The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat And Other Clinical Tales (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
[English / Arabic review]الريفيو العربي بعد الريفيو الإنجليزي " Is there any 'place' in the world for a man who is like an island, who cannot be accultured, made part of the main? Can 'the main' accommodate, make room for, the singular? "That was the main inquiry of this insightful, compassionate, moving and Remarkable book.. the lucidity and power of a gifted writer.A wonderful book … full of wonder, wonders and wondering. Sacks brings to these often unhappy people understanding, sympathy, and respect. Sacks is always learning from patients, marveling at them, widening his own understanding and ours.Dr. Sacks treats each of his subjects with a deep respect for the unique individual living beneath the disorder. These tales inspire awe and empathy, allowing the reader to enter the uncanny worlds of those with autism, Alzheimer’s, Tourette’s syndrome, and other unfathomable neurological conditions.He shares his experiences with readers to dispel prejudice against people who are different because of their problems. One very important truth that Sacks tries to incorporate into his life and work is that one can respect others no matter what their limitations may be. " animals get diseases, but only man falls radically into sickness " and this book is about weird conditions and the human reaction towards them, about the attempts at restitution and reconstruction of a world of complete chaos. This book is about this 'organized chaos'.These case histories are about the individual and his history, about the person and the experiences he faces, and struggles, to survive his disease.In the first case,Mr.P. and prosopagnosia, the man who mistook his wife for a hat, we see how he picks-up tiny features, but not the scene-as-a-whole, failing to see the whole and trapped in the details, and lost in a world of lifeless abstractions.Luis Bunuel said : " You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all." and that what happened to the 'Lost Mariner', " what sort of a life (if any), what sort of a world, what sort of a self, can be preserved in a man who has lost the greater part of his memory and, with this, his past, and his moorings in time? " , he was stuck in a constantly changing, meaningless moment, imprisoned in his past. He haven't felt 'alive' for a very long time. His time suddenly stopped, and he lost his soul.But the fact is " A man does not consist of memory alone. He has feeling, will, sensibility, and moral being .. Memory, mental activity, mind alone, could not hold him; but moral attention and action could hold him completely "Proprioception is the way by which the body sees itself, and her body went blind, she was disembodied. " What life it is if you painfully forced to use your consciousness with every simple movement you attempt to do? " she replaced her natural posture and self-image with a second conscious nature, she even will grip the fork and knife with painful force.Christina is condemned to live in an indescribable, unimaginable realm. She says about the 'old Christina' : " I can't identify with that graceful girl any more! She's gone, I can't remember her, I can't even imagine her. It's like something's being scooped right out of me, right at the center."Nietzsche writes : " One can lie with the mouth, but with the accompanying grimace, one nevertheless tells the truth ", and that exactly what the aphasics grasp in their 'second nature', after loosing any meaning to any word.You read about a 'handless' woman , who turns into a sculpting artist, and a woman who completely lost her left half. You read about " the paradox of an illness which can present as wellness - as a wonderful feeling of health and well-being, and only later reveals its malignant potentials." In the second part of the book, the excess, we read about the feverish energy and the morbid brilliance, about the deceptive euphoria with abysses beneath, about patients who are faced with disease as seduction, " for 'wellness', naturally, is no cause for complaint- people relish it, they enjoy it, they are at the furthest pole from complaint. People complain of feeling ill- not well. Unless, as George Eliot does, they have some intimation of 'wrongness', or danger, either through knowledge or association, or the very excess of excess."Nietzsche says : " Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit " , and that what happened with the wild disease of Tourette, and that is how a person is 'reanimated' , as in Cupid's disease. Even the patient says about it : " I know it's an illness, but it's made me feel well. I've enjoyed it, I still enjoy it." " We are in strange waters here, where all the usual considerations may be reversed- where illness may be wellness, and normality illness, where excitement may be either bondage or release, and where reality may lie in ebriety, not sobriety."The world keeps disappearing, losing meaning, vanishing - and they must seek meaning, make meaning, in a desperate way, continually inventing, throwing bridges of meaning over abysses of meaningless, the chaos