Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin

If you're interested in learning more about what goes into learning Latin, this may be a good way to dip your toe into the water. However, proceed with caution if you have a low tolerance for secondhand embarrassment because this book definitely provides.

Overall I enjoyed following along with the author's language learning process, but I found myself cringing at many of her observations towards her peers. I can't help but wonder if she put any thought into how these professors, students, and her loved ones would feel about the way she was describing them in this very public book. I felt uncomfortable with how often she was describing young college freshmen as “oozing sex” - if this were a male author describing young female students the same way how would people feel? She also included statements from professors talking about the private lives of their students in regards to learning disabilities etc. - which is downright illegal.

I also felt bad for her boyfriend, George. While her previous husbands were given practically glowing anecdotes, George was constantly pushed to the side and described as if he were a blundering, unintelligent fool. At one point she even compared him to her previous husbands to point out how “unrefined” he was.

Her self-professed need to constantly have at least one gay “husband” in her social sphere was also cringey and outdated. I understand that the author is coming from a different era, but you'd think someone along the publishing lines would have pointed out her lack of self-awareness on occasion. Though perhaps the fact that the author herself is in publishing is what caused this.

I really enjoyed this book. It was like a nostalgia tour of my six years studying Latin in middle and high school, and made me regret anew that I did not continue my studies in college. The vocab and grammar expositions, while at times getting a little too into the weeds, were interspersed with enough anecdotes and personal reflections to keep the narrative moving. It is brave of Ann Patty to have written so frankly about her life experiences. Now I want to go audit some Latin classes!