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The Island of the Colorblind
In his books An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks details the lives of patients isolated by neurological disorders, shedding light on our common humanity and the ways in which we perceive the world around us. Now he looks at the effects of physical isolation in The Island of the Colorblind. On this journey, he carried with him the intellectual curiousity, kind understanding, and unique vision he has so consistently demonstrated.
Drawn to the Micronesian island of Pingelap by reports of a community of people born totally colorblind, Dr. Sacks set up a clinic in a one-room dispensary. There he listened to patients describe their colorless world in terms rich with pattern and tone, luminance and shadow. Then, in Guam, he investigated a puzzling neurodegenerative paralysis, making housecalls amid crowing cockerels, cycad jungles, and the remains of a colonial culture. The experience affords Sacks an opportunity to elaborate on such personal passions as botany and history and to explore the meaning of islands, the dissemination of species, the birth of disease, and the nature of deep geologic time.
298 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
295 people are currently reading
8926 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Sacks
102 books9,761 followersOliver Wolf Sacks, CBE, was a British neurologist residing in the United States, who has written popular books about his patients, the most famous of which is Awakenings, which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.
Sacks was the youngest of four children born to a prosperous North London Jewish couple: Sam, a physician, and Elsie, a surgeon. When he was six years old, he and his brother were evacuated from London to escape The Blitz, retreating to a boarding school in the Midlands, where he remained until 1943. During his youth, he was a keen amateur chemist, as recalled in his memoir Uncle Tungsten. He also learned to share his parents' enthusiasm for medicine and entered The Queen's College, Oxford University in 1951, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in physiology and biology in 1954. At the same institution, he went on to earn in 1958, a Master of Arts (MA) and an MB ChB in chemistry, thereby qualifying to practice medicine.
After converting his British qualifications to American recognition (i.e., an MD as opposed to MB ChB), Sacks moved to New York, where he has lived since 1965, and taken twice weekly therapy sessions since 1966.
Sacks began consulting at chronic care facility Beth Abraham Hospital (now Beth Abraham Health Service) in 1966. At Beth Abraham, Sacks worked with a group of survivors of the 1920s sleeping sickness, encephalitis lethargica, who had been unable to move on their own for decades. These patients and his treatment of them were the basis of Sacks' book Awakenings.
His work at Beth Abraham helped provide the foundation on which the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF), where Sacks is currently an honorary medical advisor, is built. In 2000, IMNF honored Sacks, its founder, with its first Music Has Power Award. The IMNF again bestowed a Music Has Power Award on Sacks in 2006 to commemorate "his 40 years at Beth Abraham and honor his outstanding contributions in support of music therapy and the effect of music on the human brain and mind".
Sacks was formerly employed as a clinical professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and at the New York University School of Medicine, serving the latter school for 42 years. On 1 July 2007, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons appointed Sacks to a position as professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychiatry, at the same time opening to him a new position as "artist", which the university hoped will help interconnect disciplines such as medicine, law, and economics. Sacks was a consultant neurologist to the Little Sisters of the Poor, and maintained a practice in New York City.
Since 1996, Sacks was a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature). In 1999, Sacks became a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. Also in 1999, he became an Honorary Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford. In 2002, he became Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class IV—Humanities and Arts, Section 4—Literature).[38] and he was awarded the 2001 Lewis Thomas Prize by Rockefeller University. Sacks was awarded honorary doctorates from the College of Staten Island (1991), Tufts University (1991), New York Medical College (1991), Georgetown University (1992), Medical College of Pennsylvania (1992), Bard College (1992), Queen's University (Ontario) (2001), Gallaudet University (2005), University of Oxford (2005), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (2006). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. Asteroid 84928 Oliversacks, discovered in 2003 and 2 miles (3.2 km) in diameter, has been named in his honor.
Sacks was the youngest of four children born to a prosperous North London Jewish couple: Sam, a physician, and Elsie, a surgeon. When he was six years old, he and his brother were evacuated from London to escape The Blitz, retreating to a boarding school in the Midlands, where he remained until 1943. During his youth, he was a keen amateur chemist, as recalled in his memoir Uncle Tungsten. He also learned to share his parents' enthusiasm for medicine and entered The Queen's College, Oxford University in 1951, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in physiology and biology in 1954. At the same institution, he went on to earn in 1958, a Master of Arts (MA) and an MB ChB in chemistry, thereby qualifying to practice medicine.
After converting his British qualifications to American recognition (i.e., an MD as opposed to MB ChB), Sacks moved to New York, where he has lived since 1965, and taken twice weekly therapy sessions since 1966.
Sacks began consulting at chronic care facility Beth Abraham Hospital (now Beth Abraham Health Service) in 1966. At Beth Abraham, Sacks worked with a group of survivors of the 1920s sleeping sickness, encephalitis lethargica, who had been unable to move on their own for decades. These patients and his treatment of them were the basis of Sacks' book Awakenings.
His work at Beth Abraham helped provide the foundation on which the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF), where Sacks is currently an honorary medical advisor, is built. In 2000, IMNF honored Sacks, its founder, with its first Music Has Power Award. The IMNF again bestowed a Music Has Power Award on Sacks in 2006 to commemorate "his 40 years at Beth Abraham and honor his outstanding contributions in support of music therapy and the effect of music on the human brain and mind".
Sacks was formerly employed as a clinical professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and at the New York University School of Medicine, serving the latter school for 42 years. On 1 July 2007, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons appointed Sacks to a position as professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychiatry, at the same time opening to him a new position as "artist", which the university hoped will help interconnect disciplines such as medicine, law, and economics. Sacks was a consultant neurologist to the Little Sisters of the Poor, and maintained a practice in New York City.
Since 1996, Sacks was a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature). In 1999, Sacks became a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. Also in 1999, he became an Honorary Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford. In 2002, he became Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Class IV—Humanities and Arts, Section 4—Literature).[38] and he was awarded the 2001 Lewis Thomas Prize by Rockefeller University. Sacks was awarded honorary doctorates from the College of Staten Island (1991), Tufts University (1991), New York Medical College (1991), Georgetown University (1992), Medical College of Pennsylvania (1992), Bard College (1992), Queen's University (Ontario) (2001), Gallaudet University (2005), University of Oxford (2005), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (2006). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. Asteroid 84928 Oliversacks, discovered in 2003 and 2 miles (3.2 km) in diameter, has been named in his honor.
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September 20, 2010
As an admirer of Oliver Sacks’s clear, inquisitive articles on neurobiology, I was saddened to discover that his travelogue of Micronesia is both patronizing and exoticizing.
Throughout this book, Sacks employs the same tone he uses when discussing patients with debilitating medical ailments, a kind of sympathetic wonderment at the bizarre feats performed damaged brains. Here, this tone is applied to entire populations and cultures, as when he describes the ponderously fat islanders whose diets include vast quantities of Spam. He casually remarks that the Micronesians might have practiced cannibalism, and that Spam’s popularity might therefore be attributed its similarity in flavor to the taste of human flesh.
Needless to say, this is a preposterous and racist supposition. In the Pacific islands (where I grew up), communities and economies were devastated by both World War II and decades of colonial occupation. People became dependent on Spam and other high-sodium, high-fat, high-sugar tinned products imported and distributed by the United States military. Obesity and diabetes are the natural consequences of replacing a native, lean, seafood diet with one manufactured by ConAgra. But Sacks is delighted by the possibility of remote island peoples retaining their primitive (and putative) taste for human flesh, and so fails to explore the more prosaic, less sensational truth.
Elsewhere, he is paternalistic in a reflexive, unthinking way. He described seeing beautiful children running in packs, as wild animals, and his urge to pluck them up and keep them. It is an offhand remark, but one that stings. This kind of thoughtless condescension, wherein he treats islanders as exotic foreign specimens rather than people, crops up repeatedly.
