Rating: 
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.
Rating: 
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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