What do you think?
Rate this book
Writing Home
An annotated translation of the letters of Polish immigrants in Brazil and the United States sent home to Poland in the period 1890-1891. The original collection of these informative letters on adaptation to foreign cultures by Polish immigrants was compiled by Marcin Kula and Nina Assorodobraj-Kula.
698 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 1987
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 17, 2021
This really is a neat collection of letters, and worth looking through for anyone with an interest in late 19th century immigration into the US and Brazil from Poland. The majority of the letters are written by Catholic Poles, but there is a solid sampling of letters whose authors were Jewish as well, and a handful of letters translated from German.
Some of the translation choices are a little odd to me (given names are almost always anglicized), but the letters are certainly readable and the extensive endnotes help with some of the less obvious pieces. Partly because all of these are letters that were stopped by the Russian censor in Warsaw and never reached their destination, many cover very similar themes--instructions on how to emigrate, promises of steamship tickets, packing lists. Others are more personal and emotional in nature, and it's really interesting to read through them. I doubt most people would be inclined to sit down and read it cover-to-cover, though.
The introduction of the book discusses the context of the letters, both at the time they were written and details on why it specifically letters sent to a limited geographical area in 1890 and 1891 that survive to find their way into this volume.
Some of the translation choices are a little odd to me (given names are almost always anglicized), but the letters are certainly readable and the extensive endnotes help with some of the less obvious pieces. Partly because all of these are letters that were stopped by the Russian censor in Warsaw and never reached their destination, many cover very similar themes--instructions on how to emigrate, promises of steamship tickets, packing lists. Others are more personal and emotional in nature, and it's really interesting to read through them. I doubt most people would be inclined to sit down and read it cover-to-cover, though.
The introduction of the book discusses the context of the letters, both at the time they were written and details on why it specifically letters sent to a limited geographical area in 1890 and 1891 that survive to find their way into this volume.
Displaying 1 of 1 review