Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Sacks (neurology & psychiatry, Columbia Univ. Medical Ctr.; The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat) continues his successful stream of books on the quirky aspects of psychiatry with this latest, which explores the fascinating stories of six people who have learned to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing one of their key senses and abilities, e.g., the power of speech, the capacity to recognize faces, the sense of three-dimensional space, and the ability to read. Also revealed is the author's own dramatic story of a tumor in one eye that left him unable to perceive depth. As in all Sacks's works, readers will learn about fundamental facets of the human experience while better understanding the unpredictable new ways the brain can find to perceive, which allows it to create complete images of the world. Sacks delivers a richly detailed examination of various paradoxical medical conditions while he wrestles with more fundamental clinical questions, such as how humans really see and think. VERDICT The author's well-known style creatively balances complex medical discussion, which will appeal to professionals on the one hand, with solid, down-to-earth prose, which will attract his legion of fans interested in the human condition on the other.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Neurologist Sacks (www.oliversacks.com), who in Musicophila (2007) explored the human sense of hearing, once again mines his practice for fascinating case studies, this time to explore another sense, that of sight. In discussing the experiences of six individuals whose vision-related maladies force creative and often astonishing coping and adaptive behaviors, he talks of patients' inability to recognize faces, their late acquisition and loss of three-dimensional vision, and more. Sacks introduces each story, which is then read matter-of-factly by actor Richard Davidson. Sacks poignantly reads the chapter titled "Persistence of Vision"-about his own gradual loss of vision in one eye as the result of ocular cancer. A strong choice for nonfiction collections. ["The author's well-known style creatively balances complex medical discussion.with solid, down-to-earth prose," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Knopf hc, LJ 10/1/10.-Ed.]-Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Choice
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
The Mind's Eye, like other books (e.g., Musicophilia, CH, Apr'08, 45-4287) by eminent neurologist Sacks (Columbia Univ. Medical Center), explores the linkages between brain and behavior. It evaluates visual processing, particularly its deprivation and the body's responses to this. Sacks examines the consequences of aphasia (problems recognizing language), prosopagnosia (difficulty interpreting faces), loss of stereopsis (seeing depth with both eyes), and finally, partial (one eye) or complete blindness. Rather than just looking at the results of damage or disconnection, the book focuses on what happens after--on learning, reorganization, and the compensation that people make when their sensory world is so disrupted. Despite what looks like terrible lack or loss, a person can rise above the deprivation and lead a full and, in some cases, distinguished life. Not everyone reacts the same way; for instance, some blind people are excellent at visual imaging; others can apparently "write" on a visual "screen"; still others shift their focus to other senses and enhance them. This intriguing account of plasticity is interwoven with historical asides about visual theorists along with some of the author's own experiences. It makes a fascinating mosaic reflecting how brain and behavior work and a ringing endorsement of the human spirit. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. J. A. Mather University of Lethbridge
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Sacks (Neurology and Psychiatry/Columbia Univ.; Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, 2007, etc.) once again uses the experiences shared with him by patients and others to probe "the complex workings of the brain and its astounding ability to adapt and overcome disability."The author provides six case histories of patients with intriguing vision problems, beginning with the story of a 67-year-old concert pianist who consulted him over her loss of the ability to read musicalthough she could still perform it brilliantly from memory, and even transpose a Haydn string quartet piece which she played on the piano. She also suffered from increasing spatial disorientation and difficulty recognizing everyday items. MRI tests showed increasing neurologic damage, but this did not lessen her keen insight into her own condition, even though her ability to manage independently declined. In "Face-Blind," Sacks examines his own congenital difficulty"trouble with faces and places"which remains a problem for him at age 76. He even once confused the face of a man seen through a window with a supposed mirror image of his own faceboth sported heavy beards. The author compares his adult experience losing stereoscopic vision after suffering a tumor in one eye to that of a previously cross-eyed woman who gained it after a correction allowed her to focus both eyes. Both described a flattened perception of depth when using only one eye. Similarly, Sacks ponders the ability of the blind to visualize scenes that are described to them in vivid detail. "If there is indeed a fundamental difference between experience and description," he writes, "between direct and mediated knowledge of the world, how is it that language can be so powerful?"As usual with Sacks, an absorbing attempt to unravel the complexities of the human mind.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Sacks, famous for combining his knowledge as a physician and his compassion for human stories of coping with neurological disorders, offers case histories of six individuals adjusting to major changes in their vision. A renowned pianist has lost the ability to read music scores and must cope with the fear of an ever-shrinking life as her vision worsens. A prolific writer develops word blindness and is unable to read even what he himself writes, forcing him to develop memory books in his mind, adaptations that he later incorporates into his fiction writing. Sacks recalls his own struggle to cope with a tumor in his eye that left him unable to perceive depth. He includes diary entries and drawings of his harrowing experience. Sacks, author of the acclaimed Musicophilia (2007), among other titles, combines neurobiology, psychology, and psychiatry in this riveting exploration of how we use our vision to perceive and understand the world and our place in it and how our brains teach us to see those things we need to lead a complete, fulfilled life.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist