Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
by Oliver W. Sacks
|
|
| published
|
November 2nd 2007
by Picador
|
| binding
| Hardcover |
| isbn
|
0330418378
(isbn13: 9780330418379)
|
| ebook |
|
| pages
| 400 |
| date added
|
07-23-07
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
other reviews
(showing 1-20 of 773)
Read in January, 2008
Sacks is, for me, a perfect meeting of a science writer and a writer of creative non-fiction. He has an equal interest in telling an affecting, human story and with exploring how (and why) the brain works. While lots of science writing is dry and objective (as it should be) and while mainstream feature writing often ignores the more complicated science stuff, Sacks is a rare talent who has a penchant for story telling and for explaining the newest research on the brain. He doesn’t condescend, ...more
Sacks is, for me, a perfect meeting of a science writer and a writer of creative non-fiction. He has an equal interest in telling an affecting, human story and with exploring how (and why) the brain works. While lots of science writing is dry and objective (as it should be) and while mainstream feature writing often ignores the more complicated science stuff, Sacks is a rare talent who has a penchant for story telling and for explaining the newest research on the brain. He doesn’t condescend, and he doesn’t mind forming personal relationships with his subjects.
In Musicophilia, Sacks focuses on the mysterious and fascinating connection between music and the brain. Through studying musical oddities in patients, he hopes, we can hope to better understand our greater relationship with music - something that, although it is universal among cultures, doesn’t seem to have a clear function or origin.
For example, the book opens with a middle-aged man who is struck by lightening. He isn’t badly hurt, but since the accident, he’s been obsessed with the urge to play the piano. He’s never really played before or had an interest in music, but suddenly he’s up all night composing and trying to get better. Why has this happened? Why is unaffected except for this urge, which takes over his life? Brain scans show that his left frontal lobe has been damaged and Sacks hypothesizes that the left hemisphere of the brain might actually inhibit the more creative and musical right side of the brain. Left brain damage might lead to more “freedom” in the right brain.
The book moves on from there to cover a huge spectrum of diseases, phenomenones, and rarities - spanning from music therapy for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s, to people who suffer from musical hallucinations, to people with perfect pitch, to people with amusica (to them, music sounds like noise - Nabokov suffered from it), to musical savants. The structures of the chapters are very satisfying to me: they start with a story of an individual and then, by the end of the segment, lead to a more general description of the science behind the patient’s symptoms.
One of the more fascinating chapters covers children with William’s Syndrome, which affects about one out of 10,000 people. These people, who all have strangely elfin features, suffer from severe mental disabilities: they can’t ad 5 + 3, they can’t draw a square, they can’t tie their shoes. They have IQs around 60. However, they also tend to be very verbal, very social, and exceptionally musical. Most have perfect pitch and start composing as toddlers. Unlike some cases of severe autism who show a more mechanical and isolated musical talent, patients with William’s Syndrome love to play music in groups - within a community. Sacks visits a camp for children with William’s Syndrome - which is a constant drum circle, sing-along, and musical wrapped up in one.
As in all of his tales, Sacks is sure to find the hope and humanity in even the most difficult patients. One man, an amnesiac who has a short-term memory of only a few seconds, can only stay present within himself while he plays the piano.
More importantly, Sacks doesn’t see his patients as freaks or abnormalities who are simply interesting to read about, but rather as windows into how we can collectively understand how we function. In Musicophilia, I was truly moved by what I read - both by the humanity of the patients and by the awesomeness of the science.
...less
Read in January, 2008
“Musicophlia: Tales of Music of the Brain” has got to be one of the most confusing yet interesting books I’ve ever read.
The main strength of the book is the stories the author, Oliver Sacks, tells us in the book. Tony Cicoria, a man that had no previous experience with music, got struck by lightning one day, was dead briefly, but brought back to life, and two or three days later, he has a sudden desire to listen to piano music, eventually getting piano lessons and starts composing. Sal...more
“Musicophlia: Tales of Music of the Brain” has got to be one of the most confusing yet interesting books I’ve ever read.
