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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
A really interesting and honestly kind of terrifying read/listen. Listening to this after reading [b:The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery|18774002|The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery|Sam Kean|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385349835s/18774002.jpg|26573388] was especially interesting since that book discusses the brain in detail, so I felt I had a better understanding of what was going on.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
This is such a curious memoir... as the author's illness robbed her of her memories, she had to tell the tale of what happened to her as if researching a stranger's plight, through notes and the tales of witnesses.
Fascinating look into mental illness, autoimmune disease, and the brain. Smart, but easy to read.
i'm very emotional after finishing this and above all so happy and proud of susannah. i truly hope this book has helped research on this disease and other psychological and neurological issues that exist in this world. her and her loved ones have an insane strength.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
nice, short read.
in three separate neuro classes in college, this book was mentioned or recommended. NMDARs, man. they're really, REALLY important. i really appreciated Cahalan's delivery of what could have, in another person's hands, been a lot of technical neuro jargon. i get enough of that as it is. she breaks down every component of the disease in layman's terms, but also doesn't talk down to the reader, and once she's introduced a concept she expects you to understand it. nice.
she splits the book up into three parts, but they are not, as I expected them to be, a before-during-after division. the story is pretty compelling, and takes advantage of the foregone conclusion that she is going to be okay. as her condition spirals, the question isn't "will she recover?" (because she clearly has), but instead "how will she recover?"
go Dr. Najjar, we love a competent medical professional! boo dr. bailey! although (as she points out) dude was likely overworked to hell and rewarded for it, so let's take issue with american medicine and not with the doctor himself.
in three separate neuro classes in college, this book was mentioned or recommended. NMDARs, man. they're really, REALLY important. i really appreciated Cahalan's delivery of what could have, in another person's hands, been a lot of technical neuro jargon. i get enough of that as it is. she breaks down every component of the disease in layman's terms, but also doesn't talk down to the reader, and once she's introduced a concept she expects you to understand it. nice.
she splits the book up into three parts, but they are not, as I expected them to be, a before-during-after division. the story is pretty compelling, and takes advantage of the foregone conclusion that she is going to be okay. as her condition spirals, the question isn't "will she recover?" (because she clearly has), but instead "how will she recover?"
go Dr. Najjar, we love a competent medical professional! boo dr. bailey!
Spoiler
so frustrating to read him treat his (incredibly confident yet incorrect) diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal with such flippancy, especially because alcohol withdrawal is one of the few kinds that can actually kill a person.
medium-paced
A medical mystery that kept me listening! Pros: learning more about the brain; insights into a rare disorder. Cons: I had hoped that the author would explore how her privilege (white, young, wealthy, support system, etc.) affected her experience with the healthcare system more and sooner; unaddressed fatphobia.