Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf
by Oliver W. Sacks
published
1990
by HarperCollins Publishers
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binding
Paperback, 208 pages
isbn
0060973471
(isbn13: 9780060973476)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 383)
Read in April, 2008
The subtitle of this book is: "A journey into the world of the deaf". Written in three parts at different points in Sacks' exposure and familiarity with deaf culture, it's filled with the perfect mixture of his pure human curiosity and his neurological expertise. It feels as if the reader is meant to learn along with Sacks as he explores the topic. He writes about the history of the treatment and education of deaf people, explaining how the non-deaf world's view of deafness and sign la...more
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recommended to Jenny by:
Laurel
recommends it for: pregant ladies, folks with no idea about deaf studies
recommends it for: pregant ladies, folks with no idea about deaf studies
I wish Oliver Sacks were my grandfather and I could go to him at his rocker in front of a roaring fire and have him tell stories of people and their brains. This book works somewhat as a story even though its more of a science and history text because Sacks puts a lot of the dry factual stuff in endnote form (and believe me, the endnotes take up half the book. I was tempted to razor the spine so I wouldn't have to flip back and forth all the time) and in the body text he tells stories of people ...more
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When I was a child my cousin asked me if I would rather be blind or deaf. I didn't hesitate, I would much rather be deaf, I thought - a world of perpetual darkness was to be avoided at all costs.
To be honest, I never really thought about this question again until reading this book. I had no idea what costs deafness can bring with it.
Sacks go through many of these costs and explains, in remarkably simple language, some of the 'age dependent' structures that form our minds - how certain r...more
To be honest, I never really thought about this question again until reading this book. I had no idea what costs deafness can bring with it.
Sacks go through many of these costs and explains, in remarkably simple language, some of the 'age dependent' structures that form our minds - how certain r...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
people with language or minds
Not done yet, so this is a temp. The subject is facinating (to me) and important (to everyone) and Sacks has that greatly excited tone of his that makes you think, probably rightly, that everything about the human mind is so *facinating*. The difficulty with this book is formating. In the edition I'm reading, there are footnotes (I love me the foot-notes, don't get it twisted) that take up as much as half the page, often running into the feet of subsequent pages. So lots of tangents and flip...more
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Read in June, 2006
Fascinating insights into the world of the deaf... you begin to appreciate the intricacies of sign language. I have learned it is truely a language; not just a pictorial pantomime of symbols, but a complex 3D movie of idiosyncratic edits, expressions, and points of view that is not bound or restricted emotionally in any way... it has equal access to as many expressions as spoken language... nay I have learned that sign can do more than spoken language. I have also learned that without language w...more
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Read in April, 2008
'Seeing Voices' is Oliver Sacks' essay on sign language, divided into three parts: one, history of sign language; two, sign language as natural evolutional consequences of deaf people's neurological consequences; three, revolution of deaf culture and communities.
Sacks is known for his ability to move readers by capturing subjective, personal experiential aspects neuronal disorder. His famous books are among others: 'The Man Who Mistook His Wive for a Hat and The Awakenings.
Sacks is known for his ability to move readers by capturing subjective, personal experiential aspects neuronal disorder. His famous books are among others: 'The Man Who Mistook His Wive for a Hat and The Awakenings.
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I learned a great amount about the history of the culture from Chapter 1, and was excited about the revolutionary movement of the people in Chapter 3. Chapter 2 is very technical and about how the brain makes sense of language which was helpful, but alot to trod through. Ultimately though, useful in my pursuits of working with deaf actors.
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Oliver Sacks is always a gem, and I'm interested in sign and in Deaf culture, but this book was a little too pedantic and footnoted for me to be able to focus on it. I usually eat that sort of thing up, so I don't know what happened here. However, the final chapter on the Galluedet uprising in '88 was really inspiring and great.
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
those interested in sign language and/or psychology
Fascinating. I was particularly interested in the alternative theories in left/right brain function toward the end -- instead of the more or less simple dichotomy we hear usually (creative vs. logical, etc), it presented a theory of left brain as mastery and right as creative adapter.
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Tanya by:
Marcia Marshall
Although this book drags somewhat in the middle from all the technical writing, I was very interested in learning about how our brain processes language, spoken and signed, and how much the learning of a language, any language, influences the depths of our thoughts.
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Read in January, 2003
Oliver Sacks has this unfortunate habit of puting 1/4-1/3 of the content of his books into footnotes. Lengthy footnotes, which provide almost a parallel narrative, are interesting in the postmodern sense, but I don't think that's what he's aiming for.
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This is a great book for anyone wishing to understand the life of a deaf person. I saw a lot of myself in this book. Mr. Sacks did a fantastic job of explaining the complications of the silent world us deafies live in. I'd recommend it to anyone.
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recommends it for:
anyone interested in the brain
A book to change how you understand language and deafness, and how language shapes thought.
About 1/3 of every page is footnotes, so be forewarned. Not a breezy, light read, and it rewards thoughtful attention.
About 1/3 of every page is footnotes, so be forewarned. Not a breezy, light read, and it rewards thoughtful attention.
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Read in September, 2004
recommends it for:
brain enthusiasts
not just a look into the deaf world but really a look into how the brian processes language both visual and auditory...excellent and quick read.
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Read in February, 2002
I never finishhed this book. It is rather academic, but very interesting -- how senses work.
Not bedtime readinf.
Not bedtime readinf.
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Read in December, 2006
you'll be wanting to learn sign language or at least have a better sense of how a deaf person sees the world
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
hearies
Mind blowing connections between hearing, seeing, language, development, and other stuff that brains do.
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Read in January, 2000
This is a delightful revelation of the world of those who communicate by sight rather than sound.
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A book I will never forget. I read every footnote. Sacks opens a world I never thought about.
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I really liked this book and its very eye opening into the world of the deaf.
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