The main strength of the book is the stories the author, Oliver Sacks, tells us in the book. Tony Cicoria, a man that had no previous experience with music, got struck by lightning one day, was dead briefly, but brought back to life, and two or three days later, he has a sudden desire to listen to piano music, eventually getting piano lessons and starts composing. Salimah M. was mostly a busy, uptight woman, who was bothered by the smallest things but after she had a tumor removed, she became a much happier, more caring, and sympathetic person. She also had a “vaguely musical life” (as she calls it) before the tumor removal, but after, she wanted to listen to music, go to concerts, and listen to classical music much more often. Basically, these stories are about patients of Sacks that have weird encounters with music and their effects on the brain. The stories have really out of the ordinary qualities, which makes me want to read on. However…
What I really don’t like is when he goes into the science of the subject. Sacks just seems to assume we know what he’s talking about and fails to go in-depth to describe what is going on with his patients. I know he’s a smart guy; he just needs to show it a bit more in the book. I’ve always had to skip through the science aspect of the story because I didn’t think I would be able to comprehend what he’s trying to say, or just fails to make it interesting. Another large weakness of the book is the writing. His writing tends to be very dry; there’s no special dictation, no sentence variation, nothing that makes the book more compelling. The only thing that kept me reading was the stories of his patients.
Overall, Musicophilia can be thought provoking at times, but the writing and lack of details just seem to ruin it.
...less
This is my first oliver sacks -- I always meant to read the Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat but alas never got around to it.
I love mr. sacks' delightful anecdotal storytelling and his intellect that makes fresh and accessible the study of the brain. It *almost* makes the issues dealt with in the book pleasant.
In a nutshell, this book is about the power of music, backed by many accounts from the medical perspective of the interaction between music and the brain. It's hard to tell witho...more
This is my first oliver sacks -- I always meant to read the Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat but alas never got around to it.
I love mr. sacks' delightful anecdotal storytelling and his intellect that makes fresh and accessible the study of the brain. It *almost* makes the issues dealt with in the book pleasant.
In a nutshell, this book is about the power of music, backed by many accounts from the medical perspective of the interaction between music and the brain. It's hard to tell without a lot of background knowledge on mr sacks and his previous works, but it seems as if in part this book is a culmination of much of his previous works and observations.
A peripheral discussion that continued to dance through my head while reading this book is what is the "best" music to listen to? I kind of got the impression that classical music was most close to the primal drummings of the soul, but perhaps not. I mean mr sacks is an older fellow, and much of his observations were of patients from his earlier days practising, so is it fair to assume that classical music had a more august position in those days and was thus more clearly regarded as the truest form of music? Would any music do, any beat and rhythm that strikes a cord with the individual?
I came away from this book wanting to listen to less podcasts and more music. I came away yet again regretting that I've never tried to play an instrument in my life. Ultimately, though, I came away with much more reverance for the power of music, more convinced that music just might be the surest and most direct path to self and the soul....less
bookshelves:
40-books-in-2008
Read in May, 2008
after months of anticipation, i finally read this book over the course of 4 days. overall, i'm a bit disappointed; however, i couldn't describe my expectations with much specificity.
this book made me think, as i am quite drawn to books that make me think about my placement and purpose in this world. oliver sacks created a landscape, a visual, of a world i am completely blind to (less so now). losing one's mental facilities is a strange process - but the descriptions sacks provides of musi...more
after months of anticipation, i finally read this book over the course of 4 days. overall, i'm a bit disappointed; however, i couldn't describe my expectations with much specificity.
this book made me think, as i am quite drawn to books that make me think about my placement and purpose in this world. oliver sacks created a landscape, a visual, of a world i am completely blind to (less so now). losing one's mental facilities is a strange process - but the descriptions sacks provides of music aiding during this process is astounding. i am so grateful that there are people like sacks and all those therapists mentioned in the book who take time out to help people find meaning in their lives. particularly heart warming were the descriptions of musicians with focal dystonia and patients with forms of dementia, like alzheimer's disease. i recommend this book to anyone who wants to hear these amazing stories.
