times hilarious, this is a wonderful account of how she pursues her hobby.
March 21, 2019
With a love of words and travel, I was really looking forward to this one, but just couldn't finish it. It was all over the board--memoir, etymology and word lover's delight, travelogue, history, mythology... About 15% into it, I couldn't wait for it to be over, and by 30%, I gave up. Parts of it were interesting, but it was just a little too disjointed. I thought it was going to make a great gift for my Greek boyfriend and his sisters, who all speak some Greek and have been to Greece, but I'd be embarrassed giving it to them, because if a book lover like me couldn't get through it, they would immediately fall asleep 10 pages in. It reminded me a bit of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, which I didn't find all too fabulous either, but fans of that book might like this one as well.
I received an advanced reader's copy from a ŷ Giveaway and also from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review of this book.
I received an advanced reader's copy from a ŷ Giveaway and also from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review of this book.
August 2, 2021
“� (psi) tiene forma de tridente, el atributo de Poseidón, dios de los mares, y es la primera letra de la palabra “pez� en griego moderno: ψάρι�
Un libro de memorias de Mary Norris, correctora del The New Yorker, sobre su amor al alfabeto, lengua, gramática, mitología, arte y cultura griega, en definitiva a Grecia.
Yo también soy una apasionada del griego y de Grecia y he aprendido algunas cosas nuevas con este libro.
Un libro de memorias de Mary Norris, correctora del The New Yorker, sobre su amor al alfabeto, lengua, gramática, mitología, arte y cultura griega, en definitiva a Grecia.
Yo también soy una apasionada del griego y de Grecia y he aprendido algunas cosas nuevas con este libro.
August 21, 2020
This is book is difficult to classify. Librarians have put in the Dewey system at 306 which is for culture and institutions. To me it is part travelog (Greece and Cyprus) part discussion on etymology (focus on English words derived from Greek) and part personal memoir encompassing the author’s upbringing, career, and pursuit of acquiring the Greek language.
It took about 50 pages to recognize the writer’s ability to see, feel and describe and I began to appreciate the prose if not the rambling narrative. Pieces of history and literature are strewn throughout. An index would have helped so that I could piece together a fuller story of places, people, gods and myths.
While the book is full of great etymology, the words are written in the Greek alphabet. There is a Greek to English letter conversion chart at the end- but it would take a lot of time to check each letter for each word. A glossary would also have helped, and it could have made the book a useful reference.
What makes the book is the author's poetic writing. An example appears on p. 214 (after you understand her and her relationship with Greek) “I was more in love with the language than it was in love with me. My mind was like a riverbed that had silted up: it had its own archaeological strata from which an occasional find emerged. I had not mastered the language, ancient or modern, but I got glimpses of its genius, its patterns and the way it husbanded its alphabet, stretching twenty-four letters to record everything anyone would ever want to say.�
I have read many travelogs, but none at all like this. While writing of myths and ancient drama, Norris describes how modern day flirting takes place, the perils of skinny dipping and the awareness of being well fed and housed amidst poverty. Similarly I've read personal experiences in language acquisition, again, none like this.
If you are interested in Greece and the Greek language and its literature, and appreciate beautiful prose and an unconventional travelog you will find this a five star book.
It took about 50 pages to recognize the writer’s ability to see, feel and describe and I began to appreciate the prose if not the rambling narrative. Pieces of history and literature are strewn throughout. An index would have helped so that I could piece together a fuller story of places, people, gods and myths.
While the book is full of great etymology, the words are written in the Greek alphabet. There is a Greek to English letter conversion chart at the end- but it would take a lot of time to check each letter for each word. A glossary would also have helped, and it could have made the book a useful reference.
What makes the book is the author's poetic writing. An example appears on p. 214 (after you understand her and her relationship with Greek) “I was more in love with the language than it was in love with me. My mind was like a riverbed that had silted up: it had its own archaeological strata from which an occasional find emerged. I had not mastered the language, ancient or modern, but I got glimpses of its genius, its patterns and the way it husbanded its alphabet, stretching twenty-four letters to record everything anyone would ever want to say.�
I have read many travelogs, but none at all like this. While writing of myths and ancient drama, Norris describes how modern day flirting takes place, the perils of skinny dipping and the awareness of being well fed and housed amidst poverty. Similarly I've read personal experiences in language acquisition, again, none like this.
