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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Meh. Interesting to learn about the process of education in general, specifically for someone forced to learn in a different way, specifically for the time period, and specifically for a high class status. Generally quite droll though, and not a particularly engaging audiobook. Ms. Keller was an incredibly intelligent woman, as Ms. Sullivan seems to have been as well, and I appreciate that she shared her story. I do wish she had shared in more detail the process to get there. This came across as a diary without any of the feelings usually shared in one. Possibly a product of the times but doesn’t make for a very interesting read.
This was a beautiful and inspiring read! Helen Keller overcame so much and was the better for it. I loved her determined spirit, her love of books and nature, and the journey she went on to discover love and friendship. I also really felt her faith and courage, through it all and even still. I finished this book a better person than when I picked it up.
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Book challenge 2015, category "A book written when the author was younger than 25". Rating 4* out of 5.
I was familiar with the story of Helen Keller from before. Mostly through an excerp from a play (I think) found in an English literature book I had in 9th or 10th grade. We did not have it in class, but it tickled my fancy, so I read it anyway. More than once, it was fascinating! What a terrible fate, to be locked in, being able to neither hear nor see and thus having no means of communication.
At least not until the teacher Miss Sullivan enters the picture. Since Helen was a very bright child, she had learned the word "water" before she was struck with the illness that removed her sight and hearing. The breakthrough in grasping that the signs Miss Sullivan was showing in her hand had a connection to the real world, that everything had a name, came with having "water" signed under running water.
It is of course a huge step from being able to learn the sign of things to being able to understand abstract concepts such as love, mercy, conscience. Helen must have been a truly remarkable young woman in real life. The story of her own life, up until the 22 years of age that she was when she wrote the book, brims with enthusiasm. A joie de vivre rarely encountered. This is absolutely worth reading.
I was familiar with the story of Helen Keller from before. Mostly through an excerp from a play (I think) found in an English literature book I had in 9th or 10th grade. We did not have it in class, but it tickled my fancy, so I read it anyway. More than once, it was fascinating! What a terrible fate, to be locked in, being able to neither hear nor see and thus having no means of communication.
At least not until the teacher Miss Sullivan enters the picture. Since Helen was a very bright child, she had learned the word "water" before she was struck with the illness that removed her sight and hearing. The breakthrough in grasping that the signs Miss Sullivan was showing in her hand had a connection to the real world, that everything had a name, came with having "water" signed under running water.
It is of course a huge step from being able to learn the sign of things to being able to understand abstract concepts such as love, mercy, conscience. Helen must have been a truly remarkable young woman in real life. The story of her own life, up until the 22 years of age that she was when she wrote the book, brims with enthusiasm. A joie de vivre rarely encountered. This is absolutely worth reading.
I do not believe I could have written an auto biography at 22 with as much wit and wisdom. There were phrases, thoughts and descriptions that showed a wise, creative woman inside a young person. There were also passages that were very much written by a young 22 year old, that were cringe worthy.
“It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.”
fast-paced
I liked this book, but some things I didn't understand. I couldn't understand how she knew what race someone was unless someone told her. I mean she couldn't see? How did she know if someone did a great job in a play or not without being able to see or hear? I loved her words, but I just kept wanting to know more about how she was able to do some of the things she was able to do. This book has me wanting to read more about her life.
Such an amazing person, Helen Keller. I would have liked more specifics on how she was taught, and how she learned new things, but I think that might have been much for an autobiography. I also would like to have known more about her later years, but this seems to have been written when she was still rather young.
Conversational in tone but a wonderful glimpse into the complex mind of a beautiful soul. I feel as though Helen herself is the rose she loves most, and we can only smell her dazzling fragrance. This autobiography seems heavily influenced by the time of her life in which she wrote it, because she does dwell a bit on her love of literature and learning. But really the whole story gives us a picture of her brave and fighting, yet tender and passionate spirit which was essential to her success in living a full life. I continue to be smitten!