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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Oliver Sacks is a great storyteller; problems in this book are not faults in storytelling: 1) This is an older book, which uses now-out-dated terms like the r-word, idiot, etc. These were diagnoses when he was writing, but they can be jarring now. 2) Though a man of varied interests, his training is as a medical doctor, and his sidesteps into theology or social writing suffers for it. Sacks's idea of the soul is difficult to tease out, but might be interpreted as dehumanizing-- though I don't see this as his intent. He writes in a completely medical model, and I often find it unnerving how casually he dismisses the culpability of the science itself for the mistreatment of his patients. He does not examine the field closely as he uses its tools. In particular, this shows in how his understanding of autism is wildly out-dated. However, with these caveats, this is a fascinating book. While there are these interesting exceptions, Sacks is a compassionate and open-minded writer.
informative
slow-paced
I didn’t find the psychology lessons that interesting. And felt quite bad for the patients. I think reading half of the book was sufficient.
This book isn't easy to review, because it's not a novel, or short story collection; it's not poetry, or essays. It's straight up non-fiction in the form of case studies and clinical analysis of different bizarre neurological cases that Oliver Sacks came across. There's everything from the titular character -- a man who really did mistake his wife for his hat -- to people with Tourette's, both severe and manageable; from excesses to people with IQs of 60 but who possess amazing talents.
There is a wide variety of cases presented. My interest in psychology, which will hopefully be my future career, is what led me to pick up this book. There's only so many academic articles you can read without wanting to smack your head against concrete, so I thought this would be a welcome change, both enlightening and easier to absorb.
Sacks has a truly wonderful ability to make his writing accessible, while not for a moment relinquishing the jargon he needs to use or 'dumbing down' the studies for general consumption. It's quite enviable. I gained a lot of perspective from reading this, I tried to use what I have already learnt to understand his explanations more, and I really, really enjoyed reading it. It's an amazing book that showing the extraordinary capabilities of the human mind and psyche and the extent to which, despite all of our advancements in science, we know very little about one of our body's most important organs.
There is a wide variety of cases presented. My interest in psychology, which will hopefully be my future career, is what led me to pick up this book. There's only so many academic articles you can read without wanting to smack your head against concrete, so I thought this would be a welcome change, both enlightening and easier to absorb.
Sacks has a truly wonderful ability to make his writing accessible, while not for a moment relinquishing the jargon he needs to use or 'dumbing down' the studies for general consumption. It's quite enviable. I gained a lot of perspective from reading this, I tried to use what I have already learnt to understand his explanations more, and I really, really enjoyed reading it. It's an amazing book that showing the extraordinary capabilities of the human mind and psyche and the extent to which, despite all of our advancements in science, we know very little about one of our body's most important organs.
This is probably peak Oliver Sacks. And you need Oliver Sacks in your life. We lost a very special person when he died in 2015.
This book is Sacks's big-hearted portrayal of a bunch of neuro-atypical case studies, pulled from his experiences as a clinical neurologist working at a bunch of mental hospitals in NYC in the 70s and 80s. Like all of his books, he's a Romantic (big R) naturalist in love with the human mind, and his wide-ranging enthusiasm and respect for both the analytical and emotional/spiritual qualities of his work is always evident. His passion is contagious; his writing is often - dare I say it - divine.
Sacks wrote with enormous affection for the human spirit: I was regularly moved by each case, and not at all in a pitying way. He structures the book around the three (artificial?) categories doctors use for classifying neurological disorders: (1) having deficiencies (e.g. amnesia, agnosia (inability of recognizing things), aphasia (word salad)), (2) having too-much-nesses (e.g. Tourette's, other compulsive/tic behaviors), or (3) being "unintelligent"/mentally challenged. Each case study is both intrinsically fascinating (the titular "man who mistakes" things is amazing) and a moral lesson in how we often misjudge and miss a lot of the complexity behind seemingly intractable afflictions.
Sacks's introduction to the too-much-ness section was especially amazing; I loved hearing about the uneasiness we feel when things feel "too good" - i.e. when the human mind starts whirring too fast as we approach manic, hallucinatory experiences. And I loved Sacks's emphasis, early in the book, on covering maladies of the right hemisphere - since that's our big-R Romantic, mystical, hallucinatory side after all.
Anyway, Sacks is great. Highly recommended. Read his memoir next.
This book is Sacks's big-hearted portrayal of a bunch of neuro-atypical case studies, pulled from his experiences as a clinical neurologist working at a bunch of mental hospitals in NYC in the 70s and 80s. Like all of his books, he's a Romantic (big R) naturalist in love with the human mind, and his wide-ranging enthusiasm and respect for both the analytical and emotional/spiritual qualities of his work is always evident. His passion is contagious; his writing is often - dare I say it - divine.
Sacks wrote with enormous affection for the human spirit: I was regularly moved by each case, and not at all in a pitying way. He structures the book around the three (artificial?) categories doctors use for classifying neurological disorders: (1) having deficiencies (e.g. amnesia, agnosia (inability of recognizing things), aphasia (word salad)), (2) having too-much-nesses (e.g. Tourette's, other compulsive/tic behaviors), or (3) being "unintelligent"/mentally challenged. Each case study is both intrinsically fascinating (the titular "man who mistakes" things is amazing) and a moral lesson in how we often misjudge and miss a lot of the complexity behind seemingly intractable afflictions.
Sacks's introduction to the too-much-ness section was especially amazing; I loved hearing about the uneasiness we feel when things feel "too good" - i.e. when the human mind starts whirring too fast as we approach manic, hallucinatory experiences. And I loved Sacks's emphasis, early in the book, on covering maladies of the right hemisphere - since that's our big-R Romantic, mystical, hallucinatory side after all.
Anyway, Sacks is great. Highly recommended. Read his memoir next.
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Si te interesa la neuropsicología o la neurología, este es tu libro.
informative
reflective
medium-paced