If you are interested in Greece and the Greek language and its literature, and appreciate beautiful prose and an unconventional travelog you will find this a five star book.
Read
April 23, 2019‘This book, rich in the history of language and the alphabet...takes us on a journey with the written and spoken word…It’s the alpha to omega of everything, really.�
Herald Sun
Herald Sun
December 6, 2019
For those who have an interest in Greece, either ancient or modern, this book is likely a good fit. If in addition, you have worked diligently to learn a foreign language, only to be dismayed to discover after two year's hard work how little you actually know when attempting conversations in said language, Mary Norris' adventures with idioms, both dead and living, will be easy to relate to. Finally, her decades-long immersion in the literate environment of The New Yorker makes for good anecdotes. The book is really more like a series of essays than a coherent narrative, with rambling digressions on a variety of subjects, but I was grateful for most of those. One of her slightly off-topic rambles was about Patrick Leigh Fermor, and her passion for his writing was, for me, the straw that tipped the scales in favor of buying a Fermor book, something I had been thinking about for years, ever since the old Common Reader catalogue used to rave about him (I do miss The Common Reader catalogue). Ms. Norris shares with Fermor a love of travel for travel's sake, and a thoroughgoing passion for all things Greek.
August 28, 2019
Wasn't sure whether I'd be able to get into this one, but ended up glad I stuck with it.
First part of the book taken up with the author's background before she became a Hellenophile. I mean, she's a really nice person, and would make an interesting friend, but a remarkable background? Honestly, not really.
However, once her Greek infatuation kicks in, the book takes off. From other reviews I had feared that linguistic discussions would be a tedious listen, but not at all. Also, she's funny in a dry sense, so that once I got used to her as narrator I was fine with her doing so herself (a dicey proposition in general). One reviewer made a point of mentioning Norris' transgender brother as being "too much"; I felt it was handled well, relative to the story, not taking up much time; had it not been for reading that review I doubt I would've really thought about it.
Recommended, except those with no real interest in Greece, and folks who truly dislike author narrations. She does a solid job, but it's far from dulcet.
First part of the book taken up with the author's background before she became a Hellenophile. I mean, she's a really nice person, and would make an interesting friend, but a remarkable background? Honestly, not really.
However, once her Greek infatuation kicks in, the book takes off. From other reviews I had feared that linguistic discussions would be a tedious listen, but not at all. Also, she's funny in a dry sense, so that once I got used to her as narrator I was fine with her doing so herself (a dicey proposition in general). One reviewer made a point of mentioning Norris' transgender brother as being "too much"; I felt it was handled well, relative to the story, not taking up much time; had it not been for reading that review I doubt I would've really thought about it.
Recommended, except those with no real interest in Greece, and folks who truly dislike author narrations. She does a solid job, but it's far from dulcet.
October 4, 2022
Reading about libraries always makes me go into one and check out a book 😁 As if I didn’t have already enough books to read�
So I've picked this book because I thought it'd be about Greek language (and I found it odd that it was placed together with the travel guide books). However, it's actually about many different things, but as a whole it's a strange one. On the one side, we have Mary talking about her love for Greek language, how she studied it, with whom she studied it (why should we care?), how Greek has influenced other languages, on another side, about her job at the New Yorker, then she goes on about her family and her traumas (which don't seem to have any direct relation with Greece/Greek), then her travels into/in Greece are scattered throughout the book (most of the times travelling alone, where a few times she "scored") and maybe finally about Greek mythology (which somehow I never got into and this time was also not a successful one).
And why should I care, while reading this book, that she's the Comma Queen? I don't think she explains this title in the book. And apparently, I can be one as well and refer to it on my text.
Therefore, the beginning about Greek language was interesting, but afterwards it just dragged on and on.
So I've picked this book because I thought it'd be about Greek language (and I found it odd that it was placed together with the travel guide books). However, it's actually about many different things, but as a whole it's a strange one. On the one side, we have Mary talking about her love for Greek language, how she studied it, with whom she studied it (why should we care?), how Greek has influenced other languages, on another side, about her job at the New Yorker, then she goes on about her family and her traumas (which don't seem to have any direct relation with Greece/Greek), then her travels into/in Greece are scattered throughout the book (most of the times travelling alone, where a few times she "scored") and maybe finally about Greek mythology (which somehow I never got into and this time was also not a successful one).
