A Review Of Oliver Sacks The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat

Neurologist Oliver Sacks in “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical

Tales” takes an inside look at people who have severe illnesses and shows the reader what it’s like to be them. In his patients, he really finds what they excel at, despite their disabilities. A lot of doctors will look at a patient’s chart, solve their illness, and be done. Dr. Sacks saw his patients beyond a piece of paper. He got to know the individual, what they like, how they live, and this is truly incredible. Hence the book title, “clinical tales,” not case studies. Although Dr. Oliver Sacks is involved in every story, he puts the primary focus on his patients. Dr. Luria, a psychologist, takes on a big role in the book as well. There’s a new main

He takes neurological illnesses that aren’t very well known, and shows the reader that although they’re handicapped in one aspect of their lives, they can be gifted in another way. Many people with illnesses have to work much harder to do basic things that we take for granted. In the first short story, Dr. P. suffered from visual agnosia, or altered perception, and had to work very hard just to recognize everyday objects. Altered perception is the main conflict I recognized in this book. Some patients suffered from this specifically, while most people in the world do too. The average human being has an

“altered perception” of others with illnesses and disabilities. This is very important because

Oliver Sacks exposes all kinds of people, and shares their stories with us. This way, we really understand them and no longer have an “altered perception” of them. Throughout the book, all of the characters have an altered perception. A patient with visual agnosia, blindness, aphasia, tourrettes, deafness, autism, amnesia, a brain tumor, neurosis, parkinson’s, epilepsy, or

Korsacov’s syndrome all see the world differently than you or I. This is what the reader should

Marina

In the four parts, “Losses,” “Excesses,” “Transports,” and “The World of

The Simple,” I read many different stories of people who suffer from brain disorders who need to sing songs to remember what they’re doing, and some people who passed away because they tumor became malignant. It makes me count my blessings and appreciate my good health. The last part of the book, “The World of the Simple” is the most inspiring. This quote from the last page of the book, “‘The secret in developing Yanamura’s talent was to share his spirit. The teacher should love the beautiful, honest retarded person, and live with a purified and retarded world.’”(233) makes me filled with joy because I’ve worked with kids with autism and they’re often misunderstood. By understanding others, or at least making an effort to, the world will become a better place. Oliver Sacks shares over twenty of his patients’ stories and how their lives are on a daily basis. His stories are metaphors not only for modern medicine and science, but of modern man.

After reading this book, I’ve stopped “judging a book by it’s cover,” because you have no