that yawns continually beneath them.You read about people drowning in an ocean of sounds, about 'mental diplopia', about the possessed, this woman who, becoming everybody, lost her own self, became nobody. About the woman who took a back-home journey, and died after she 'arrived'.And in the last part about the world of the simple, he tells us about people who are though mentally defective in some ways, they may be mentally interesting, even mentally complete, in others. " We find ourselves entering a realm of fascination and paradox, all of which centers on the ambiguity of the 'concrete'." " In medicine, understanding and collaborating are central, patients and physicians are coequals, on the same level, each learning from and helping the other , and between them arrive new insights and treatments."==========================================="لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ"هذه الآية هي ما يتردد صداها بداخلك بعد قراءة هذا الكتابيا لروعة و جمال و عمق هذا الكتابأوليفر ساكس كتب كتابا بمنتهى العمق و الجمال و الرومانسية و الحبما الذي يمكن أن يحدث لو فقدت حياتك و أنت على قيد الحياة ؟ما الذي يمكن أن يحدث لو أنك أصبحت بلا ماض و لا حاضر و لا مستقبل ؟لو أنك أصبحت لا تدرك الصورة التي تراها ؟؟ حتى لو كانت صورة زوجتك ؟؟لو أنك في عمر الستين و رددت حتى لا تعلم بعد علم شيئا ؟؟جسدك في الستين من العمر, و توقف بك الزمن عند السادسة عشرة من العمر ؟؟هل تخيلت أنك من الممكن أن تستيقظ من النوم ناظرا نحو قدمك جاهلا أنها تنتمي لجسدك و تصرخ طلبا لنجدة من يخلصك منها ؟؟هل تخيلت أن من الممكن أن يجهل مخك تماما وجود نصف آخر أيسر لجسدك يماثل تماما النصف الأيسر ؟؟ماذا لو تحول عالمك لمجموعة من الأصوات المستمرة التي لا تنقطع ؟ و ماذا لو انقطع فهمك لما تسمعه؟ او لما تراه ؟ماذا لو أن مرضك تسبب لك في قدرة خارقة لم تكن موجودة من قبل , تخفي من ورائها سبب فنائك ؟و ماذا عن بساطة عالم من نسميهم بالمتخلفين ذهنيا ؟ هل هم بالفعل متخلفين ؟ أم أن لهم عالما آخر خاص بهم ؟ و لغة أخرى ؟ و كيف هو شعورهم نحو العالم الجاهل من حولهم ؟ماذا و ماذا و ماذا؟؟؟؟كل هذه التساؤلات و أكثر لا يحاول أوليفر ساكس أن يتساءلها و يناقشها فلسفيا فقط , بل إنها مآس و معاناة لأناس حقيقيين مثلي و مثلك , تسبب عطب أحد أجزاء المخ في أن يسبب لهم هذه الأمراض, أو هذه اللعنات.أوليفر ساكس يكتب و يصف مآسيهم و أحزانهم, و معانات أرواحهم التي سلبت منهم بمرض لعين. دمر حياتهم, و أثر على حيوات من حولهم.يصف كيف قد غير المرض حياتهم جذريا , و كيف شكلها , و كيف دمر مستقبل بعضهم.. و صنع مستقبل آخرينيقول أوليفر ساكس : " الجميع يمرض, بما فيهم الحيوان, لكن الإنسان فقط هو من يعاني" و يقول نيتشة : " المعاناة الكبرى هي المحرر الأعظم للروح " و هذا الكتاب ليس عن المعاناة التي حررت الأرواح, بل التي قتلتهاهذا كتاب عظيم , و أجمل ما فعلته أنني لم أقرأه في ترجمته العربية, بل في لغته الأصلية, كانت لدي النسخة العربية لكنني من فرط شغفي بالكتاب و بموضوعه اشتريت النسخة الإنجليزية . و كان خير ما فعلت, فالترجمة العربية حين قارنتها في بعض الأجزاء وجدتها كأسوأ ما يكون. سلبت من الكتاب كل شيء, فلسفته و روحه و أسلوبه المتفردهذا الكتاب من أصعب الكتب التي كتبت مراجعة لها على الإطلاقنصيحتي لكل من سيقرأ الكتاب أن يقرأه في نسخته الإنجليزية
This book was a fascinating read. One of the best books I've read in a very long time. I would recommend this book to whomever is interested in neurology, psychology and the human mind. I read this book little by little in a fairly long period of time. Mainly because I needed time to thing about what I read, sometimes because I needed to work a little bit to understand the more technical parts of the book and lately, in these last few days, because I was very busy. The book is about people with psycho-neurological disorders and deficits. Every chapter begins by explaining -in a fairly detailed way for a non-technical book- the history and conditions of the deficit and how much neurological science has done to understand it and how far it has come, then the author gives an overview of some of the most peculiar cases, and then goes on to tell the story of each patient individually; how he came in contact with them, what their exact conditions were, the reasons for their neuro-psychological problems and whether they could be cured (which often is not the case), there is also a postscript to every study which follows the patient and their progress after they were treated. What is note worthy about this book is how the writer portrays the human side of every individual, even when there seems to be very little 'human' left to be seen. The writer's multidimensional look at human psyche, instead of a simple 'by the book' look, coupled with his undeniable knowledge of his field is often the reason for his successful diagnosis of the presented cases. This inevitably leads to the improvement of patient's life. At first I wrote briefly about the cases presented in the book, but then I deleted them. Every one of them made me wonder about the brain and how complicated and amazing its inner working is, and at the same time I was scared that I would one day wake up and be a stranger to my body or start hearing music playing in my head all the time, or lose all the powers of abstraction (all cases from the book). It's amazing what your brain is doing when your not even aware of it, and if you had to do it consciously, it would prove to be extremely difficult if not impossible (also presented in one