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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Dnf
I‘m sure Helen Keller was an impressive person that deserves admiration, but I just can‘t with this book and all it‘s descriptions of visual imagery and sounds that Keller couldn‘t possibly have experienced for herself. It just takes me out of it everytime. I know this might be deliberate to appeal more to readers who can see and hear and i also know that language is very visually charged, but mentions of snow that sparkles in the sun, reflections of trees in the water or singing birds just seem way too unnecessary and it irks me too much to finish.
I‘m sure Helen Keller was an impressive person that deserves admiration, but I just can‘t with this book and all it‘s descriptions of visual imagery and sounds that Keller couldn‘t possibly have experienced for herself. It just takes me out of it everytime. I know this might be deliberate to appeal more to readers who can see and hear and i also know that language is very visually charged, but mentions of snow that sparkles in the sun, reflections of trees in the water or singing birds just seem way too unnecessary and it irks me too much to finish.
I think this edition had a tinge of personal resonance because of the introduction by a blind author and the afterword by a deaf actress. As Jim has remarked in the introduction, we mostly remember Helen Keller's life as what was only too dramatically portrayed in the movie or other media and tend to ignore all the rest. We are often moved and impressed by visual imagery and dramatic tensions, not the apparently quiet and invisible inner world which is actually infinite and incomparable.
The words are a bit too flowery for our modern taste and sometimes we get the feeling that she is just mimicking the words she read, but I don't believe her words can't do justice to her innermost thoughts as much as the English vocabulary lacks words to describe the ever subtle distinctions in the tactile and olfactory senses. We have a hard enough time describing the world we can see, how do we describe the abstract and the unseen? Miss Sullivan's description of love to her beloved student was one of the most touching moments in the book.
I also love Helen's optimism and her persistence to not give in to her setbacks. The letters were somewhat tedious and naive in some parts, but it was interesting to see her full progress as if watching a flower bloom in fast motion.
The only complaint I had in the book was that it only shows the beginning of her story. I wanted to see more of how her beliefs, passions and outlook on life changed even further as she grows older and explores more of the world around her. I'm glad I didn't have to read about Miss Sullivan's death, though.
The words are a bit too flowery for our modern taste and sometimes we get the feeling that she is just mimicking the words she read, but I don't believe her words can't do justice to her innermost thoughts as much as the English vocabulary lacks words to describe the ever subtle distinctions in the tactile and olfactory senses. We have a hard enough time describing the world we can see, how do we describe the abstract and the unseen? Miss Sullivan's description of love to her beloved student was one of the most touching moments in the book.
I also love Helen's optimism and her persistence to not give in to her setbacks. The letters were somewhat tedious and naive in some parts, but it was interesting to see her full progress as if watching a flower bloom in fast motion.
The only complaint I had in the book was that it only shows the beginning of her story. I wanted to see more of how her beliefs, passions and outlook on life changed even further as she grows older and explores more of the world around her. I'm glad I didn't have to read about Miss Sullivan's death, though.
It's still not clear whether this particular deaf-dumb-and-blind kid can play a mean pinball.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
medium-paced
I read this book in my youth but I was inspired to revisit it after my daughter portrayed Helen in a stage version of The Miracle Worker.
The story is overall very optimistic as Helen recounts her inspiring story. Told as a series of vignettes, there are moments that seem to gloss over detail of her struggles. But the imagery we do get reveals Helen's love of the natural world with beautiful sometimes flowery prose.
I really enjoyed this quick read and was particularly reminded of the wonder of childhood as Helen describes her early misadventures.
The story is overall very optimistic as Helen recounts her inspiring story. Told as a series of vignettes, there are moments that seem to gloss over detail of her struggles. But the imagery we do get reveals Helen's love of the natural world with beautiful sometimes flowery prose.
I really enjoyed this quick read and was particularly reminded of the wonder of childhood as Helen describes her early misadventures.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Truly an inspirational figure with unbelievable optimism. Love is "what everybody feels for everybody else".
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced