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61st out of 378 books
—
285 voters
Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love
With candor and humor, Uhlberg recounts a childhood spent largely as a bridge between his parents and the hearing world. Translating from sign language to spoken language and back again, he enables his father to communicate with local shopkeepers, awakens his parents when his baby brother cries, and even interprets at a less-than-glowing parent-teacher conference. At times...more
Hardcover, 232 pages
Published
February 3rd 2009
by Bantam
(first published 2009)
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A sweet but not treacly memoir by a hearing son of deaf parents. Uhlberg nicely balances characterizations of his parents' speech (particularly his father's) as beautiful, visual, and expressive against the limitations imposed on them by a hearing world that sees them as unintelligent. He also articulates well his frustration at having to act as their translator and to serve in a parentified role, especially in relation to his younger brother, who had epilepsy. A good memoir to teach with as the...more
يد أبي
الكاتب بيحكي تجربته الشخصية مع والديه المصابيين بالصمم "ابن معافي لوالدين مصابين بالصمم" .. تجربة انسانية تستحق الاهتمام ...
ف الجزء الاول بيتكلم عن والده .. طفولته وكيفيه اصابته بالصمم.. عن كفاحه وعمله .. عن كيفية مقابلته ل"سارة" اللي هايتزوجها وهاتكون ام "مايرون" .. بيتكلم عن ذكريات والده قبل قدوم مايرون للحياة .. وعن مشاعره المتداخلة لان له ابن معافي ...
بعد كده الكاتب بدا ينتقل لجزء مختلف .. ذكرياته مع والده اثناء الطفولة .. وازاي كان بيتم التواصل بينهم .. وازاي هو كان حلقة الوصل بينه...more
الكاتب بيحكي تجربته الشخصية مع والديه المصابيين بالصمم "ابن معافي لوالدين مصابين بالصمم" .. تجربة انسانية تستحق الاهتمام ...
ف الجزء الاول بيتكلم عن والده .. طفولته وكيفيه اصابته بالصمم.. عن كفاحه وعمله .. عن كيفية مقابلته ل"سارة" اللي هايتزوجها وهاتكون ام "مايرون" .. بيتكلم عن ذكريات والده قبل قدوم مايرون للحياة .. وعن مشاعره المتداخلة لان له ابن معافي ...
بعد كده الكاتب بدا ينتقل لجزء مختلف .. ذكرياته مع والده اثناء الطفولة .. وازاي كان بيتم التواصل بينهم .. وازاي هو كان حلقة الوصل بينه...more
Oct 06, 2008
Malbadeen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
translators, outsiders, kids, parents,
Shelves:
memoir-ish
I loved reading this book partially because it brought me back to the world of deaf culture that I was briefly immersed in some 20 years ago. I felt nostalgic for the more intense communication that is felt by virtue of necessity amongst the deaf. No ipod in one ear, glancing up from the computer, nodding an ah-huh, glancing around while someone else is talking. It's eye to eye, attention on the other person or you've missed it.
The author did an excellent job of communicating the sweetness and...more
The author did an excellent job of communicating the sweetness and...more
4 likes · like · see review
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This is the author's memoir of growing up as the hearing child of 2 deaf parents in Brooklyn in the 1940s. Myron was called upon to be the translator for his parents, navigating them through the hearing world. He knew this forced him to grow up much more quickly than he would have liked, but this is not a "listen to my horrible childhood" memoir. Myron has nothing but love for his parents, his father in particular.
The writing is spectacular and is such a unique and well-told story... I recommend...more
The writing is spectacular and is such a unique and well-told story... I recommend...more
4 likes · like · see review
Aug 27, 2012
Grace
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in the history and culture of deaf people
Summary
Hands of My Father was an interesting memoir about Uhlberg's youth. He was a boy growing up after the depression, during times of war, and most uniquely, was born to two deaf parents. This is his story about how he felt, what it was like, and the things he experienced growing up.
Notes
I particularly liked Uhlberg's frank writing. He doesn't sugar coat anything, and tells it like it is. It isn't often I get a history perspective that is so... honest.
While this doesn't give much perspectiv...more
Hands of My Father was an interesting memoir about Uhlberg's youth. He was a boy growing up after the depression, during times of war, and most uniquely, was born to two deaf parents. This is his story about how he felt, what it was like, and the things he experienced growing up.
Notes
I particularly liked Uhlberg's frank writing. He doesn't sugar coat anything, and tells it like it is. It isn't often I get a history perspective that is so... honest.
While this doesn't give much perspectiv...more
As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:
As an American Sign Language (ASL) instructor with a background in Deaf history and culture, I loved *Hands of My Father*.
