The Book
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Oliver Sacks
Picador, 1986
What it’s about: A Summary
Welcome to the world of a neurologist. Oliver Sacks compiles many case studies he has published in medical case journals. These serve both as incredibly insightful looks at particular neurological disorders.
This is the only one of Sacks’ books I have read, but it is the most iconic. And it is worth a read for anyone interested in the subject area. In fact, I would recommend it as a window into the personal nature medicine takes on especially in matters of the brain, our most misunderstood organ.
The Review:
“Constantly my patients drive me to question, and constantly my questions drive me to patients – thus in the stories or studies which follow there is a continual movement from one to the other.”
Throughout the book, Sacks refers to Luria’s neurological case work, and he uses his extensive knowledge to craft the cases, peppering them with appropriate quotations and scientific context. And yet throughout, the patients are depicted as profoundly human and deeply sympathetic. It is these patients that lie at the centre of the book, and at the centre of Sacks’ life.
Oliver Sacks’ book is varied by the different tales in it. Therefore it stands to reason that a review should look into each section separately.
Losses
This section of the book encompasses the deficits, or the “A”s – Aphasia, Ataxia, Agnosia etc. It is this section which includes the iconic “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” – the true story of a man unable to visually process shapes and assign them with identify. It is for this reason that, during his interview with Sacks, he “took hold of his wife’s head and tried to put it on”. This section of the book explores the impact of memory disorders. Another story “The Lost Mariner” describes a man trapped in his past, unable to form new memories or understand his present.
Excesses
This section is perhaps the opposite to Losses, comprising of manias and hyper-activities of the brain such as Tourette’s. Striking is the story of one man plagued with the latter (“Witty, Ticcy Ray”), wherein the patient decides that he will only undergo treatment by Haldol for his condition on certain days of the week. It is in this way that we can understand how intrinsic the workings of the brain are to a person’s personality and creative ability; such that, perhaps, we cannot treat the former without affecting the latter to a degree.
Transports
This section is exactly as it sounds. Stories of patients transported elsewhere by their brains. “A Passage to India” is a story of an Indian girl with a malignant tumour that expanded to compress areas of her brain. It is at once a melancholic and beautiful tale. In a way, her visions of India were her salvation from an impossible prognosis, as understood fully only by her: “I like these dreams – they take me back home.”
The World of the Simple
It is this section that explores the world of the “autistic savant”: those dismissed due to their placement on the autistic spectrum, but who have intense creative or mathematical talents. “A Walking Grove” is the story of a man with severe developmental deficiencies able to ”retain an opera or an oratorio on a single hearing”. Is it through these abilities that he develops with relationship with his musical father, despite being unable to express himself through other means.
Bottom line: if any of these cases sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend picking up this book. It is truly extraordinary.
A note from the author: As my posts sometimes touch on emotive subjects, comments are disabled after 14 days. This is because, at this stage, I feel that ongoing discussions tend to stagnate.