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The Island of the Colorblind
 
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The Island of the Colorblind (Paperback)

by Oliver W. Sacks (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.07
Price: £8.16 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Books USA (Dec 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0375700730
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375700736
  • Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 247,023 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Island of the Colorblind
51% buy the item featured on this page:
The Island of the Colorblind 4.2 out of 5 stars (12)
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The Island of the Colour-blind 3.0 out of 5 stars (1)

 

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Seeking symptoms, 14 Feb 2006
By Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
A practicing physician, Sacks conveys us on a journey through Pacific islands. He introduces us to some bizarre afflictions. The nature of these illness isn't unusual, but the circumstances on these archipelagoes is bizarre. The cause and mechanism of spread is revealed by none of the investigations they've been subjected to up to now. Genetics, nutritional practices, habitat have all been subject to scrutiny. None have imparted clear root causes for the colour blindness on Pingelap/Pohnpei or nervous disorders on Guam. Both disorders, achromotopia and lytico-bodig are types of afflictions Sacks has dealt with during his years in practice. Both have varying manifestations, making diagnosis difficult. The colour blindness carries other symptoms, sensitivity to bright light and loss of acuity. Reading may be difficult for some ailing victims. The lytico-bodig on Guam is particularly difficult, since the symptoms may not become apparent for generations. Sacks joins local doctors in examining
the patients and recounting the research.

In assessing the symptoms and the environments, Sacks also conveys a sensitive rendering of the islands' histories and current situations. Whalers, missionaries and the U.S. Navy have brought plagues, displaced the inhabitants and ignored their impacts. Indigenous populations have been decimated by diseases introduced by Europeans and North Americans. It's an old, wearying story, but it must be told with honesty and perception.

Sacks does just that, with deep human feeling that makes this book captivating reading. There's few things as frightening as a latent illness that seems to strike at whim. Since "bugs" or even genetic origins aren't easily discerned in these cases, it makes the physician's task that much more exacting. Sacks keeps the reader at his side with finesse as he tours the islands, examines the suffering and describes the efforts to counter the misery. It's a call for others to take up the challenge, and he offers tools in the massive notes and bibliography. It's a challenge worth pursuing. Anyone entering medicine will find this book valuable. For the rest of us, it's an inspirational volume, well told, with valuable insight to a dedicated doctor's experiences.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This inspired book speaks to the intellect and the soul., 14 Feb 1999
By A Customer
I was transformed and transported by this book. As a physician, I was caught up totally and completely in the medical Sherlock Holmesian "whodunnit" quest for scientific answers. As a human being residing for a time on planet earth, I was immersed in the beauty and the mystery of places that seem almost fairy-like and magical through the keenly observant eyes of Dr. Sacks. As a soul flickering briefly on that continuum of deep time, I felt a profound sense of awe and existential brevity, but also a sense of connectedness and immortality.

Having just finished the book today, I am aware of a sadness within me, a sadness that my journey to the South Pacific with Dr. Sacks has ended. I return to my clinic tomorrow morning to see patients, but my heart for some days to come will be on Pingelap, or Guam, or.......

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Island of the Colorblind is insightful!, 18 Mar 2001
By Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
On the tiny Pacific atoll of Pingelap thrives a community born totally colorblind who can describe their world in rich terms of patterns & tones.

Oliver Sacks writes: "I went to Micronesia as a neurologist, or neutoanthropologist, intent on seeing how individuals and communities responded to unusual endemic conditions - a hereditary total colorblindness on Pingelap and Pohnpei; a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disorder on Guam and Rota. But I also found myself riveted by the cultural life and history of these islands, their unique flora and fauna, their singular geologic origins. If seeing patients, visiting archeological sites, wandering in rain forests, snorkelling in the reefs, at first seemed to bear no relation to each other, they then fused into a single unpartitioneable experience, a total immersion in island life."

And that is where Oliver Sacks takes you, from Fuur, in Jutland to Berkeley in California to Martha's Vineyard to Micronesia and along the way he serves up a fine helping of his childhood and an exquisite selection of botanical pen and ink drawings.

What I have liked about reading an Oliver Sacks book is that he will offer you a variegated read with a thick and juicy notes section. He writes about all manner of things; sunsets and airplane flights; friends with maskun and scotopic times; coconut crabs and cycad ferns; all in a colorful and articulate language. Oliver Sacks is one scientist who has not lost his awe, wonder and keen observational skills.

I learnt as much about ferns growing in a garden during his London childhood as the ferns that flourished and supported whole dynasties of dinosaurs and modern island communities; about his literary heroes, his dreams and his schoolmates' appetites for botany and biology.

As much about medicine and anthropology as life lived at the ends of the earth. You'll learn about Darwin's trip around the world and about sakau, a local beverage with lively powers. You'll be treated to grand views of little islands and close-up insights of how people with colorblindness see this world. Absorbing postprandrial remeniscences. Do check out my site for my full review.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and fun to read
This was a really fun book to read. It was a mixture of Pacific Rim anthropology, history, medicine and botany. I had met Dr. Read more
Published on 13 May 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Oliver Sacks takes you through the lives of the colorblind.
Oliver Sacks takes all those with an interest in science on a journey to the Island of The Colorblind. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Putting the Human Touch Back Into Doctoring
Throughout his collected works Sacks dispenses his accumulated wit and wisdom with uncommon respect for his case studies. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I read in all of 1997!
Sacks' subjects are always fascinating, but the writing sometimes is quirky or overly technical. I found this book a delight. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable read
A little bit scientific mystery, a little bit traveloge, alittle bit autobiographical and a little bit of anthropology make this book a truly delightful read.
Published on 23 Aug 1998

2.0 out of 5 stars The Man Who Mistook This Documentary for a Story
I am a big fan of Oliver Sacks and despite my low rating for this book, I will continue to be a big fan. I was simply misled. Read more
Published on 21 April 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars How kind is Oliver Sacks
A joy it is to see Dr. Sacks' joy at all he cares about--nature, history, philosophy, plants and people. Read more
Published on 21 April 1998

2.0 out of 5 stars Diffuse; boring; disappointing to a Sacks fan.
I've been a big fan of Sacks since _Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,_ and have often reread that, his best book. This book, however, is dull and lame. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 1998

4.0 out of 5 stars Sakau effects mentioned are individually unique
The book is a nicely done overview of the achromats of Pingelap, some of whom I have the pleasure of having as students at the College of Micronesia-FSM. Read more
Published on 1 April 1997

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