Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole A Renowned Neurologist Explains the Mystery and Drama of Brain Disease
Reviews
This read comprised primarily of short chapters (20ish pages each) each consisting of a few anecdotes concerning different neurological conditions and cases. Surface level and simplistic, which made for an easy read, but not a immersive or analytical one.
The downfall here was in the simplicity, there was little analysis or discussion, no actual depth to the neurology of the cases. While this did slightly improve later into the book, and where it lacked scientific depth there was some behavioural/attitudinal debates I found myself enjoying, overall it just wasn’t what I look for in these sorts of books.
Also, the author is somewhat egocentric, which detracts from the overall enjoyment slightly (then again, this seems frequent with doctor-authored books, so perhaps it’s simply a criticism to keep in mind, but let not put you off.
As I said, there were some highlights- such as the debate about life-support, and the choices patients make regarding this- it was compelling and balanced, I still find myself considering the other side of the argument now, a few days later, which is quite brilliant.
I found the writing tone was more enjoyable in the latter half of the book. This is a good one if you’re looking for something more simple and anecdotal- but if you’re looking for something a bit heavier on depth I wouldn’t recommend it for that.
Read for the #olympicgames2020 Readathon - House Artemis. Prompt - Honour Apollo, read a five star prediction.
Highlights
The person is in the brain, and virtually everybody in every culture agrees with that.
Suspecting an overdose of some kind is not a transcendent judgment about them or their lifestyle or their character. It is one moment in somebody's life. People poison themselves all of the time.
“-You had three parallel belief systems going on: yours, the rational, scientific belief system, the one that can't even conceive of something like The Plan; Edgar's faith-based belief system of a learned man, but not a man of science; then you had Ruby's. Unless you could spend some time in that front-end shop on Huntington Ave, maybe hang out with his friends, put yourself in his shoes, I don't think you're going to get much insight into his belief system, but it was as legitimate to him as yours is to you.”