Story of My Life

Rating:
Summary: Where Heart and Depth Transcend the Mind
Review: .
A book to read that is of the warmness of soul, an account that conveys love and realness. The body and the mind are only the peripheries, for it is the soul or consciousness that is of the real person. So when the mind is expanded in knowledge and intellect, one can find erroneously enter in it's subjectivity defining such as the real self or one can use such intellectualism as an instrument of the consciousness and view objectively. This then allows the heart and feelings to penetrate, in turn the mind is transcended, one goes beyond the mind to the real inner self. And when this occurs the result culminates in the most beautiful and extraordinary person. Such is the case of Helen Keller.

Her fingers found expression, felt emotion and penetrated the surface into the feelings and depth in the person she encountered, in the words that she read and in the vibrations that she felt. I have read in the East, that consciousness does not come to us solely through the eyes and ears, but when such peripheries are down we can perceive in much more strength through other senses.

"I derive genuine pleasure from touching great works of art. As my finger tips trace line and curve, they discover the thought and emotion which the artist has portrayed. I can feel in the faces of gods and heroes hate, courage and love, just as I can detect them in living faces I am permitted to touch." P. 68

In a letter she received from Mr. Gilder, Helen wrote,

"In a letter he wrote me he made his mark under his signature deep in the paper so that I could feel it." . . . and " I feel the twinkle of his eye in the handshake." P. 75

Case in point is that of poetry. What the average school teacher and intellectual defines in art and poetry are the stanzas, the numerical structures and literary criticism. Now this actually destroys such forms of art. But what intellectual, a person that uses their head without the heart can fathom any understanding beyond such? Helen wrote:

"Great poetry, whether in English or Greek, needs no other interpreter than a responsive heart. Would that the host of those who make the great works of the poets odious by their analysis, impositions and laborious comments might learn this simple truth! It is not necessary that one should be able to define every word and give it its principal parts and its grammatical position in the sentence in order to understand and appreciate a fine poem." p. 59

Not only did she find the external world but went to the university and went further in learning and knowledge than most. But it is her understanding and diligence, her positivism and depth that this autobiography conveys.

After reading her account, I can say that if I could love another person, I have fallen in love with Helen.

"Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations touches at many points the lif of the World Beautiful? Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.

Rating:
Summary: Who could not be inspired!
Review: I absolutely fell in love with this autobiography because of Keller's powerful story of triumph. Through a type of streamed thought, her writing is beautifully honest and touching. Although this work is non-fiction, it is interesting to see the literary devices that have been weaved into the story. Even from the very beginning, Keller uses great similes. On the first page, for example, she states, "I have, as it were, a superstitious hesitation in lifting the veil that clings about my childhood like a golden mist." In addition, she alludes or refers to the bible on occasion. A perfect example is her allusion to Mt. Sinai. Her biblical allusions very much lend themselves to a later part of the work when Helen speaks and learns of God. Furthermore, great imagery is used in her descriptions. Helen Keller loves nature, especially flowers, and she can describe them better than any person with perfect vision! She expresses the joy she finds pressing rose petals, as well as the wonder she finds in the motion of lilies swaying. Her beautiful imagery and her quite descriptive similes thoroughly amazed me; there were parts where I often forgot Helen was blind. The overall message of this work is the concept of man's ability overcome obstacles. While developing immensely and never giving up hope, Helen Keller is the epitome of the soul's ability to persevere.

Rating:
Summary: Many had to read this
Review: I feel bad for saying this, cause Helen Keller was a fanominal woman, but her book made me want to kill myself out of boredom. I mean seriously, it's page after page of nothing. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!

Rating:
Summary: A STORY WORTH TELLING
Review: I first read this book in 6th grade. I have read it several times in the intervening years, the most recent time being within the past one year.

Helen Keller, blind and deaf since the age of 1 1/2 has offered, in her own words an accounting of her life experience. It is incredible to imagine how this woman, unable to see or hear can give such a strong voice to descriptions of nature. The book is replete with beautiful, articulate metaphors that draw the reader into the world as Helen knew it. One wonders how a person with no language can "think," and Helen provides some clues. During these "dark days," prior to the arrival of her "Teacher," Annie Sullivan, Helen's life was a series of desires and impressions. She could commnicate by a series of crude signs she and her parents had created. She demonstrated early on that she could learn.