Myron was born to Deaf parents in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. As the oldest child of the family, he soon became appointed as the family's interpreter. While that might seem such a heavy burden, that was the way it was to hearing children of Deaf parents before the advent of interpreters, relay operators, teletypewriters, the ADA...more
As an American Sign Language (ASL) instructor with a background in Deaf history and culture, I loved *Hands of My Father*.
Myron was born to Deaf parents in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. As the oldest child of the family, he soon became appointed as the family's interpreter. While that might seem such a heavy burden, that was the way it was to hearing children of Deaf parents before the advent of interpreters, relay operators, teletypewriters, the ADA...more
4 likes · like · see review
I absolutely loved this book! It is so obviously written from the heart of Myron Uhlberg who had a very unusual but very interesting childhood. It is so easy, through reading this book, to see the different dynamics of life that a boy might face as the eldest son of two deaf parents. It answered so many questions for me about the deaf world, in such a simple and thoughtful way. I loved how Uhlberg recalled his father. You could feel how much he loved him in his remembrances. It was very well wri...more
2 likes · like · see review
I loved this book, and I'm not just saying that because I won it in a giveaway. It was fascinating to read about the secret world of the deaf. How the Uhlbergs raised their hearing sons, how they taught them to live in the hearing world, what their life was like, it was fascinating. It made me so mad to read how his parents were treated like they were somehow less than human, or at the least, unintelligent because of their handicap. How horrible to have your own family not be able to, or not eve...more
Really enjoyed this book it really suprised me I am not always the biggest fan of biographies but the way this story was written really kept my intrest and I think it gave a great picture of how things where during the early 1900's. Really found it intresting how ASL did not become a language unitil 1960's and some many people where already using it at the turn of the century. Also really was intrested in how sign was forbidden in the school the parents atteneded.
Wow, first of all i was so thrilled to receive this in the mail, and for it to be as good of book as it was, makes it all the better.
I cannot even begin to discribe what an amazing book this was, the author is so discriptive at his telling of the story, i could see every bit of what was going on in my head.
I would hightly recommend this to everyone.
thanks so much for the copy!
I cannot even begin to discribe what an amazing book this was, the author is so discriptive at his telling of the story, i could see every bit of what was going on in my head.
I would hightly recommend this to everyone.
thanks so much for the copy!
I really loved this book. A refreshing memoir at a time when most memoirs are focused on trauma and pain. For a full review:
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/02/han...
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/02/han...
After I read the book of “Hands of My Father”, I feel it’s really touching, heart-warming and motivational, I know the deaf people work harder than many normal people, and sigh language is one kind of language, different countries has different sign languages just like spoken languages. After I read this book, I know there are two world, one is the deaf world, another one is the hearing world, deaf people are desire to know what does the hearing world look like. I know many people look down at d...more
“Hands of My Father”
A memoir of a person who grew up in two worlds, the hearing world and deaf world. Deaf parents who had hearing children is a epitome of success that speak out to people and make them think about life. A book that the Author is the hearing child and gave a voice to his parents. Afterwards, helping them and his brother who suffered epilepsy since he was a child.
This is a great book which teach us about situations of an entire life. Overcoming obstacles and Language is what this...more
A memoir of a person who grew up in two worlds, the hearing world and deaf world. Deaf parents who had hearing children is a epitome of success that speak out to people and make them think about life. A book that the Author is the hearing child and gave a voice to his parents. Afterwards, helping them and his brother who suffered epilepsy since he was a child.
This is a great book which teach us about situations of an entire life. Overcoming obstacles and Language is what this...more
An inspiring, touching book. “Hands of My Father” is a memoir of the author, Myron Uhlberg who shared his especial, at times hilarious and many times tough childhood in hardest time during the Great Depression. As the hearing son of 2 deaf parents, his first form of communication was Sign Language. Myron’s sign language was not just the bridge between the predominant and cruel hearing world to his parents’ little deaf world but also was the compass of his father Louis who persistently pursued th...more
I am profoundly hard-of-hearing. I started losing my hearing early and now am in my 70s and I am going Deaf fast. I get by with very powerful hearing aids, but they do not work very well. So I am trying to learn Sign. Learning Sign has been tough for me. I do not belong to any signing community so learning seems impractical for me. But this book was a revelation, showing sign to be a vital and beautiful way of communicating, and putting a face on those natural signers who were born Deaf, or who...more
I can describe this book as an example of life. I could see how much love Myron and Louis have to each other and they support any problem in life. This book has a big lesson for everybody because some people call "abnormal" people who have disability but that's not the good way to call them. I like the way that Louis deals with all the comment in the streets. I always think that people have to respect everybody if they want to have respect from others. This story affected me in the end when Loui...more
An outstanding depiction of a young boy's affectionate relationship with his father who is deaf. The story of the brilliant author, Myron Uhlberg, who I will always know as "Moo." I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Uhlberg when I was a student in middle school. Myron read some of the work I had done for english class, and told me I had true potential to be an author. Myron gave me the inspiration to write, to take my writing seriously. Now, being a senior in high school, I am pursuing a major in...more
This book tells the story of Myron Uhlberg who grew up the oldest son of deaf parents. The story is set in Brooklyn in the first half of the 20th century. It eloquently captures both the double-bind, and the beauty of being a hearing child of deaf parents.
