Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin

by Ann Patty

An entertaining exploration of the richness and relevance of the Latin language and literature, and an inspiring account of finding renewed purpose through learning something new and challenging

After thirty-five years of living in New York City, Ann Patty stopped working and moved to the country upstate. She was soon bored, aimless, and lost in the woods. Hoping to challenge her restless, word-loving brain, and to find a new engagement with life, she began a serious study of Latin as an auditor at local colleges.  

In Living with a Dead Language, Patty weaves elements of her personal life into the confounding grammar and syntax of Latin as she chronicles not only the daily slog but also the deep pleasures of trying to master an inflected language. Courses in Roman history and epigraphy give her new insight into her tragic, long-deceased mother; Horace into the loss of a brilliant friend;, Lucretius into her tenacious drivenness and attraction to Buddhism. Catullus calls up her early days in 1970s New York while Ovid adds a delightful dimension to the flora and fauna that surround her. Finally, Virgil reconciles her to her new life—no longer an urban exile but a scholar, writer, and teacher. Along the way, she meets an intriguing, impassioned cast of characters: professors, students, and classicists outside of academia who become her new colleagues and who keep Latin very much alive.

Written with humor, candor, and an infectious enthusiasm for words and grammar, Patty’s book is a celebration of how learning and literature can transform the past and lead to a new, unexpected future.

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Memoir, Linguistics, Classics, Biography Memoir, Biography

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Ann Patty worked in New York trade publishing for more than thirty years. She was the founder and publisher of The Poseidon Press and an executive editor at Crown Publishers and Harcourt. Her first discovery as an editor was V. C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic. Other highlights of her career include the US hardcover debuts of: George R. R. Martin, Graham Swift, Mary Gaitskill, Patrick McGrath, Clive Barker, Frank Zappa, Michael Moore, Siri Hustvedt, and Kristin Hannah. She was the editor of Steven Millhauser’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Martin Dressler, and Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi.

In 2008 she became a freelance editor and began studying Latin, which she continues to do. She teaches Latin to teenagers at her local library in Red Hook, New York. Living with a Dead Language is her first memoir.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

What on earth motivated Ann Patty to take up the study of Latin at a late age? The same reason that compels many women to do the things we do - we don't want to turn into our mothers!

My mother was the same age, fifty-eight, when the last of my siblings moved away from home, and I watched this once industrious, gregarious, lively woman sink into depression, drink, and a feeling of uselessness.

She was afraid to start anew; instead she allowed the losses of her old life to inter her.

I happily accepted a copy of this book from the publisher as the idea of learning something new late in life appeals to me. Unfortunately, I was in love more with that concept than Patty's actual field of study. My interest in Latin is nil [Latin nīl, contraction of nihil], so much of this book was a slog for me. I did enjoy Patty's comments on her teachers and fellow students as she filled her days with translating Catullus, Ovid, and the odd funerary stone. She's at her warmest and most engaging when discussing her personal life.

For me, this was probably a three-star read - a serviceable, well written, though not very compelling book. I'll add another star, however, because I'm betting anyone who loves language studies and Latin will be enchanted.


The not-recommended-way to learn Latin.

My mother had loved to dance, but she stopped dancing long before she reached my age; she was done, as she said so often. I was not done. I was going to keep on dancing.

Good advice, Ann. Good advice.

[Melora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat uneven, but on the whole I enjoyed this very much. I give “Living With a Dead Language” 4 stars, but will note that, unless you are a middle-aged woman trying to motivate herself to study Latin (not, I'm assuming, a huge demographic), some sections may be sloggish. Well, to be honest, even if you are a middle aged woman trying to learn Latin you may have to do some slogging, but more on that later.

In terms of books in which “a middle-aged woman moves to the country and finds fulfillment and love in a new endeavor,” or even “a middle-aged person returns to college and observes the youngsters and recent developments in academia,” there are undoubtedly better books. Not that there's anything wrong with Ann Patty's tale, which would fit into either of these categories. But the central drama is Latin study, which, except for a narrow audience, may not prove gripping. Still, this was the aspect that grabbed my attention when I came across a review for the book in my Facebook feed (posted by The American Classical League) and prompted me to dash over to Amazon and order it right away. After making half-hearted efforts to learn Latin with my kids for several years, this year is going to be the year I finally start making some real progress! I hope. Anyway, Patty leaves her long-time career as a high powered book editor and publisher (admittedly, a “high powered editor” of some spectacularly sordid books, but, still, successful in the book world) in New York City to live in semi-retirement in her country home. After boredom sets in, she decides to study Latin at Vassar, both to preserve her sanity (her mother's early death, apparently from alcohol and depression after all her children were grown is an issue Patty deals with over the course of the book) and to enjoy the pleasures of playing with words and language.

