Hallucinations

ByOliver Sacks

Release Date: 2012-11-06
Genre: Life Sciences

Score: 3.5

3.5

From 153 Ratings

Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The "poet laureate of medicine" (The New York Times) and author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat weaves together stories of mind-altering experiences to reveal what they tell us about our brains, our folklore and culture, and why the potential for hallucination exists in us all.

"Sacks has turned hallucinations from something bizarre and frightening into something that seems part of what it means to be a person. His book, too, is a medical and human triumph.” —The Washington Post

“An absorbing plunge into a mystery of the mind.” —Entertainment Weekly

To many people, hallucinations imply madness, but in fact they are a common part of the human experience. These sensory distortions range from the shimmering zigzags of a visual migraine to powerful visions brought on by fever, injuries, drugs, sensory deprivation, exhaustion, or even grief. Hallucinations doubtless lie behind many mythological traditions, literary inventions, and religious epiphanies.

Drawing on his own experiences, a wealth of clinical cases from among his patients, and famous historical examples ranging from Dostoevsky to Lewis Carroll, the legendary neurologist Oliver Sacks investigates the mystery of these sensory deceptions: what they say about the working of our brains, how they have influenced our folklore and culture, and why the potential for hallucination is present in all humans.

Reviews

Book has multiple page editing and formatting issues
1
By Suzy Q Songs
I was really looking forward to reading this book as I am a big fan of Oliver Sachs.
However, the digital formatting is horrible!! I'm missing chapter 1 in its entirety and multiple chapters are truncated followed by error messages on the pages. Capital letters do not align properly with the page and words float on top of one another. I am left wondering which half of the book I actually purchased and what half I am missing!
I would NOT recommend buying this book as a download until the EDITOR devotes a little time to formatting the book appropriately for digital download.
I am only giving this edition two thumbs down because of the Editor and Company's sloppiness. Oliver Sachs deserves better!
Fantastic writer
5
By Fpiano
As usual, Sacks examples are extremely entertaining and, well, believable! Big gripe though--my copy was filled with mid-sentence, abrupt chapter endings and tiny bottom parts of words at page top and "phantom" tops of words on page bottoms. I am NOT hallucinating!
Great non-technical tour into hallucinations
5
By hgorni
As usual, Dr. Sacks delivers with a book full of intriguing accounts that describe different mechanisms of the human mind. It's an awesome book that´s both not too technical so that the layman who is interested in neuroscience can enjoy the read and for those more keen to deepen their knowledge through academic research - since this book gives a great amount of starting points.

For those who, like myself, have read a few books by Dr. Sacks before will see a good deal of repetition as he reutilizes cases he already told in previously published books, but the fun is not taken away just because of that.

One thing though that could be better worked by his editor is the order in which the cases are presented. It looks backwards to me. The book begins with the most intriguing and fantastic stories, then gradually fades off in direction of more simple and less interesting cases.

Great reading nonetheless.
Interesting Read
3
By RamseyCascade
I found it interesting, and a little disturbing, how many different ways people can hallucinate without being mentally ill. The author is a little heavy on the jargon. I used the dictionary a lot while reading this book.
Readaholic
5
By Rockinghorseln
Fantastic read! Love love love this book!