I like the way Helen herself takes her readers past that water pump when she learned that "all things have a name." Instead of getting stuck there, Helen takes her readers on the journey of her life to that point.

In addition to having a good linguistic base, Helen also demonstrates having a phenomenal memory. When she was twelve, she wrote a story she believed to be her own. Entitled "The Frost King," it bore a strong resemblance to one written by a Ms. Canby called "The Frost Fairies." Many of the sentences are identical and a good number of the descriptions are paraphrased. In relating this devasting incident, Helen and Annie recall that Annie had exposed Helen to the story some three years earlier and Helen had somehow retained that information. This plainly shows intelligence.

Both the "Frost" stories are reprinted in full, thus giving the reader a chance to see just how amazing being able to remember such a work really was.

Helen describes her work raising money for other deaf-blind children to attend the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston and in so doing, embarks upon her lifelong mission as a crusader for multiply challenged individuals.

Rating:
Summary: The Story of a Remarkable Woman
Review: I had heard of Helen Keller but didn't really know what she was about.

It's a 5-star overall story. But in terms of language style and story-telling, it's 4-star for me (understandably, it's 100 years ago).

Helen Keller wrote this in her 20s, while pursuing her degree at Radcliffe. So this is not her whole life, but wow.. what an amazing story!

A girl is blind and deaf, and I would probably give up on her. But I'm ashamed of myself for that. Helen Keller was deaf and blind and yet this didn't stop her. She's bright and strong-headed. The power of self-determination combined with the great help from the wonderfully patient teacher in Anne Sullivan opened the door for her. Her desire to communicate with people, and her passion to "be normal" made her who she had accomplished to be.

How did she "listen"? How did she "speak"? How did she write? She did all that and was good at them. Astonishingly unimaginable. And with such a kind heart, she could easily make a more complete person that we "normal" people can.

"Helen sees more with her hands that we do with our eyes."

Simply admirable.

Rating:
Summary: Many had to read this
Review: Many had to read this book in school, along with other great and inspiritationl reads such as "The Diary of Anne Frank" or even great fiction like "To Kill a Mockingbird." And the reason I didn't have to read it is probably the one that causes me to like it so much. I came to this book while an adult, after reading something on the Internet about Keller. Fascinated, I delved into her life and all that was around it. Hence, my first foray into her past was "The Story of My Life." This is a remarkable little book regardless of who wrote it, but consider the source and it's absolutely amazing. The sheer precision and depth this book has is just astounding. Yes, it's inspiritational, but besides that, it's one heck of a well-put-together book!

Also, if you are interested in Helen Keller's life, please try two other great reads: The first is a bio by Herrmann which delves more into the minutae of Keller's life, and the second is a work of fiction which has quotes from "The Story of My Life" at the beginning of each of its chapters. This book is called "The Bark of the Dogwood," and while it's pretty shocking and steamy in places, it ultimately takes it's inspiration from Keller, along with a host of other southerners.

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Summary: Why I hated the The Story of my Life.
Review: Originally published in 1903, the first 100 pages tell of Keller's life from childhood to young adult. It is a classic of overcoming obstacles and provided many with their first realisation of what it means to be deaf and blind. It provides a wonderful look into her world and the world of 100 years ago. If there is one thing that sums up Keller's childhood it's "with love and many kisses." She never seemed to tired of attention and was everyone's friend.

The second half of the book (pages 105-225) is comprised of letters written by Helen from when she first learned to write up until 1901. The first letters are extremely interesting as we see her progression in ability and thought processes. Later on I became bored with the whole process and wished that there was some context to what she was writing about. A handful of the letters are explained by the compiler but most are just an exercise in reading someone else's mail and not terribly exciting at that. The story deserves 5 stars; the letters 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book!
Review: When Helen Keller was a baby, she was perfectly normal. Until got a dangerous illness. Her fever would mysteriously come and go. At first, the doctors thought she was going to die, but no one - not even he doctor knew about her losing her hearing and sight. From this day she doesn't recall what happened during the first months after her illness. She was born in Tuscumbia, a little town in northern Alabama, on June 27, 1880.