Patty's story may not be action-packed, but for my purposes it was very satisfactory. A review I read before purchasing described the book as “delightful,” and, though it took quite a while for me to warm to the story, eventually I did. The delight here is in Patty's infectious enthusiasm for the peculiarities, nuances, and connections involved in words and grammar. The author has a real passion for words, and a gift for conveying her excitement in delving into grammatical thickets and exploring unexpected rabbit trails. For her, language study is an adventure, and careful study and consideration of how ideas are expressed, in both poetry and prose, reveals much about the beliefs and priorities of a culture. Gratifyingly (for me), Patty actually includes a fair lot of the grammar she studies in the book. We review Latin cases and declensions, talk about moods, tenses, etc. I really enjoyed her clear, thorough descriptions, with example sentences in Latin, of the grammar. For things I've already studied it was a nice review, and for others which I've either not met yet or have completely forgotten, like the ablative absolute, the passive periphrastic, and the epexegetical infinitive she gives entertaining and clear explanations. And for comic relief she offers amusing, self-deprecatory stories, such as how, when a fellow student suggested she buy index cards and make herself flash cards for memorizing, she does, but she's so cheap that she puts three words, and definitions on one side of each card, saving the blank side of the card for future use. (Considering that she was driving an hour and a half a day, four days a week, to get to her Latin class, I'm assuming the thriftiness with index cards was meant to be funny.) She also talks about her eagerness to impress her teachers, and her dismay when she, an excellent student in her youth, is no longer one of the top students in her classes. I was taken aback, however, when she tells how surprised she was at the beginning of her second year class, an intermediate level course “devoted to Catullus,” when the professor hands out a syllabus “which included the warning: 'Some of our poems contain lewd language and sexually explicit subjects. If that will be offensive to you, please talk to me.'” Her response? “Well, this was news!” Okay. Really? Wouldn't she have Googled “Catullus” at some point after registering for the course? And, anyway, as an educated, middle-aged woman, had she really never heard that Catullus is famous for being filthy? Even assuming this pretended naivete was for dramatic effect, I found it unconvincing, and it did make me feel a bit less confidence in the honesty of her narration.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was Patty's recognition of how much harder it can be to learn a language when one is no longer young. Heck, even when I was young I was no good at languages (Patty is fluent in French, so this was not the case for her), but at this point the old bean stubbornly resists retaining things like new vocabulary, case endings, etc. But our author soldiers on valiantly. I was delighted with her enthusiasm about memorizing her first Latin poem, and sympathized with her dismay when none of her friends want to listen to her recitation (though I could see their point. It is all very well to listen to one's progeny recite Latin memory work, but such things do, generally, require parental-type devotion.).

The personal memoir component, while not badly done, was less interesting to me than the sections relating to Latin study, and on a few occasions she really annoyed me. Patty relates personal challenges which range from the sympathy inspiring (a bout with cancer) to the “suck it up, buttercup” variety (her daughter is difficult as an adolescent and “has” to be sent to boarding school). Her romance with her current boyfriend is quite sweet (he sounds like a lovely, patient man), but I could have done with less information on why her marriages failed (she tells more than I had any desire to know about her libido in contrast with that of her second husband). Her stories about her life in the world of book publishing were mildly interesting, and would have been better if they'd been told without the martyred attitude. Apparently she was involved in some sort of publishing scandal, which she is legally not allowed to tell us about, but in which, she assures us, she was the wronged party. Which might possibly be interesting if I had any idea of what she was referring to, but I don't.