Still, Sacks is a terrific writer with an unrivaled instinct for describing the indescribable. He writes stunningly of the out-of-body disorientation caused by kava-kava, and imagines the experience of a color-blind person seeing the world through textures. He describes the experience of aging into a state of neurodegenerative paralysis, and shows remarkable breadth of knowledge over the disease’s possible botanical causes. The neurological disorders at the heart of the book are legitimately unique and fascinating – if only Sacks didn’t see fit to treat the people like the disease.
Throughout this book, Sacks employs the same tone he uses when discussing patients with debilitating medical ailments, a kind of sympathetic wonderment at the bizarre feats performed damaged brains. Here, this tone is applied to entire populations and cultures, as when he describes the ponderously fat islanders whose diets include vast quantities of Spam. He casually remarks that the Micronesians might have practiced cannibalism, and that Spam’s popularity might therefore be attributed its similarity in flavor to the taste of human flesh.
Needless to say, this is a preposterous and racist supposition. In the Pacific islands (where I grew up), communities and economies were devastated by both World War II and decades of colonial occupation. People became dependent on Spam and other high-sodium, high-fat, high-sugar tinned products imported and distributed by the United States military. Obesity and diabetes are the natural consequences of replacing a native, lean, seafood diet with one manufactured by ConAgra. But Sacks is delighted by the possibility of remote island peoples retaining their primitive (and putative) taste for human flesh, and so fails to explore the more prosaic, less sensational truth.
Elsewhere, he is paternalistic in a reflexive, unthinking way. He described seeing beautiful children running in packs, as wild animals, and his urge to pluck them up and keep them. It is an offhand remark, but one that stings. This kind of thoughtless condescension, wherein he treats islanders as exotic foreign specimens rather than people, crops up repeatedly.
Still, Sacks is a terrific writer with an unrivaled instinct for describing the indescribable. He writes stunningly of the out-of-body disorientation caused by kava-kava, and imagines the experience of a color-blind person seeing the world through textures. He describes the experience of aging into a state of neurodegenerative paralysis, and shows remarkable breadth of knowledge over the disease’s possible botanical causes. The neurological disorders at the heart of the book are legitimately unique and fascinating – if only Sacks didn’t see fit to treat the people like the disease.
January 3, 2020
1st book for 2020.
When I was studying psychology in the 1990s, I hung out with a lot of people studying clinical neuropsychology, where Sacks had a universally bad reputation—great words, terrible science—was the people smarter than me would always say. Because of this I have always sort of avoided reading him, but recently, just before Christmas I came across and read his book Hallucinations, which I really enjoyed and decided to slowly work my way through his works enjoying them as works of writing, and not getting to caught up on their scientific veracity.
This book describes two unrelated trips to the Pacific: the first, to an island with a large percentage of achromatopes—people suffering a genetic mutation which leads to a lack of active cones in the retina, forcing them to rely solely on their retina rods for vision. Cones are responsible not only for color vision (hence the title of the book), but also for fine acuity and day vision—our night vision is essentially mediated by the rods. The second part of the book details a trip to Guam to visit a neurologist studying a mysterious endemic ALS-like disease, that was thought to perhaps have been caused by the ingestion of flour made by cycad seeds (though this has now been discarded).
Both stories are relatively slight works, which have the feeling of being travelog pieces that might appear in some Sunday newspaper supplement. Still an enjoyable, if quick read.
When I was studying psychology in the 1990s, I hung out with a lot of people studying clinical neuropsychology, where Sacks had a universally bad reputation—great words, terrible science—was the people smarter than me would always say. Because of this I have always sort of avoided reading him, but recently, just before Christmas I came across and read his book Hallucinations, which I really enjoyed and decided to slowly work my way through his works enjoying them as works of writing, and not getting to caught up on their scientific veracity.
This book describes two unrelated trips to the Pacific: the first, to an island with a large percentage of achromatopes—people suffering a genetic mutation which leads to a lack of active cones in the retina, forcing them to rely solely on their retina rods for vision. Cones are responsible not only for color vision (hence the title of the book), but also for fine acuity and day vision—our night vision is essentially mediated by the rods. The second part of the book details a trip to Guam to visit a neurologist studying a mysterious endemic ALS-like disease, that was thought to perhaps have been caused by the ingestion of flour made by cycad seeds (though this has now been discarded).
Both stories are relatively slight works, which have the feeling of being travelog pieces that might appear in some Sunday newspaper supplement. Still an enjoyable, if quick read.
May 14, 2018
Great book. Sacks is a superb writer, and his enthusiasm bubbles along at a pleasing pace. You'll learn about an island where a huge percentage of the folks are born totally colour-blind. He also checks into a neurological disease on another island ... again, huge percentage of folks affected ... which causes profound, progressive, and fatal muscular weakness.
When I find myself reading bits aloud to my hubby, I know it's a great book. We both learned a lot!
4 Stars = It touched my heart, and/or gave me much food for thought.
When I find myself reading bits aloud to my hubby, I know it's a great book. We both learned a lot!
4 Stars = It touched my heart, and/or gave me much food for thought.
July 9, 2012
This is mainly a more or less ill-informed travelogue by a person interested in neurological diseases. The core of the book is Sacks' visit to Guam in the 1990s to check out Lytico-Bodig disease, an ALS-like disease once endemic on this island.
Alas, there's not much to the book. Sacks relates a bit about the research of others and his visits to patients with the disease who are under the care of Dr. John C. Steele.
I say ill-informed travelogue because his knowledge of Guam and the other islands he visits seems limited. For example, he relates a garbled history of the village of Sumay. He doesn't seem to know that it was the site of a US Navy installation as well as the Marine Corps barracks before World War Two, or that it was also the site of the Pan American hotel and other PAA facilities, where the old flying-boat Pan American clippers docked. He seems to believe Sumay was a pristine Chamorro village in those days, which it most certainly was not.
Also, Sacks' attitude to the military seems rather silly, a relic of the hippy-dippy sixties and sticking it to the man mentality. And he doesn't get that the coral in the waters adjacent to the Navy base are healthier because access is restricted. If the Navy let all the locals and tourists in, the corals would be severely degraded. I can't help thinking Sacks can't be much of a scientist if he doesn't grasp that fact.
On top of that, these days it is the US Navy that is protecting and preserving the threatened cycads that Sacks is so enamored with. If the Navy had left Guam all those still-undeveloped areas would have been bulldozed and turned into resorts,condos, strip malls and golf courses, just like what happened in Saipan.
Sacks' description of John Steele's personality and interactions with his Lytico-Bodig patients was most interesting to me. He describes Steele as highly empathetic and caring. However, on the "Vitals" website these days, he is rated "poor" with a 1.0 out of a possible 4.0 score, for what that's worth. But he was also fired as the physician director of the Skilled Nursing Unit, Guam Memorial Hospital's long-term care facility, early in 2012 after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid conducted a "scathing" (according to press reports) survey of the SNU.
Well, whatevs.... I guess Sacks has come down in favor of bats eating cycad seeds and concentrating a toxin (BMAA) that Chamorros who ate the bats got a heavy dose of, giving them the Lytico-Bodig, though he doesn't elaborate on that in the book.
Steele, who has studied the disease for most of his professional career, has discarded that thesis, along with postulated connections with genetics, minerals, metals, food and water. The cause remains a mystery, which is remarkable for a disease that at one point in the 1940s was the leading cause of death among Chamorros. But now it is essentially extinct, with only some elderly patients still affected; no one has acquired the disease since 1951.
I wouldn't be surprised if the disease is just another taupathy, related to abnormalities in the MAPT gene. Or something. But even if it is, why, when and where did it first appear on Guam, and why has it died out? I can't help thinking the population bottleneck the Chamorros suffered courtesy of the Spanish had something to do with it, but what do I know? Perhaps Dr. Steele will write the definitive book on this disease. I look forward to reading it.