on the down side, sacks' writing lacks much of the depth i sought out in reading this book. i wanted to know the specific brain regions, with much more rigorous description than what he provided. i also felt as if many of the stories (toward the beginning of the book) simply end with "and he/she has learned to live with these musical hallucinations," rather depressing, right? i learned a great deal, nonetheless...
my advice - sort of skim over the first section and half of the second section. worthwhile chapters for me: musical savants, synesthesia, music and amnesia, music and aphasia, musician's dystonia, and the final chapter on music & emotion dealing with dementia.
sacks surely hasn't lost his whimsy, and he delivers as he does in "the man who mistook his wife for a hat." don't expect science, though, just beautiful stories :)
<3...less
To be brutally honest, I’m not really impressed or finding this enjoyable to read. What a disappointment! I had this book on my to read list for many months. What I was looking for was a scientific interpretation of how music/and not just classical music either— affects our emotions, actions, reactions and how the process of listening or remembering a tune is an ubiquitous power that is beyond any other creative pursuit from writing, painting, sculpting, dancing or art of the day.
This...more
To be brutally honest, I’m not really impressed or finding this enjoyable to read. What a disappointment! I had this book on my to read list for many months. What I was looking for was a scientific interpretation of how music/and not just classical music either— affects our emotions, actions, reactions and how the process of listening or remembering a tune is an ubiquitous power that is beyond any other creative pursuit from writing, painting, sculpting, dancing or art of the day.
This book does however presents many vignettes 'tales' and antidotal evidence that the physician/author had observed. is probably my own fault to think that "tales" would mean memoir style tales.
I appreciate and admire his enthusiasm and love for music, but feel that in many ways I was sold on different package. A similar read although different subject would be ‘The New Yorker’s Jerome Groopman’s ‘Anatomy of Hope’. In many ways these two pieces of literature are carbon copies, both physician/authors present patient after patient and try to infuse the patient’s story with empirical evidence. My personality would rather either read a story/memoir or a piece of clear-cut nonfiction, but it borderline detests the mixing of the two.
So if you’re looking for story after story about some of the strange conditions the brain can produce in response to music — this book is for you. If you looking for something more academic search elsewhere.
Maybe I'm being a little harsh -- at least I now know why I'm so angry at the Nissan Xterra commercial that linked Hendrix's Voodoo Child with their sports utility. I'm still trying to get over this corporate brainwash.
Oh I'm sure Jimmy is still rollin in his grave after that ad.grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
...less
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
diehard fans of Oliver Sacks' writings only
I have to agree wholeheartedly with the reviews of Mike (3/18/08) and Ginnie (12/2007). Sacks presents here a somewhat rambling zoology of neurological observations relating to music, heavy on anecdote, light on peer-reviewed study, analysis, or interesting speculation. A typical example of this is Sacks' chapter on Williams Syndrome patients, in which Sacks reiterates the near-identical symptoms/traits of Steven, Meghan, Christian, Anne ("the eldest at forty-six"), Majestic, Debbie, T...more
I have to agree wholeheartedly with the reviews of Mike (3/18/08) and Ginnie (12/2007). Sacks presents here a somewhat rambling zoology of neurological observations relating to music, heavy on anecdote, light on peer-reviewed study, analysis, or interesting speculation. A typical example of this is Sacks' chapter on Williams Syndrome patients, in which Sacks reiterates the near-identical symptoms/traits of Steven, Meghan, Christian, Anne ("the eldest at forty-six"), Majestic, Debbie, Tomer, Pamela, et al. for 17 monotonous pages, without once delving into the basis of the condition, attempting generalizable principles about brain function/performance, or drawing any inferences beyond noting that Williams sufferers are highly-musical, empathic extroverts. Surely, with his extensive exposure to these individuals and familiarity with the brain's geography Sacks could hypothesize a bit about what makes us human?
Sacks' best chapter (and the one most worth reading) is the one on Music and Amnesia, in which he tells the tragic story of Clive Wearing, a man whose damaged amygdala has cost him 40+ years of memory along with all ability to make new memories (think "Memento," only much worse). However, this resonance derives less from Sacks himself than from Sacks' frequent quotation of Deborah Wearing's Forever Today: A Memoir of Love and Amnesia, to the extent of serving as a Cliff's Notes.