Speaking of “parental,” one of the ideas which Patty returns to throughout the book is that of avoiding her mother's fate, a decline into alcoholism and early death due to lack of interests once her children were raised, but she also wishes to “please” (or honor?) her mother (posthumously) by pursuing the study of Latin, a subject her mother had talked about enjoying in school and had wished her daughter to study (Patty had chosen to study French instead). This aspect of the book felt a little unsatisfactory to me. Her relationship with her mother is clearly something she regrets – she repeatedly mentions her mother's anger when, on her first marriage, she declines to take her husband's name. Her mother takes this as a criticism of her own choices, and the two do not seem to have had a close relationship. Patty sees taking up the study of Latin, and especially visiting Rome, as a way of connecting with her mother through their shared passion. Despite my nagging feeling that her efforts would have been more usefully offered earlier, Ann does find comfort through her studies, and that is a fine thing.

A couple unnecessary gibes at groups she dislikes left a bad taste for me all out of proportion to their significance in the book. She manages to segue from a description of the medieval German religious sect, the Abcedarians, who avoided using the written word for fear of its corrupting power, to a slam against “creationists, climate change deniers, FOX News watchers, much of the Republican party,” who, she claims, are the modern forms of this determinedly ignorant group. Though not a member of any of the groups she is insulting here, I found this rather offensive and unnecessary. Rather like her obsessive habit of speculating on the sexual orientation of all the male students in each class she takes...

”After class, I visited Curtis (her professor) in his office, and we discussed the students in the class.
'And there are two longhairs, Xavier and Siddhi,' I said. 'They've already my favorites.'
He shook his head. 'Of course,' he said. 'Ever the Berkeley girl.'
Xavier, he explained, was a Greek specialist, and flat-out brilliant.'Straight or gay?' I asked. No one knew. 'And hottie Siddhi,' I said, 'what about him?'”

This sort of commentary, while strikes me as bizarre and prurient, is carried out each time she encounters a new set of classmates. Not only does she speculate on the sexual proclivities of the young men she meets, but she tends to describe each man she meets as “thin and geeky” or a “hottie.” To me this seems particularly ugly given her frequent talk of being a “feminist.” Though perhaps for her, being a feminist means claiming the right to freely ogle and objectify the opposite sex. At least when she insults people who hold traditional Christian beliefs it is in reference to her study of Lucretius, though her mockery of religious believers struck me as peculiar in light of her enthusiasm for astrology (when talking with a young girl she is tutoring she asks the girl's zodiac sign, and is delighted at having correctly guessed that the girl, like herself, is “Aries”) and spiritualism (she says, “I once had a session with my friend Susan, a 'seer' who channels the African spirit Garuda. Garuda claimed that I was being watched over by a tall, thin, white-haired man. 'Did I recognize him?' she asked. 'Of course,' I said, 'it must be my grandfather...'”).

Fortunately, the forays into religious and political snarkiness and personal melodrama are a minor, if aggravating, part of the book, the great part being given to the story of her “romance with Latin.” And that is a story she tells very nicely.

Though I sometimes found Patty an uncongenial companion when we moved from discussions of language and grammar to the more personal sections, for the most part I enjoyed this very much. The frequent shifts from discussions of Latin grammar and literature to stories of about her life do keep the book from becoming “textbook-like,” and are generally smoothly accomplished. She has some stylistic quirks, most notably an excessive enthusiasm for exclamation marks (a fault I'm guilty of myself, but I expect better of professionals), but mostly her writing is unremarkable and moves along at a fine clip. Generally, her unusual memoir, combining her journey into the world of Latin study with a look back over her previous life, with its triumphs and regrets, and a newly hopeful view of her future, including companionable romance and opportunity to serve her community through volunteer work, is entertaining, and it made me feel more inclined to have another run at Wheelock's come September!

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh thank god that's over

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather than giving you a full accounting of all the things that made me want to throw this humble-brag of a book across the room, I will settle for advising you not to read this book unless you are actually a New Yorker and editor who would happily use the word ultracrepidarian to describe yourself (and would then immediately define it, lest your audience fail to appreciate the nuances you most prefer).

Especially please don’t read this book if you like Latin or want to like Latin. If you like Latin, you may (like me) find yourself deeply annoyed both at the author’s ability to mock and dismiss the undergraduates in the courses she audits and at her insistence that she is the only genius ever to understand the ablative absolute without angst. If haven’t (yet) taken Latin and you want to like Latin, you might assume that the author’s overly complicated descriptions of the language and musings on what it must mean about Roman culture are representative of learning Latin. (Please do, though, take Latin and write your own book - especially if you are not/no longer a traditional student. I will read it, and I will almost certainly enjoy it more than this one.)