I was hoping to learn something interesting about Lytico-Bodig from Sacks' book. But I didn't.
Alas, there's not much to the book. Sacks relates a bit about the research of others and his visits to patients with the disease who are under the care of Dr. John C. Steele.
I say ill-informed travelogue because his knowledge of Guam and the other islands he visits seems limited. For example, he relates a garbled history of the village of Sumay. He doesn't seem to know that it was the site of a US Navy installation as well as the Marine Corps barracks before World War Two, or that it was also the site of the Pan American hotel and other PAA facilities, where the old flying-boat Pan American clippers docked. He seems to believe Sumay was a pristine Chamorro village in those days, which it most certainly was not.
Also, Sacks' attitude to the military seems rather silly, a relic of the hippy-dippy sixties and sticking it to the man mentality. And he doesn't get that the coral in the waters adjacent to the Navy base are healthier because access is restricted. If the Navy let all the locals and tourists in, the corals would be severely degraded. I can't help thinking Sacks can't be much of a scientist if he doesn't grasp that fact.
On top of that, these days it is the US Navy that is protecting and preserving the threatened cycads that Sacks is so enamored with. If the Navy had left Guam all those still-undeveloped areas would have been bulldozed and turned into resorts,condos, strip malls and golf courses, just like what happened in Saipan.
Sacks' description of John Steele's personality and interactions with his Lytico-Bodig patients was most interesting to me. He describes Steele as highly empathetic and caring. However, on the "Vitals" website these days, he is rated "poor" with a 1.0 out of a possible 4.0 score, for what that's worth. But he was also fired as the physician director of the Skilled Nursing Unit, Guam Memorial Hospital's long-term care facility, early in 2012 after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid conducted a "scathing" (according to press reports) survey of the SNU.
Well, whatevs.... I guess Sacks has come down in favor of bats eating cycad seeds and concentrating a toxin (BMAA) that Chamorros who ate the bats got a heavy dose of, giving them the Lytico-Bodig, though he doesn't elaborate on that in the book.
Steele, who has studied the disease for most of his professional career, has discarded that thesis, along with postulated connections with genetics, minerals, metals, food and water. The cause remains a mystery, which is remarkable for a disease that at one point in the 1940s was the leading cause of death among Chamorros. But now it is essentially extinct, with only some elderly patients still affected; no one has acquired the disease since 1951.
I wouldn't be surprised if the disease is just another taupathy, related to abnormalities in the MAPT gene. Or something. But even if it is, why, when and where did it first appear on Guam, and why has it died out? I can't help thinking the population bottleneck the Chamorros suffered courtesy of the Spanish had something to do with it, but what do I know? Perhaps Dr. Steele will write the definitive book on this disease. I look forward to reading it.
I was hoping to learn something interesting about Lytico-Bodig from Sacks' book. But I didn't.
July 10, 2025
Oliver Sacks popüler bilim kitaplarıyla tanınan bir nörolog. Bu kitap Mikronezya adalarından Pingelap’a yaptığı bir araştırma gezisi ile başlıyor. Bu ada tamamen renk körü olanların yoğunluklu yaşadığı bir yer öyle ki dünyanın başka yerlerinde 30 binde bir görülürken bu adada 12’de bir oranında görülüyor. Bunun nedeni 1775’de adayı kasıp kavuran kasırga nedeniyle bin kadar nüfustan sadece yirmisinin hayatta kalması ve birbirleriyle evlenen bu azınlığın genetik bozukluğun yaygınlaşmasına neden olmaları. Tamamen renk körü olan insanlar siyah, beyaz ve tonları dışındaki renkleri seçemiyorlar ve parlak ışıktan çok rahatsız oluyorlar. Doktor Sacks ve arkadaşları daha sonra Pingelap’daki nüfus fazlalığı nedeniyle bir kısım nüfusun göç ettiği Pohnpei’deki Mand adasına gidiyorlar ve burada yaşayan renk körlerinin yaşamlarını ve sorunlarını gözlemliyorlar. Daha sonra çok eski bir uygarlığın kalıntılarını bulunduran Nan Madol’a yaptıkları ilginç yolculuğu ve bu adayla ilgili izlenimlerini okuyoruz.
Kitabın ikinci bölümü Sacks’ın nörolog bir arkadaşının daveti üzerine Guam’a yaptığı geziyi anlatıyor. Ada halkının likito-boding adını verdiği, bazen ilerlemiş felç görünümünde “likito”, bazen de parkinsona benzeyen ve zaman zaman erken bunamanın eşlik ettiği bu hastalık adanın özellikle Umatag bölgesinde yoğun olarak görülüyor. Aslında çok sağlıklı bir halk olan Chamorralar önce Macellan’ın keşfi ile adaya gelen İsponyalların getirdileri kızamık, çiçek, verem ve cüzam gibi hastalıklarla tanışmışlar. Bu yüzden nüfusun büyük kısmı ölmüş. Geri kalanlar önce Amerika, sonra Japonya sonra tekrar
Amerika işgalini yaşamışlar, savaşla, kıyımla tanışmışlar. Bu arada adada açlık baş göstermiş ve yiyecek sıkıntısı yüzünden adada çok sık görülen ve palmiye cinsi bir ağaç olan sikadların tohum, meyve ve kabuklarının yıkanıp çeşitli işlemlerden geçirilmesi ile oluşturulan yiyecekler yaygın olarak tüketilmiş. Hastalığın nedenleri olarak bu ağaç ve bu ağaçtan yapılan yemekler önemli bir sorun olarak görülmüş ve araştırılmış. Diğer bir olasılık adadaki içme sorunları olarak görülmüş, yeterince kalsiyum içermediği için hastalığın çok görüldüğü iddia edilmiş. Bir başka görüş ise genetik olduğu. Fakat anladığım kadarıyla bir sonuca varılamamış. Hastalık da adalıların dünyaya açılmaları, kız alıp vermeleri ile genetik özelliğinin yıllar içinde yitmesi ile günümüzde eskisi kadar sık görülmüyor.
Doktor Sacks son olarak Guam’a yakın Rota adasına gidiyor ve Sikad ağaçlarını, çeşitlerini, çoğalmalarını inceliyor. Çok yönlü bir bilim adamı olan Sacks’ın insana, doğaya, hastalarına, nörolojiye ve insana bakış açısını okumak çok keyifliydi.
Kitabın ikinci bölümü Sacks’ın nörolog bir arkadaşının daveti üzerine Guam’a yaptığı geziyi anlatıyor. Ada halkının likito-boding adını verdiği, bazen ilerlemiş felç görünümünde “likito”, bazen de parkinsona benzeyen ve zaman zaman erken bunamanın eşlik ettiği bu hastalık adanın özellikle Umatag bölgesinde yoğun olarak görülüyor. Aslında çok sağlıklı bir halk olan Chamorralar önce Macellan’ın keşfi ile adaya gelen İsponyalların getirdileri kızamık, çiçek, verem ve cüzam gibi hastalıklarla tanışmışlar. Bu yüzden nüfusun büyük kısmı ölmüş. Geri kalanlar önce Amerika, sonra Japonya sonra tekrar
Amerika işgalini yaşamışlar, savaşla, kıyımla tanışmışlar. Bu arada adada açlık baş göstermiş ve yiyecek sıkıntısı yüzünden adada çok sık görülen ve palmiye cinsi bir ağaç olan sikadların tohum, meyve ve kabuklarının yıkanıp çeşitli işlemlerden geçirilmesi ile oluşturulan yiyecekler yaygın olarak tüketilmiş. Hastalığın nedenleri olarak bu ağaç ve bu ağaçtan yapılan yemekler önemli bir sorun olarak görülmüş ve araştırılmış. Diğer bir olasılık adadaki içme sorunları olarak görülmüş, yeterince kalsiyum içermediği için hastalığın çok görüldüğü iddia edilmiş. Bir başka görüş ise genetik olduğu. Fakat anladığım kadarıyla bir sonuca varılamamış. Hastalık da adalıların dünyaya açılmaları, kız alıp vermeleri ile genetik özelliğinin yıllar içinde yitmesi ile günümüzde eskisi kadar sık görülmüyor.
