Oliver W. Sacks

The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

L'uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello

Perdite, l’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello 

Ma Br

Il Dottor P. non lottava, perché non sapeva quello che aveva perduto, anzi, non sapeva di aver perduto qualcosa. Ma chi era più tragico, chi era maggiormente anima perduta: l’uomo che sapeva o l’uomo che non sapeva?

Che cosa si poteva, che cosa si doveva fare? 

<<In un caso come questo- scrisse Lurija- faccia tutto ciò che le suggeriscono la sua intelligenza e il suo cuore. La speranza che recuperi la memoria è poca o nulla, ma un uomo non consiste solo di memoria. Ha sentimenti, volontà, sensibilità, coscienza morale, tutte cose su cui la neuro psicologia non può dire nulla. Ed è in queste cose, che travalicano i confini di una psicologia impersonale, che lei può trovare il modo di arrivare al suo paziente e di cambiarlo. E le circostanze in cui lei svolge il suo lavoro glielo consentono meglio di altri […]. Dal punto di vista neuropsicologico, lei può fare poco o niente; ma nell’ambito dell’individuale forse può molto.>>

Perdite, L’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello

Penso che la musica avesse preso per lui il posto dell'immagine. Invece di un'immagine corporea aveva una musica corporea: ecco perché era in grado di muoversi e agire con tanta disinvoltura, ma si bloccava completamente, confuso, se s'interrompeva la <<musica interiore>>. Lo stesso succedeva con l'esterno, col mondo...

In Il mondo come volontà e rappresentazione, Schopenhauer parla della musica come di <<pura volontà>>. Come lo avrebbe affascinato il dottor P., un uomo che aveva interamente perduto il mondo come rappresentazione ma che lo conservava interamente come musica o volontà.

E per fortuna questo durò sino alla fine, perché nonostante il graduale progredire della malattia (un tumore massivo o un processo degenerativo nelle parti visive del cervello), il dottor P. continuò fino all'ultimo a insegnare e a vivere la musica.

Oliver Sacks

With an introduction by Will Self. A classic work of psychology, this international bestseller provides a groundbreaking insight into the human mind. If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self – himself – he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities; who have been dismissed as autistic or retarded, yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales illuminate what it means to be human. A provocative exploration of the mysteries of the human mind, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a million-copy bestseller by the twentieth century's greatest neurologist.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

里森

Presents a series of stories about men and women who, representing both medical and literary oddities, raise fundamental questions about the nature of reality

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

Started off strong but got progressively more clinical until the last chapter where I felt like I understood 1 in 3 words at best. And also this book was published in the 80s so a lottttttt of savior complex towards disabled people and words that are today considered slurs. That got pretty exhausting.

Julia Rivera

In his most extraordinary book, the bestselling author of Awakenings and "poet laureate of medicine” (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients inhabiting the compelling world of neurological disorders, from those who are no longer able to recognize common objects to those who gain extraordinary new skills. Featuring a new preface, Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with perceptual and intellectual disorders: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; whose limbs seem alien to them; who lack some skills yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. In Dr. Sacks’s splendid and sympathetic telling, his patients are deeply human and his tales are studies of struggles against incredible adversity. A great healer, Sacks never loses sight of medicine’s ultimate responsibility: “the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject.”

And Other Clinical Tales

Lara Engle

Much of this book is a five-star read. The conditions are fascinating, and the case studies are interesting. However, at times, it gets so clinical that my eyes (and brain) glazed over while reading. Then, the entire last section used so much outdated terminology regarding intellectual disabilities that it was hard to take. It also had an attitude that seemed surprised that those patients had abilities and worth of their own. He did come to what I would consider the proper conclusion that people with intellectual disabilities should be valued and honored, but it took some time to get there. I know it was a different time, but it's still bothersome to see.

eris

Gavin

Repetitive and overwrought, but also of course astonishing and extravagant and humane. Quirky case-study format and title suggest a voyeuristic pop sci jaunt, but it’s deadly serious, theoretically couched, concerned with the poor buggers’ well-being. He’s against “mindless neurology and bodiless psychology”, the cognitive elitism and relegation of emotion and spirit of his field.

“Disease is not always just an affliction, but sometimes a proud engine of altered states” – so we see a man with severe Tourette’s is an excellent pro jazz drummer, a woman with debilitating migraines is the polymath Hildegard of Bingen. 

Sacks has a funny habit of using philosophers’ names as misrepresentative pejoratives – a man with radical amnesia is a ‘Humean’ (: a flow of unrelated sensations), a woman who loses sense of her own body has a ‘Wittgensteinian’ life (: doubting the hinge proposition ‘here is a hand’). Actually, that last one works, never mind.

Liam Dunn Kelly

Khaled Alaasr

It was a little hard for me, sometimes, relating to some of the cases

Omar AlHashmi

Wow, such an incredible book by Oliver Sacks. This to me was exactly what I needed especially after taking a Psycholinguistics course last semester. Due to that course, I was familiar with many of the terminologies used in the book which helped a lot. The cases presented were so interesting, and everytime I put the book down I keep on thinking of them. 
How complex the human brain really is. How we know so little about something that is so close to us. 
I really recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Psychology or even Neurology. I will also definitely look at other books by Oliver Sacks. 5/5

Stefano

Using case studies, Sacks examines the effects of impairment and incapacity of neurological function such as loss of speech and loss of memory, and looks at the relationship between the brain and the mind.

