Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain: Amazon.co.uk: Oliver Sacks: Books

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Product Description

Irish Times

'Rich and informative...Musicophiliam,which is Sack's trademark, some of the most extraordinary cases histories I've ever heard.'

Sunday Herald

'These are among the most effective and beautifully written human narratives since Sigmund Freud's case studies.'

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16 Reviews

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3.8 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read, 10 Nov 2008

By	Mark Wallace (West of Ireland) - See all my reviews

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.

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55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing introspection, 29 Jan 2008

By	Piaf Carl - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While I have been a fan of Oliver Sacks, I am beginning to realise that a lot of his books seem to be constructed so that they can be easily divided into magazine articles (or they at least appear that way). I have read the first few chapters of Musicophilia only so far and to be totally honest, as a musician with training in the neurosciences, I found it interesting as a subject. However, the book is not well written. It has long segments of rather egocentric introspection and navel gazing. I wish it would focus more on the case studies and have a much more consistent approach to the subject. It is convoluted in parts and much of it seems to lose it's thread and drift into talking about other things, especially at the end of chapters. While Oliver Sacks is undoubtedly an intelligent man, I think that maybe he has neglected the advice of editors and been allowed to do so because he has sold so many books in the past. I bought the book in hardback and actually regret spending so much on it.

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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little clunky, 10 Feb 2008

By	doublegone (scotland) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I got quite excited when I read articles about this book. It has not really lived up to my expectations.

It tells you about people who hear music in their heads, people with perfect pitch who lose it and vice versa, people with tinnitus and so on. The trouble for me was that in the end it becomes just a big long list of notes on the patients Sachs has treated. I could have used a bit more context, or even philosophical speculation and wonder. But the author is a medical man so he confines himself pretty much to the facts. And he reams them out - the patient experienced this, the patient reacted like that....

Its fascinating material but in all honesty the book is not well written. It is more academic than I had expected. Of course some people will prefer that. I didn't.

Some of the snippets I read in reviews and magazine articles were quite intriguing, but when I got to the full book I found that many of them remained snippets - a footnote about a piece of shrapnel in Shostakovich's head is a good example. Its just a couple of sentences and you want to know more about it but you are left unfulfilled.

Maybe I had too high expectations of this book. I don't want to be too negative as its a perfectly OK book. Its just not anything like as interesting as it appears.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars For the right reader, an accessible and fascinating read
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... Read more

Published 2 months ago by tiggrie

5.0 out of 5 stars Music and memory
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... Read more

Published 3 months ago by N. Legg

2.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelmed
I've heard of Oliver Sacks although this is the first book of his I have read. I agree with the reviewer who feels there just isn't enough to sustain 400-odd pages of interest... Read more

Published 9 months ago by urban fox

2.0 out of 5 stars Musicophilia (2008) by Oliver Sacks
It has taken me nearly six weeks to wade through only the first third of this marathon of almost 400 pages. And the reason? Read more

Published 10 months ago by Whigwood

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, yet disappointing in many ways
Oliver Sacks tells wonderful stories about how patients with severe brain dysfunctions manage to recover their faculties through new treatments of various kinds, and his previous... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Lazy Lee

4.0 out of 5 stars better than most medical writing
Having both a strong interest in music and a medical training, this book greatly appealed to me. Sacks is also a good speaker, and although I would have bought this book anyway,... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Talc Demon

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I had hoped
Really read like a collection of articles - slightly repetitious, surprisingly little engagement with the depth of the topic. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Jezza

5.0 out of 5 stars Minds making music
By now, it's a given that an Oliver Sacks' book is worth your time and close attention. His particular talent lies in making the science interesting without becoming a... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Stephen A. Haines

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I am usually a fan of Oliver Sacks but this is a disappointing book. I am about halfway through and on the verge of putting it down, although will perservere as it's a fast read... Read more

Published 16 months ago by fionaville

5.0 out of 5 stars A Music-Loving Neurologist Tells Us About Extreme Forms of Musical Interaction
Musicophilia made me realize how others perceive music. It was a shock. I assumed that everyone experienced music the same way. Wrong! Read more

Published 21 months ago by Professor Donald Mitchell

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	78% buy the item featured on this page: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain 3.8 out of 5 stars (16)
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	8% buy This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession 3.6 out of 5 stars (12) �5.37
	3% buy An Anthropologist on Mars 4.0 out of 5 stars (4) �5.74

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Hardcover)

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