Resurrecting Hebrew (Jewish Encounters Series)
by Stavans, Ilan
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Like New/Like New
- ISBN 10
- 0805242317
- ISBN 13
- 9780805242317
- Seller
-
Southampton, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Here is the stirring story of how Hebrew was rescued from the fate of a dead language to become the living tongue of a modern nation. Ilan Stavans's quest begins with a dream featuring a beautiful woman speaking an unknown language. When the language turns out to be Hebrew, a friend diagnoses "language withdrawal," and Stavans sets out in search of his own forgotten Hebrew as well as the man who helped revive the language at the end of the nineteenth century, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda.The search for Ben-Yehuda, who raised his eldest son in linguistic isolation--not even allowing him to hear the songs of birds--so that he would be "the first Hebrew-speaking child," becomes a journey full of paradox. It was Orthodox anti-Zionists who had Ben-Yehuda arrested for sedition, and, although Ben-Yehuda was devoted to Jewish life in Palestine, it was in Manhattan that he worked on his great dictionary of the Hebrew language. The resurrection of Hebrew raises urgent questions about the role language plays in Jewish survival, questions that lead Stavans not merely into the roots of modern Hebrew but into the origins of Israel itself. All the tensions between the Diaspora and the idea of a promised land pulse beneath the surface of Stavans's story, which is a fascinating biography as well as a moving personal journey.From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Southampton Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 121068
- Title
- Resurrecting Hebrew (Jewish Encounters Series)
- Author
- Stavans, Ilan
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- New
- Jacket Condition
- Like New
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0805242317
- ISBN 13
- 9780805242317
- Publisher
- Schocken
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2008
- Keywords
- , , , , , , , ,
Terms of Sale
Southampton Books
About the Seller
Southampton Books
About Southampton Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.