The Story of My Life (1994 Hardcover)Helen Keller

Hardcover, 1994

Status

Available

Publication

Water Mill w/ Troll Associates (1994), Edition: 1st

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: Helen Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life, tells of her early life and of her experiences with Annie Sullivan, her teacher and companion. It was first published in 1903. Keller was the first deaf-blind person to attain a Bachelor of Arts degree, became well traveled and a prolific author, and was outspoken in her campaigning against war and for many other progressive causes. This story shows how Annie Sullivan helped Keller break through her isolation and absence of language to blossom and learn to live in the world of people..

Rating

½ (589 ratings; 3.9)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ctpress
An amazing autobiography by Helen Keller. An illness makes her both deaf and blind as a little child. With the help of an untiring and patient teacher she learns how to communicate with the outer world through sign language signed into her hand, and later she learns to read and even reaches the
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university.

What struck me most was the joyous spirit she possesses. Her wonder and appreciation of nature, friends, art, litterature and just the exitement of the everyday events like smelling a flower or touching a dog. She enjoys going to the museum and let her hand grace the sculptures:

I sometimes wonder if the hand is not more sensitive to the beauties of sculpture than the eye. I should think the wonderful rhythmical flow of lines and curves could be more subtly felt than seen. Be this as it may, I know that I can feel the heartthrobs of the ancient Greeks in their marble gods and goddesses.

I found her determination and joy in the everyday life very refreshing and inspiring, despite of her limitations and sorrow.

Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful? Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.

Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life’s shut gate. Beyond there is light, and music, and sweet companionship; but I may not enter. Fate, silent, pitiless, bars the way…. Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a gentle smile and whispers, “There is joy in selfforgetfulness”. So I try to make the light in others’ eyes my sun, the music in others’ ears my symphony, the smile on others’ lips my happiness.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Not a great book, but one that can definitely convice a person that they have things pretty easy. Her struggle enables us to appreciate much of what we take for granted. This is definitely an inspirational book.
LibraryThing member Cecrow
I became interested in reading Helen Keller's autobiography after seeing the original movie "The Miracle Worker", now one of my favourites. I was a bit sorry when all of that was dispensed with in the first four chapters, and discovered that Miss Keller's account hardly matches the movie version. I
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chalked up the difference to Hollywood invention - a bit disappointing. Helen relates her story up to her college years and is fairly lacklustre as far as biographies go. Mostly it's devoted to discoveries about the things she most grew to love. Highlights include famous people she met (Mark Twain being my favourite), and her surprising daring at trying things I wouldn't have expected - riding a bicycle and rowing a boat alone, for example.

She was very descriptive throughout, almost poetic, which greatly impressed me. Then in Chapter Fourteen comes the poem she wrote and was accused of plagiarizing. She gives a convincing account of how this must have occurred subconsciously, and what a setback it was to suspect every thought she had as not being her own. It also cast my reading in a different light: how much of the descriptive detail I'd been admiring had she simply echoed? It earned my sympathy to read about this circumstance in which she could no longer trust her own imagination. Fortunately she found the confidence to pursue her dream of a college education, which is where her biography (written in her early twenties) draws to a close.

While I admired her bravery, it wasn't a standout biography for me. Before I set it aside, I saw there were substantial appendices so I gave those a peek. The first was a collection of letters. While the content was fairly dull, it was remarkable how quickly she progressed in vocabulary and grammar. In the space of two years she went from discovering words to writing age-appropriate letters to her friends and family.

After those, I discovered the real treasure: a retelling of her biography from the perspective of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Its preface explains that Helen Keller had little memory of her life prior to being educated, nor could she convey an outside perspective of what her education had entailed. Miss Sullivan's account is an almost scene-for-scene description of what occurs in the movie - surprise! Then it goes well beyond that, relating Miss Keller's remarkable development from her teacher's viewpoint. This was the biography I'd imagined reading in the first place. I was hooked.

I'm tempted to recommend others go straight to Anne Sullivan's account. But in hindsight I can say it's worth your time to read both sides (internal and external) for the full picture of this remarkable woman's experience in being awakened to the wonders of life and language.
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LibraryThing member JaneSteen
Where I got the book: purchased from Amazon. A Book Wizards book club read.

This was one of those books I managed to miss reading during my childhood years—I wonder what impression it would have made on me then? It is, of course, Helen Keller’s own story about how her teacher Annie Sullivan
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helped her escape the dark and silent world an early illness had thrust her into by teaching the deaf and blind girl to communicate via touch and, eventually, speech.

I found many aspects of Helen’s story fascinating, although I wasn’t entirely sure I would have liked Helen had I met her. She admits to being a tyrant in her early years—to bullying the little black girl who was assigned to serve her and to venting her frustration on all those around her—and I suspect that the amount of attention she received as she grew up probably left its mark, despite the sugary-sweet language she uses in the style of her era. In an age where disability is seen as no bar to being out in the community, to employment and to acceptance, it’s hard to imagine how limited Helen’s prospects must have seemed when she was a child—and that was an aspect of things much discussed by the Book Wizards, who are all themselves cognitively disabled. And yet, then as now, the solution was money—Helen’s parents had the resources to employ a full-time, live-in teacher and this, combined with Helen’s high level of intelligence, determination and the gift of study, ensured that she was able to live up to her full potential. Teachers of the twenty-first century might note that Helen became proficient in several languages, both ancient and modern—how much we’ve lost!

