Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This book is obviously extremely impressive and Helen Keller's life was amazing. But I have to admit that I found the book a little boring at points. I'm glad I read it but was also glad it was short because the extreme detail about the course of her education got old.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I really enjoyed reading this book. Helen Keller was an incredible woman, very bright and loving despite the difficult hardships she faced. I can't believe she wrote this only in her twenties--in the future I'd like to read another biography with a sketch on her entire life. This book also included letters. I found it fascinating to see how she learned and progressed, and so quickly too. The letters did get a little old after a while, and I mostly skimmed the last 30 pages or so because of it. But I did find some things that I really enjoyed which I shall include now:
"Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, 'There is joy in self-forgetfulness.' So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness."
"I used to think--when I was small, and before I could read--that everybody was always happy, and at first it made me very sad to know about pain and great sorrow; but now I know that we could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world."
"When people do very wrong and hurt animals and treat children unkindly God is grieved, but what will he do to them to teach them to be pitiful and loving? I think he will tell them how dearly He loves them and that He wants them to be good and happy..."
"I wonder what becomes of lost opportunities. Perhaps our guardian angel gathers them up as we drop them and will give them back to us in the beautiful sometime when we have grown wiser and learned how to use them rightly."
"It seems to me that there is in each of us a capacity to comprehend the impressions and emotions which have been experienced by mankind from the beginning. Each individual has a subconscious memory of the green earth and murmuring waters, and blindness and deafness cannot rob him of this gift from past generations. this inherited capacity is a sort of sixth sense--a soul-sense which sees, hears, feels, all in one."
This book took me an insanely long time to read because I was distracted by school and placed it on the back burner...but it was inspiring and fascinating book. I said it before and I'll say it again: she is an incredible woman.
"Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, 'There is joy in self-forgetfulness.' So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness."
"I used to think--when I was small, and before I could read--that everybody was always happy, and at first it made me very sad to know about pain and great sorrow; but now I know that we could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world."
"When people do very wrong and hurt animals and treat children unkindly God is grieved, but what will he do to them to teach them to be pitiful and loving? I think he will tell them how dearly He loves them and that He wants them to be good and happy..."
"I wonder what becomes of lost opportunities. Perhaps our guardian angel gathers them up as we drop them and will give them back to us in the beautiful sometime when we have grown wiser and learned how to use them rightly."
"It seems to me that there is in each of us a capacity to comprehend the impressions and emotions which have been experienced by mankind from the beginning. Each individual has a subconscious memory of the green earth and murmuring waters, and blindness and deafness cannot rob him of this gift from past generations. this inherited capacity is a sort of sixth sense--a soul-sense which sees, hears, feels, all in one."
This book took me an insanely long time to read because I was distracted by school and placed it on the back burner...but it was inspiring and fascinating book. I said it before and I'll say it again: she is an incredible woman.
This was incredibly disappointing...more like a text book than a memoir.
This is a composition of Helen Keller's diaries, notes, and observations from her childhood up through her time in college. She talks openly of what it was like to be blind and deaf, to finally learn once a teacher was brought to her that could help her learn to communicate, and how she decided what she was going to study in college. She talks openly about her disability and how hard it was for her to go to college knowing her professors could not communicate well with her and it would be hard for her to access the curriculum.
The story of Helen Keller is near and dear to me. Having a daughter who is legally blind, Helen Keller is an inspiration. I see what she was able to accomplish at the turn of the century, and how far accessibility has come for the blind. Helen was reliant on her teacher so much more than students today are. Technology for the blind plus the development of cochlear implants for the deaf has changed the world for these two classes of disabilities.
As for the book, well.....it was fine. IT was a little boring - as I am sure more people would find reading anyone's diary a bit boring. I wanted to hear more about her story and and her struggle, but what it mostly was - was her mundane day to day activities. Almost to a fault she would explain visits from people in great detail. It was constant positive spin from Helen's point of view. She seemed to live an extremely normal life according to her account. What was revealing was actually notes at the end that spoke more of the truth about Helen and her daily life. (as in - she still had a very difficult getting around even her most familiar environments). I would rather it has been more truthful than all rainbows and sunshine.
The story of Helen Keller is near and dear to me. Having a daughter who is legally blind, Helen Keller is an inspiration. I see what she was able to accomplish at the turn of the century, and how far accessibility has come for the blind. Helen was reliant on her teacher so much more than students today are. Technology for the blind plus the development of cochlear implants for the deaf has changed the world for these two classes of disabilities.
As for the book, well.....it was fine. IT was a little boring - as I am sure more people would find reading anyone's diary a bit boring. I wanted to hear more about her story and and her struggle, but what it mostly was - was her mundane day to day activities. Almost to a fault she would explain visits from people in great detail. It was constant positive spin from Helen's point of view. She seemed to live an extremely normal life according to her account. What was revealing was actually notes at the end that spoke more of the truth about Helen and her daily life. (as in - she still had a very difficult getting around even her most familiar environments). I would rather it has been more truthful than all rainbows and sunshine.
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Before I begin, I'd just like to mention that I don't hold much regard to flowery language. In fact I hated it in this book where it wove itself into the text in a really awkward manner. Also too many irrelevant Biblical references.
That being said, I quite liked Helen and I felt her frustration and bouts of anger at her inability to communicate freely. I loved her relationship with Anne Sullivan and I liked her as a person in general.
She worked hard against the odds to get into college, professors were inconsiderate, text books were not translated into Braille in time for her to study and on top of that she sucked at math. But still she got through by sheer will power and that is the kind of determination I liked about her.
However that episode concerning plagiarism seems to have at least a seed of truth because I remember being confused when raindrops were described as silvery or something. Madam you are blind and deaf, it is because of your peculiar circumstances and how you overcame them that I chose to read this book. I want to see the world from your point of view so stop trading that to make elaborate flowery expressions which in turn makes your text sound kind of cheap.
I can't really say anything more about this since this is an autobiography and I can hardly point out plot holes or pacing issues. However I wish she had waited a little to start writing this because this doesn't even cover half her life.
That being said, I quite liked Helen and I felt her frustration and bouts of anger at her inability to communicate freely. I loved her relationship with Anne Sullivan and I liked her as a person in general.
She worked hard against the odds to get into college, professors were inconsiderate, text books were not translated into Braille in time for her to study and on top of that she sucked at math. But still she got through by sheer will power and that is the kind of determination I liked about her.
However that episode concerning plagiarism seems to have at least a seed of truth because I remember being confused when raindrops were described as silvery or something. Madam you are blind and deaf, it is because of your peculiar circumstances and how you overcame them that I chose to read this book. I want to see the world from your point of view so stop trading that to make elaborate flowery expressions which in turn makes your text sound kind of cheap.
I can't really say anything more about this since this is an autobiography and I can hardly point out plot holes or pacing issues. However I wish she had waited a little to start writing this because this doesn't even cover half her life.
informative
inspiring