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internetnomads's review against another edition
4.0
I've read almost everything Dr. Sacks has written, and I hope to one day attend his lectures. He brings such vivacity to his writing - he really wants the reader to hear these amazing stories and think about them. I also have a soft spot for auto-didacts and renaissance men like him.
If you aren't well-versed in neurological terminology, keep your Google nearby for this book.
If you aren't well-versed in neurological terminology, keep your Google nearby for this book.
adriannagrezak's review against another edition
4.0
doesn't really provide answers but interesting read nonetheless
balise's review against another edition
1.0
And then I read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks. I really didn't like it.
It's a collection of "weird" neurological cases, including, well, the man who mistook his wife for a hat.
In a way, it's kind of scary - because it shows that sometimes, brains do really weird stuff, and that it may happen for what seems to be little to no reason at all. It's also quite fascinating, for the same reasons. And obviously, the answer to the question "but... why? how?" is probably not something that we (we the humanity?) actually know, but it's consequently quite frustrating as well - "this guy has this and this symptoms/behavior - next!"
To me, the whole book felt more like a rambling ringmaster presenting his freak show - I was actually quite unsettled by that. I was also uncomfortable at the idea of "this guy clearly has a soul, that guy doesn't seem to" that come in the early chapters - it made me cringe a lot.
I don't know, maybe I'm missing something there, because most of the comments on the intarwebz talk about how "beautiful" and "touching" this book is, and... well, no. (Well, I have some hypothesis about that "beautiful"/"touching", but they may be a tad too cynical to apply to people I really know nothing about :P.)
So... definitely NOT recommended.
It's a collection of "weird" neurological cases, including, well, the man who mistook his wife for a hat.
In a way, it's kind of scary - because it shows that sometimes, brains do really weird stuff, and that it may happen for what seems to be little to no reason at all. It's also quite fascinating, for the same reasons. And obviously, the answer to the question "but... why? how?" is probably not something that we (we the humanity?) actually know, but it's consequently quite frustrating as well - "this guy has this and this symptoms/behavior - next!"
To me, the whole book felt more like a rambling ringmaster presenting his freak show - I was actually quite unsettled by that. I was also uncomfortable at the idea of "this guy clearly has a soul, that guy doesn't seem to" that come in the early chapters - it made me cringe a lot.
I don't know, maybe I'm missing something there, because most of the comments on the intarwebz talk about how "beautiful" and "touching" this book is, and... well, no. (Well, I have some hypothesis about that "beautiful"/"touching", but they may be a tad too cynical to apply to people I really know nothing about :P.)
So... definitely NOT recommended.
ohwowre's review against another edition
4.0
Molto bello. Preciso, una scrittura facilmente comprensibile per chi non è del campo, scorrevole e organico. Per quanto si parli di realtà la narrazione è portata avanti come in un qualsiasi romanzo e questo lo rende interessante e anche semplice alle lettura. Alle volte la narrazione si ferma un po’ e diventa più pesante perché si parla più nello specifico della malattia ma in generale si riesce benissimo ad immedesimarsi nella situazione, a visualizzare i personaggi e le loro vite, ci si affeziona e si comprende il loro mondo. Una lettura ricca e per niente noiosa.
bohemianasl's review against another edition
4.0
This is the sort of book that registers differently for those who read it depending on what surrounds this text. If you usually consume fluffier fare, then this is probably going to feel a bit like hardtack. If you're usually slogging through academic texts, then this will seem like a delicious dessert, both substantive and sinful.
Sacks frequently digresses and references other practitioners in his field or relies on esoteric footnotes to complete an idea. For a casual reader, this can be offputting. For a researcher, this can easily send you down the Google rabbit hole in attempting to ascertain the specific dimensions of meaning to infer upon some of his suppositions.
If you can keep you attention moving smartly forward in the book, you'll be well rewarded with some really interesting phenomenon in how the human brain perceives the world and our place in it. If this doesn't lead you to some deeply philosophical considerations of how other people's perceptions of the world can vary from yours in some very profound ways, then you're doing it wrong.
Sacks frequently digresses and references other practitioners in his field or relies on esoteric footnotes to complete an idea. For a casual reader, this can be offputting. For a researcher, this can easily send you down the Google rabbit hole in attempting to ascertain the specific dimensions of meaning to infer upon some of his suppositions.
If you can keep you attention moving smartly forward in the book, you'll be well rewarded with some really interesting phenomenon in how the human brain perceives the world and our place in it. If this doesn't lead you to some deeply philosophical considerations of how other people's perceptions of the world can vary from yours in some very profound ways, then you're doing it wrong.
geeky_erin's review against another edition
3.0
There is some (now) appalling vocabulary, the editor may have fallen asleep on the job, and I'm not altogether sure if the author was writing for a medical journal or for a general audience, but despite all that - intriguing subject matter. And it has reminded me that I should really watch the movie Awakenings.
ebats's review against another edition
4.0
3.5. what a nice little artifact! i didnt know anything about dr. sacks until we read this for book club, and i can see the appeal. a collection of vignettes about people with different neurological afflictions. the stories were fascinating and i can see why sacks' people-centric approach was effective. could be a little jargon-y--i like that he had clearly read and respected the work of his colleagues but it could tread into research paper--but well worth the read.
404jazzy's review against another edition
5.0
A huge Sacks fan! This absolute trademark of a book obviously is amongst my favorites. Forever indebted to him for bringing the fascinating field of neuropsychology to the light.