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Title: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat : And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0-684-85394-9 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 02 April, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.42 (62 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Deeply Spiritual Book
Comment: I first encountered the essay "Rebecca" (one of the fine "clinical tales" in Sacks's book)in a Norton Anthology I used in a writing course. In this essay, Sacks describes his encounter with a young girl on a park bench outside the hospital. Later, he encounters her in a clinical setting as a patient, and has a different view of her. His clinical methodology uncovers her deficits; his challenge is to see past them to the whole spiritual being he saw sitting on a park bench transfixed with the beauty of spring. That he is able to do so refocuses his attitudes toward his other patients, for what he sees in Rebecca, he now "saw in them all."
For me what was most interesting about these fascinating stories is that the underlying question has to do less with cures for bizarre neurological diseases, than with the essential question of what makes us who we are, and what do we do when our entire concept of self is savaged and the world left unrecognizable?
For Sacks, at least part of the answer lies in art--the narrative in the synagogue that knits Rebecca's deficits and makes her whole (holy?); the music that enables some patients who are unable even to walk without difficulty, the ability to dance; the notes that enable stutterers to sing.
This is a wonderful book that does what wonderful books do--it makes the reader look again at what he only thought he saw before, and see it whole.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great read for any person interested in the human mind
Comment: I love this book. I first read it as an undegraduate English major, and it fascinated me with its accounts of people with various neurological deficits and excesses. Non-medical professionals will have no trouble appreciating Sacks' writing, which is clear and free of complicated medical jargon. I have revisited this book since graduating from medical school and I continue to find it fascinating and the writing itself a delight, as Sacks is a writer with a strong, clear "voice."
For me, the book stimulated much thought on the nature of the human mind, and the concept of the Self that we all carry. It's one of my all-tme favorite books, one I would recommend to readers who enjoy literature and works of philosophy as well as medicine.
Looking over the other reviews, one sees a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, with the occasional "I hated it" review. For exmaple, one reader cited what she called Sacks' "horribly cruel and unempathetic tone." I didn't detect such a tone in Sacks' writing, and I'm surprised that anyone did. (He does refer to persons with mental retardation as "retardates," which was then the accepted, medical, "politically-correct" term for such individuals. One era's PC term is the next era's faux pas, and I suspect instances of this phenomenon account for some of the negative reviews.) I guess it is a matter of perception, and depends upon your own experiences, etc. Some people have very definite ideas about how medical cases should be discussed; this book did not offend any of my ideas on that subject. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book of case studies on the diseases of the mind
Comment: This is a layman's journey into the case studies of nureological problems. The book is written in a clear style that makes each case a story rather than a statistic. If you've ever wondered about diseases of the mind, this is the book for you.
It's not really a good book to read before bed as some of these people have problems that could make one want to stay up and talk about it with someone else.
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Title: An Anthropologist On Mars : Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0679756973 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 13 February, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Awakenings by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0375704051 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 05 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Phantoms in the Brain : Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V. S. Ramachandran ISBN: 0688172172 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Uncle Tungsten : Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 0375704043 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Migraine by Oliver Sacks ISBN: 037570406X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 05 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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