Reviews - The Story of My Life

485 reviews for:

I will explain why I gave this book 5 stars. Not because of the beautiful syntax or captivating passages (as most passages are not very captivating, she writes in a steady calm manner), but because of giving the reader(me) a priceless gift of opened and new perspective and knowledge and that must be what a purpose of every book is, to my understanding.

Thanks to her I now think that blind and/or deaf people are limited or deprived as they are. They are fully capable and happy people. The disadvantage comes from outside and never from within.

Thank you for making me feel like this blind and deaf girl was some kind of superwoman, with abilities out of our reach. Thank you for making me think, inadvertently, “I wish I was deaf and blind so that I can have all the senses that Helen has”. Thank you for showing me in plain sight how Steven Hawking was right saying that we don’t evolve passing information in our DNAs any more, but in our books and mouth to mouth and any person devoid of that information is a savage not by choice, but by our origin.
That brings me to confirm that we are not a “superior species” in any way; that is the information passed on to us that keeps us from immoral degradation and any child or group of children brought up apart from that(that is being the information) is bound to be wild.

To people, who would think “that’s what you got from reading Helen Keller?😯” I would say: “Read it. And tell me what you think”.

writingmaf's review against another edition

Taking a break will return in the future.

shelby_berns's review against another edition

5.0

Marvelous story! I felt like I was part of everything happening, and a time far away was brought to life. A favorite of mine.

cornhub's review against another edition

2.75

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

fishytrishy's review against another edition

5.0

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to reread this amazing story. As a child, Helen Heller was a bit of an inspiration to me. In fact, my copy of The Story of My Life is one of the most worn books I’ve ever owned. Yes part of that comes from the fact that my copy was published in 1980 and was first a library book, but more than that it was well loved and read many times over. My feelings on this book have not changed over the years.

Helen Keller is an inspiration. In a time when disabilities were looked down on more than they still are today, Keller managed to make something of herself. While it’s true that her station in life made it possible for her to have many of the chances she got throughout her lifetime, it’s clear that the majority of her success can be attributed to her determination to not let her handicap slow her down. No, she instead used her difference as a tool to push herself further and further.

More than anything, it’s refreshing to read how raw and honest Keller was in her writings about herself. Whereas most people would fill their autobiographies with the brighter parts of their lives – at least many of the ones I’ve read recently – Keller is honest about the tantrums she threw as a child and the trials and tribulations she went through. She opens up about her “plagiarism” scandal and the costs of the event, how after that she continued to be plagued with worries about the words she created. She’s even open about when her view of events differs from those around her, how she perceived these events in comparison.

Most of all, I admire Keller for her drive. Even though her life was filled with adversary, she pushed through. She worked hard to make her dreams a reality. If you haven’t read this fantastic tale yet, I highly recommend you do. I sure won’t be waiting as many years before picking it back up again.