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am at odds with this book. On the one hand, she reminded me much of my Classical language undergrad stage, where everywhere you turn is Latin and Greek. You know you're pretentious and probably annoying, but it's magical. It's like being part of this secret club underpinning western culture.

She's also a staunch feminist, refusing to fold away quietly and pass away without notice. Finding meaning in her life beyond her relationships, much like she states her mother did.

Then, she'll say things like she made it a point to always have a gay man in her life, which is terribly tokenizing and rather shortsighted. Also, while she claims to use Latin as a way to reach out to the memory of her mother, I find her mother is often an afterthought--ebbing in and out as needed.

Ultimately, I found myself drawn to this memoir, but I also found myself cringing away at it as well.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why does she make random insults at certain groups when she goes off on tangents (Republicans). She criticizes religion but believes in astrology. She never really talks about what happened that led to her downfall in the publishing industry, asserting that she legally can't talk about it, but that she was definitely wronged. She complains about the people in her life too often without thinking about them. She seems to have no respect for the members who prefer the old ways.
Oddly enough, I still found this an interesting read when she would talk about what she used to learn latin, her classmates, and the declensions and such. My main problem seemed to be with the person coming through in the writing rather than the subject mater of the book itself.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the author to be fairly unlikable. I loved the parts about the actual language but the insertion of her politics and her adolescent obsession with her classmates made it a dnf for me.

[Linda]

LJ
This is a lovely, though entirely geek-laden, combination of word exploration and memoir. I found images of her parents haunting, and at times the noun declension and tenses were too much for me to follow. But overall, if you have an interest in Latin or in languages in general, and you like fine writing, then yes, this might just foot that (albeit narrow) bill!
Having worked in publishing for 20 years, although not at her level (and admittedly she sounds like she can't believe what she lucked into, though she is a bit miffed at the way it ended up), I found the career talk interesting, too.
This is a lovely volume for a very narrow field of readers. The combination of career, memoir and language will grab them very firmly, however.

[Taveri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is by an Editor (of V.C. Andrews novels, among others) turned author as she recounts her efforts to learn Latin. It provided insights to Latin well providing an interesting back story of her upbringing and recollections of her life. She provides candid impressions of her colleagues and fellow students as he embarks on a late life urge to study Latin and the struggles that entails. After four years she still finds herself making elementary mistakes such as mistaking ad (to) for ab (by or from). That was enough for me to realize I was not willing to invest that much time into learning Latin.

She often comments on her mother not having had the same opportunities as herself and uses the story to reconnect with her.

Things I found interesting were: there is no "yes" or "no" in Latin (they had to do with phrases like "sane" indeed or "haud" not at all); there is neither a definite article (the) nor an indefinite (a/an) article; there are almost a dozen forms of the ablative (description, manner, cause, comparison, degree of difference, manner, origin, personal agent, price respect, absolute and specification); the official birth year of Rome was 753BC; she had lunch with Kurt Vonnegut; and the Roman day was divided into twelve daylight hours depending on the season (45 minutes in winter, 75 minutes in summer).

Here is an ancient puzzle that they translated at a conference:
"I am the principle of the world
And the end of the ages.
Everything is contained through me,
Without me nothing exists,
I am three and one
But, nevertheless, I am not a god.

To solve this it helps to know that “mundi“ means world and “saeculorum“ means ages.

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ms. Patty's memoir is about her choice to learn language as an adult; she had retired from the book publishing business and was without a hobby to fully occupy her mind. She wove in auto-biographical stories that transformed the whole: Ms. Patty gave herself purpose, and found new friends and interests. This is a short, enjoyable book.

This would have been a better book had Ms. Patty's editor kept her from a horrible indulgence. Out of nowhere, suddenly on page 165, she says the modern day equivalent of the Abecedarians (who were truly odd and perhaps favored ignorance) are "...Fox News watchers, much of the Republican Party." Holy cow! I'd expect well mannered members of any political party would be annoyed at this sort of random nastiness. Shame on you, Ms. Patty. For me, it took a four star rating down to two stars.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always interesting to read about how someone approaches learning a new language and this was a departure from the usual tale of learning French or Italian. This time, retired book editor Ann Patty decides she has too much time on her hands (and mind) and needs a real challenge. Latin fits the bill. She studied it in college many years ago and returns to college to continue. The book tells of her five year journey through Latin learning -- the other students, the teachers, the poetry, the grammar. I admit to skipping discussions of grammar, but for the most part this was an upbeat story of doing something in retirement you've always dreamed of doing.

[Stephanie Gangi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In between language and laughter, memory and insight, Ann Patty's memoir also manages to deliver the secret to aging gracefully: be curious, be bold, be delighted by the journey, and most of all, always always be a student, in your own way. Go and read it and when you close the book, resolve to learn something new to stay young.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Latin and have been trying (unsuccessfully) for years to teach myself to read it, so when I spotted this book written by a woman with a similar desire, I couldn’t pass it up. Unlike me she had the resources to audit four years of classes at Vassar and Bard colleges as a 56 year old senex (elder). So by the time she finished she had the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in Latin. I have to be content with reading the Aeneid in Latin with interlinear notes in English.

For the few of us who think learning Latin sounds like a great idea, this book was a lot of fun to read – except that I was distracted by what felt like too much information about Patty’s non-Latin life. I hurried through those memoir-like sections in order to get back to what I was looking for: Latin. Fortunately, there was plenty of it.

True, my eyes glazed over her explanations of conjugations, declensions, moods, ablatives, vocatives, subjunctives, and other intricacies of Latin grammar like the ablative absolute and the passive periphrastic. But I loved the Latin words and phrases Patty sprinkled throughout her book, words like Absquatulate, (To depart in a hurry) and, my favorite: Festina Lente! (Make haste slowly.)

It was also fun to come across so many pithy quotations translated from the writings of Catullus, Ovid, Horace, Virgil, Lucretius, Cicero and others. And I loved finding things in Latin that so perfectly describe life in the 21st century, like: O saeclum insipiens et infacetum (Oh how tasteless and stupid our age!)

Occasionally, I came across a word or phrase I actually recognized and understood like Mihi placet which means “it is pleasing to me.” The only reason I knew that is because it’s the way Harriet Vane finally accepted Lord Peter Wimsey’s umpteenth proposal of marriage at the very end of Gaudy Night.

Patty makes it clear that Latin isn’t really a dead language at all, but rather “…a ghost shadowing many of our words, a zombie showing up in sentences, haunting the living language.” Nevertheless, I was curious to see what bona fide (in good faith) classics scholars think of her book. Not much, apparently. They feel she didn’t have the qualifications necessary to write this kind of a book. Apparently there are a number of glaring errors that even someone with intermediate Latin skills can spot.

As for me, I agree with whoever it was who said, “It is astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a language that one understands imperfectly.” However, as Pliny the Younger once pointed out, “Difficile est tenere quae acceperis nisi exerceas (It is difficult to retain what you have learned unless you practice it.) So when it comes to actually learning Latin, I’m afraid the best I can do is go back to the interlinear translation of the Aeneid.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly significant from a literary standpoint, but nonetheless an enjoyable read, and certainly a much-needed break from the gritty, "serious" literature that I love, but which makes me more disenchanted with life than I should be. As a fellow amateur classicist and otherwise huge nerd, I find Patty's violent enthusiasm for the Latin language both relatable and endearing. That being said, certain parts of the book make me slightly uncomfortable–for example, Patty's constant references to the attractiveness of individuals over forty years younger than her, or her limited understanding of transgender issues. However, this book is overall a light and fun read, with a much more positive outlook on life than most other books I have encountered (although that may just be because I'm reading the wrong sort of books). I probably would not recommend this book for someone who has never studied Latin, since it is difficult to follow Patty's thoughts without understanding the grammar she discusses. Enjoyable overall, and I appreciate the fact that there is another person who still wants to keep Latin relevant.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While reading this, I kept wondering who the intended audience was. There are many pages devoted to explaining Latin grammar and vocabulary, and then later details about specific Roman authors; these sections would be incredibly confusing to someone who has not studied Latin, and they are pretty boring for someone who has. I skimmed the Goodreads reviews which suggest that there are at least some people who wax nostalgic for their middle school Latin classes, for whom this memoir resonates. Ann Patty was a pretty high-powered editor before she was downsized and, at age 58, decides that studying Latin will be the best way to keep herself from descending into despair and alcoholism, as her mother did once her children grew up and moved away. Interspersed with the descriptions of her classes (including a rather unsettling emphasis on the physical attractiveness of some of the male students and strange highlighting of the gay kids, as well as the blithe statement that “most” of the male students at Vassar are gay) (oh and many of her professors are “adorably nerdy”) are reflections of her life in publishing, her two previous marriages, and her long-time interest in words.