Doktor Sacks son olarak Guam’a yakın Rota adasına gidiyor ve Sikad ağaçlarını, çeşitlerini, çoğalmalarını inceliyor. Çok yönlü bir bilim adamı olan Sacks’ın insana, doğaya, hastalarına, nörolojiye ve insana bakış açısını okumak çok keyifliydi.
February 5, 2019
L’isola dei senza colore si divide in due parti. Nella prima, intitolata con lo stesso titolo del libro, Sacks parla della sua esperienza a Pingelap e a Ponhpei, dove molti abitanti manifestano una cecità cromatica.
[…] il signor I. aveva perso la visione cromatica non perché avesse subito un danno a livello oculare, ma in seguito alla compromissione delle parti del cervello che «costruiscono» la sensazione del colore. […] sembrava che egli avesse perso non solo la capacità di vedere i colori, ma anche di immaginarli o ricordarli, perfino di sognarli; […] avendo trascorso tutta la sua vita precedente immerso nel colore, in qualche modo era consapevole – proprio come un amnesico – della perdita.
Nella seconda, intitolata L’isola delle cicadine, Sacks parla di Guam (e Rota) per raccontarci di un disturbo inquietante, il lytico-bodig, che si manifesta non solo in alcuni abitanti dell’isola e nati in certi anni, ma anche con una quantità molto variabile di sintomi, tanto da rendere a volte complicata la diagnosi di questa malattia.
Negli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta Guam conobbe un periodo di particolare notorietà fra i neurologi, perché proprio allora vennero pubblicate numerose descrizioni di una straordinaria malattia endemica sull’isola; una malattia che gli abitanti di Guam, i chamorro, chiamavano lytico-bodig. Sembrava che essa potesse manifestarsi in vari modi: a volte come una paralisi progressiva (lytico) che ricordava la sclerosi laterale amiotrofica (ALS); a volte come una condizione (bodig) simile al parkinsonismo, occasionalmente accompagnata da demenza. […] il quadro clinico del bodig era spesso caratterizzato da una profonda immobilità che in seguito alla somministrazione di piccolissime dosi di L-dopa poteva dissolversi all’improvviso o commutarsi esplosivamente nel suo opposto.
Sembra tutto molto interessante, e in realtà per certi versi sicuramente lo è, ma non abbastanza.
Mi aspettavo un libro completamente incentrato su questi disturbi, cosa che invece non avviene, ed è un vero peccato.
Sacks a mio avviso si concentra veramente troppo sulla flora dei luoghi visitati. E ci sta, se consideriamo che molti studiosi per vari anni erano convinti, per esempio, che il lytico-bodig fosse causato dalle cicadine presenti sull’isola; il problema è che ci si concentra troppo sull’aspetto ambientale e poco su quello psicologico.
La cosa che più mi ha dato fastidio è che sulla quarta di copertina questo non viene menzionato. Se ci fosse scritto che L’isola dei senza colore è per tre quarti un trattato sulla botanica almeno sapevo a cosa sarei andata incontro.
Ci sono stati sicuramente degli aneddoti, delle spiegazioni e delle descrizioni interessanti, anche per me che non impazzisco per questi argomenti “da pollice verde”, ma alla fine trovo che questo libro sia più interessante agli appassionati di botanica che agli appassionati di psicologia. Questo è il problema.
Non rientra tra i miei gusti e non era quello che mi aspettavo, non dopo aver letto L’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello, incentrato esclusivamente su disturbi psicologici di vario tipo, con parti teoriche e pratiche.
Nulla da dire invece sulle parti riguardanti il disturbo dell’acromatopsia e del lytico-bodig: questo è stato sicuramente ciò che più mi ha incuriosito, che più mi ha incantato e che mi ha tenuto incollata alle pagine.
Ci sono state poi delle parti che quasi mi hanno commosso: sapere che le persone, parenti o semplicemente abitanti del luogo, non abbandonano il malato a sé stesso, non lo stigmatizzano, non lo fanno diventare un emarginato; e anche se ci sono casi in cui le famiglie si vedono costrette a far ricoverare un proprio parente, questo non viene lasciato solo, al contrario di quanto avviene nei nostri Paesi, in quelli che noi definiamo Paesi civilizzati.
Questa accettazione del malato come persona, come parte viva della comunità, si estende anche a chi è afflitto da malattie croniche e incurabili – a chi, come Tomasa, può restare invalido per anni. Pensai ai miei pazienti di New York, affetti da ALS in stadio avanzato: sempre relegati in ospedali o in case di cura, intubati, a volte attaccati a respiratori – a ogni sorta di aiuto tecnologico. Però sono terribilmente soli, deliberatamente o inconsciamente evitati dai parenti, i quali non sopportano di vederli in quello stato e che (come il personale sanitario) quasi preferiscono pensare a loro non come a esseri umani, ma come a casi clinici terminali a cui vengono prestate le migliori cure possibili. Anche dai medici questi pazienti spesso vengono evitati; cancellati, perfino da loro, dal libro dei vivi. Ma John è rimasto vicino a Tomasa e il giorno in cui lei morirà sarà accanto a lei e alla sua famiglia.
A questo punto viene da chiedersi: “ma quindi, lo consigli o no questo libro?” Ni.
Se, come me, volete recuperare tutte le opere di Oliver Sacks, ovviamente sì, leggetelo, ma lo farete anche senza il mio parere. Se oltre alla psicologia siete appassionati di botanica, sì, leggetelo. Se vi aspettavate un libro alla pari de L’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello, be’, mi sa che L’isola dei senza colore non fa al caso vostro.
[…] il signor I. aveva perso la visione cromatica non perché avesse subito un danno a livello oculare, ma in seguito alla compromissione delle parti del cervello che «costruiscono» la sensazione del colore. […] sembrava che egli avesse perso non solo la capacità di vedere i colori, ma anche di immaginarli o ricordarli, perfino di sognarli; […] avendo trascorso tutta la sua vita precedente immerso nel colore, in qualche modo era consapevole – proprio come un amnesico – della perdita.
Nella seconda, intitolata L’isola delle cicadine, Sacks parla di Guam (e Rota) per raccontarci di un disturbo inquietante, il lytico-bodig, che si manifesta non solo in alcuni abitanti dell’isola e nati in certi anni, ma anche con una quantità molto variabile di sintomi, tanto da rendere a volte complicata la diagnosi di questa malattia.
Negli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta Guam conobbe un periodo di particolare notorietà fra i neurologi, perché proprio allora vennero pubblicate numerose descrizioni di una straordinaria malattia endemica sull’isola; una malattia che gli abitanti di Guam, i chamorro, chiamavano lytico-bodig. Sembrava che essa potesse manifestarsi in vari modi: a volte come una paralisi progressiva (lytico) che ricordava la sclerosi laterale amiotrofica (ALS); a volte come una condizione (bodig) simile al parkinsonismo, occasionalmente accompagnata da demenza. […] il quadro clinico del bodig era spesso caratterizzato da una profonda immobilità che in seguito alla somministrazione di piccolissime dosi di L-dopa poteva dissolversi all’improvviso o commutarsi esplosivamente nel suo opposto.
Sembra tutto molto interessante, e in realtà per certi versi sicuramente lo è, ma non abbastanza.