And why should I care, while reading this book, that she's the Comma Queen? I don't think she explains this title in the book. And apparently, I can be one as well and refer to it on my text.
Therefore, the beginning about Greek language was interesting, but afterwards it just dragged on and on.
November 22, 2020
Oh, she is clever. I knew that from book one. But did you know this? Read this sample and see what your takeaway is.
"Wherever I went, I heard parents calling to children, 'Έλα! Ελα εδώ!' 'Come! Come here!' Imagine being a child in Greece, growing up in that landscape, being plopped down on a beach in your ancestral land, learning the word for the sea: θάλασσα (thálassa), who with the stress on the first syllable, like a wave that breaks and then retreats, hissing, and is overtaken by the next wave, and the next."
Okay, thoughts? Obsessed, right? Completely obsessed with Greek. Yes, I wasn't expecting that, though perhaps I might have thought about rereading the title. There's a little about Norris' work life in the copy department of the New Yorker, but very little. This book is about Norris' obsession with Greece and Greek.
Know that going in, and decide to read or not accordingly.
"Wherever I went, I heard parents calling to children, 'Έλα! Ελα εδώ!' 'Come! Come here!' Imagine being a child in Greece, growing up in that landscape, being plopped down on a beach in your ancestral land, learning the word for the sea: θάλασσα (thálassa), who with the stress on the first syllable, like a wave that breaks and then retreats, hissing, and is overtaken by the next wave, and the next."
Okay, thoughts? Obsessed, right? Completely obsessed with Greek. Yes, I wasn't expecting that, though perhaps I might have thought about rereading the title. There's a little about Norris' work life in the copy department of the New Yorker, but very little. This book is about Norris' obsession with Greece and Greek.
Know that going in, and decide to read or not accordingly.
June 26, 2022
Delightful for the personal stories as well as the history and linguistic insights. And it inspired me to go to Greece asap. :-)
February 16, 2020
This was, in general, pretty enjoyable. I liked the mix of personal narrative, the Greek language, mythology, travels in Greece, etc. I could have done without sections about the author’s sexual dalliances and psychotherapy sessions. And the part about her brother who changed genders didn’t really bother me, but seemed tangential and out of place in this particular book. As in her previous book, Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, Norris sometimes gets too bogged down in digressions and details that are lost on the general reader.
December 29, 2021
A somewhat adorable misfire, almost more personal memoir than paean to Greece. It took me over a year to finish it: Norris seems to spend every other sentence of the book's first half explaining virtually every English word with Greek roots, and as the kind of guy who reads books by copy editors (such as Mary Norris), I know that stuff. When I finally returned to the book, it got better, with less etymology (Gk. etymon, a true thing + logos, word) and more travel reporting from places like Crete, and Eleusis, classical site of the Eleusinian mysteries and now an industrial wasteland of tire centers and factories. Norris is an eccentric guide who presents herself as a species of idiot savant, a working-class escapee from the know-nothing Midwest who enjoys the most obscure heights of intellectual pursuit while also admitting huge gaps in general knowledge. This is admirable, but becomes a bit too cute. She'll use the word "autochthonous" in one breath, and in the next, add the phrase "(not the one in Ohio)" to her hundredth mention of Athens, just as a joke.
There are things to learn here, but my patience was tested. Fortunately, the book is small. I would approach the book like a magazine article. Don't work too hard at paying attention. Read quickly, scan over what doesn't interest you, take a few notes for further exploration, and call it good.
There are things to learn here, but my patience was tested. Fortunately, the book is small. I would approach the book like a magazine article. Don't work too hard at paying attention. Read quickly, scan over what doesn't interest you, take a few notes for further exploration, and call it good.
December 16, 2022
In the best sections, Norris boldly geeks out on the pleasures of language. I read the section on "glacuous" multiple times for the fun of thinking about color and perception and the history of words. What most stays with me though is what she has to say about leaving her curtains up to she can wake to watch to rosy-fingered dawn. Hearing about her pilgrimage to Patrick Lee Fermor's home has me eager to read him and the Durrells too. Alas, I wonder why Norris or her editor thought all this good bookish stuff needed spicing up with a couple of ribald adventures.
