Two weeks ago, I read a fascinating article in The New Yorker by Oliver Sacks, the author of "Awakenings," "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat," and "Musicophilia." The article was about the seemingly simple act of reading, which Sacks demonstrated is anything but simple. He included case histories of several persons who through accident or stroke lost their ability to read (alexia). One of those persons was Howard Engel, a Canadian writer of detective novels, who in 2002 suffered a minor stroke and found he suddenly could not read. He looked at the front page of his favorite (English language) newspaper, and what he saw looked like "Serbo-Croatian." Although reading was tremendously difficult for Engel, he could write (alexia sine agraphia), although re-reading and editing his own writing became nearly impossible. Not being able to read would seem to mark the end of any writer's career. But Engel spent many months in a rehabilitation hospital where he developed techniques to overcome or work around his disability. English continued to be a foreign language, but slowly he regained the ability to figure out street names or headlines in a newspaper. Using unusual methods to edit and rewrite his manuscript, he published in 2006 a new entry in his Benny Cooperman private detective series called "Memory Book," using his recent experiences. The story is about Cooperman's getting hit on the head and left to die, resulting in alexia and memory loss, and his months-long effort to overcome them and solve a murder mystery tied in with his assault. The mystery itself is fairly routine -- something vaguely about illegal drug manufacture at a university in Toronto, but the descriptions of Cooperman's ordeal of his not being able to read are moving and his long battle to develop ways to aid his memory (including a "memory book") and work around his reading disability are inspiring. The plot takes place almost entirely in a rehabilitation hospital in Toronto, and Engel's detailed account of hospital life rings true, an echo of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain." Oliver Sacks wrote an afterword to the novel, which I noticed was the beginning point of his much longer essay in The New Yorker. Why he waited four or five years to write the magazine article from the afterword I don't know. Engel wrote a nonfiction book about his alexia, "The Man Who Forgot How to Read: A Memoir." I hope to find it and (with much more ease than Engel, I hope) read it. I highly recommend "Memory Book" for voracious readers. Probably, after finishing this book, you won't pick up another book and read it without appreciating how lucky you are to have this magical ability to quickly turn tens of thousands of letters and numbers into meaning and enjoyment.
A few years ago, Canadian mystery writer Howard Engel suffered a small stroke that he wasn't aware of until he picked up his morning newspaper and realized that he could no longer understand the words in front of him. He had a rare condition called alexia sine agraphia, meaning he couldn't read but he could still write (although he couldn't read what he had written).He ended up consulting with everyone's go-to doctor for strange brain accidents, Oliver Sacks, and wrote a book about the experience. This isn't that book, though.Instead, Engel here takes his longtime detective character, Benny Cooperman, and has him go through the same experience after getting a blow on the skull and being thrown in a dumpster. So, at one and the same time, Cooperman is trying to solve the mystery of why he was attacked and solve the mystery of why he not only cannot read, but can't remember anyone's name, confuses oranges and apples (literally) and other challenges in the rehab hospital in Toronto.The mystery isn't the most complex one I've ever seen, but the description of what it is like to slowly try to regain a vital intellectual function, all the while succumbing to the desire to sleep several hours a day, is worth the read by itself. A true stumbled across in the library little gem.
What do You think about Memory Book (2006)?
While not the best mystery i've ever read what's amazing is the story behind it namely the author went through the same problem the protagonist did - as documented in a memoir he wrote and (and this is how i came to find out about this) gets a chapter in Oliver Sacks new book...Howard Engel one day woke up and he could no longer read. He could write but he could not read what he just wrote. This is a big problem when you're a writer.but gradually he learned to work around this and wrote this novel despite being unable to read what he wrote (he had to have people read him sections aloud so he could edit it)
—Scott
PI Benny Cooperman's been hit on the head and can't remember what happened yesterday. The opening passages of the work place Benny in the hospital, going over again for the nth time who-what-where. To complicate the matter, Benny can write but not read. What happened and why? How can Benny live a normal life, much less investigate? What is normal, anyway?The Memory Book is an extraordinary excursion into a world that most of us can't conceive of - a world where every experience is new and unfamiliar. Cooperman is certainly an unusual protag, and is built on the personal experience of the author, Harold Engel who does have alexia sing agraphia. This edition has an afterword by Oliver Sacks - perfect. And here's what Kirkus has to say - I love it "The past twenty years have seen plenty of detectives with disabilities. Engel, one of the few writers to share the same challenges as his sleuth, has produced one of the most unusual an affecting mysteries ever."This is the 11th Benny Cooperman mystery and it is amazing. I've got to catch up and from now on, follow. --Ashland Mystery
—Ashland Mystery Oregon
Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of Howard Engel. Therefore, I knew nothing about him as an author prior to this book or his condition during the writing of this one. The afterword explains it all but I won't give that away here. I went into the story blind, no preconceptions, and I'm glad I did.This is more like an old-fashioned, Sherlock Holmes-type mystery, rather than the typical intricate, fast-paced mystery of today. Benny Cooperman, the detective and narrator, has a brain injury and does most of his detecting from the brain injury ward in the hospital. While some might consider this story slow due in part to the lack of movement, I found it entertaining and enjoyed every word.
—Darcia Helle