Mi aspettavo un libro completamente incentrato su questi disturbi, cosa che invece non avviene, ed è un vero peccato.
Sacks a mio avviso si concentra veramente troppo sulla flora dei luoghi visitati. E ci sta, se consideriamo che molti studiosi per vari anni erano convinti, per esempio, che il lytico-bodig fosse causato dalle cicadine presenti sull’isola; il problema è che ci si concentra troppo sull’aspetto ambientale e poco su quello psicologico.
La cosa che più mi ha dato fastidio è che sulla quarta di copertina questo non viene menzionato. Se ci fosse scritto che L’isola dei senza colore è per tre quarti un trattato sulla botanica almeno sapevo a cosa sarei andata incontro.
Ci sono stati sicuramente degli aneddoti, delle spiegazioni e delle descrizioni interessanti, anche per me che non impazzisco per questi argomenti “da pollice verde”, ma alla fine trovo che questo libro sia più interessante agli appassionati di botanica che agli appassionati di psicologia. Questo è il problema.
Non rientra tra i miei gusti e non era quello che mi aspettavo, non dopo aver letto L’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello, incentrato esclusivamente su disturbi psicologici di vario tipo, con parti teoriche e pratiche.
Nulla da dire invece sulle parti riguardanti il disturbo dell’acromatopsia e del lytico-bodig: questo è stato sicuramente ciò che più mi ha incuriosito, che più mi ha incantato e che mi ha tenuto incollata alle pagine.
Ci sono state poi delle parti che quasi mi hanno commosso: sapere che le persone, parenti o semplicemente abitanti del luogo, non abbandonano il malato a sé stesso, non lo stigmatizzano, non lo fanno diventare un emarginato; e anche se ci sono casi in cui le famiglie si vedono costrette a far ricoverare un proprio parente, questo non viene lasciato solo, al contrario di quanto avviene nei nostri Paesi, in quelli che noi definiamo Paesi civilizzati.
Questa accettazione del malato come persona, come parte viva della comunità, si estende anche a chi è afflitto da malattie croniche e incurabili – a chi, come Tomasa, può restare invalido per anni. Pensai ai miei pazienti di New York, affetti da ALS in stadio avanzato: sempre relegati in ospedali o in case di cura, intubati, a volte attaccati a respiratori – a ogni sorta di aiuto tecnologico. Però sono terribilmente soli, deliberatamente o inconsciamente evitati dai parenti, i quali non sopportano di vederli in quello stato e che (come il personale sanitario) quasi preferiscono pensare a loro non come a esseri umani, ma come a casi clinici terminali a cui vengono prestate le migliori cure possibili. Anche dai medici questi pazienti spesso vengono evitati; cancellati, perfino da loro, dal libro dei vivi. Ma John è rimasto vicino a Tomasa e il giorno in cui lei morirà sarà accanto a lei e alla sua famiglia.
A questo punto viene da chiedersi: “ma quindi, lo consigli o no questo libro?” Ni.
Se, come me, volete recuperare tutte le opere di Oliver Sacks, ovviamente sì, leggetelo, ma lo farete anche senza il mio parere. Se oltre alla psicologia siete appassionati di botanica, sì, leggetelo. Se vi aspettavate un libro alla pari de L’uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello, be’, mi sa che L’isola dei senza colore non fa al caso vostro.
November 2, 2019
Reading books by Oliver Sacks is so hit or miss. This one is a miss. I wanted to learn about colorblindness. Instead in this book I mostly find a travelogue with some acknowledgement of the colorblind children of various Oceania islands.
So far what I appreciate of Sacks' writing
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
Seeing Voices
Both these books describe what happens when . . . . when a person forgets or misunderstands their world and what they do really really understand. . . . when a deaf person gain empowerment as that person learns to communicate with sign language.
This book would make a good travelogue book. Maybe Sacks estate might be able to re-cast this information into a delightful we-several-doctors-went-to-Oceania-and-saw-the-sights-which included-the-colorblind-folk.
So far what I appreciate of Sacks' writing
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
Seeing Voices
Both these books describe what happens when . . . . when a person forgets or misunderstands their world and what they do really really understand. . . . when a deaf person gain empowerment as that person learns to communicate with sign language.
This book would make a good travelogue book. Maybe Sacks estate might be able to re-cast this information into a delightful we-several-doctors-went-to-Oceania-and-saw-the-sights-which included-the-colorblind-folk.
May 1, 2011
I've loved Oliver Sacks for a long time, but up until now I'd only read and re-read The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. The Island of the Colorblind seemed like a natural next choice for me, because it combines my interest in neuropsychology with my interest in island biogeography (the study of the way species on islands evolve to become very specialized, to the point where an extremely high percentage of the species on any given island may be endemic to that particular island). The Island of the Colorblind actually contains two separate but closely related books of about 100 pages each, the first being the titular story, and a second called "Cycad Island." (The book also contains nearly another 100 pages of endnotes.)
As Sacks says in the opening line of the Preface, "This book is really two books, independent narratives of two parallel but independent journeys to Micronesia." In "The Island of the Colorblind," he visits Pingelap and Pohnpei, two neighboring islands, to study the unusually high incidence of achromatopsia, or total colorblindness. As one comes to expect from Sacks, the text not only explores the condition and its effects on individuals and society, but also revels in the botany, zoology, and history of the islands themselves. Sacks is openly fascinated with so many facets of the world that it's hard not to share his excitement, and "The Island of the Colorblind" is a delight to read.
The first half of "Cycad Island" picks up where "The Island of the Colorblind" left off - this time Sacks is visiting Guam to study a mysterious disease known as lytico-bodig. While this disease shows similarities to a number of other diseases, including Parkinson's, it appears to be a separate condition which exists only on Guam and some of its surrounding islands (and its cause and treatment, at least to the time of Sacks's writing, remain unknown). However, mid-way through "Cycad Island", the focus of the text shifts abruptly from his previous admixture of medicine, biology, and history to a strict discussion of cycads (a kind of primitive plant resembling ferns and palm trees). While cycads are closely related to his discussion of lytico-bodig (it has been suggested that the disease could be caused by toxins in the plants, since cycads are favored foods of the Chamorros people of Guam), the change in focus is abrupt, and the singlemindedness of his discussion does not reflect the charm of Sacks's usual diversity of interests, and for the most part becomes quite dry.
I love Oliver Sacks and I'd heartily recommend reading anything of his. However, the sudden change in focus three-quarters of the way through The Island of the Colorblind kills the momentum of what is otherwise a delightful book. Also, the extensive use of notes in this text make it hard to follow the story well - either you ignore them (which I appear to be unable to do), or you stop every few paragraphs to read a full-page digression at the back of the book. It seems that Sacks was allowed to wax somewhat overindulgent in this book, and for this reason I wouldn't suggest it as the first place to visit Sacks's writing, although it's well worth a read if you already know and enjoy his other works.
As Sacks says in the opening line of the Preface, "This book is really two books, independent narratives of two parallel but independent journeys to Micronesia." In "The Island of the Colorblind," he visits Pingelap and Pohnpei, two neighboring islands, to study the unusually high incidence of achromatopsia, or total colorblindness. As one comes to expect from Sacks, the text not only explores the condition and its effects on individuals and society, but also revels in the botany, zoology, and history of the islands themselves. Sacks is openly fascinated with so many facets of the world that it's hard not to share his excitement, and "The Island of the Colorblind" is a delight to read.