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind," misquoted G.W. Bush, to say nothing of one's frontal lobes. I had hoped that a reading of this book would have given me a better understanding of how brain function and music appreciation interrelate. Alas, after a superficial whirlwind tour of many things mental and musica,l all it has given me is a headache....less
Read in February, 2008
Oliver Sacks has been one of my favorite authors ever since I first read The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. I still completely amazed, and a little bit disturbed, when I think back to his account of the woman who lost her sense of proprioception - the internal body sense that lets you know your body is there, even when you have your eyes closed. No other author (since Proust) has explored the nuances of consciousness so carefully, nor pointed out how tenuous the our grip on reali...more
Oliver Sacks has been one of my favorite authors ever since I first read The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. I still completely amazed, and a little bit disturbed, when I think back to his account of the woman who lost her sense of proprioception - the internal body sense that lets you know your body is there, even when you have your eyes closed. No other author (since Proust) has explored the nuances of consciousness so carefully, nor pointed out how tenuous the our grip on reality can be.
I've enjoyed his other books that I've read, but his lost something since he wrote Man..". His subjects in that book were all his patients at one point - and that kind of clinical closeness gave a depth to his analysis that is slightly lacking in some of his later writing. The sense of amazement is still there, but it seems slightly shallower.
Musicophilia may have the same problem, but it more than compensates with the sheer enthusiasm that Sacks brings to the project. His love of music permeates the whole book, and his obsessiveness regarding the subject brings back the depth that he lost with clinical distance.
Certain chapters, such as the one on Synesthesia, rank as some of the best Sacks has written. He gives scientific backing to an idea often dismissed as myth, while at the same time bringing his usual humanistic bent - I was particular enchanted by a description by a synesthete of a conversation in his first grade class, in which he said he was "counting the colors until friday." Really fantastic stuff....less
Read in February, 2008
recommended to Erin by:
A geneticist with whom I work
recommends it for:
anyone
This book was fantastic. To think about the brain and music's power over us is incredible. Music plays a focal role in my life, and always has--I have played piano from the age of 5 years and also studied flute, performing in college. I would not have met the love of my life were it not for my connection to music and musicians who are friends.
My personal brain "jukebox" enhanced my interest in the patient stories shared by Dr. Sacks. I have songs in my head at all times, sometimes ...more
This book was fantastic. To think about the brain and music's power over us is incredible. Music plays a focal role in my life, and always has--I have played piano from the age of 5 years and also studied flute, performing in college. I would not have met the love of my life were it not for my connection to music and musicians who are friends.
My personal brain "jukebox" enhanced my interest in the patient stories shared by Dr. Sacks. I have songs in my head at all times, sometimes overpowering, sometimes I just wish they would go away or I could listen to something else internally. It's usually nonsensical songs which I would in no way categorize as being favorites...simply catchy tunes that won't go away. To deal with the tunes I make up lyrics to go with my current actions and sing the music out loud (e.g. lately all the lyrics I make up are about my dog, Kaspar, and for the past week we have focused on the tune alouette because it was mentioned once by a character in the damn book). In high school I began calling this tendency "Song for Every Occasion" with some days being more intense than others.
Because I work in genetics and am fascinated with the human body and disease process, I am intrigued by the role music plays as related to processing thoughts and related to "plain" spoken language. The patients with brain injury, inherited disease, or other neurologic difference and the stories of how music is different in their worlds makes for great reading.
This book is excellent because the patient vignettes personalize the clinical neuroscientific explanations. I would recommend it to everyone!
