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Summary: A nice complement to the book
Review: This abbreviated audio version of The Island of the Colorblind was nicely complementary to the full length book. I didn't care much for the background music blaring forth as Sacks began his reading: it was distracting and made it difficult to hear what Sacks was saying. I was also quite surprised to find out that Sacks has a lisp, as he does not pronounce his r's, thus words like very and colorblind are pronounced "vewy" and "coluhblind". Sacks sounds like Elmer Fudd with an English accent. If you can get past these two factors, the tapes become a delight to listen to, and I liked them.
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Summary: A Neurologist in the South Pacific
Review: This book is a hybrid; part Pacific island travelogue and part neurological exploration. Those of us who know Dr. Sacks's other works will recognize the latter as familiar territory while the former will be a new and somewhat unexpected area of reportage for him. And while colorblindness might not be as exotic as some of Sacks's previous neurological mysteries, the good doctor is able to make it equally fascinating, even introducing us to the concept of colorblind art--patterns created using brightness rather than chroma so that they can be readily seen by the colorblind, but incidentally are not readily discernable by others. And even more fascinating, and certainly much more horrifying, is the polymorphous disease lytico-bodig found on Guam. Sacks is at his best describing this illness, its symptoms, treatment, and the fruitless search for its root cause. The reader is gripped by the story of a single disease that manifests itself very differently in different patients. The "lytico" form is a progressive and eventually fatal paralysis. The "bodig" form a loss of muscular control similar to Parkinson's, with related dementia. The disease's victims are compassionately portrayed and their plight made real though Sacks' vivid writing. But the very nature of the book may cause the reader problems. How can the travelogue parts compete with such a compelling medical story? Sacks concludes his work (with the exception of almost 100 pages of footnotes, journal citations, and bibliography!) with a brief account of his visit to Rota, (one of two of the titular Cycad Islands [Guam being the other]--although why Sacks didn't use the plural is a mystery), and here the interest is purely botanical. That the book begins with a travelogue and having set the stage gradually moves into the medical mysteries seems natural; that those mysteries are left unresolved (as they must of course, this not being a work of fiction) to rhapsodize about primitive plants seems bizarre. Sacks's comments are well written for the most part--the cycads lead him to experience a sensation of "deep time", an appreciation for things ancient and " a profound sense of being at home, a sort of companionship with the earth." But unless we share his botanical enthusiasm, we are likely to find the juxtaposition of the account of lytico-bodig and cycad reproduction ("the pollen settles on the naked ovules and sends a tube down into them, within which the male germ cells, the spermatozooids, are produced...the spermatozooids, which are motile, powered by cilia, enter the egg cell and fuse with it totally...") a bizarre bit of post-modern prose.
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Summary: Good content with a smashing oral presentation on casstte!
Review: This book on cassette is a modern day "tale of the South Seas" reminiscent of Melville, London or Nordoff and Hall of the last century. The content is superb but the real treat here is the oral performance of the author. Mr. Sack's quaint articulation and British accent make this salutory "book" a supremely agreeable "cassette".
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Summary: A ragbag journal of an Oliver Sacks vacation
Review: This book produced mixed responses from me. Most of the first half was wonderful, while the last section was boring. Physicans and travelers would enjoy the first half of the book while botanists and evolutionary anthropologists would like the last bit. I would also add that Sacks has a rather naive and euphemistic view of the way of life on South Sea islands prior to contact with western society. Sacks looses his inhibitions in describing his trip to Pingelap, Ponpeii, Guam, and the other "paradisial" spots, and his unbridled enthusiasm is refreshing, even if the subjects he broods upon sometimes aren't.
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Summary: Flip out!
Review: This is a good book.Sacks is a good writer, he tells a moving story, his descriptions of diving are fine, and the ending is truly beautiful. However, I am going to take this opportunity to comment on a trend I have noticed, and take exception to. This book has 199 pages of text followed by 67 pages of notes. In other words, the notes are about one third of the text. This is inexcusable. Six pages in the final chapter are accompanied by no less that TEN pages of notes. Frankly, I got tired of being interrupted by the author. I feel that writers are getting sloppy. Rather than work an aside gracefully into the text, writers just dump all these digressions into footnotes and let the reader flip. If we are going to pile up footnotes, we need to revise the format, maybe even return to the old usage of putting footnotes at the foot of the page.
Rating:
Summary: Easy and fun to read
Review: This was a really fun book to read. It was a mixture of Pacific Rim anthropology, history, medicine and botany. I had met Dr. Dever, a character in the book, so it ment even more to me. I give it high marks!
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Summary: Putting the Human Touch Back Into Doctoring
Review: Throughout his collected works Sacks dispenses his accumulated wit and wisdom with uncommon respect for his case studies. To Oliver, his patients are not just objects for study, but also people. He gives them grace and self-respect even among the most bizarre neurologic symptoms. "Island of the Colorblind" is no exception, as he explores the compensatory visual acuity of his achromatics, and the good-natured fatalism of his Guam studies. The reader is left with real affection for the afflicted. Sacks is a rare combination of inquiring mind and caring physician -- not to mention engaging writer. This book is a treat.
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Summary: The Island of the Colorblind and Cycad Island
Review: What I've liked about reading an Oliver Sacks book is that he offers you a variegated read with a thick & juicy notes section. He writes about all manner of things; sunsets & airplane flights; friends with maskun & scotopic times; coconut crabs & cycad ferns; all in a colorful & articulate language. He is a rare scientist who has not lost his awe, wonder & keen observational skills. On the tiny Pacific atoll of Pingelap thrives a community born totally colorblind who can describe their world in rich terms of patterns & tones. Oliver Sacks sets off to explore, taking you along from Jutland to the South Seas & points & times in between. Lovely read. Highly recommended. ()
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Summary: He makes you see through new (if slightly different) eyes
Review: When is a disability not a disability? When everyone is disabled, perhaps. Sacks takes us to an island where a large proportion of the population are achromatopes; they can't see colour. He then contrasts their struggles with that of an achromatope living in Western society. The differences in their experiences are remarkable. I always like how Sacks brings the entire setting to life. He doesn't interest you in just the patients; he paints a living, even colourful, picture of their life and society. (Pun not intended.)
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