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 Excellent Read Oct 28, 2009
Oliver Sacks is my new favorite author. His writing style is like a conversation with an old friend. A recent PBS program included his case histories of a few very interestingly musical people. This book continues from there, with personal experiences tied together with analysis of brain function and processing.
Fascinating Oct 25, 2009
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks is a fascinating book that reads as easily as a novel, although Sacks is a British neurologist who is discussing what he has observed in scores of patients for whom music is therapeudic in many unpredictable, unforeseeable ways. Some are victims of severe accidents, strokes, illness, paranoia, lightning strikes, or genetic diseases. Many of these patients have become suddenly gifted in music in some way or other, or their love for one type of music suddenly changes to a drastically different type which proves to have a healing affect on them. The book is enormous in the impact of Dr. Sacks findings, for the field of medicine and psychology and for anyone interested or gifted in music. When one says he is born with the gift of music, Dr. Sacks agrees that some actually are. This book is a wonderful read. We are actually tuned physically by the music we hear or play. And some specially gifted people are born with the ability to hear music that has never been played and then create it. Others find this is a strange gift as the result of a bad accident or illness. Amazing! I'm glad he has actually studied and documented these patients and their phenomenons for medical history.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Pure Joy to Read Sep 27, 2009
While writing this book review I cannot help but remember the many episodes of "Reading Rainbow" that I watched as a child. Although the subject material of this book is slightly more complex than the books on that program, the feeling of nostalgia is unavoidable. I found Oliver Sacks' latest composition a pure joy to read. Within its 385 pages he expounds on some of the many neurological conditions that he has observed over his lifetime, relating to music. Most of these cases describe the conditions of others, however a few illustrate disorders with which Sacks himself was afflicted. Although some detail is lacking concerning these cases, this is perfectly understandable, considering the target audience for this book is the general population. Sacks does not attempt to answer the long asked question of why we love music, but instead hopes to provide his readers with a greater understanding of the power of music over the human psyche.
I was greatly touched by the story of Clive Wearing; he was a musician who unfortunately contracted herpes encephalitis, a disease that devastated the region of his brain concerned with memory. As a result of the illness, he suffered from retro and anterograde amnesias leaving him with a memory span of only a few seconds. In an attempt to gain some control over his disorder, Clive kept a journal of his thoughts, however the journal proved only to reveal the severity of his condition, for each entry would simply claim that he was finally awake and all previous such claims were false. Over many years and after moving to a small country residence for the brain injured, Clive learned that if he kept his mind busy in a perpetual conversation he could preserve some of his memory. Clive's wife, Deborah, described this state as being posed upon a "tiny platform ... above the abyss", for if he paused in his conversation he would invariably fall into the abyss once more. Music also proved to support Clive's memory, for example if asked if he could play Bach's "Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues" he would claim that he could not, but once placed in front of a piano his memory of the piece would generally return and the momentum of the music would propel him to continue. Recently, Clive has shown gradual improvement in his memory retention, demonstrating a memory span of up to 15 minutes and an ability to retain new semantic memories; which forces one to wonder, what portions of Clive's brain could be taking on new functionality in order to allow for this improvement?
Sacks also writes of the power of music to increase motor control in those afflicted with movement disorders. Tourette 's syndrome is a neurological condition that endows a person with uncontrollable physical and vocal tics, the severity of the condition, in some, may become so great as to hinder their ability to function normally in society. By the age of seven, Nick van Bloss' Tourette's had progressed to the extent that he began to exhibit explosive tics in class, for which he received a great deal of ridicule and bullying. Soon after his family purchased a piano, he discovered that while playing, his tics would simply melt away, enabling him to obtain some normalcy in life. Every day at school, Nick would "tic, vibrate, and verbally explode," come the end of the school day, exhausted, he would run home to his piano and play for hours on end, partially for the love of music, but mostly as a means of escape. Nick found he could redirect and focus his compulsions to touch towards playing the piano. Today, Nick estimates to have some 40,000 tics a day, seemingly a behavior not to be desired, but he recognizes the essential role Tourette's has played in his love for the piano and his music career.
In 1966 Sacks started work at Beth Abraham Hospital where eighty or so patients with encephalitis lethargica entered his care. Most appeared "absolutely motionless, frozen in a trance like state," though others exhibited the opposite symptoms, those of continuous excessive motion. Though seemingly in a trance like state, it was their perception of time that was skewed, many believed to be functioning normally, it was only when they observed the revolution of hands on a clock that they knew otherwise. However, it was common knowledge amongst the staff that these patients could move on occasion, for which music proved to be the best catalyst. Remarkably, music enabled some who "could scarcely utter a syllable," to sing with full force and expression, and others who could barely take a step, to dance with fluid motion. However, if the rhythm of this music were too strong, the patients might become entrained by the beat, helplessly moving to the tempo.
The literary structure of this book is interesting in itself. As opposed to a long dialogue, in which he might introduce a set of characters and tell a story, it's a lot of little cases that he has observed over many years. As such, when reading the book, one gains the sensation (at least I did :)) that he is having a private conversation with Dr. Sacks, while sharing a pot of tea. Except, rather than listening to your questions and answering them, he anticipates them, ready to insert a small reference to another neuroscientist's research relating to the case. With each chapter the reader gains exposure to another dimension by which music can affect our lives. In one chapter the reader will learn of those who have experienced music hallucinations, whereas in another he will learn of those who are completely blind to music, to whom Mozart and rattling cans may be indistinguishable. I highly recommend this book. It was thoroughly well written, all of the neurological conditions were presented in a clear and understandable manner, and it lends the reader a greater respect for the power of music over the mind.
Kindle has mastered footnotes Aug 30, 2009
I was very pleased to see that the Kindle version has handled footnotes just like you would expect. Other publishers should take note --- a friend has Warren Buffet's book and was very disappointed in the accessibility of the footnotes.
2 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Badly written... Disappointing! Aug 26, 2009
I read it in french.
I began this book pleasure and spirit, impassioned by the subject... The book starts rather well with the first chapter then what a disappointment!
The author who starts with a scientific step ends up shelling a catalog of pathologies having more or less a relationship with the subject, then that leaves in all the directions and the end is well neglected. He spends more time giving his opinion or tells his own adventures (What him arrived from there at this Mister between the musical hallucinations until the loss of pleasure at the listening of the music!.) He supports sometimes his remarks by mails sent by people who quotes their own experiences. What a step pseudo-scientist! And then, he can thank these people for having written a quarter of the book. He should transfer royalties to them! In short, that one would have been happier if Antonio Damasio Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain or Christophe André had written the book so much this one quickly becomes uninteresting.
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