The first half of "Cycad Island" picks up where "The Island of the Colorblind" left off - this time Sacks is visiting Guam to study a mysterious disease known as lytico-bodig. While this disease shows similarities to a number of other diseases, including Parkinson's, it appears to be a separate condition which exists only on Guam and some of its surrounding islands (and its cause and treatment, at least to the time of Sacks's writing, remain unknown). However, mid-way through "Cycad Island", the focus of the text shifts abruptly from his previous admixture of medicine, biology, and history to a strict discussion of cycads (a kind of primitive plant resembling ferns and palm trees). While cycads are closely related to his discussion of lytico-bodig (it has been suggested that the disease could be caused by toxins in the plants, since cycads are favored foods of the Chamorros people of Guam), the change in focus is abrupt, and the singlemindedness of his discussion does not reflect the charm of Sacks's usual diversity of interests, and for the most part becomes quite dry.
I love Oliver Sacks and I'd heartily recommend reading anything of his. However, the sudden change in focus three-quarters of the way through The Island of the Colorblind kills the momentum of what is otherwise a delightful book. Also, the extensive use of notes in this text make it hard to follow the story well - either you ignore them (which I appear to be unable to do), or you stop every few paragraphs to read a full-page digression at the back of the book. It seems that Sacks was allowed to wax somewhat overindulgent in this book, and for this reason I wouldn't suggest it as the first place to visit Sacks's writing, although it's well worth a read if you already know and enjoy his other works.
October 10, 2017
Torno a leggere Sacks dopo "L'uomo che scambiò sua moglie per un cappello" e ritrovo la stessa meravigliosa empatia di questo neurologo con i pazienti.
Il romanzo mescola insieme diversi generi: si passa dal resoconto naturalistico al resoconto di viaggio sino al trattato di medicina, essendo Sacks neurologo.
L'isola dei senza nome si compone di due parti che corrispondono ai viaggi compiuti dallo stesso Sacks nella Micronesia. Lo scenario, i luoghi che Sacks visita, non sono solo ricchi di meraviglia, di flora e di fauna, ma anche di orrore, di malvagità e, a tratti, di pazzia.
I viaggi compiuti dall'autore nella Micronesia sono viaggi nati con lo scopo di documentare, raccontare le malattie che le popolazioni e gli abitanti devono affrontare. Le isole che visita non sono solo luoghi da visitare, ma sono oggetto e soggetto di esplorazione per parlare della malattia, in questo caso dell'incapacità di vedere e riconoscere i colori.
Con l'autore ci addentriamo nella psiche umana, nei suoi angoli più nascosti, nei suoi anfratti e Sacks ci restituisce il significato, la bellezza di popolazioni uniche in una natura rigogliosa, incontaminata e vivida nei suoi colori e nelle sue mille forme.
Proprio come Darwin, anche Sacks ci mostra un altro tipo di viaggio, forse quello più complesso: il viaggio nella nostra mente scandagliando ogni aspetto svelandoci i suoi segreti.
Il romanzo mescola insieme diversi generi: si passa dal resoconto naturalistico al resoconto di viaggio sino al trattato di medicina, essendo Sacks neurologo.
L'isola dei senza nome si compone di due parti che corrispondono ai viaggi compiuti dallo stesso Sacks nella Micronesia. Lo scenario, i luoghi che Sacks visita, non sono solo ricchi di meraviglia, di flora e di fauna, ma anche di orrore, di malvagità e, a tratti, di pazzia.
I viaggi compiuti dall'autore nella Micronesia sono viaggi nati con lo scopo di documentare, raccontare le malattie che le popolazioni e gli abitanti devono affrontare. Le isole che visita non sono solo luoghi da visitare, ma sono oggetto e soggetto di esplorazione per parlare della malattia, in questo caso dell'incapacità di vedere e riconoscere i colori.
Con l'autore ci addentriamo nella psiche umana, nei suoi angoli più nascosti, nei suoi anfratti e Sacks ci restituisce il significato, la bellezza di popolazioni uniche in una natura rigogliosa, incontaminata e vivida nei suoi colori e nelle sue mille forme.
Proprio come Darwin, anche Sacks ci mostra un altro tipo di viaggio, forse quello più complesso: il viaggio nella nostra mente scandagliando ogni aspetto svelandoci i suoi segreti.
November 25, 2014
This is an absolutely fascinating book by Oliver Sacks. Really cool dude. See, he goes on this trip to the Pacific and there is an island there where a huge chunk of the population is Achromatropic (pure colorblindedness as in grayscale) and he sets out to that island with an achromatropic friend. Then he goes to Guam where there is also a huge density of people with a disease called lytico-bodig.
Oh man, the world is so FASCINATING!!! The Earth is ancient and cruel and beautiful! That's how it feels after reading this book.
Oh man, the world is so FASCINATING!!! The Earth is ancient and cruel and beautiful! That's how it feels after reading this book.
September 24, 2014
Sachs sa farti appassionare praticamente a tutto quanto scrive, la sua passione alla modalitá di (dis)funzionamento del cervello si trasmette prepotentemente ai suoi lettori. E intanto si impara. In questo suo si viaggia nel paese dei senza colore, (vedere solo in bianco e nero... non riesco nemmeno a immaginarmelo...) e in quella dove una pianta, o meglio un suo componente potrebbe essere alla base di una degenerazione neuronale importante.
December 26, 2018
Ο Σακς συνδυάζει γνώση και αφηγηματική δεινότητα κι αυτό κάνει τα βιβλία του εξαιρετικά απολαυστικά.
Μείον στο συγκεκριμένο το αδιάφορο κι απότομο τέλος του και οι 100 σελίδες σημειώσεων που δεν πρόκειται σε αυτή τη ζωή να διαβάσω.
Μείον στο συγκεκριμένο το αδιάφορο κι απότομο τέλος του και οι 100 σελίδες σημειώσεων που δεν πρόκειται σε αυτή τη ζωή να διαβάσω.
February 20, 2018
There is a type of complete colorblindness, achromatopsia, where people do not have functional cones in their eyes and are almost blind in sunlight because of the sensitivity of the rods. Achromatopsia, unlike red-green colorblindness, is very rare. The island of Fuur and the island of Pingelap both had large numbers of people suffering from this congenital achromatopsia. Only Pingelap, in the south Pacific, still has large numbers of achromatopes. The author visited Pingelap with a physiologist who is an achromatope himself and a friend who is an ophthalmologist. He writes a pretty interesting travel biography of their trip in addition to talking about the examinations and interviews with the achromatopes and how such large numbers of them cope with limited vision. He has a strong interest in their compensations and alternate ways of perceiving the world. Achromatopes may have an advantage in such things as night diving to capture fish because their dark vision is strong.
The second part of the book is about traveling to the island of Guam to visit a colleague who treats neurological disorders. This colleague, Dr. John Steele, wants the author to see the cases of lytico and bodig, which are prevalent in Guam. Dr. Steele has been treating and looking for reasons for lytico and bodig. These diseases have symptoms similar to those of patients the author treats for post-encephalitic disorders. Both lytico and bodig, while declining, are believed to have had the same cause sometime in the past on Guam. The candidates are explained with pros and cons for each and there is discussion of similar diseases in other places.
The second part of the book is about traveling to the island of Guam to visit a colleague who treats neurological disorders. This colleague, Dr. John Steele, wants the author to see the cases of lytico and bodig, which are prevalent in Guam. Dr. Steele has been treating and looking for reasons for lytico and bodig. These diseases have symptoms similar to those of patients the author treats for post-encephalitic disorders. Both lytico and bodig, while declining, are believed to have had the same cause sometime in the past on Guam. The candidates are explained with pros and cons for each and there is discussion of similar diseases in other places.
June 3, 2011
I love Oliver Sacks. He picks interesting things to write about. I first read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat a few years ago (now who could resist such a catchy title) and I loved it.
This book addresses a disease I didn't think was so prevalent, colorblindness. I just thought that was a good excuse for men who couldn't put their ties and shirts together properly but now I consider myself more informed on the disease,achromatopsia.
