- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Picador; 2007 Publication edition (2 Nov 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330418378
- ISBN-13: 978-0330418379
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 216,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"Oliver Sacks is that rare creature, a respected man of science who is also a mean storyteller."
--"Toronto Star"
--"Toronto Star"
"From the Hardcover edition."
Sunday Herald
'These are among the most effective and beautifully written human narratives since Sigmund Freud's case studies.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a read,
By
This review is from: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Paperback)
This is a pretty good book, of interest to anyone who feels themselves somewhat musicophiliac and wants to know more about how music has the effect it does. Musicophilia isn't particularly focused and doesn't really go too deep into how music works on the brain, it's mostly just a string of case studies of people and conditions involving strange and intense relationships with music. It's well-written and accessible, and worth a read, though it doesn't attempt to give any major insights into why music is so important to people in general.
"Musicophilia" is preferable to "This is your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin, which was released around the same time and deals with somewhat similar themes, though Levitin's book includes much more technical info on music and neurology. This info is presented in a style that is dry, unengaging and lacking in clarity. Sacks on the other hand is an effortlessly good writer. For that reason, this book is worth reading, though it would have benefitted from greater cohesion, a more focused approach and some general theorizing along with the case studies.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For the right reader, an accessible and fascinating read,
This review is from: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Paperback)
I think whether one enjoys this book or not probably depends on the things one is interested in - other reviewers have complained about everything from the book being too introspective to being too much a list of Sacks' patients.
In part, it is both these things - as a book of case studies it cannot help being the latter, as a book written by someone who is himself an amateur musician as well as being knowledgeable about and intrigued by the neuroscience behind our musical brain, it is necessarily the former. However, neither of these things, for me, detracts in any way from the book. If you have an interest in both science and music and enjoy books that are absorbing, sometimes densely written, very informative, and written by someone with both a wide knowledge of the subject and a keen curiosity about the whys and wherefores then you will probably enjoy this book just as much as I have, which is a great deal. Not all of the cases have explanations, which sometimes makes them more intriguing - other, apparently stranger, cases, turn out to have fairly logical reasons. Sacks explores everything from the healing power of music to its capability of irritating or even tormenting those whose brains cannot control it, and the whole thing is intensely interesting for a musician with any interest in the science behind music.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Music and memory,
By
This review is from: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Paperback)
Oliver Sacks writes with obvious passion for his subject and tender empathy for his patients. Despite having no more than a listener's appreciation for music and little grasp of matters neurological, I found Musicophilia fascinating and accessible. The case histories described in this book illustrate the extraordinary way that music effects the brain and how it can both soothe and stimulate people with brain damage. I finished the book feeling frustrated that I wasn't taught more about music at an early age, but reassured that music may prove comforting to me in my dotage.
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