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tronnai's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Had some interesting cases but there was a lot of filler I wasn't interested in.
micksland's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.5
3.5 stars
In this non-fiction pop science piece, journalist Helen Thomson interviews different people with "weird" brains. From schizophrenia to synesthesia, she humanizes people who have traditionally been "othered" and teaches some neuroscience along the way.
The strength of the book is the interviews. I appreciated the way in which Thomson highlighted her subjects' humanity, particular in cases such as schizophrenia which are often poorly portrayed in media adaptations of mental illness. The vast majority of mentally ill people are not dangerous or violent, and her book does a great job at showing that. I loved the chapters about synesthesia and about the woman with auditory musical hallucinations - something about the combination of art and science appeals to me on a personal level.
I thought the neuroscience was superficial, which makes sense considering the pop science nature of the book and Thomson's explicit desire to focus on qualitative rather than quantitative data. Even though it was her choice, I would have appreciated more background regarding each of the cases. I'm interested to know what non-medical readers would make of it.
In this non-fiction pop science piece, journalist Helen Thomson interviews different people with "weird" brains. From schizophrenia to synesthesia, she humanizes people who have traditionally been "othered" and teaches some neuroscience along the way.
The strength of the book is the interviews. I appreciated the way in which Thomson highlighted her subjects' humanity, particular in cases such as schizophrenia which are often poorly portrayed in media adaptations of mental illness. The vast majority of mentally ill people are not dangerous or violent, and her book does a great job at showing that. I loved the chapters about synesthesia and about the woman with auditory musical hallucinations - something about the combination of art and science appeals to me on a personal level.
I thought the neuroscience was superficial, which makes sense considering the pop science nature of the book and Thomson's explicit desire to focus on qualitative rather than quantitative data. Even though it was her choice, I would have appreciated more background regarding each of the cases. I'm interested to know what non-medical readers would make of it.
aonoexorcist's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
emmylis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
sevenlefts's review
3.0
This tour through some unusual minds from a personal perspective is enlightening. Thomson meets with people who have interesting anomalous brain, interviewing them about the experiences and also following up with neurologists and other scientists to find out what can be learned from them. There's some basic brain anatomy here, as well as references to unique studies.
Along the way we meet people who suddenly loose all sense of direction, think they are animals, or have various forms of synethesia that manifest in associating people with particular colors or numbers, or physically feeling sensations when people within their line of site are touched. We meet people who are (or were) convinced they were dead, people with constant musical hallucinations, people who are convinced they are animals, and people who can remember every moment of their lives.
It's good popular science writing -- just detailed enough to make you want to learn more, but it doesn't get bogged down in the details. The real stories here are the humans behind these brains. Thomson does a great job of highlighting their experiences with compassion, and really makes one realize just how complex the human mind is and how much we have yet to learn about it.
Along the way we meet people who suddenly loose all sense of direction, think they are animals, or have various forms of synethesia that manifest in associating people with particular colors or numbers, or physically feeling sensations when people within their line of site are touched. We meet people who are (or were) convinced they were dead, people with constant musical hallucinations, people who are convinced they are animals, and people who can remember every moment of their lives.
It's good popular science writing -- just detailed enough to make you want to learn more, but it doesn't get bogged down in the details. The real stories here are the humans behind these brains. Thomson does a great job of highlighting their experiences with compassion, and really makes one realize just how complex the human mind is and how much we have yet to learn about it.