Summary
When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: "Sacks will go far", if he does not go too far." It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction, and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients come to define his life.
With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks show us that the same energy that dives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bonds with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A.R .Luria, W.H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick— who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer—and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.
With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks show us that the same energy that dives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bonds with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A.R .Luria, W.H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick— who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer—and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.
Oliver Sacks, On the MOVE (New York - Toronto, Alfred A. Knopt, 2015). 384 pages
Personal Opinion
A must read for admirers of Dr. Sacks. On the Move is an engaging memoir in which he recounts with honesty and candor his fascinating life, and gives the reader a look behind some of his most famous writings (Awakenings, Migraine, Hallucinations, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and others). On the Move portrays Dr Sacks as a bookish, hunger for knowledge and shy scientist, but also a man fueled by adventure and eager to experience life to its fullest.
Dr. Sacks was a motorcycle rider, a weightlifter and a hitchhiker who found himself caught between two countries and conflicted by his sexuality, and who also battled an addiction to amphetamines and other drugs in his youth. He was first and foremost throughout his life a brilliant researcher, passionate about science, medicine, the mysteries of the brain, always kind and full of sympathy for his patients, and with a keen talent for writing.
His story is enlighten by the many entries on his many notebooks and the exchanges of letters between family and colleagues. A reader and a writer all his life, he always carried a notebook with him (to concerts, plays, and even when he went swimming). Always ready to jot down an inspiring thought, an idea, or that perfect sentence for the books he was working on.
A story that intertwines the personal with the professional in which he transmits to the reader his wonder and passion for life. The remarkable life of a brilliant scientist who described himself simply as a story teller. "I am a story teller, for better and for worse". He will be missed.
Dr. Sacks was a motorcycle rider, a weightlifter and a hitchhiker who found himself caught between two countries and conflicted by his sexuality, and who also battled an addiction to amphetamines and other drugs in his youth. He was first and foremost throughout his life a brilliant researcher, passionate about science, medicine, the mysteries of the brain, always kind and full of sympathy for his patients, and with a keen talent for writing.
His story is enlighten by the many entries on his many notebooks and the exchanges of letters between family and colleagues. A reader and a writer all his life, he always carried a notebook with him (to concerts, plays, and even when he went swimming). Always ready to jot down an inspiring thought, an idea, or that perfect sentence for the books he was working on.
A story that intertwines the personal with the professional in which he transmits to the reader his wonder and passion for life. The remarkable life of a brilliant scientist who described himself simply as a story teller. "I am a story teller, for better and for worse". He will be missed.
My score (1-5):
About the Author:
Sacks is the author of numerous best-selling books, including several collections of case studies of people with neurological disorders. His 1973 book Awakenings was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film of the same name in 1990 starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. He and his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain were the subject of "Musical Minds", an episode of the PBS series Nova.
Source: Wikipedia