[Tom Kopff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable memoir from a late-in-life Latinist. As one who studied (sort of) Latin for five years in high school and college, but has home-schooled several youngsters in this language over the years, I can sympathize with coming to its appreciation later in life. However, the name-dropping, subtle preening, and gratuitous elitist shots taken at "creationists, climate-change-deniers, Fox News watchers, [and] much of the Republican party" marred an otherwise enjoyable read. (I find this from time to time in mystery novels and it always bugs me. It will have nothing to do with the plot or character development, but out of nowhere will come a jab at conservatives, Christians, etc. It's as if the author is trying to ingratiate himself with the 'cultured class', who, of course, they believe are all secular leftists.) That's why I only give it two stars.

[Molly Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this memoir since I took Latin in middle school and high school and haven't come back to it since then. While the book didn't necessarily inspire me to return to Latin (at least not right now in my life), the author reminded me of the joy, frustration, and satisfaction that comes from following a passion for learning a particular topic. She learns Latin for multiple reasons- to follow in her mother's footsteps, to find a new community, and to occupy her time, but it is clear the biggest reason is just the pleasure of expanding her mind. I like how she ties in reflections on her life into her journey of learning Latin. I hope one day when I am retired I have the energy and zeal to throw myself into some subject as much as she plunges into Latin.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lists of words in different shades of meaning, collections of 'ids, and little houses built of words all percolate joyfully through the book. Patty had me dusting off Wheelock and rummaging through the family Latin shelf. There were parts of the book that I did not love: it can be a breezy, snarky, objectify just about everybody kind of writing. But I'm grateful for the for incentive to head back into hell with Virgil, turn into a tree with Ovid, or relish my days on the shores of light with Lucretius.

[Joshua Baughman · Rating 1 out of 5]

An insipid memoir full of ramblings from a person that somehow manages to make themself unlikeable in autobiographical format. Additionally how are you going to consistently bash your current husband as a dullard and brush it off with a “of different natures” kind of attitude. Or sexualize men 30-40 years your younger and leave it in the print (THIS IS SOMEONE WHO WORKED IN THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS). It’s of little surprise her magnum opus of publishing is the book referred to as “that incest book”. I finished this out of spite.

[Luisa Barbano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hello everyone, I'm "Hannah" from page 142 - you know, the one with "what seemed to be Parkinson's or another disease of the nervous system." Thanks for picking me out for the debilitating tremor I had in college, which, for the record was because of the antipsychotics I had to be on. Readers, please don't support this kind of insensitivity. It's insulting and hurtful.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was fun!

I know I'm procratinating on my own Latin studies, but this was a nice break.

[Menai N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous account of the study of Latin as an adult. I loved the way that she wrote about her life and her learning. I will be recommending this!

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t remember where I read the review for this book, but it convinced me that I wanted to read it. So I ordered it as a gift for my husband :-) (he enjoys “playing” with Latin and learning bits off and on). Reading a memoir often leads to reflection, to revisiting parts of one’s own life. That was the case for me with this book. I could identify with Ann Patty some of the time, but enjoyed most when she touched on experiences that recalled ones I’d had or on interests that I share. I had to slog through parts of her story, and put it down for a couple months while preoccupied with work and holidays and other books (and, I admit, mindless games on my computer and phone), but loved other parts, and upon picking it back up a couple of days ago, I quickly consumed the last 9 (of 16) chapters (132 pages). For me, they held my favourite images, the best parts of the book. I recommend reading it all in one go, though, as it's easier to keep people straight (students from previous classes, former husbands with funny nicknames, friends, etc.).