...less
Read in May, 2008
Oliver Sacks tells fascinating stories about fascinating people. This is, I assume, his appeal to most readers: human interest. These human interest stories are made fascinating, of course, by the neurological problems faced by their subjects. Thus, Sacks' readers can learn a lot about the human brain along the way--but these biology lessons are secondary to the stories that he tells. Or at least this is the case in Sacks' collections of essays about case studies: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,...more
Oliver Sacks tells fascinating stories about fascinating people. This is, I assume, his appeal to most readers: human interest. These human interest stories are made fascinating, of course, by the neurological problems faced by their subjects. Thus, Sacks' readers can learn a lot about the human brain along the way--but these biology lessons are secondary to the stories that he tells. Or at least this is the case in Sacks' collections of essays about case studies: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, An Anthropologist on Mars, and so on. But in Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, the book's organzing principle is reversed: Individual chapters center on neurological phenomoena with case studies serving in supporting roles. This distinction may seem slight, but it has a major effect on Sacks' writing. In his essay collections, the individual essays about particular cases are uniformly interesting, as in each case Sacks' writing is grounded by an interesting story that he has to tell. In Musicophilia, on the other hand, just because Sacks has a neurological phenomenon to discuss does not necessarily mean that he has much interesting to say about it. The result is chapters that are barely more than fragments. A more common problem, though, is that Sacks has too much to say about a particular phenomenon--or at least more than he can figure out how to organize effectively. And there are, of course, chapters where he strikes a nice balance; these resemble his case-study-driven essays. BOTTOM LINE: Much of this book is good, but as a whole it is quite uneven....less
Read in December, 2007
Dr. Sacks has written about brains for decades now. He's also a decent, enthusiastic amateur musician. In Musicophilia, the good Dr. brings the brain and music together to cover what can go wrong and also oh so right when music and the brain get together.
Dr. Sacks first covers the various problems when the mind either fails to process music "normally" or attaches a variety of extra sensory reactions to music. His experience is both anecdotal and academic as he relies both on his...more
Dr. Sacks has written about brains for decades now. He's also a decent, enthusiastic amateur musician. In Musicophilia, the good Dr. brings the brain and music together to cover what can go wrong and also oh so right when music and the brain get together.
Dr. Sacks first covers the various problems when the mind either fails to process music "normally" or attaches a variety of extra sensory reactions to music. His experience is both anecdotal and academic as he relies both on his own experiences as a neurophysiologist who has known and treated musical illnesses, and also his training as a networked professional involved in the studies of varous types of amusia and hypermusicality. I was also very interested in the positive corrolation between the higher occurrences of absolute pitch in those populations which speak tonal languages (like Mandarin).
Of special interest to me were the closing chapters on various aspects of music therapy in geriatric patients, autistics, those who suffer various types of dementia, and the very interesting introduction (for me) to those people at the opposite end from the autistics, those who have Williams' syndrome.
Some criticize the book for offering more questions than answers, but even the questions offer patterns from which the thoughtful reader can see a certain wondrous calculus emerge, a uniquely human and late-appearing link between what it means to think and how music is inextricably linked to our humanness....less
bookshelves:
nonfiction
Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
adults
This book was amazing. After reading it, I really want to track down some of Sacks' other works, such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He gives interesting commentary -- both from his own perspective and from what he has observed in his patients -- on music. I'm just floored at the number of things that can enhance or interfere with someone's enjoyment of even a simple tune, and it's nothing short of astonishing that things seem to go right as often as they do, with ever...more
This book was amazing. After reading it, I really want to track down some of Sacks' other works, such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He gives interesting commentary -- both from his own perspective and from what he has observed in his patients -- on music. I'm just floored at the number of things that can enhance or interfere with someone's enjoyment of even a simple tune, and it's nothing short of astonishing that things seem to go right as often as they do, with everything that can go wrong. Sacks relates stories on how music therapy, if only temporarily, can open the door to communication and fluidity to those with autism, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and other forms of demential. He also goes into disorders, such as Williams syndrome, which can be best described as practically a polar opposite of a condition such as autism or conditions in the spectrum of autistic disorders. In brief -- individuals with Williams Syndrome are often very articulate, very friendly, and many have a very deep-seated apprecation for music. Some even have phenomenal musical talents. But ask them to do something like tie their shoe, or draw a triangle -- they can't do it. Then Sacks also edscribes individuals with no sensitivity or response to music whatsoever, and even sites a few instances where certain types of music actually trigger seizures or other health maladies. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology, music or music therapy....less
