Awakenings

by Oliver Sacks
Awakenings  
published 1999 by Vintage
binding Paperback
isbn 0375704051   (isbn13: 9780375704055)
pages 464
description It hardly seems fair that so many great doctors are also great writers. Perhaps it's qualities like sensitivity, craft, and dedication that keep physi...more
date added
12-20-06



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 454)



Chris
Awakenings: the full story behind the film: You'll probably have seen the Robert de Niro film. This is the original book by neurologist Oliver Sacks, describing the L-dopamine drug trials that awakened patients 'frozen' for decades by Parkinsonian symptoms. A harrowing but sympathetic account, the book has room for the complexities missed by the film. After dramatic initial awakenings, the unpredictability of drug reactions gave varied patient histories that ranged from disastrous relapse to mod...more
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Andrew
Andrew rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
07/19/07

Read in June, 2007
recommends it for: Psychiatrists
This book has a very good and lengthy prologue that introduces the concept of treating encephalitis lethargica. I enjoyed the Freudian and philosophical aspects of the prologue, which discusses new paradigms for medical treatment. The rest of the book is merely case-studies that support the prologue. Once the case-studies start, the book becomes laborious to get through.
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Seann
Seann rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
01/28/08

Read in September, 2007
I was drawn to this book after reading "A Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and the fact that the discovery of L-DOPA is a monumental event in medicine, however I thought Sacks wrote too much like a physician...too many medical terms. He also could have illustrated his point in a much shorter essay. I got tired of reading the same thing after a while.
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Brendan
Brendan rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
06/13/07

Read in June, 2007
One-hundred pages in or so, and I'm tired of the case study format of the book. I know there are some wonderful insights to be gleaned from these people's experiences with Parkinsonism, etc., and the effect of a drug that lifted them out of their perpetual stupors and then dropped them back in. But, well, I'm tired.
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Sandy
01/23/08

One of most fascinating books I've ever read. Makes you think about your mortality, memory, what you'd be like if you were different from yourself due to mental or physical illness. Long read, but so worth it. Find a book club or friend to read it with, because you'll want to talk about it.
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Angela
Angela rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/05/08

bookshelves: science-ish
"In 1817, Dr James Parkinson - a London physician - published his famous Essays on the Shaking Palsy, in which he portrayed, with a vividness and insight that have never been surpassed, the common, important, and singular condition we now know as Parkinson's disease."
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Bobby
Bobby rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
04/18/08

bookshelves: books-i-never-finished
Oliver Saks has a penchant for tangents. Many, many tangents.

I would have enjoyed a more linear approach to the awakenings rather than Saks telling you the outcome up front.
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Shelley
Shelley rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/05/08

awakenings is a book i have used to teach with in the classroom. all of sacks is interesting, this one though is my favorite because it reads like a novel.
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Chani
Chani rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
05/07/07

bookshelves: lit, science
Read in January, 1998
Read this after getting interested in it during freshman year bio. It was a little intense for me at the time, but a good read.
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Mckinsie
Mckinsie rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/09/08

Read in January, 2008
recommends it for: everyone who thinks about the reality of others
I love this author. He is a great scientist and he captures what a lot of docs seem to lose. curiousity and imagination.
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Mike
Mike rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/27/08

bookshelves: counseling
Read in January, 1983
Not his best, but a good first attempt at writing for a man who later became the best Neuro-psychiatrist in the country.
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Maggie
Maggie rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/09/08

Read in October, 2007
Really incredible, really tragic and hopeful. Gave me an entirely different understanding of illness.
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Jeremy
Jeremy rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
09/25/07

bookshelves: psychology
Read in January, 2007
recommends it for: most
Ethically disturbing and not at all like the movie. It is still a fascinating read.
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chris
chris rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/14/07

bookshelves: currently-reading
Read in March, 2007
AMAZING and wonderful. more later when i am not reading it.
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Earnest
Earnest rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
10/21/07

Read in June, 2006
Oliver sacks book on his work with L-Dopa... pretty good.
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Rere
Rere added it
01/19/08

Read in March, 2008
I've seen the movie many years ago.
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R.
R. marked it as to-read
11/16/07

bookshelves: to-read
Library deaccession purchase.
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Sylvia
Sylvia rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/18/07

 

Sarah
02/04/08

bookshelves: currently-reading
 

Russ
Russ rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
08/27/07

 


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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.96 (319 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.96 (310 ratings)
number of reviews: 17






other editions

Awakenings (Paperback)
Awakenings (Hardcover)
Awakenings (Hardcover)