| 10.04.2009 |
|
||||||||
You know I love the way Americans do it. I just couldn’t, of course. When people ask me where I’m from I proffer Huddersfield, and, if there’s any doubt, I volunteer: that’s just outside Leeds. Because, of course, everywhere is just outside somewhere: England is a small, densely-populated country. So I don’t think David Bergmann was showing off when he told me that the farm he grew up on was, well, about 500 kilometers south-east of Chicago (as though that were just round the corner, or up the lane). No, he was just being what you might call Midwestern.  It was charming to hear David talking about early memories of his elderly relatives and visitors to the farmhouse talking Plattdeutsch – Low German. It’s a heritage that he’s brought back to Germany. And, brave man, he’s not just gone a bit (or a lot) native, he’s also taken on the German language, writing two books that take a very close look at the patterns, pitfalls, quirks, ironies of the awful German language (Mark Twain said that, not me, or Mr. Bergmann).  When we bumped into each other at the Talking Germany studio, David got off the mark first by quickly revealing he knew precisely who I was, having studied (not the word, but certainly the intent) a number of shows on our Talking Germany archive. This is a man who does things carefully intent and his biggest tool is his precision. He listens very carefully, always has his notebook open, even if you can’t see it. Always hunting up another clue to the deeper meaning of language. Talking of tools, the very first thing that struck me about David was that he has a very chiselled face: everything very neatly in place. This man is Nordic, you sense.  Although that might not be the full story. His hobbies, he tells me, are gospel singing, and ballroom dancing (flamenco perhaps?), both of which I image him approaching with characteristic rigour. David, you shouldn’t forget, isn’t just a careful analyst of language but also of figures (he’s a trained auditor). The real question for David Bergmann isn’t why he came to Germany in the first place (roots), but why he stayed. And I’ll tell you what I think the answer is: because this is a country where they like people who do things thoroughly. (I know how troubling that can sound to some.)  Well, I liked David and his curious, probing eye for the world around him. But as someone who spends many happy hours in the kitchen, I was somewhat dismayed to discover that this systematic, measured, thoroughly thorough fellow can’t cook, or at least not much. But maybe that’s just me. By the way: all the ingredients for his next book are, David tells me, in place. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
