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Awakenings By Oliver Sacks ( Vintage )
Release Date: 1999-10-05
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List Price: $15.95
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Product Description
"One of the most beautifully composed and moving works of our time." --The Washington Post
"Compulsively readable. . . . Dr. Sacks writes beautifully and with exceptional subtlety and penetration into both the state of mind of his patients and the nature of illness generally. . . . A brilliant and humane book." --A. Alvarez, The Observer
Awakenings--which inspired the major motion picture--is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, "awakening" effect. Dr. Sacks recounts the moving case histories of his patients, their lives, and the extraordinary transformations which went with their reintroduction to a changed world.
"[Sacks] opens to the reader doors of perception generally passed through only by those at the far borders of human experience."--The Boston Globe
"A masterpiece." --W. H. Auden
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Amazon.com Review
It hardly seems fair that so many great doctors are also great writers. Perhaps it's qualities like sensitivity, craft, and dedication that keep physicians like Oliver Sacks in hospitals all day and at writing desks all night; if nothing else, these qualities shine in books like Awakenings. This powerful set of case histories rises above its pathological foundation to find new literary territory, a medical-spiritual synthesis equally stimulating for the mind and the soul. It's no wonder Hollywood producers chose to turn it into a feature film--anyone can see the universal human struggle against bondage and despair in these pages. The sleeping-sickness epidemic of 1918 caused hundreds of survivors to slip into a bizarre rigid paralysis with similarities to advanced Parkinson's disease. These patients, only occasionally able to communicate or move, were nearly all institutionalized for life, their ranks increasing every now and then with similarly afflicted men and women. Sacks came to work at a long-term care facility shortly before the first exciting results with L-dopa and Parkinson's in the late 1960s; his patients soon embarked on dramatic, difficult recoveries from up to 50 years of torpor. He documents their spiritual and medical obstacles with great care to portray their individual personalities, long suppressed but finally released. Though many great doctors are also great writers, few can compare with Oliver Sacks for expressing the relation of medicine to the human spirit. --Rob Lightner
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 Essential Scientific Reading For Those Living With Parkinsonian Conditions or People Seeking a Scientific Understanding of Them ( tardivempowerment )
I found this book of extreme importance as did my psychopharmocologist in understanding Parkinsonism (this is apart from Parkinson's which most people are familiar with) which is being identified clinically in myself from being enduced by the current generation of neuraleptics as tardive psychosis (brief note,this study as well as being part of an anti-psychotic in government study that can't cause it are in the process of being finalized for a standard psychiatric journal). In Oliver Sacks vivid depictions of Parkinsonism in this case enduced by encephalitis and the partial recovery with L-Dopa (there are newer and better treatments now) this book is not just a good series of "case studies" or interesting stories but a good scientific briefer although one that can be understood by the public about these conditions. And although what was described in the way of treatment was ultimately unsuccesful in people who have experienced this personally and did obtain treatment understanding what it was like from the writings of a renowed neurologist brought a greater understanding of it which in concordance with professionals I brought it to the attention of has potentially brought about some change. And considering that this was a work of research albeit one that tragically failed in its misunderstandings its important to understand the potential for success stories that take its blueprint and use it for further research. And as the beneficiary of this research I can say I am thankful it existed to begin with and for other people experiencing this as well as clinicians who may be unfamilar it is essential scientific reading as well as your average person who would like to be more informed. And I hope that would include all of us.
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 A deeper dive into the disease ( cwwood5 )
You saw the movie and now you're hankering to learn more about the backgrounds and the treatments of the patients brought to the silver screen in "Awakenings". If you're hoping for a pop-sci version of the film, you'll be disappointed. The screenplay took poetic license with the original text, dressing it up with more drama and humor than you'll find in the book. On the other hand, if you're looking for an in-depth chronicle of the disease, which reads at times like a medical journal, then this book will certainly satisfy you.
Sacks is both a tireless writer and a devoted practioner of medicine. The book reflects who he is. It's thoroughlly annotated with footnotes, and includes a lengthy glossary to help you sort out all of the medical jargon which is used judiciously throughout the text. It was definitely an eye-opener reading the book after seeing the movie. But they're very different projects. See the movie if you're interested in an entertaining and fascinating story about a handful of awakenings in the late 1960s. Read the book if you want the deep dive into the disease and Dr. Sacks' lifelong devotion to its treatment.
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Most of the people who bought this book...........
....probably threw it away without finishing the first page. And that's sad, because it's a fine book, 95% of which can be understood by any intelligent person willing to work at it. I bought this in a bookstore shortly after seeing the movie...it was sold in a very nice display, meant to capitalize on the movie. This I consider to have been improper [NOT illegal; this is America] marketing; within the first paragraph, Dr. Sacks is talking about the difference between upper and lower motor neuron lesions [THAT brought back memories], infinite motion, infinite rigidity...99+% of the poor folks who wasted their money were blown away. The rest of us were hooked by a fabulous book.
Most will know the story...in the years after WWI, an epidemic of viral encephalitis swept the country. Over the next several years, some of the survivors developed a severe form of Parkinson's, gradually becoming completely immobile, and landing in nursing homes. This was not a vegatative state; as we found out much later, these poor souls were fully aware of their plight. In the summer of 1969, Dr. Oliver Sacks took a job in a New York City long-term care facility, and decided to give some of these post-encephalitis patients what was then a brand-new drug, L-Dopa. The miracle was profound; the patients "awakened" [not really the right term]....alas, the miracle was temporary...side effects appeared, the therapeutic range shrunk, and the patients went back to their old state, or worse. Actually, some of the "cures" were more or less "permanent", but these were a minority. "Awakenings" is a series of case studies, the story of agony, short-term ectasy, then more agony. Medicine is like that; all progress meets failure along the way. This book lets the reader know what that feels like to the doctor. L-Dopa, with its derivatives, is still around; it's still dangerous for anyone not an expert to use.
Oliver Sacks is a Neurologist, and writes like one [and like a philosopher]. That's OK. He combines skill with compassion and basic human decency; if any of my family needed a Neurologist, I'd want Oliver Sacks. Neurology, like Oncology, is a sad specialty, with a lot of unhappy endings. Despite having an interest, and aptitude, that's probably why I didn't end up in it. This is a truly profound book; unless you're a Neurologist [not just a physician], you will need the glossery. However, your effort will be well rewarded.
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The book version of the movie ( linanne )
I saw the movie called AWAKENINGS (with Robt. DeNiro and Robin Williams) and was intrigued, so I bought this book by Sachs. I was not disappointed. The book is so much more thorough than the movie , and I must say...much more technical.
Infact, the book is so technical that it could take the reader quite a while to decipher all the medical terms included & to read the entire book quickly. Take your time with this one.
As a non-medical student, it took me a while to read through this book, but it was worth it! Also, the other good thing is that the book gives a good "encyclodepia" of all the medical terms in the book's NOTES.
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 Awakenings ( foddy )
In spite of all the praise that this book has received from other readers, all the glowing reviews it has garnered, and its' scientific value, which I am not qualified to either laud or argue, I found it to be a great disappointment. I don't like saying this for Oliver Sacks has long been one of my favorite writers. In fact, when I purchased this book, it was the only one of his that I did not already own: I could hardly wait to open its' cover. But, high expectations notwithstanding, it fell flat. Whereas, in Sacks' other works, the individuals featured in his case histories seemed so real, so fully fleshed out, that they literally walked across the pages, in Awakenings, it was as if they never awakened at all. Sorry.
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Addiction