Maxime van der Wal

I had high expectations coming into this book, but unfortunately  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat  didn’t live up to them. The first three parts were interesting, but not particularly well-written (at least not for a book that’s targeted at a general audience). A lot of terminology and footnotes are used which only students or professionals of the field of psychology/neurology would easily understand. At the very least a glossary could have been provided for those whose knowledge on neurology is limited. 

Then, I got to part four. This part was mainly about autistic people, and as an autistic person I found it extremely uncomfortable to read how these patients were treated and regarded by professionals, including Dr. Sacks himself. Dr. Sacks enforces the notion that autistic people are only worthwhile when they have a genius of some sort. He enforces the stereotype that we are “broken”, which is untrue. 

There were a lot of generalisations - especially in chapter 24 - such as us (autistic people) being an “island” and cut off from society, or that we have no interest in the “abstract” (my paraphrasing). Not to mention he referred to an autistic artistic girl as “highly gifted but autistic”, as if it’s a shame she’s autistic. I’m not going to give him credit for treating his autistic patients like people, because that’s how we deserve to be treated. I’m aware this was written 40 or so years ago, but it still didn’t sit right with me.

Dr. Sacks is clearly an intelligent person, but I felt like this could’ve been edited better. And if you’re autistic, I’d reconsider if this is a book worth reading.

Amanda Wells

Really interesting cases, and certainly I learned about the many different variations of neurological conditions. It is important, I think, to read it through the lens of the time it was written, of course. There are word usages and interpretations of differently-abled people that, although presented as compassionately as Dr Sacks was able, still strike me as a little out-dated and dismissive.

Certainly the last chapter on people on the more limiting end of the autism spectrum would be read nowadays somewhat negatively. 

Still I think you can see that this book, along with informing the reader about the many, many different ways that brains can work outside of the normal confines of the typical experience, also attempts to convey the humanity and potential of people who are often dismissed as defective. Generally speaking we've come a long way in regards to the way that people who aren't neurotypical are treated, and I'm sure that texts such as this have helped with the general realisation that people - regardless of their ability when compared to whatever standard is held to be 'normal' - are just people! And deserve respect and dignity based solely on that fact.

Adrianna Giunta

This was interesting to read but the language used was beyond me. I also COULD NOT STAND the way he spoke about people with learning difficulties, disabilities or other mental health issues. I was sick of reading the word “defective” or “retardate” or “spasticity”. I know these words were commonly used during the time this book was published but after spending most of my life being called these names in a malicious way I can’t stand to read it. One of the parts of the book is actually called “the world of the simple”. NOPE NOPE NOPE.

With an introduction by Will SelfA classic work of psychology, this international bestseller provides a groundbreaking insight into the human mind.If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities; who have been dismissed as autistic or retarded, yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents. If inconceivably strange, these brilliant tales illuminate what it means to be human. A provocative exploration of the mysteries of the human mind, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a million-copy bestseller by the twentieth century's greatest neurologist.

Rebecca Cairns

I don't often read non-fiction but this was our book club choice and I am so very glad it was. Sacks was a neurologist and this book was published in 1985. Here we find 20+ cases from Sacks' time working with patients as a neurologist.

Each chapter is a different patient he worked with and in each we find someone wholly different from the norm but also so rich in character. The four sections that house the chapters are called 'Losses', 'Excesses', 'Transports' and 'The World of the Simple'. Here we find all different kinds of people with different neurological conditions that make them 'different'. Sacks explores their condition, their treatment and them as a person in an altogether fascinating but also loving way. It is clear that he loved his job and his patients.

My favourite chapters were those from the last section, 'The World of the Simple'. Here we find four cases of people thought to be 'simple' but in fact were anything but, they had skills and were special in ways that many of us could only ever dream of being. 

I highly recommend this book, you go away knowing a little more about the brain but a lot more about the diverse nature of the human brain and indeed what beauty that diversity can bring!

Zoe Smolen

I read about 3/4 of this book and skimmed the rest. It was super interesting, but it just wasn't really my cup of tea. I gave it three stars, as it's very well written, and some parts are super fascinating. However, it was quite medical, and while some of the cases are very interesting, I didn't feel I had enough background on the subject to fully enjoy.

This book is a fascinating collection of accounts of right-hemisphere injury and the bizarre and complex symptoms it can produce. It was written in 1985 and somehow every patient in this book has some talent or skill that makes them seem larger than life; they sing like Fischer-Dieskau, quote Tolstoy in the original, and everyone is a musician. I wonder whether the internet has made people so much less cultured that these patients now seem unreal to the reader. Or Dr. Sacks may have embellished them…

Despite this, it really is a fascinating and well-written book.

 Bruna Acioly Leão

Some of the cases related in this were very interesting and informative to read (especially the one that gives the book its title and a couple of others on cognitive disorders). But some took a rather sentimental and sometimes even religious and esoteric route, which is really not the kind of thing one looks for in a non-fiction book about science. At least I don't.

As someone who works in this specific medical field, I was able to follow this book pretty easily, and it is in fact quite basic at some points. But there are a couple of concepts that might fly by someone who isn't familiar with them. The audiobook is not hard to focus on, though, especially since each case and chapter is mostly independent.

I would recommend reading it if you work or want to work with neurology or if you are someone who is curious about the human brain. It is worth reading for the title and first case alone. A couple of other favorites were The Lost Mariner, The Disembodied Lady, The Dog Beneath the Skin.

The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Reviews

Highlights