What do You think about The Story Of My Life (1990)?
يا لجمال روحها التي ترى بها الأشياء، وتسمع بها الأصوات!!ومن جمال روحها انبثقت رؤيتها للكون من حولها...تصف الطبيعة من حولها وكأنها تراها بعينيها، وتسمع كل صوت فيها بأذنيها...وكم ممن يملكون عيونا وسمعا لا يدركون موطن الجمال في كل ما هو حولهم!!هيلين كيلر...قصة أخرى من القصص المحفزة والملهمة...لامرأة تحدت إعاقتها...وكانت بحق إلهاما للكثيرين حتى زمننا هذا...من فتاة لا تسمع ولا ترى...انطلقت إلى معرفة أسماء الأشياء ومن ثم فهم الأفكار العميقة وإدراك المفاهيم المعنوية و تعلم القراءة والكتابة والنطق، والأهم من كل ذلك تعلم التواصل مع الآخرين ومع كل ما حولها... وفهم الحياة والانطلاق فيها دون أي شعور بالعجز قد تخلفه الإعاقة...لتصبح الدكتورة والمحاضرة هيلين كيلروكل ذلك بفضل دعم كل من حولها...والفضل الأكبر لمعلمتها.."آن سوليفان"...معلمة استثنائية لطالبة استثنائية... والتي ابتكرت طريقة فذة لتعليمها، من خلال اللعب والمرح والتواصل بحب مع كل ما هو حولها..والتي استطاعت أن تفتح أمامها الأبواب المقفلة وتشرع النور أمام عينيها المغلقتين..فالحديث عن هيلين كيلر ومعلمتها "آن" لا ينفصلان...هي قصة نجاح واحدةلا مكان في حديث هيلين للتذمر والشكوى، رغم إحساسها أحيانا بالوحدة وببعض اللحظات المظلمة والأفكار المريرة، لكنها تغلبها دوما بالأمل والبهجة"لقد وهبني الله الكثير حتى أنني ليس لدي وقت للحزن على ما حرمني إياه""إنني أحاول دائما أن أجعل الضوء في عيون الآخرين شمسا دافئة وقمرا منيرا"وأكثر ما أعجبني في سيرتها، علاقتها بالقراءة والكتب، والتي كانت واحدة من بواباتها على العالم، والتي لعبت دورا كبيرا في تعليمها...وفي جعلها ترتفع فوق ظروف حياتها الصعبة، ونسيان كل معوقاتها البدنية.
—طَيْف
A lovely, quotable book, similar to the writing of L.M. Montgomery.Which is also what bothers me about it.When I first read this, years and years ago, I was impressed by all the poetic imagery. And it is impressive that she was so well versed in the language of sight and sound. But reading the book now? All those bells, and crickets, and clouded, blue skies...just make me sad. She wasn't meeting us halfway. She was meeting us all the way.She touches on the problem, herself:At that time I eagerly absorbed everything I read without a thought of authorship, and even now I cannot be quite sure of the boundary line between my ideas and those I find in books. I suppose that is because so many of my impressions come to me through the medium of others' eyes and ears.But more than that, she had merged with her caretakers. The "story of [her] life" is essentially the story she'd been told: Helen, the burdensome invalid; Helen, the grateful student; Helen, under the bright, blue sky.This passage details her family's reaction upon hearing her speak for the first time:My eyes fill with tears now as I think of how my mother pressed me close to her, speechless and trembling with delight, taking in every syllable that I spoke, while little Mildred seized my free hand and kissed it and danced, and my father expressed his pride and affection in a big silence.The implications are heartbreaking. And, in fact, learning to utter a single phrase required hours on end of grueling repetition. Pleasing her family (often) seemed to be her only motivation.She could never truly express what she, alone, knew for the simple reason that there was no language for what she knew. She had no culture of her own. And so, ultimately, she had no voice.[Miss Sullivan] put the crab in a trough near the well where I was confident he would be secure. But next morning I went to the trough, and lo, he had disappeared! Nobody knew where he had gone, or how he had escaped. My disappointment was bitter at the time; but little by little I came to realize it was not kind or wise to force the poor dumb creature out of his element, and after a while I felt happy at the thought that maybe he had returned to the sea.
—Sarah
Here's the amazing story of Helen Keller, a deaf and blind woman who achieved so much and experienced so much of life despite her handicaps. Besides her own story, it's a tribute to Ann Sullivan, her devoted teacher, who made such a difference in her life. I didn't know before that one of the main ways Helen learned was by people signing into her hands. I also learned that she read lips by physically feeling people's mouths. And I was surprised to hear that she experienced works of art, such as sculpture, by feeling the sculptures. I didn't find the language flowery, but rather poetic demonstrating a love for language and literature. I found her writing style articulate and never abstruse. I was very impressed by her reading literature in several languages, such as English, French, German, ancient Greek, Latin, and perhaps more. As a book fiend, I especially enjoyed her discussing her literary loves. Quite interesting! I believe she wrote this autobiography when she was only 22, so I'd like to read a biography that covered the rest of her life. As an interesting aside, I note that Helen Keller's birthday is 6/27, just a few days before I finished this book.
—Michael