My mother is the youngest of three daughters born to my deaf grandparents. She was born in 1940 (although in rural Idaho, not NYC.) I felt so many of the experiences that the author talked about my mother also grappled with. I was stung by the...more
My mother is the youngest of three daughters born to my deaf grandparents. She was born in 1940 (although in rural Idaho, not NYC.) I felt so many of the experiences that the author talked about my mother also grappled with. I was stung by the...more
Boy, am I glad that I happened upon this book one winter day in a secondhand bookstore, casually browsing the shelves. The moment I read the back cover of this book, I was already moved. I decided to use this book as teaching material in my college-level ESL class. Not only is it an incredibly moving story of childhood, family, and human struggle, it is an introduction into a world to which most hearing people are not privy. It was a learning experience to read this book, and it was also an inte...more
Good book, for all the obvious reasons.
We are different people than our parents. Due to the basic fact that we, by definition, are of a different generation than our parents, we can never fully and completely get each other. Times change - that's a fact, however slowly - and the changes in political atmosphere, pop culture, economic times influences the difference in view, however subtle, held by different generations. In this book, the obvious difference in backgrounds between father & son...more
We are different people than our parents. Due to the basic fact that we, by definition, are of a different generation than our parents, we can never fully and completely get each other. Times change - that's a fact, however slowly - and the changes in political atmosphere, pop culture, economic times influences the difference in view, however subtle, held by different generations. In this book, the obvious difference in backgrounds between father & son...more
أدين بالشكر لمشروع كلمة للترجمة لإختيارها هذا الكتاب الماتع والمختلف لشدّ ما أحببت
قراءته ومطالعة صوره بكل إهتمام .. الكتاب يدخلك عالما آخر .. وأظن أن هذا ما يبحث عن القارىء عالم آخر غير ما يعيش فيه ربما لا يعرف عنه شيئا كعالم تنعدم فيه الأصوات وتسود فيه الإشارات فتصبح اليد صاحبة الكلمة العليا والبطل الأول والرئيسي في هذه السيرة البديعة
مايرون أولبرغ يكتب سيرته وكان قد بلغ من العمر عتيا لديه أبناء وأحفاد ولكنه ظل يدين بالشكر ليدا والده الأصم تلك اليد التي ربت وعلمت وكانت وسيلة التواصل بين أفراد...more
قراءته ومطالعة صوره بكل إهتمام .. الكتاب يدخلك عالما آخر .. وأظن أن هذا ما يبحث عن القارىء عالم آخر غير ما يعيش فيه ربما لا يعرف عنه شيئا كعالم تنعدم فيه الأصوات وتسود فيه الإشارات فتصبح اليد صاحبة الكلمة العليا والبطل الأول والرئيسي في هذه السيرة البديعة
مايرون أولبرغ يكتب سيرته وكان قد بلغ من العمر عتيا لديه أبناء وأحفاد ولكنه ظل يدين بالشكر ليدا والده الأصم تلك اليد التي ربت وعلمت وكانت وسيلة التواصل بين أفراد...more
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“Hands of My Father” one of the most effective book I have ever read. I realized that all people are the same even some of them lost one ability to communication. It just different condition of life. This book affected the way that I used to look at deaf world. I used to think that those are disabled and they cannot do anything in their life, but after I read this book, now I understand that those people are not less but they are just different from hearing people. I felt emotion because the se...more
The book Hands of my Father, is an epitome of how to express ourselves and stay in touch without any language limitations.
This book reflects the highest quality of love that could inspire people to live without fear when some languages difficulties are present. The rich language that the author used to describe the struggle that they suffer helped me to build a stronger vocabulary to use in my daily life.
In addition, this book helped me to understand that Deaf people are people with special need...more
This book reflects the highest quality of love that could inspire people to live without fear when some languages difficulties are present. The rich language that the author used to describe the struggle that they suffer helped me to build a stronger vocabulary to use in my daily life.
In addition, this book helped me to understand that Deaf people are people with special need...more
ما اعظم ما يمكن ان يواجهه طفل ..