The edition I’m reviewing (the “Restored Edition” from Modern Library) is an excellent one, with plenty of photos (it’s amazing how many celebrities of the day Helen met, another indication of her privileged life) and supplemental materials such as letters and a piece written by Annie Sullivan. I didn’t get round to reading them, but I’m hoping to at some point.
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LibraryThing member dukefan86
I have mixed feelings about this (audio)book. For writing style, I'd give it 2 stars, OK, but for the content of Helen Keller's life--amazing! In fact, I doubt that the formal writing style did Keller's life and accomplishments full justice. So, I'm giving the book 3 stars as an average, but am
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much more impressed by Keller, herself!
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LibraryThing member mandochild
At first I thought I was going to be disappointed, which surprised me, because I love every Helen Keller quote I come across. But the beginning paragraphs are of the typical, what I call "Genesis" kind. My father was so-and-so, my mother was so-and-so, I'm related to blah, blah and blah etc. And
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the narrator's voice can be a bit grating. But the language very quickly changed and the narrator's voice became more comfortable with familiarity.

Helen Keller has possibly the most joyous and vividly beautiful approach to language that I have yet encountered. She was clearly a natural at PR from an early age; her affectionate, naïve and idealistic enthusiasm for "good works" brought tears to my eyes. I felt very chastened by the end. Despite regular references to her deprivations (perhaps a fraction overstressed), she retains a lilting and joyous outlook throughout. It made me realise the value of choosing to abstain from noxious literature; she is so filled with beauty that it is beauty she chooses to express in everything, including the letters which accompany the main book. This book is cause for serious moral reflection in the best possible way.
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LibraryThing member LadyIrene
This "restored" edition has been reedited by Roger Shattuck to reflect more accurately its original compostiion, presenting Helen Keller's story in three successive accounts: Helen's own version; the letters of "teacher" Anne s"ullivan, shubmerged in the original; and thevaluable documentation
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frunished by their young assistant, John Marcy.
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880. Before her second birhtday, a mysterious illness left her deaf and blind. She graduated with honors from Radcliffe College in 1904, on year fafter the initial publication of The Story Of My Life, and wa the author of thriteen books. She died in 1968.
Roger Shattuck, author of Forbidden Knowledge and The Banquet Years, won the National Book Award for a work abot Marcel Proust. University Professor Emeritus at Boston University, Shattuck lives in Vermont. Dorothy Herrmann is the author of Helen Keller: A Life and of three other biographies. She lives in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and New York City.
Jacket Design by Eleen Cheung Jacket Photograph by Library of Congress Printed in USA
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LibraryThing member drebbles
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
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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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LibraryThing member carebear0811
Wow what an interesting book. I remember faintly reading about Helen Keller in school but now that I have read this book I believe students should know more about her. She is such an inspiration to children that are in school. I would definately read this book in class and do activities that would
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hanicap the students like Helen and have the students try to commuicate with one another. This book was really good and I especially liked the letters in the second half of the book. She started them at such a young age. Helen was not born deaf and blind but had a illness at a young age that made her develope these hanicaps. She ended up graduating from college and being very successful. I recommend reading this in class and doing several activites.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
This is an interesting look at Ms. Keller's young life - learning to communicate in a world where her blindness and deafness isolate her from just about everyone at first. Some of the passages don't seem as if they could be written by someone who was blind and deaf. Her descriptions of nature -
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particularly the sounds - seem improbable. Perhaps this was a result of her education - the ability to describe things for others that she didn't actually have firsthand experience with but only experience from Ms. Sullivan's descriptions. I certainly admire Ms. Keller's persistence and her keen mind. How many seeing and hearing people today master four languages by the time they have entered college??
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
this autobiography of Helen Keller is of interest, and some of the extra mateial in this book is of interest, but there are a lot of boring letters by Helen Keller which taxed my patience and added nothing of interest. The actual story of how she came to learn and actuaally graduated from Radcliffe
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is of interest and worth reading.
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LibraryThing member itbgc
A wonderful book about a brilliant, loving young woman who just happened to be blind and deaf. When Helen was 19, she penned the following words in a letter:

"The thought that my dear Heavenly Father is always near, giving me abundantly of all those things, which truly enrich life and make it sweet
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and beautiful, makes every deprivation seem of little moment compared with the countless blessings I enjoy."