bookshelves:
50-books-2008
Read in March, 2008
Dr. Sacks' Musicophilia covers a wide range of tremendously interesting instances of musics odd effects on the mind, however it's anecdotal nature is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. Because the stories fly by quickly it is easy to tear through a number of them and find your self saying, "Huh. Weird." But because it lacks a thorough exploration of many of the stories, the anecdotes often remain nothing greater than anecdotes. Most tend to involve Dr. Sacks stati...more
Dr. Sacks' Musicophilia covers a wide range of tremendously interesting instances of musics odd effects on the mind, however it's anecdotal nature is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. Because the stories fly by quickly it is easy to tear through a number of them and find your self saying, "Huh. Weird." But because it lacks a thorough exploration of many of the stories, the anecdotes often remain nothing greater than anecdotes. Most tend to involve Dr. Sacks stating the name of a patient he has had, a brief explanation of what their condition is, (sometimes) a statement of how this condition has appeared in other places, then he states what he suggested to the patient. In most case, the stories don't even run this deep. If Sacks spent more time with a few of the stories, instead of so little time with so many, it would be possible that this book could reach statements bigger than "Huh. Weird." but as the book stands (without even a formal conclusion on his thoughts connecting these fragments) it lacks centering and depth. It's too bad, too, because some of these stories are really pretty strange....less
recommended to Sami by:
My Mum
recommends it for:
Any one whos interested in music, or even neurology
I got this book for christmas from my mum who made all of my christmas presents music related. At first glance the book was pretty daunting due to its massive size, i know i wouldn't have even started it if i didn't have such a passion for music. Now that i have finished reading it though, it is one of the best books i have ever read. Its not really one definite story, instead its a collection of stories all focused around one topic, music and the brain. The great thing about this book is that w...more
I got this book for christmas from my mum who made all of my christmas presents music related. At first glance the book was pretty daunting due to its massive size, i know i wouldn't have even started it if i didn't have such a passion for music. Now that i have finished reading it though, it is one of the best books i have ever read. Its not really one definite story, instead its a collection of stories all focused around one topic, music and the brain. The great thing about this book is that within the topic, there are subtopics such as, "Fear of Music: Musicogenic Epilepsy" and "Speech and song: Aphasia and Music Therapy". This means that you can find the topics you are really interested and read those first, and then tackle the topics in between. This is the approach i took and i found that it helped me keep focus. Due to the heavy Neurological concepts introduced the book and get a little confusing but mostly all of it is explained. Also it helps to have maybe a little musical knowledge, there were some parts that i saw as confusing for those who don't know alot about music(Like the names of notes, what an octave is, etc. Overall i think this is a every interesting book and should be read by anyone who has ever wondered if music effects the brain. I guarantee that at least one thing is this book will change your perception on the importance of music in everyday life....less
Read in November, 2007
Musicophelia is an enchanting read, though one is struck more by the phenomena depicted—amusias, musical hallucinations, comatose patients suddenly "awakened" by nothing more than a familiar melody—than the manner of their depiction. Sacks has always been lauded for his fluid, personable style, and for good reason, but in the wake of classics such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Uncle Tungsten, his writing seems excessively florid and repetitive—neither tight enoug...more
Musicophelia is an enchanting read, though one is struck more by the phenomena depicted—amusias, musical hallucinations, comatose patients suddenly "awakened" by nothing more than a familiar melody—than the manner of their depiction. Sacks has always been lauded for his fluid, personable style, and for good reason, but in the wake of classics such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Uncle Tungsten, his writing seems excessively florid and repetitive—neither tight enough nor substantial enough to match the subject he loves so well.
My other criticism is that for all it's heartstopping wonder, Musicophelia rarely buckles down to the core of things. Only at specific points does Sacks truly explore the philosophical or psychological implications of his subjects. I confess I've encountered many of these "clinical tales" in his earlier books and articles, and hence, the net result feels to me more like a compendium or "greatest hits" album rather than a fully realized examination like Migraine. The key questions—what do organized tones mean to us? why have we evolved to perceive and celebrate rhythm? what is the relationship between music and language?—are touched upon, but only superficially discussed.
