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The Story of My Life: The Restored Classic, Complete and Unabridged, Centennial Edition (精装)
by Helen Keller
| Category:
Memoir, Biography, Motivation, History |
| Market price: ¥ 238.00
MSL price:
¥ 218.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The struggles and triumphs of Helen Keller, a remarkable woman to admire. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 17 items |
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Winston Churchill (MSL quote), UK
<2007-01-04 00:00>
The greatest woman of our age. |
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Mark Twain (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Helen Keller is fellow to Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, Homer, Shakespeare, and the rest of the immortals… She will be as famous a thousand years from now as she is today. |
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The New York Times Book Review (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
The scientific interest of the process is great, both in itself and for the light it throws on the unconscious and unobserved processes by which children with all their senses learn the same things that have been laboriously acquired by this girl ... |
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Drebbles (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Written when Helen Keller was 22, "The Story of My Life" is about her life as a child and young lady. She was not born blind and deaf, but as a toddler suffered an illness that almost killed her and robbed her of her sight and hearing. Helen was seemingly unteachable and growing wilder each day until Helen's parents hired Anne Sullivan who was to become her beloved "Teacher". Helen became a proficient student, learning not only to read and write and speak, but also learning several languages eventually graduating from Radcliffe College.
This is an extraordinary book about an extraordinary woman. The book is divided into two parts: Keller's autobiography and her letters. Her autobiography is written a bit flowery, but is interesting as she describes her early years and how she tried to communicate with people and her increasing frustration when they couldn't understand her. She writes about how Anne Sullivan finally got her to understand the word for "water" and how she quickly learned other words after that breakthrough. She tackles what was a very painful time in her young life when she was accused of plagiarizing a story when she was only 11 years old. She ends her autobiography by describing the things she loves in life: reading (books that she loves and her favorite authors), history, languages, the outdoors, sailing and visiting friends.
As interesting as Keller's autobiography is, her letters reveal even more about her life. Printed in chronological order, starting when Helen was just 7 years old, the letters show how quickly her grammar and writing skills developed. In the autobiographical section of the book, it is easy to forget that Keller was deaf and blind as she writes about talking to people and things that she's seen. Her letters explain better how people communicated with her and even the toll it took on Anne Sullivan, who had continuous problems with her eyes. Her letters explain how she wrote letters using a special board and a regular pencil and how she was able to read people's lips and feel things in a museum to get an appreciation of art. Very interesting reading.
My only complaint about this wonderful book is the editing. The book was first published in 1903 and has been in print ever since, but I wonder when it was last edited. There are notations that a footnote will follow but there is no footnote. There are mentions of people who were well known in Helen's time, but today's readers might not know how they were and footnotes should have been used to explain who they were, starting with Laura Bridgman who apparently was the inspiration for much of the education the young Helen got. Also, Helen raised money for the education of a blind and deaf boy, but there was no mention of what happened to him later in life.
Editing aside, this is a wonderful, inspirational book and I highly recommend it. |
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Tom Reynolds (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
Originally published in 1903, the first 100 pages tell of Keller's life from childhood to young adult. It is a classic of overcoming obstacles and provided many with their first realization of what it means to be deaf and blind. It provides a wonderful look into her world and the world of 100 years ago. If there is one thing that sums up Keller's childhood it's "with love and many kisses." She never seemed to tired of attention and was everyone's friend.
The second half of the book (pages 105-225) is comprised of letters written by Helen from when she first learned to write up until 1901. The first letters are extremely interesting as we see her progression in ability and thought processes. Later on I became bored with the whole process and wished that there was some context to what she was writing about. A handful of the letters are explained by the compiler but most are just an exercise in reading someone else's mail and not terribly exciting at that. The story deserves 5 stars; the letters 2 stars. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
The Story of My life by Helen Keller is an awe-inspiring accomplishment by a woman who has not viewed a word after the nineteenth month of her life. Her style is contemporary with the age it was written in; the turn of the century 1900s. The author implements many devices in her work; such as Imagery, Current Events, and Personification.
The wondrous imagery that she uses can be seen in the winter scene. It is depicted through the descriptions of her teacher Anne Sullivan. Anne tried to describe everything in perfect detail to Helen which in turn must picture everything mentally and only dream about what we all take for granted. This effect adds to the piece by forcing the reader to wonder how she can make such vivid descriptions on her own. Yet, the truth is that she probably wrote the exact words that her teacher so vividly described to her though the manual language.