لم أفكر من قبل ماذا لو ولدت لى اب و ام أصمين
تستحق أكثر من الخمس نجمات
طفل لى ابوين اصمين
ان تفتح عينيك على واقع .وتدرك انك غريب
كيف عاش ؟كيف تقبلوا الفكرة ؟كيف عبروا ؟كيف واجهوا عالم أصم عن ذوى الاحتياجات
كيف عاش أب و طفل أخ و أب
كيف كان حلقة وصل بين عالمين متناقضين عالم يرى و عالم يسمع
لا يدرك الانسان مدى تحمله و قوته الا اذا اجبرته الحياة ..
اعجبنى بشدة اهتمامه بى عالم أبويه المتفانى و اكتشافه له
تعايشه مع الواقع ,,بدل ان يندب حظه
تفاصيل مغامراته مع والده و السعاد...more
5 likes · like · see review
This book was pretty good. I enjoyed learning about the deaf culture and sign language, which is something I've always had an interest in, yet never had an opportunity to learn. I enjoyed the stories about his father and mother. I do wish he had more stories about his mother, but I know the title of the book is Hands of My FATHER. I found his mother interesting and wish he would have shared more about her and her life. The only time I found the book boring was all the talk about sports. I'm not...more
The life of a hearing child.
we have read this book and we have never imagine in our life about deaf people. When I read this book I felt emotional when Myron has to explain everything to his parents. His parents were dependent on him. Myron had a big responsibility in his life. From our childhood we grow up as a hearing person and living with our parents(hearing) but Myron as a hearing child grow up with deaf parents. People can learn a lot of lesson from this, because it represents a perfect e...more
we have read this book and we have never imagine in our life about deaf people. When I read this book I felt emotional when Myron has to explain everything to his parents. His parents were dependent on him. Myron had a big responsibility in his life. From our childhood we grow up as a hearing person and living with our parents(hearing) but Myron as a hearing child grow up with deaf parents. People can learn a lot of lesson from this, because it represents a perfect e...more
Myron Uhlberg recounts his complex childhood spent bridging the gap between sign language and the spoken word. As the hearing son of deaf parents, young Myron served as their emissary to the audible world while enduring the painful ignorance of a society that dismissed the hearing-impaired as "dummies." Yet eliciting pity is not the aim of this memoir. Hands of My Father is less about the challenges Uhlberg faced, and more about the love that bound his family together. Amid each tale of hardship...more
Jan 21, 2009
Maltaise
added it
There is nothing more enjoyable than being the recipient of good news. I woke up this morning to an email telling me that I have won a copy of this book. Yeah! I can hardly wait to find it in my mailbox and sit down to read it.
What a pleasant surprise when I came home today. Yes the book was waiting for me on my front doorstep. I know what I will be reading this weekend.
Born to migrant parents, Myron's parents both become deaf after suffering a childhood illness. When they marry their parents a...more
What a pleasant surprise when I came home today. Yes the book was waiting for me on my front doorstep. I know what I will be reading this weekend.
Born to migrant parents, Myron's parents both become deaf after suffering a childhood illness. When they marry their parents a...more
Jan 28, 2009
Virginia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those connected to the deaf community or curious about it
Shelves:
memoir
This is a memoir that recounts the author's experiences growing up as the child of two deaf parents during the 30s and 40s, an era that was not particularly kind to those with disabilities of any sort.
I was impressed by Uhlberg's vivid recollections of his childhood. I tend to believe that children's book authors (Uhlberg has written several) tend to be especially "in tune" with the emotional challenges of children and especially aware of their own childhood struggles. Whether it was because of...more
I was impressed by Uhlberg's vivid recollections of his childhood. I tend to believe that children's book authors (Uhlberg has written several) tend to be especially "in tune" with the emotional challenges of children and especially aware of their own childhood struggles. Whether it was because of...more
having learned to sign with a good friend whose children were that ages of my older children and whose children were interpreters for her and for her husband I found this book fascinating. Myron wrote in honesty about his feelings but also about his parents - especially his father. The setting is the 30s into the 90s and his parents deaths. He grew up as a child living as an adult interpreter for his parents - imagine interpreting your own parent teacher conference, doctors appointments, store v...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Bookworm Bitches : February 2013: Hands of My Father | 22 | 201 | Feb 20, 2013 07:13pm |
Myron Uhlberg is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of a number of children’s books. He recently published a memoir of his life in Brooklyn, New York, growing up the oldest hearing son of deaf parents. He lives with his wife in Santa Monica and Palm Springs.
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“My father spoke with his hands. He was deaf. His voice was in his hands. And his hands contained his memories.”
—
10 people liked it
“Sign is a live, contemporaneous, visual-gestural language and consists of hand shapes, hand positioning, facial expressions, and body movements. Simply put, it is for me the most beautiful, immediate, and expressive of languages, because it incorporates the entire human body.”
—
7 people liked it
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