...less
Read in November, 2007
I enjoyed "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat," and so was very excited to read this book after hearing Dr. Sacks do several NPR interviews. He has a way of taking dry, clinical cases and terminology and making them very human stories. What is “normal” is so physiologically based, and therefore very fluid to him as a neurologist, that in reading this book, one really does start to realise that "normalcy" is easily taken for granted.
This subject is of course more...more
I enjoyed "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat," and so was very excited to read this book after hearing Dr. Sacks do several NPR interviews. He has a way of taking dry, clinical cases and terminology and making them very human stories. What is “normal” is so physiologically based, and therefore very fluid to him as a neurologist, that in reading this book, one really does start to realise that "normalcy" is easily taken for granted.
This subject is of course more interesting to me than usual, since music has been a part of my life since birth. He points out that music is hardwired into us, in very unexpected parts of the brain, and that as far as biology is concerned, music is useless and therefore even more fascinating. In addition “to this largely unconscious structural appreciation of music is added an often intense and profound emotional reaction to music. ‘The inexpressible depth of music,’ Schopenhauer wrote, ‘so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain…Music expresses only the quintessence of life and of its events, never these themselves.’ [And:] listening to music is not just auditory and emotional, it is motoric as well.”...less
Read in February, 2008
This is the first Sacks book I've read. First thing first, I do know a little about the brain thanks to a science major, but without prior knowledge, I would have gotten lost in Sack's brain jargon. Though it is not crucial to the case studies to understand the different brain lobes and anatomical parts, it adds another layer to each story which not all audiences can appreciate. The same holds for a basic understand of music. I've done quite a bit of music in my time which helped propel the stor...more
This is the first Sacks book I've read. First thing first, I do know a little about the brain thanks to a science major, but without prior knowledge, I would have gotten lost in Sack's brain jargon. Though it is not crucial to the case studies to understand the different brain lobes and anatomical parts, it adds another layer to each story which not all audiences can appreciate. The same holds for a basic understand of music. I've done quite a bit of music in my time which helped propel the story for me, but not for all audiences.
Like most books of the science case-study genre (Sacks, Groopman, etc), I find that I enjoy them better reading a chapter at a time and putting it down for stretches of time. I've discovered reading straight through these types of books jumbles the patients together and makes each story hard to recollect. It causes me to rush to the end or, in some cases, never finish the book at all. Thankfully, these books tend to have stand-alone chapters.
With that said, it was a fascinating read! The connection between music and the brain and subsequent behavioral effects were really interesting and have a stronger relationship than I had originally known. It may not be for all audiences, but it did grab my attention thanks to the intertwining of science and music. ...less
bookshelves:
non-fiction
Read in January, 2008
I wasn't hugely impressed with this. Sacks's writing sometimes gets extremely dry as he goes into the technicalities of how the brain functions. I found his other books, with chapters each covering a variety of conditions ("Anthropologist on Mars," "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"), to be much stronger, even though they were less consistent thematically. It seemed that at times Sacks had to stretch to find patients with some of the musical conditions he described -...more
I wasn't hugely impressed with this. Sacks's writing sometimes gets extremely dry as he goes into the technicalities of how the brain functions. I found his other books, with chapters each covering a variety of conditions ("Anthropologist on Mars," "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"), to be much stronger, even though they were less consistent thematically. It seemed that at times Sacks had to stretch to find patients with some of the musical conditions he described -- not a good sign, since some of his best work consists of describing individuals' conditions and then working out what might be causing them. He also borrowed heavily from cases described in his other works. It made me wonder, what would motivate someone to write a book if he didn't have the necessary new material?