3+
3+
April 28, 2021
This was my kind of book, not only full of words, but about words and Greek etymology. I did get a little annoyed toward the end when the author broke a word apart to show where the definition comes from; I wanted to yell, "I know that!"
She took me to Greece and allowed me to laugh at her misnomers.
I'm sorry I won't get to meet her at Booktopia.
She took me to Greece and allowed me to laugh at her misnomers.
I'm sorry I won't get to meet her at Booktopia.
May 30, 2019
Delightful piece of fluff concerning the author's love affair with all things Greek: language, buth ancient and modern; etymology and history of same; and her adventures in Greece and its islands. Fast-paced and full of information tidbits.
November 23, 2019
At times genuine and quotable, and at others, as tedious as a sex-obssessed online contact you can't seem to drop.
August 16, 2020
У автора случился роман с Грецией, а у меня � с этой книгой.
В первых главах книги идёт сильный акцент на изучение греческого, на его «фишки» и отличия от других языков, на структуру языка и почему так много слов в современных языка�� заимствованы из него. Такой подробный анализ может не быть интересен простому обывателю, но так как я языкофил (в душе) и филолог (по образованию), то мне и эта часть книги очень зашла.
Кроме дебрей лингвистики, не смотря на маленький объём (меньше 300 страниц) в книгу поместились и размышления автора о греческой мифологии (обожаю с детства!), о традициях, об монументальной архитектуре, сохранившейся по сей день, и о волшебной природе� Всё это переплетается с личным опытом автора. Мэри Норрис в один прекрасный день решилась изучить Грецию и её язык с нуля, стала ездить туда, изучать и современный язык и древний. Поэтому эта книга не только о Греции, но и о пути отдельного человека, который не побоялся следовать своей мечте.
Очень многие моменты помечала стикерами, разделив их на 3 «тематики»: юмор (его там не мало!), интересные факты (тут субъективно) и фразы, взявшие за душу.
Начнём с юмора
Когда учишь язык, часто возникают курьёзы, когда думаешь, что сказал одно, а на деле ошибся, не там поставил ударение, и вышло совсем другое.
Например, во время прелюдии, автор как-то хотела сказать, что он слишком быстро переходит к делу, остановить его, а получилось «быстрее, быстрее».
или
На пасхальном мероприятии на фразу «Христос воскрес!» вместе общепринятого «Воистину воскрес!» у неё получилось «Правда? Воскрес?»
А как-то, пытаясь, объяснить, что путешествует одна, Мэри Норрис сказанула что-то вроде «Я путешествующая дрянь».
Так что да, будьте внимательны с выбором слов и ударением, когда говорите на иностранном языке!
Интересные факты
Древние греки писали слова слитно, ПОЭТОМУЧИТАТЕЛЮПРИХОДИЛОСЬДОГАДЫВАТЬСЯГДЕЗАКАНЧИВАЕТСЯОДНОСЛОВОИНАЧИНАЕТСЯДРУГОЕ
Английское слово nausea (прим. автора � тошнота) произошло от греческого naus � корабль. Сейчас уже люди используют это слово уже не только для описания морской болезни.
Акрофобия � это не столько боязнь высоты, сколько боязнь «смотреть через край», так как akro � означает край. Этот факт меня приятно удивил, так как я высоты самой по себе не боюсь, но вот чувства незащищённости, отсутствия барьера на высоте � да, страшно.
Несколько цитат, которые откликнулись в душе
«Изучение любого языка � делает ум более пластичным, открывает окно в другую культуру и напоминает нам, что мир намного больше, чем кажется.»
«Бывает так: читаешь что-то и понимаешь, что выбрал правильное время для этой книги.»
«Когда вы путешествуете в одиночку, вы вынуждены общаться. В противном случае у вас в голове так и будет крутиться случайная песня, с которой вы проснулись. […] А плюс был в том, что, если мне не хотелось, я могла никуда не ходить вечером, а поужинать йогуртом и апельсинами. Я могла вести себя эгоистично, мне не нужно было думать, как мои решени скажутся на ком-то ещё.»
Вывод
Лично мне книга ввиду интересов, опыта, образования и того, что сама бывала в Греции трижды, книга понравилась очень. Но не могу рекомендовать её каждому.
Если вас интересует глубокое изучение других культур, языков, путешествия в одиночку и самокопания, тогда � да, книга вам тоже зайдёт!
