Awakenings

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks
Click on the title to go to the Amazon page to purchase.

I sincerely apologize for my lack of posts; to tell the truth, I've been procrastinating and testing.

Don't procrastinate, kids. Read books instead.

All joking aside, this book is very amazing. It doesn't have that much of a story, and it's nonfiction, but that doesn't take away from its content. Oliver Sacks clearly and informatively wrote about his many patients with post-encephalitis lethargica Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a disorder that affects a person's nervous system, in extreme cases leaving them bedridden and unable to talk. While normal Parkinson's disease changes, post-encephalitic patients have a more stagnant form of Parkinson's. These patients are the ones that Sacks treated and observed for an extended period of time, and his findings and observations are compiled in this wonderful book.

I have learned so much from this book- from what encephalitis lethargica is to what neurologists may have to do on a day-to-day basis. After reading the book, I found myself looking up more information about this "sleeping-sickness" and its outbreak in the late 1910's and 1920's. Although all the information gave me chills, I was glad to learn more, and I was glad that the book introduced me to a subject that I'm now so interested in.

A good few of you may have seen the movie version of this book. Although it is certainly a very poignant, wonderful movie, it contains many differences from the book. The movie goes along a storyline more than the book does, while the book is much more factual. There is also a lot of background information that the movie leaves out, and the movie focuses on the story of just one character; Leonard, played by Robert DeNiro. Although Leonard's story is told in the book, there are other patients whose stories are also told in an in-depth manner. Although the movie and the book are both amazing, I wouldn't recommend just watching the movie or just reading the book; they both have their high points, which combined can make for a doubly moving experience.

Many things in this book changed how I view my surroundings and what lies ahead of me. Many things that Sacks mentioned, while informational, were also moving and could be applied to everyday life- even to a life without Parkinson's disease. I would highly recommend this book, especially people who are interested in neurology, medical science, and/or nonfiction books. I'll leave you with what I think about this book, and a quote-- although not from Sacks, it still seemed so... brilliant, and it was mentioned in the book and pertained to what was being talked about at the time.

"Whenever... advantage through illness is at all pronounced, and no substitute for it can be found in reality, you need not look forward very hopefully to influencing (it) through your therapy."

-Freud