of the cases). As Wittgenstein says "The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and their familiarity. The real foundations of his inquiry do not strike a man at all." We, sometimes need books like this to remind us how fortunate we are.For me the case of 'The Lost Mariner' was the most tragic and heart wrenching of them all. It's the story of the man who has a severe Korsakov's Syndrome, which is a form of Alzheimer disease. A 40 year old man who can't remember anything from a few seconds ago. Everything is constantly strange and new; places, faces, people, everything. This becomes more tragic when you realize that he's not even aware of his condition; There are no memories and therefore as a result there is no 'self'. Oliver Sacks had this encounter with the patient about how he felt which made a big impact on me: One day I asked him not about his memory, or past, but about the simplest and most elemental thing of all:'How do you feel?''How do I feel?' he repeated an scratched his head. 'I cannot say I feel ill. But I cannot say I feel well. I cannot say I feel anything at all. 'Are you miserable?' I continued.'I can't say I am.''Do you enjoy life?''I can't say I do.''How then do you feel about life?''I can't say that I feel anything at all.''You feel alive though?''Alive? Not really. I haven't felt alive for a very long time.'That's it. I think this turned out to be a pretty long review. I won't say anymore. Just that this is a wonderful book. Read it. You won't regret it.
What do You think about The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat And Other Clinical Tales (1998)?
This is not only an informative work on neurological disorders, but a humbling meditation on the beauty of imperfection. Through entering the worlds of a number of "limited" individuals, Sacks reveals the brain's (and therefore the individual's) remarkable ability to overcompensate for cognitive deficiencies. As a result of these heightened states of perception, the often frightening and infinitely compelling worlds of each individual are manifested in the means with which they organize and engage with the ordinary, whether it be through mathematics, dance, music, or the visual arts. In simply dealing, they manage to transcend. Sacks explores the varying cognitive expressions of his patients without coming across as cold, sterile, or objectifying. Rather, he devotes a chapter to each individual case, creating in the reader a sense that they are engrossed in a series of fictional character studies, rather than a dry psychological manual or the surface-level observations and blind assumptions of a pompous intellectual. This would be a perfect starting point for anyone interested in learning a bit more about abnormal psychology.
—Paquita Maria Sanchez
I picked up this book because I am a fan of Oliver Sacks and his various speaking engagements (lectures, public radio interviews, etc)...but I have to say I was fairly nonplussed with it.While the case studies in and of themselves make for interesting reading, the tone of the writing is fairly "clinical" and...removed. Despite the review blurbs stating that these are "personal" and "touchingly human" looks at neurological disorders, I saw only a few glimpses of this warmth (an example that springs to mind is the "Returning To India" story).I can't really pin down what I didn't like about the book, but reading it, I had the sense I was being whisked in and out of hospital rooms by a busy, clipboard-toting doctor...which wasn't the best feeling.
—Tim
I reviewed this years ago for my library's annual book review publication. I would give it 6 stars if I could. I am generous with my reviews, especially with the books I love and that have affected me deeply. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is one such book. Oliver Sacks is a nonfiction writer with the eye of a novelist. His writing is so human and so humane. In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, he writes about curious mental ailments he discovered in his practice, and he did so with such humor and warmth that hardly anyone reading the tales could not appreciate them. I'm sick to hear about his dying of cancer. I believe his books will be remembered as classics of our age. He's undoubtedly an accomplished physician, and certainly the same quality which makes him an effective neurologist also makes him a great writer. He's a storyteller of the highest order, and like all great writers, his focus on the particulars of his subjects offers the reader a deeper understanding of the human condition.Awakenings was a fine movie and a fine book. One of the most touching movies about a father/ son relations is "The Music Never Stopped" based on Oliver Sacks's case study "The Last Hippie." It's a movie set in the mid-80s. It features an estranged son who has a brain tumor, and whose surgery causes him to become catatonic. (view spoiler)[...His father (the awesome JK Simmons) is a Vietnam vet who wants to reconnect with his son, so Simmons' character begins listening to the Grateful Dead and his son comes to life. It is only through music that they are able to reconnect. (hide spoiler)]
—Hunter Murphy