On the back of the jacket, Patricia O'Connor is quoted: "I never expected to finish a book on language with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes." Me too. There's lots to enjoy here, as when Ann Patty wrote:

"I liked the ablative absolute, the way it could wrap up entire epochs in two words, then move on: It felt like a no-fault divorce from the main sentence, rather like mine from my second husband, whom I now refer to as my own Ablative Absolute." (p. 54)

Thereafter she refers to him that way, making me chuckle each time. Her belated Christmas gift from her husband, George, represents the best gift I can imagine--an expansive landscape, a view that he'd created by selectively cutting and pruning trees on their wooded property. There are many reflective moments on the subject of her mother, a theme that flows throughout the book. I suppose my favourite part, though, is towards the end, when she is able to attend the Paideia "Living Latin in Rome" program for a couple weeks and to stay at the American Academy of Rome. Her lovely spare descriptions of Rome brought it back to me, reminding me of my wish to retire and live out my days in Italy. When I finally manage to return, I'm sure I won’t want to leave.

[Irni Farid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Patty, the author is sharing her entertaining journey in learning and understanding Latin while remembering her mother's legacy. Learning any language requires practice and memorisation otherwise it is difficult to retain. Reading Ann's journey reminds me of my own language learning journey. One of the quotes in the book: It is astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a languange that one understand imperfectly. Lots of latin words being shared in the book. Furthermore, English vocabularies have some history sourced from Latin.

Disce quasi semper victurus; vive quasi cras moriturus.
Learn as though you will leave forever; live as though you will die tomorrow.

[Jean Kojali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just fine. It was interesting enough that I wanted to finish it but it wasn’t anything groundbreaking. I enjoyed the meditations on learning a language purely out of enjoyment.

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5–I had already been thinking of driving into Latin, and this book only increased that desire. The writing was really good, and her story is fascinating.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I began reading the book, I felt like I’d found my doppelgänger. Patty’s reasons for studying Latin later in life resonated with mine. Hoping to avoid Alzheimer’s which ravished my mother in her late 80s, I sat with undergraduates for two semesters at Boston University, returning to a language I had studied in junior high when developmentally I could memorize vocabulary but not fully grasp the grammatical forms. After 40 years teaching high school English, I was ready to handle the grammar and enjoy the parsing. I happily put in the twenty or more hours a week required for mastery, did all the textbook exercises and studied for quizzes and exams unsatisfied unless I aced them. I, too, could feel brain cells waking up and moving around in my skull. Being amid the buzz of campus life was invigorating. Then COVID struck and class moved to Zoom and my motivation waned. Two years passed before I could enter Latin 3 in person. I tried the first day this fall, but rather than Latin, it looked like Greek to me. Patty’s book made me want to review the 40 chapters of Wheelock and give Latin 3 another go next year. The satisfaction of being able to read some of the great Latin authors still holds appeal and Patty’s adventures getting to that place inspire me.
Unlike some of the other readers, I enjoyed learning about Patty’s life experiences, relationships, career,
Rhinebeck, and Rome. I liked the way she wove these pieces together with learning Latin.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patty lives a boring life with minimal acknowledgement of her pretentiousness and zero attempts to do anything about it. There were some bright moments in the book and I did get a good sense of what it is like to be a Latin student at a liberal arts college, but her milquetoast feminism, ramblings about oriental religion and nitpicking of everything around her makes the book a total drag. She is truly the epitome of "OK Boomer".

In addition, Patty displays an awkward obsession with the LGBT community, and inserts stilted references to people being gay (or, in one particularly bizarre instance, refers to a classroom of students as "obviously cisgender" for no reason... What does that mean? They were all naked save for pronoun pins and medical charts?). Her "gay husband" designation is cringeworthy. She even asks a professor whether one of her fellow students is straight or gay, which is an incredibly inappropriate thing to do. I don't know what's worse: that she did these things, or that she decided to include them in this book.

Zero self awareness. Zero self improvement. Zero style.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the author retired from book editing, she was worried she'd be bored and slip into alcoholism like her mother. She decided to take up the study of Latin since she'd always been fascinated by words, and her mother had been an excellent Latin scholar in school. She finds some college classes to audit and makes friends with the teachers and other students and discovers a whole new community to be involved with. I tried for a few months to study Latin on my own, but was too lazy. This book makes me want to try again.