This book addresses a disease I didn't think was so prevalent, colorblindness. I just thought that was a good excuse for men who couldn't put their ties and shirts together properly but now I consider myself more informed on the disease,achromatopsia.
April 14, 2014
Ugh. I love Oliver Sacks normally. This was painful and would have been more educational boiled down to three sentences:
1. There are a huge number of colorblind folks in Micronesia.
2. There is a weird disease that runs through clans/families in Guam. It may be caused by eating ancient plants, but nobody really knows.
The end.
1. There are a huge number of colorblind folks in Micronesia.
2. There is a weird disease that runs through clans/families in Guam. It may be caused by eating ancient plants, but nobody really knows.
The end.
May 4, 2014
I really enjoyed the first part, part two and three were meh.
November 26, 2018
In his autobiography, Oliver Sacks writes that this is the favorite of his books. He must be so close to it that he finds something here most readers don't. I liked the part about cycads.
August 14, 2024
My second reading so the lower rating probably reflects that. Interesting but repetative. Sacks writes beautifully but I don't think this topic warranted an entire book.
January 18, 2020
I'd give quite a lot to have 1/8 of his life. He puts humanity into every little drop off the world. This book gave me wanderlust like I haven't felt in a long time.
April 23, 2016
In molti hanno definito questo libro quello di un Sacks minore. In effetti è piuttosto disorganico. Non è da intendersi come libro di divulgazione scientifica, né come un trattato di medicina, botanica o etnologia. Lo spirito migliore con cui affrontarlo è forse questo: pensate di accingervi a leggere un diario di viaggio, perché di questo si tratta. Un taccuino con impressioni, racconti vissuti, descrizioni del paesaggio circostante, dialoghi e osservazioni di un uomo curioso. Non il Sacks a cui siamo abituati col Cappello o qualche altro suo caposaldo, ma a mio avviso non meno piacevole.
Il libro in realtà è composto di due racconti distinti. Nel primo l'autore si interessa alla condizione genetica dell'acromatopsia, che per un collo di bottiglia è particolarmente diffusa nell'atollo di Pingelap, nell'Oceano Pacifico, e parte per l'isola ad indagare su di essa assieme al fisiologo Knut Nordby, anch'egli acromatopsico. Il secondo è un vero e proprio giallo attorno al lytico-bodig, una tremenda condizione neurologica degenerativa diffusa nell'isola di Guam dai sintomi simili al parkinsonismo o alla SLA, ma variabili da persona a persona (tanto che in precedenza si pensava che il lytico e il bodig fossero due distinte malattie). Un giallo destinato a non sciogliersi nel libro, poiché la determinazione della causa del disturbo è stata accidentata e piena di ostacoli per oltre vent'anni, e solo dopo la scomparsa degli individui malati, il cui numero era in declino già durante l'arrivo di Sacks, è stata portata alla luce, e neanche con troppa certezza.
Una cosa che mi ha molto colpita, parlando con entusiasmo del libro ad altre persone, è come, nel descrivere la condizione dell'acromatopsia, questi mi rispondessero: "oh, che tristezza!". Ciò mi ha causato tristezza di rimbalzo perché, come Sacks afferma nel documentario "fratello" di questo libro parlando con Nordby, "Io ho qualcosa che tu non hai, e tu hai qualcosa che io non ho".
Esplicativo del fatto che il mondo di un acromatopsico possa essere egualmente denso di chi ha percezione dei colori è stata la descrizione dell'agio che gli acromatopsici vivono ponendosi in penombra, il loro perfetto ambiente, e dei lavori tessili effettuati da alcune donne di Pingelap nelle loro case scure: tessuti dalle fantasie delicatissime, percepibili solo nella semioscurità; motivi che spariscono se esposti alla luce piena, come se quel crepuscolo custodisca in sé la magia che possa far vivere per un attimo l'intensa esperienza percettiva di un acromatopsico a un vedente "normale". Non è affatto triste il mondo di un acromatopsico: lo diventa se diviene suo obbligo aderire alla norma del colore. Eppure a quanto pare è piuttosto difficile da comprendere per un colour-biased. Il pregio di Sacks è quello di uscire dal bias, e portare il lettore con sé. È così: anche al colour-biased manca qualcosa. In primis la capacità di capire quanto anche quel mondo possa essere vibrante di percezioni.
Il libro in realtà è composto di due racconti distinti. Nel primo l'autore si interessa alla condizione genetica dell'acromatopsia, che per un collo di bottiglia è particolarmente diffusa nell'atollo di Pingelap, nell'Oceano Pacifico, e parte per l'isola ad indagare su di essa assieme al fisiologo Knut Nordby, anch'egli acromatopsico. Il secondo è un vero e proprio giallo attorno al lytico-bodig, una tremenda condizione neurologica degenerativa diffusa nell'isola di Guam dai sintomi simili al parkinsonismo o alla SLA, ma variabili da persona a persona (tanto che in precedenza si pensava che il lytico e il bodig fossero due distinte malattie). Un giallo destinato a non sciogliersi nel libro, poiché la determinazione della causa del disturbo è stata accidentata e piena di ostacoli per oltre vent'anni, e solo dopo la scomparsa degli individui malati, il cui numero era in declino già durante l'arrivo di Sacks, è stata portata alla luce, e neanche con troppa certezza.
Una cosa che mi ha molto colpita, parlando con entusiasmo del libro ad altre persone, è come, nel descrivere la condizione dell'acromatopsia, questi mi rispondessero: "oh, che tristezza!". Ciò mi ha causato tristezza di rimbalzo perché, come Sacks afferma nel documentario "fratello" di questo libro parlando con Nordby, "Io ho qualcosa che tu non hai, e tu hai qualcosa che io non ho".
Esplicativo del fatto che il mondo di un acromatopsico possa essere egualmente denso di chi ha percezione dei colori è stata la descrizione dell'agio che gli acromatopsici vivono ponendosi in penombra, il loro perfetto ambiente, e dei lavori tessili effettuati da alcune donne di Pingelap nelle loro case scure: tessuti dalle fantasie delicatissime, percepibili solo nella semioscurità; motivi che spariscono se esposti alla luce piena, come se quel crepuscolo custodisca in sé la magia che possa far vivere per un attimo l'intensa esperienza percettiva di un acromatopsico a un vedente "normale". Non è affatto triste il mondo di un acromatopsico: lo diventa se diviene suo obbligo aderire alla norma del colore. Eppure a quanto pare è piuttosto difficile da comprendere per un colour-biased. Il pregio di Sacks è quello di uscire dal bias, e portare il lettore con sé. È così: anche al colour-biased manca qualcosa. In primis la capacità di capire quanto anche quel mondo possa essere vibrante di percezioni.
June 25, 2015
As read here
“Awakenings” by Oliver Sacks might be regarded as one of the most poetic stories ever told. When brought to the corporate Hollywood screens, it caused an enormous impact on its audience, propelling the author’s name into the luminous aura of mainstream culture. In itself, “The Island of the Colorblind” serves as the logic continuation of the literary brilliance found in his previous works.
In it, the renowned neurologist recounts his experiences during his summer visit to the Pacific Ocean archipelago of the Micronesia. In some of these small islands, genetically transmitted diseases proliferate due to the isolation of such locales. As a result, the same maladies recur throughout subsequent generations of individuals. There are societies where colorblindness is the norm, and there are population where strange neurologic syndromes resembling Parkinsonism strike many individuals. Both of these intriguing cases are all meticulously described by Sacks, that reveals his emotion through his accounts. As a result, he surfaces as a very empathetically humanistic scientist.
But the book is more than a scientific analysis on such terrible diseases. It is a thorough exploitation of the author’s literary resources. Sacks possesses the unique ability to write about reality in such whimsical terms. Metaphors and adjectives prevail amongst his descriptions of nature and of the human condition, a writing ability so profound and authentic to the reader’s mind that after he finishes reading the book, all he wants to do is meet Oliver Sacks in the flesh.