В первых главах книги идёт сильный акцент на изучение греческого, на его «фишки» и отличия от других языков, на структуру языка и почему так много слов в современных языка�� заимствованы из него. Такой подробный анализ может не быть интересен простому обывателю, но так как я языкофил (в душе) и филолог (по образованию), то мне и эта часть книги очень зашла.
Кроме дебрей лингвистики, не смотря на маленький объём (меньше 300 страниц) в книгу поместились и размышления автора о греческой мифологии (обожаю с детства!), о традициях, об монументальной архитектуре, сохранившейся по сей день, и о волшебной природе� Всё это переплетается с личным опытом автора. Мэри Норрис в один прекрасный день решилась изучить Грецию и её язык с нуля, стала ездить туда, изучать и современный язык и древний. Поэтому эта книга не только о Греции, но и о пути отдельного человека, который не побоялся следовать своей мечте.
Очень многие моменты помечала стикерами, разделив их на 3 «тематики»: юмор (его там не мало!), интересные факты (тут субъективно) и фразы, взявшие за душу.
Начнём с юмора
Когда учишь язык, часто возникают курьёзы, когда думаешь, что сказал одно, а на деле ошибся, не там поставил ударение, и вышло совсем другое.
Например, во время прелюдии, автор как-то хотела сказать, что он слишком быстро переходит к делу, остановить его, а получилось «быстрее, быстрее».
или
На пасхальном мероприятии на фразу «Христос воскрес!» вместе общепринятого «Воистину воскрес!» у неё получилось «Правда? Воскрес?»
А как-то, пытаясь, объяснить, что путешествует одна, Мэри Норрис сказанула что-то вроде «Я путешествующая дрянь».
Так что да, будьте внимательны с выбором слов и ударением, когда говорите на иностранном языке!
Интересные факты
Древние греки писали слова слитно, ПОЭТОМУЧИТАТЕЛЮПРИХОДИЛОСЬДОГАДЫВАТЬСЯГДЕЗАКАНЧИВАЕТСЯОДНОСЛОВОИНАЧИНАЕТСЯДРУГОЕ
Английское слово nausea (прим. автора � тошнота) произошло от греческого naus � корабль. Сейчас уже люди используют это слово уже не только для описания морской болезни.
Акрофобия � это не столько боязнь высоты, сколько боязнь «смотреть через край», так как akro � означает край. Этот факт меня приятно удивил, так как я высоты самой по себе не боюсь, но вот чувства незащищённости, отсутствия барьера на высоте � да, страшно.
Несколько цитат, которые откликнулись в душе
«Изучение любого языка � делает ум более пластичным, открывает окно в другую культуру и напоминает нам, что мир намного больше, чем кажется.»
«Бывает так: читаешь что-то и понимаешь, что выбрал правильное время для этой книги.»
«Когда вы путешествуете в одиночку, вы вынуждены общаться. В противном случае у вас в голове так и будет крутиться случайная песня, с которой вы проснулись. […] А плюс был в том, что, если мне не хотелось, я могла никуда не ходить вечером, а поужинать йогуртом и апельсинами. Я могла вести себя эгоистично, мне не нужно было думать, как мои решени скажутся на ком-то ещё.»
Вывод
Лично мне книга ввиду интересов, опыта, образования и того, что сама бывала в Греции трижды, книга понравилась очень. Но не могу рекомендовать её каждому.
Если вас интересует глубокое изучение других культур, языков, путешествия в одиночку и самокопания, тогда � да, книга вам тоже зайдёт!
September 19, 2019
Greek To Me by Mary Norris was a find at the Barnes and Noble #Blowout sale. I loved Norris's blend of humor, travelogue, and memoir about her love affair with the Greek language, country, and literary history. The descriptive writing about Greece is beautiful--I feel like I have experienced it with her. It was a joy to read. I laughed, I was educated, and I was entertained.
August 24, 2021
I loved this book. I enjoy how she brings her adventures to life and includes language lessons along the way. I listened to the audiobook read by Mary Norris herself. I’m so glad I did it this way because she reads it with such animation and I didn’t have to get hung up on the pronunciation of Greek words.
August 6, 2019
Lovely short book about the author’s experiences learning Greek (classical and modern) and her travels in Greece. She’s a great writer so I think I’d be happy to read her grocery list if she decided to publish it. I love her tone of voice, it’s educated and plain-talk all at once, with loads of humor, much of it directed at herself.
