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borumi 's review for:
The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
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.