THE STORY OF MY LIFE - Helen Keller

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First of all, I am so glad that the concept of 'Autobiography' has been utilized by people like Helen Keller. Her life in itself is inspirational; moreover, the fact that she wrote about it in such a pretty (yeah, that is the adjective I'm going to use) way is commendable. Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama, USA and became blind and deaf due to an illness when she was 19 months old. This book captures her life in her own words.

In The Story of My Life, she writes about how she accustomed herself to living her life normally, at the same time being aware of her obvious differences with everyone else. She talks of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, probably the biggest influence of her life, and describes her impact on her. She talks about all her other memories, from being a carefree child to travelling all over the world advocating for the blind later in her life.

Helen Keller's spirit certainly shines in this beautifully written memoir. Although brief, it is provoking and strikes a chord at all the right places. It is not a book about how to survive being blind and deaf in this world. It is about how an exceptional woman prevailed in this world, and inspired many others, despite being blind and deaf.

The only criticism for this book is that it doesn't seem like someone who's blind and deaf could write like that. But then, is this really a negative? Highly recommended; though probably everyone is made to read this in school anyhow.

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