...infants at six months can readily detect all rhythmic variations, but by twelve months their range has narrowed, albeit sharpened. They can now more easily detect the types of rhythms to which they have previously been exposed; they learn and internalize a set of rhythms for their culture. Adults find it harder still to perceive "foreign" rhythmic distinctions....less
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
adults
"Musicophilia Tales of Music and the Brain" uses case studies and personal observation/research to examine the relationship between music and the brain. Sachs describes the power music has to enrich the lives of people suffering from debilitating illnesses such as Autism or Alzheimers. He also looks at what happens when music "goes wrong" in the brain and explains things such as ear worms/brain worms where you just can't lose that tune that loops in your head. Sachs does n...more
"Musicophilia Tales of Music and the Brain" uses case studies and personal observation/research to examine the relationship between music and the brain. Sachs describes the power music has to enrich the lives of people suffering from debilitating illnesses such as Autism or Alzheimers. He also looks at what happens when music "goes wrong" in the brain and explains things such as ear worms/brain worms where you just can't lose that tune that loops in your head. Sachs does not have many positive things to say about speech language pathologists (I am an SLP) and seems to hold music therapists in a much higher regard labeling them as the therapists that use MIT (Melodic Intonation Therapy). Contrary to this thought, I (as well as my peers)frequently use MIT to try to elicit more verbal output from patients. It is a great tool that frequently provides good results. All in all it is a fascinating book that is detailed enough to interest those in the medical field but simple enough for the layperson to enjoy. Case studies give life to theory and fact. I particularly enjoyed the chapter in which Sachs presented case studies in which individuals actually "saw" music as colors...it was fascinating! Definitely a must read! ...less
I was excited enough about this book to buy the hardcover, and was unfortunately pretty disappointed. I'm a big Sacks fan - he seldom condescends to the reader and though he gets a little dry and science-heavy at times, I have a biology degree to help me out. But in this book, not only did he refuse to condescend he refused to explain at all. I found myself getting angrier and angrier every time I had to close my book and run over to my computer to google something in a passage to fully understa...more
I was excited enough about this book to buy the hardcover, and was unfortunately pretty disappointed. I'm a big Sacks fan - he seldom condescends to the reader and though he gets a little dry and science-heavy at times, I have a biology degree to help me out. But in this book, not only did he refuse to condescend he refused to explain at all. I found myself getting angrier and angrier every time I had to close my book and run over to my computer to google something in a passage to fully understand it. We get it, Sacks, you're a smart guy. Now stop expecting your readers to have neuroscience degree.
My other major complaint was that he followed his typical "collection of vignettes" format, and it just didn't work for an extended theme like this. Some of the patient examples he brought up were literally only a five minute phone call, and he didn't provide any real connection to the larger narrative. I found myself cursing his (lack of an) editor and finally put it down halfway through.
My boyfriend decided to read it next. He finished it, but later bought "Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination" by Robert Jourdain and said that that was the book "Musicophilia" should have been. ...less
Read in November, 2008
I don't think Sacks is a very good writer, but he does offer about 50 strange/bizarre cases of people who were born with some unusual ability, or gained it after an accident or illness.
A man struck by lightning at age 42, with little musical background, becomes a talented musician.
Some people can "see" music.
That is each note on the scale has a different color.
The note of A might be blue, B green, and so on.
And this color doesn't disrupt their normal vision,
that is ...more
I don't think Sacks is a very good writer, but he does offer about 50 strange/bizarre cases of people who were born with some unusual ability, or gained it after an accident or illness.
A man struck by lightning at age 42, with little musical background, becomes a talented musician.
Some people can "see" music.
That is each note on the scale has a different color.
The note of A might be blue, B green, and so on.
And this color doesn't disrupt their normal vision,
that is if they look at a blue wall and hear a yellow note, the wall doesn't look green to them.
They somehow <not really explained by the author> see both colors.
Many of these people are born that way and assume everyone see's music.
Other people "see" numbers as a "landscape",
starting with number one & going up,
at a certain number, say 87, the topography takes a sharp turn left or right.
Then at a higher number it makes another sharp turn.
And many other bizarre stories.
The author usually doesn't try to explain the organic basis of these abilities , rather he just tells what happened to the person, and then what result occured.
In many ways the lack of explanation made reading the book unsatisfying.
...less
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
3.68 (773 ratings)
avg rating
(this edition): 3.50
(4 ratings)
number of reviews: 274
other editions
[close]
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Hardcover)
isbn: 0676979785
[close]
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Hardcover)
isbn: 1400040817
[close]
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Audio CD)
isbn: 0739357395