The use of Current Events in this autobiography pertains to many known and famous events and people which were well known at the time and still today. Alexander Ghram Bell (the inventor of the telephone played a major factor in her life by recommending her to the Perkins Institute for the blind/deaf. The 1893 World's Fair played an important role in the emphasis of the era in which she grew up in. The New York Worlds Fair gave Helen a chance to travel around the world without actually going anywhere but the park.
Helen Keller had many dolls which she often played with. Like most girls she had a name for her favorite doll; it's name was Nancy. She fed it mud pies, and put button eyes on it. This added to the caring effect and the fact that Helen was just a small girl like all other girls evn thought she was so different.
The autobiography of the first 20 years of Helen Keller's life is pretty impressive but I don’t think it gives us a full picture of the famous Keller that we know now. Much of her campaigning and spokeswoman work was done after she graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904. I recommend this book for educational reading. Perhaps some people will enjoy this book more than I, but the inconsistencies in her writing take away from the truthful meaning of the book. I give it four stars because of the impression it put on me. After all, it isn't everyday that a blind person graduates from college. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller was an excellent autobiography that I would recommend to all. Her story captures its readers and inspires them to look deep within themselves. Blind and deaf at nineteen months, Helen's story tells of her courage and determination and of her remarkable relationship with Anne Sullivan, her beloved mentor. Helen's happiness is felt by the reader when she finds success in learning to communicate. This novel also includes letters that Helen wrote to friends and family sharing her accomplishments. |
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T. Thomson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
How often can we really delve into the life of the blind? When we ourselves are not blind. How about understanding what it's like to be deaf? Or what about living most of life unable to speak? Helen Keller experienced them all and lived with all of these conditions in a most miraculous way. This is a woman who overcame many obstacles.
I remember watching a video of the Miracle Worker in 7th grade and have always been inspired by the story of Anne Sullivan breaking through the wall that surrounded her young student, Helen Keller.
This particular book gives you the story from the other side. I can only imagine what it was like to be young Helen Keller trapped in a dark, soundless world unable to speak. Her short autobiography is stunningly optimistic. This is a woman who met challenges and took them head on.
Her story is one of triumph in the face of set backs. She never let her condition be a stumbling block but always a stepping stone.
This story is a marvelous picture of the many accomplishments of Helen Keller. It is called The Story of My Life. It should be called, The Story of My Remarkable Life. |
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Gillian Buchanan (MSL quote), UK
<2007-01-04 00:00>
This book is Helen Keller's autobiography and is somewhat unusual because Helen Keller was deafblind. It is beautifully written and although I don't necessary agree with all the conclusions drawn by the author of the introduction, I found the autobiography very moving to read. Much of the time Helen wrote in a way that you would not realize she could neither see nor hear anything around her.
The fact that Miss Keller was not deaf from birth but became deafblind as a very small child following an illness makes her achievements particularly incredible. She had to re-learn her communication skills and this is due in no small part to her teacher and mentor, Annie Sullivan. Miss Keller came from a wealthy family who were prepared to go to endless lengths to help their daughter to live a fulfilling life, and it is thanks to them and to Miss Sullivan that we have Miss Keller's writings and pioneering work for deaf and deafblind people.
This is an incredible book to read and it also provides some interesting cameos of some of the people Miss Keller met (such as Mark Twain) because her letters are included at the end. |
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An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-04 00:00>
It is rare to find a work of literature infused with such optimism, joy, celebration and "lust for life" (if I may borrow from the title of Irving Stone's portrait of Van Gogh); and reading through "The Story Of My Life" by Helen Keller is a great way to revitalize and reinspire our own simple joy of living, loving and learning. Feeling sorry for oneself after learning that Ms Keller overcame deafness and blindness, and went on to graduate from Radcliffe College (conquering the Harvard curriculum including Greek, Latin, German, French, Geometry, Algebra, Science, English History, English Literature, and many other erudite subjects) is a bit silly when one considers a typical night in our New Millennium spent on the sofa eating Domino's Pizza and watching "American Idol"... *sigh*. But hey, if WE had a private tutor like Anne Sullivan, spending her whole life communicating the outside world to us by spelling into our hand with the manual alphabet, there's no telling what WE might accomplish TOO!...wait a minute, who am I kidding? Helen Keller was not only a brilliant pupil, but a poetic, romantic, deeply emotional, caring, brave, adventurous and philanthropic woman. And she got to hobnob with the likes of Mark Twain and Alexander Graham Bell! While her life was beset with unimaginable difficulties, and the everyday annoyances, losses and disappointments common to us all, she was eminently triumphant in her journey and leaves the world a legacy of hope, progress and above all, happiness - to not only special-needs children, but humanity in general. A great quick read. |
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