September 9, 2019
Must read for anyone who loves language, history, and travel.
July 12, 2020
Expected to like this more than I did. First, why in this day and age is anyone still using BC and AD instead of BCE and CE? And there's a lot of it in the book. Get diverse, people!
Second, I'm glad she discovered her passion and has been able to follow it through the decades, but never having been to Greece myself, I couldn't muster the same enthusiasm. I did enjoy the bits about the alphabet and word history; there is likely much more Greek in English than I recognize. Though there's more vocabulary here than anyone besides a spelling bee champion could retain, so it just floats by.
I appreciate how her growing knowledge of Greek language enlightens her life, how her travels deepen her understanding of the Greek classics, and what the myths reveal about herself and her family. It just didn't pull me in. I enjoyed her writing and might find her book about copy editing more interesting.
Second, I'm glad she discovered her passion and has been able to follow it through the decades, but never having been to Greece myself, I couldn't muster the same enthusiasm. I did enjoy the bits about the alphabet and word history; there is likely much more Greek in English than I recognize. Though there's more vocabulary here than anyone besides a spelling bee champion could retain, so it just floats by.
I appreciate how her growing knowledge of Greek language enlightens her life, how her travels deepen her understanding of the Greek classics, and what the myths reveal about herself and her family. It just didn't pull me in. I enjoyed her writing and might find her book about copy editing more interesting.
March 9, 2021
I have a soft spot for books about words, language, and foreign lands. And I love Mary Norris. So this is a trifecta +.
September 20, 2021
Reread 2021: I was surprised at how much more I felt like this flowed as an audiobook, where the narration (read by the author) made the meandering tone of the book seem more natural. It still would likely have been somewhere around a 2.5, though, so my initial 2 rating - and commentary - still seems fair.
Original review (October 2019):
As someone who has studied both ancient and modern Greek with great passion (if not great facility), I really anticipated being the right audience for this book, but found it a bit too didactic. Norris has some great stories about Greece and some entertaining reflections on language, but they were often a bit over-explained for me (or too buried in the meandering tone).
(I will add that there's a bit addressing the gender transition of Norris' sibling that I found striking - and not in a particularly sensitive way. Whatever Norris' intentions, it seems worth a note of content warning if intentional misgendering is something you need to prepare for/skip.)
Original review (October 2019):
As someone who has studied both ancient and modern Greek with great passion (if not great facility), I really anticipated being the right audience for this book, but found it a bit too didactic. Norris has some great stories about Greece and some entertaining reflections on language, but they were often a bit over-explained for me (or too buried in the meandering tone).
(I will add that there's a bit addressing the gender transition of Norris' sibling that I found striking - and not in a particularly sensitive way. Whatever Norris' intentions, it seems worth a note of content warning if intentional misgendering is something you need to prepare for/skip.)
May 24, 2022
This witty little book appeared like ambrosia to my etymology-loving-Edith-Hamilton-reading- alphabet-learning soul. I brought it on a flight with the intention of discreetly dropping it on an airport bench, but when the time came I just couldn’t part with it.
To my friends in real life: Please forgive me for all the forthcoming conversations in which I adjust my glasses before referencing the Iliad and the personalities of individual letters. I’m going to be insufferable.
To my new friend, Mary Norris: I see you, sister. I see your puns, your humor, and your sense of adventure. I once left the mosaics of Paphos with a picture book and a wanting, I felt the trill of my own woman-ness at Aphrodite’s rock (oh, how I wish I had swam naked in that bay, February weather notwithstanding). But I’d never heard anyone describe similar experiences so effectively until I read your book.
To the mystery reader who left this book in my Little Free Library: Thank you.
To my friends in real life: Please forgive me for all the forthcoming conversations in which I adjust my glasses before referencing the Iliad and the personalities of individual letters. I’m going to be insufferable.
To my new friend, Mary Norris: I see you, sister. I see your puns, your humor, and your sense of adventure. I once left the mosaics of Paphos with a picture book and a wanting, I felt the trill of my own woman-ness at Aphrodite’s rock (oh, how I wish I had swam naked in that bay, February weather notwithstanding). But I’d never heard anyone describe similar experiences so effectively until I read your book.
To the mystery reader who left this book in my Little Free Library: Thank you.
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