Anne Sullivan, her famous tutor, taught Helen at age 11 that "the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart."
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LibraryThing member Bethany1221
This book is about the life of Helen Keller. The book starts when Helen is a child. Helen describes herself as stubborn and angry. She lived in a world of dark for a few years of her life. Helen talks about the years before and after Annie Sullivan, her teacher arrive. The story continues to show
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how Helen and Annie worked together to accomplish the many learning skills that Helen learned. This book is inspirational and a great book to show to children that may or may not have disabilities.
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LibraryThing member 6boysandme
Summary: Helen is both blind and deaf, it seems all hope is lost-enter Anne Sullivan the miracle worker. With persistence and love little Helen learns not only how to survive but how to thrive.
Summary: "Everything has it's wonders, even darkness and silence , and I learn, whatever state I may be
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in, therein to be content."
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LibraryThing member LeslieHurd
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is told in four parts: first Helen's own account, then Anne Sullivan's account, their assistant John Macy's account, and finally a collection of Helen's letters over time and and appendix of further accounts previously referenced in the book. The only part I
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enjoyed was Anne Sullivan's section, which consists of letters she wrote detailing her teaching efforts. Helen's section was well written and she's clearly very nice, but it just didn't contain much that was interesting about how she felt. Everyone is sweet, delightful, wonderful. Macy didn't have anything to add that hadn't been said in the first half of the book, and the fairly lengthy section of Helen's letters added nothing to the book at all except a glimpse at how her language skills progressed, which again had already been said. All in all, I was pretty disappointed and wouldn't recommend this particular book.
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LibraryThing member jwood652
Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful, Brilliant... There aren't enough superlatives to describe Helen Keller. It boggles my mind how fully she was able to live life and the people she met. Ann Sullivan must have been the greatest, most loving teacher ever! It has always fascinated me that she could learn
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so much and be able to enjoy such a full life, both deaf and blind. It is difficult to believe that the descriptions and knowledge imparted by her in this book are from a deaf, blind person. Most sighted, hearing people don't live life to the fullest. Her example is inspiring and humbling. This edition has a reiteration of each chapter (not necessary) and pertinent questions.
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LibraryThing member jwood652
Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful, Brilliant... There aren't enough superlatives to describe Helen Keller. It boggles my mind how fully she was able to live life and the people she met. Ann Sullivan must have been the greatest, most loving teacher ever! It has always fascinated me that she could learn
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so much and be able to enjoy such a full life, both deaf and blind. It is difficult to believe that the descriptions and knowledge imparted by her in this book are from a deaf, blind person. Most sighted, hearing people don't live life to the fullest. Her example is inspiring and humbling. This edition has a reiteration of each chapter (not necessary) and pertinent questions.
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LibraryThing member FriendsLibraryFL
A little girl, blind and deaf… Fated never to see a face, a tree, a picture; never to hear words or music. This was Helen Keller, as the result of a childhood illness. And yet her spirit reached out, try to communicate.. Her own story of how this miracle was accomplished is the story of my life,
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one of the most famous books of the century. It is famous because the story it tells is not only unusual, but inspiring. How could Helen Keller conquer her handicaps? How could she write a book, go everywhere, mix actively in life and become a beloved personality? It is fascinating to read how it all came about.
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
Earlier this year, Andrew was heading to pick up Jefferson in Chicago, and wanted a book to entertain him in the car on the way home. I handed him a children's biography of Helen Heller that I had loved as a child. Evidently Jefferson loved it, too. So for our Christmas road-trip I was sure to
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include a biography of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, also from my childhood, in my bag of tricks. These things, combined with coming across references to Helen Keller as a progressive icon in her adult life, made me grab this memoir for my stack of prospective New Year's Eve reads.

As it turns out, Keller wrote this autobiography at the age of 22, so it didn't get me any closer to understanding her activism in later life. But this slim book is still remarkable for the joy in life that leaks through the print, and then conversely her intensely introspective self-criticism for limitations that I feel NEARLY EVER OTHER HUMAN BEING HAD AT HER AGE.

I am happy to have read it and will be glad to share it with Jefferson, but I think I'll wait a few years, so the descriptions of her prep school and college studies will be more relatable.
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LibraryThing member paperdust
I remember reading this 10 years ago, such is the lasting impression of some people. The book was not easy to get into but this is such an awe-inspiring biography, an absolute miracle worker.
LibraryThing member SadieBabie
This was incredibly disappointing...more like a text book than a memoir.
LibraryThing member LVStrongPuff
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
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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.
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LibraryThing member miosmith5
Helen Keller's story is inspirational and must read for any person who wants to understand a memoir of an individual who had special needs during a time period when she would have been more isolated from society. Her story is important for parents, educators, and social scientists as we strive to
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create a more inclusive world that includes those with disabilities. Inspiring and tragic in equal measure.
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LibraryThing member Sarahsponda
I found Anne Sullivan's letters and notes more interesting than Helen Keller's--I think Helen wanted to show how normal she was; I was more interested in how she learned.
LibraryThing member caseybp
A fabulous and candid story of Helen Keller’s education. There are times I forgot her disabilities. Such wonderful insight to an amazing woman.

Original publication date

1903
1996

ISBN

1579125166 / 9781579125165
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