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kasvi_mavani's review
3.0
I promise there's no one more surprised than I am that I read a non-fiction book, and actually enjoyed it.
Dr. Oliver Sacks, a professor and neurologist relates multiple stories of patients who had issues with the visual centers of the brain, or their eyes, as well as his own experience with a tumor in his right eye. He goes into detail on the causes and developments of each case, and how each patient learned to adapt to their environment with their changing vision.
I really enjoyed this read. The first half of the book is Sacks exploring the cases of his patients, where he discusses unusual instances of visual issues in patients, and goes in depth on the science behind each case, as well as the patients' experiences dealing with their visual changes. I loved this section of the book. I have always been fascinated by medicine and science, so this was really interesting to me, and I definitely learned a lot. Each case is told in just enough detail, where I feel like I got the full picture, but I was never bored by the constant stream of information. Unfortunately, the second half of the book was just a bit less interesting for me. The following half follows Dr. Sacks' account of his own visual problems stemming from a tumour in his right eye. Sacks goes into a LOT of depth on his experiences, as well as some little "side quests," where he talks about new equipment, and some scientific discoveries and research. It all felt a bit redundant after a bit, which is unfortunate since I was hoping the book would carry on to be like it was at the start of the book. I still learned a ton, and this book has definitely opened me up to checking out more non-fiction picks!
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐
Dr. Oliver Sacks, a professor and neurologist relates multiple stories of patients who had issues with the visual centers of the brain, or their eyes, as well as his own experience with a tumor in his right eye. He goes into detail on the causes and developments of each case, and how each patient learned to adapt to their environment with their changing vision.
I really enjoyed this read. The first half of the book is Sacks exploring the cases of his patients, where he discusses unusual instances of visual issues in patients, and goes in depth on the science behind each case, as well as the patients' experiences dealing with their visual changes. I loved this section of the book. I have always been fascinated by medicine and science, so this was really interesting to me, and I definitely learned a lot. Each case is told in just enough detail, where I feel like I got the full picture, but I was never bored by the constant stream of information. Unfortunately, the second half of the book was just a bit less interesting for me. The following half follows Dr. Sacks' account of his own visual problems stemming from a tumour in his right eye. Sacks goes into a LOT of depth on his experiences, as well as some little "side quests," where he talks about new equipment, and some scientific discoveries and research. It all felt a bit redundant after a bit, which is unfortunate since I was hoping the book would carry on to be like it was at the start of the book. I still learned a ton, and this book has definitely opened me up to checking out more non-fiction picks!
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐⭐
lindej342's review
5.0
Excellent series of narratives that help deconstruct the difference between illness and sickness. By sharing how individuals coped with their symptoms, I found myself educated on the role personal experience plays in both falling ill and feeling well again.
nettles's review
3.0
This book was interesting for me, but I'm basically a psych major and found it interesting for perhaps the wrong reason.
Oliver Sacks starts off describing various cases of visual disorders that stem from the way the brain processes information, at first including himself since he deals with prosopagnosia (face blindness) and then he suffers from a tumor in his visual field and writes in depth about his spiral into blindness.
It sort of reminded me of parts of When Breath Becomes air or Flowers for Algernon - the way the expert writes about becoming the patient.
Overall I learned a lot but it was also dense and somewhat difficult to get into and inconsistent in its storytelling, so it's hard for me to rate
Oliver Sacks starts off describing various cases of visual disorders that stem from the way the brain processes information, at first including himself since he deals with prosopagnosia (face blindness) and then he suffers from a tumor in his visual field and writes in depth about his spiral into blindness.
It sort of reminded me of parts of When Breath Becomes air or Flowers for Algernon - the way the expert writes about becoming the patient.
Overall I learned a lot but it was also dense and somewhat difficult to get into and inconsistent in its storytelling, so it's hard for me to rate