Bell's review
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver W. Sacks
Bell's review
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver W. Sacks
Bell's review
rating:
bookshelves:
health
very interesting neurological case studies that begged me to reconsider intelligence and "normalcy" particularly in terms of visual perception and its relationship to reality as well as the profound structure that the arts (he specifically mentions music, dance, story-telling and drawing) provide for those with the inability to form or develop conceptual frameworks. Indeed, it seems that the fine arts aren't just high-concepts of beauty and art, but healing mechanisms crucial to many of his patients' feeling whole or, as he mentions, "preserving [their] identity in adverse circumstances".
The brain is a fascinating subject, but the doctor's compassion and passion for his patients, for his field is inspiring to say the least. This book has raised several questions for me in terms of viewing people for what or who they are rather than who they are not. It was far from clinical which is probably the reason this book seems to have become a classic. (my book was ...more
The brain is a fascinating subject, but the doctor's compassion and passion for his patients, for his field is inspiring to say the least. This book has raised several questions for me in terms of viewing people for what or who they are rather than who they are not. It was far from clinical which is probably the reason this book seems to have become a classic. (my book was ...more
