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Title: The Island of the Colorblind and Cycad Island: And, Cycad Island by Oliver W. Sacks, Oliver Sacks, Oliver W. Sacks ISBN: 0-375-70073-0 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (26 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Neurologist in the South Pacific
Comment: This book is a hybrid; part Pacific island travelogue and part neurological exploration. Those of us who know Dr. Sacks's other works will recognize the latter as familiar territory while the former will be a new and somewhat unexpected area of reportage for him. And while colorblindness might not be as exotic as some of Sacks's previous neurological mysteries, the good doctor is able to make it equally fascinating, even introducing us to the concept of colorblind art--patterns created using brightness rather than chroma so that they can be readily seen by the colorblind, but incidentally are not readily discernable by others. And even more fascinating, and certainly much more horrifying, is the polymorphous disease lytico-bodig found on Guam. Sacks is at his best describing this illness, its symptoms, treatment, and the fruitless search for its root cause. The reader is gripped by the story of a single disease that manifests itself very differently in different patients. The "lytico" form is a progressive and eventually fatal paralysis. The "bodig" form a loss of muscular control similar to Parkinson's, with related dementia. The disease's victims are compassionately portrayed and their plight made real though Sacks' vivid writing.
But the very nature of the book may cause the reader problems. How can the travelogue parts compete with such a compelling medical story? Sacks concludes his work (with the exception of almost 100 pages of footnotes, journal citations, and bibliography!) with a brief account of his visit to Rota, (one of two of the titular Cycad Islands [Guam being the other]--although why Sacks didn't use the plural is a mystery), and here the interest is purely botanical. That the book begins with a travelogue and having set the stage gradually moves into the medical mysteries seems natural; that those mysteries are left unresolved (as they must of course, this not being a work of fiction) to rhapsodize about primitive plants seems bizarre. Sacks's comments are well written for the most part--the cycads lead him to experience a sensation of "deep time", an appreciation for things ancient and " a profound sense of being at home, a sort of companionship with the earth." But unless we share his botanical enthusiasm, we are likely to find the juxtaposition of the account of lytico-bodig and cycad reproduction ("the pollen settles on the naked ovules and sends a tube down into them, within which the male germ cells, the spermatozooids, are produced...the spermatozooids, which are motile, powered by cilia, enter the egg cell and fuse with it totally...") a bizarre bit of post-modern prose.
Rating: 4
Summary: Anthropology and Neurology Meet in Micronesia
Comment: Having thoroughly enjoyed 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' I opted to make this my second Dr. Sacks outing. Once again the good doctor provides compelling, humane, interesting stories about odd physiological conditions and the cultures that foster and contend with them. In multiple episodes that have him traveling to small volcanic islands in Micronesia, the entertaining neurologist studies a group of people who have been born without the ability to see color. Accompanying him is a Nordic specialist in this genetic trait, and one who also happens to share the same condition. As the troupe moves about the islands, they meet and talk with the achromatopes; the natives and Knut evince a feeling of camaraderie. Dr. Sacks plumbs their depths to hear them describe their world in terms of textures and monochrome shades, completely barren of color. Along the way, he experiences a taste of their 'night' lives, the skills they have developed to compensate for their lack of color sight. The next topic in the island hopping takes them to Guam where Sacks sees the patients of an associate who suffer from lytico-bodig, a degenerative condition which causes paralysis [not unlike Dr. Sacks' own neurological patients] and eventual dissolution. Having struck only a certain age bracket on the islands, the mysterious disease has confounded science for almost four decades and has almost killed off its victims. Finally, he treks to Rota to walk among the ancient Cycad plants that have captured his imagination since childhood. This novel appealed to the adventurer's spirit while I was reading it, listening to Dr. Sacks describes the beauty of the island culture and the supremely languid pace of life. Dr. Sacks' writing is not only aesthetically entertaining, but his case studies continue to pique the interest of the intellect. However, one is never so bowled over by the beauty of the surroundings as to forget the real human cases being presented. It is indeed an odd combination, this beauty and tragedy, but one that works very well in this novel producing an enjoyable read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not Sacks' best, but inspiring & enjoyable
Comment: In between visiting terminally ill patients, Dr. Sacks goes snorkeling and hiking through tropical rainforests in the Micronesian islands, sharing his thoughts and experiences with his readers.
About one quarter of the book is footnotes.
I enjoyed "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" a lot more.
(If English isn't your mother tongue or if you're not a college graduate I suggest you have a good dictionary nearby as you read. It also helps to look up some of the diseases he talks about at Yahoo! Health. Also look for images of the flora he discusses at Google Image Search.)
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Title: An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver W. Sacks, Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0679756973 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver W. Sacks ISBN: 0684853949 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf by Oliver W. Sacks, Oliver, M.D. Sacks ISBN: 0375704078 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Migraine by Oliver W. Sacks, Oliver Sacks ISBN: 037570406X Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver W. Sacks, Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0375704043 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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