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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
I just brought this from library and then read it in one sitting and it was simply delightful. I'm not sure if people can appreciate how good the prose is for someone who is deaf... and someone who was just 22 when the book was published. Like, it's not a masterpiece and the pacing - especially in the ending just went out of the window, but... whatever, I loved it.
Something about Helen just... resonates with me deeply and always makes me cry when I start a book about her (well, this was only a second book, I read, so... not really enough data). I think it is her reality of not being able to communicate with others, to communicate with anyone. Just... we exist in our interactions with others, we need to be seen and heard and without it - according to [a:Hannah Arendt|12806|Hannah Arendt|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1608634661p2/12806.jpg] we are not even humans. I realised this when I read about the tantrums she threw when she wasn't understood, the frustration just felt so familiar to what a person feels when the other doesn't understand the point one tries to make (this was in much bigger scale of course). When you take this into account, it's no wonder that Anne Sullivan was so important to Helen - the obvious reasons aside - she was the first person that truly heard Helen, she was the person through which she could exist.
Anne Sullivan herself always makes me wonder. How one chooses to do this "for a living"? This isn't the type of work you can easily abandon when you grow tired of it or when it becomes too monotone. Regardless of the good their relationship brings her (I mean like their friendship...) the truth is, she sacrifices so much of her life for Helen's. Just, doing so much work for someone else's studies... And at the same time Helen's complete reliance on her in this... I wouldn't want to be in either of theirs shoes...
Helen's thoughts on academic life really stroked a chord in me in this time of doubts. Don't get me wrong, I love parts of it, but... yes, sometimes it feels like you are racing without knowing where the finishing line is or even why you are running in the first place. Learning, doesn't have to entail thinking and I am quite sick of that to be honest...
As some pointed out, Helen uses a language of someone who could see and hear and that was jarring sometimes. But I guess, maybe as people describe her what is around her it's almost as if she really could see and hear and the colours and sounds are in her memories.
Also, the plagiarism trial is horrendous. Even if she did it on purpose, she was only ten! Like... are these adults sane?!
On that random note (as much as Keller's story ends), let's finish this review. I really thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a fast, short, simple read about a very special woman. I loved to be in her head. I really need to read something about her later life, because this is where all the books seem to end... which is a shame, I think I would enjoy the continuation of the story even more.
Something about Helen just... resonates with me deeply and always makes me cry when I start a book about her (well, this was only a second book, I read, so... not really enough data). I think it is her reality of not being able to communicate with others, to communicate with anyone. Just... we exist in our interactions with others, we need to be seen and heard and without it - according to [a:Hannah Arendt|12806|Hannah Arendt|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1608634661p2/12806.jpg] we are not even humans. I realised this when I read about the tantrums she threw when she wasn't understood, the frustration just felt so familiar to what a person feels when the other doesn't understand the point one tries to make (this was in much bigger scale of course). When you take this into account, it's no wonder that Anne Sullivan was so important to Helen - the obvious reasons aside - she was the first person that truly heard Helen, she was the person through which she could exist.
Anne Sullivan herself always makes me wonder. How one chooses to do this "for a living"? This isn't the type of work you can easily abandon when you grow tired of it or when it becomes too monotone. Regardless of the good their relationship brings her (I mean like their friendship...) the truth is, she sacrifices so much of her life for Helen's. Just, doing so much work for someone else's studies... And at the same time Helen's complete reliance on her in this... I wouldn't want to be in either of theirs shoes...
“The one I felt and still feel most is lack of time. I used to have time to think, to reflect, my mind and I. We would sit together of an evening and listen to the inner melodies of the spirit, which one hears only in leisure moments when the words of some loved poet touch a deep, sweet chord in the soul that until then had been silent. But in college there is no time to commune with one's thoughts. One goes to college to learn, it seems, not to think. When one enters the portals of learning, one leaves the dearest pleasures--solitude, books and imagination--outside with the whispering pines. I suppose I ought to find some comfort in the thought that I am laying up treasures for future enjoyment, but I am improvident enough to prefer present joy to hoarding riches against a rainy day.”
Helen's thoughts on academic life really stroked a chord in me in this time of doubts. Don't get me wrong, I love parts of it, but... yes, sometimes it feels like you are racing without knowing where the finishing line is or even why you are running in the first place. Learning, doesn't have to entail thinking and I am quite sick of that to be honest...
As some pointed out, Helen uses a language of someone who could see and hear and that was jarring sometimes. But I guess, maybe as people describe her what is around her it's almost as if she really could see and hear and the colours and sounds are in her memories.
Also, the plagiarism trial is horrendous. Even if she did it on purpose, she was only ten! Like... are these adults sane?!
On that random note (as much as Keller's story ends), let's finish this review. I really thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a fast, short, simple read about a very special woman. I loved to be in her head. I really need to read something about her later life, because this is where all the books seem to end... which is a shame, I think I would enjoy the continuation of the story even more.
An amazing experience I got while reading this book ..... The words that were written in the story and the way the teacher helped a student for so many years.. encouraging her.. is a heart wrenching and warming story ..
First things first, this woman is a legend. What she overcame, physically, mentally and indeed socially to surpass the expectations of everyone that stood in her way is remarkable. Being born to a white affluent family helped her plenty I'm sure but the fact her story still exists and was compiled by herself is nothing short of amazing. I loved the way she writes like being deaf and blind was never a hindrance or handicap, it was never something to overcome it was just something to deal with. If she could learn to do everything anyone else could then why couldn't she be the first deaf-blind woman to earn a BA degree? It's testament to her strong mental health that she never seems to surrender to depression (like I most certainly would) She has an enviably air of a headmistress, someone who is stout and resolute and good.
Erg interessant als je geïnteresseerd bent in doven, blinden en hoe zij communiceren en leren. Het meest interessante uit het boek vond ik de brieven die Miss Sullivan schreef aan mevrouw Hopkins van het Perkins Institute. De brieven van Helen Keller zelf heb ik geskimd, te veel beleefdheden. Het leerproces van Helen vond ik fascinerend.
Helen Keller's narrative is done a real disservice by focusing on The Miracle Worker events and not going past them. She's a fascinating and crazy accomplished person. I can't wait to read more about her.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This could be a great book to give students when they are learning about diversities.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Helen Keller is a hero; Anne Sullivan is a saint.