This is another delightful read from Oliver Sacks. Yet again he mulls over a subject -- this time vision -- and peppers it with lots of interesting case studies to put flesh on bones. In fact, this time he puts himself front and centre and talks of an eye tumour he developed and how over the course of five years it evolved to take away his stereoscopic vision. If you are an Oliver Sacks fan, as I am, this is yet another "must read" book.
I love the way Sacks peppers his book with unique observations, strange facts, and erudite words. He makes you pay attention. And you learn many wonderful things. It is thanks to Sacks that I was able to come to my mother's bedside and immediately diagnose "left neglect" syndrome. I certainly didn't get any help from the medical staff in understanding her problems. But books like the ones from Oliver Sacks prepare you for the wild affronts that life hands out. And in this book Sacks makes it personal as he walks you through his experience of blindness.
I've been curious about face blindness -- prosopagnosia -- and he has a chapter in this book updating his earlier stories, introducting more cases, and, to my delight, talking about his own condition. He's a wonderfully quirky man and over the years he has let more of himjself into his books. This book is nearly half dedicated to his own conditions. So you get a much greater introduction to Oliver Sacks in this book. At least his conditions. His personal story is better handled in the book Uncle Tungsten.
My first introduction to Oliver Sacks was over twenty years ago when I read his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. All of his books are quirky, insightful, fascinating, and wonderfully educational.
For a Terry Gross's NPR interview with Oliver Sacks about this book, click here. If you read this article and listen to the interview you will get an excellent understanding of Sacks and his latest book.
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