“Awakenings” by Oliver Sacks might be regarded as one of the most poetic stories ever told. When brought to the corporate Hollywood screens, it caused an enormous impact on its audience, propelling the author’s name into the luminous aura of mainstream culture. In itself, “The Island of the Colorblind” serves as the logic continuation of the literary brilliance found in his previous works.
In it, the renowned neurologist recounts his experiences during his summer visit to the Pacific Ocean archipelago of the Micronesia. In some of these small islands, genetically transmitted diseases proliferate due to the isolation of such locales. As a result, the same maladies recur throughout subsequent generations of individuals. There are societies where colorblindness is the norm, and there are population where strange neurologic syndromes resembling Parkinsonism strike many individuals. Both of these intriguing cases are all meticulously described by Sacks, that reveals his emotion through his accounts. As a result, he surfaces as a very empathetically humanistic scientist.
But the book is more than a scientific analysis on such terrible diseases. It is a thorough exploitation of the author’s literary resources. Sacks possesses the unique ability to write about reality in such whimsical terms. Metaphors and adjectives prevail amongst his descriptions of nature and of the human condition, a writing ability so profound and authentic to the reader’s mind that after he finishes reading the book, all he wants to do is meet Oliver Sacks in the flesh.
September 1, 2015
The first Oliver Sacks book I read was The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, and since then have been a devotee of his work.
He is a Neurologist, yes- but he is also a poet, not in the literal sense, but his ability to make the interesting into fantastic and the pretty into the magnificently beautiful is unrivaled.
He is also an incredible humanitarian, and though generally he does not "gush" per se, he is so thoughtful, kind, and sympathetic in his descriptions that one cannot help but adore him.
I honestly cannot put into words how much I love his books. They are often topics that I would be marginally interested in, but not willing to commit myself to. However, his wordsmithing abilities elevate any topic- from Tourettes, to ferns, to Syphilis- into a beautiful, moving, and fascinating read.
This particular book hinges around three main stories- all set on islands in the South Pacific: His trip to an island of people who are genetically predisposed to true colorblindness called(black and white) known as "the Maksun", a different island of people who have a high incidence of a strange and unexplained degenerative disease called Lyco-Bodig, and a piece all about the ferns and fern-trees particular to certain isolated Pacific islands.
Every time I finish one of his books I hold it up and say "THIS one is my favorite" - so now I say "THIS one is my favorite", but after I read the next one, I'm sure I'll say the same.
June 3, 2017
First notes: I read the Dutch version of this book. Backcover is a bit misleading when a quote from NRC Handelsblad states that our author solves a the mystery in the first story and that he investigates a second mystery in the second story which is a bunch of baloney. First 'mystery' has a genetic component to it so no mystery there to solve because the reason behind it is explained. For the second mystery he is invited by another doctor to help him with research for a brain disease. The reasons for this disease are not clear yet but a lot (relative) of research has been put into it and there appear to be three suspects. However in the end it is not made clear by the author which he thinks is the suspect. So much for 'investigating'.
It is a strange book containing actually 3 stories but interesting enough. There is some lack of cohesion between those stories other than being in the same geographical region with ferns/cycadales as the main lead throughout two stories. First story doesn't fit with the rest. However what carries this book mostly is the authors writing. Atleast he keeps the stories interesting through telling backgrounds, other perspectives of the story and his earlier experciences.
One thing: for the time being not reading any books with footnotes anymore because it interrupts the flow of reading too much.
It is a strange book containing actually 3 stories but interesting enough. There is some lack of cohesion between those stories other than being in the same geographical region with ferns/cycadales as the main lead throughout two stories. First story doesn't fit with the rest. However what carries this book mostly is the authors writing. Atleast he keeps the stories interesting through telling backgrounds, other perspectives of the story and his earlier experciences.
One thing: for the time being not reading any books with footnotes anymore because it interrupts the flow of reading too much.
February 9, 2009
I picked this up again because I was blogging about cycads. In this book Sacks visits a couple of Pacific islands where many of the locals have unusual neurological conditions; total colour-blindness on Pingelap and a degenerative disorder called lytico-bodig on Guam.
The neurology is interesting—the colour blindness isn’t typical red/green colour-blindness but a complete absence of colour perception, and lytico-bodig is a disease of unknown cause, with such varied presentation that it was originally thought of as two diseases, lytico and bodig. And he’s very good at the travel-writing side of it, evoking these Pacific islands and supplying lots of context.
I think Sacks is always worth reading—he’s thoughtful, brings a diverse range of references to his writing in a very natural way, and is superb at empathising with his patients and presenting them as real people with personalities, rather than just interesting cases. And neurology makes for fascinating subject matter. Having said that, this is one of his less memorable books, so if you haven’t read any Sacks I’d suggest starting with An Anthropologist on Mars or The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. Seeing Voices, about deafness, is excellent too, as is his chemistry-themed memoir, Uncle Tungsten.
The neurology is interesting—the colour blindness isn’t typical red/green colour-blindness but a complete absence of colour perception, and lytico-bodig is a disease of unknown cause, with such varied presentation that it was originally thought of as two diseases, lytico and bodig. And he’s very good at the travel-writing side of it, evoking these Pacific islands and supplying lots of context.
I think Sacks is always worth reading—he’s thoughtful, brings a diverse range of references to his writing in a very natural way, and is superb at empathising with his patients and presenting them as real people with personalities, rather than just interesting cases. And neurology makes for fascinating subject matter. Having said that, this is one of his less memorable books, so if you haven’t read any Sacks I’d suggest starting with An Anthropologist on Mars or The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat. Seeing Voices, about deafness, is excellent too, as is his chemistry-themed memoir, Uncle Tungsten.
February 19, 2018
This is the first time since using Goodreads that I've stepped beyond my stated purpose and logged a book I read before starting my Goodreads list but haven't re-read afresh prior to posting a review. Given the fascinating books I've been reading lately, I'm moved to share with fellow readers how glad I am of the serendipitous occasion back in the mid 1990s when I discovered this gem while clerking for the public library. Idle curiosity led me to check it out; little did I know at the time that Oliver Sacks would renew my fascination with science and open up a whole world of non-fiction reading that I'm still immensely enjoying today. I find that his name pops up every so often in other books, and not just those dealing specifically with neurological or medical subjects. It's no surprise to me that The New York Times has referred to Dr. Sacks as “the poet laureate of medicine,” and in 2002 he was awarded the Lewis Thomas Prize by Rockefeller University, which recognizes the scientist as poet.
February 5, 2017
Another great read by Oliver Sacks who combines my favorite genres, travel memoir and science into entertaining, educational sojourns. Although trained as a forester/ecologist I would have loved to be a neurologist as the human brain fascinates me to no end, thus I always enjoy Oliver, the neurologist/naturalist and his travels, musings and case studies.
The book is broken up into 3 chapters or books, each with its own unique theme and all followed by an extensive notes section which I found to be a great read on its own. I only referenced this section once in reading the fore mentioned chapters it corresponds to but after finishing the chapters dove right in and was thoroughly delighted by these extra tidbits of information. Although I see why others might find the notes section a bit tedious and unnecessary as I, excited by my reading of brain eating cannibals and 'Ishi' trees, tried to share these tidbits with my husband and was told it was horribly boring. Not everyone shares Oliver and I's fascination with these odd facts, understandably so.
The book is broken up into 3 chapters or books, each with its own unique theme and all followed by an extensive notes section which I found to be a great read on its own. I only referenced this section once in reading the fore mentioned chapters it corresponds to but after finishing the chapters dove right in and was thoroughly delighted by these extra tidbits of information. Although I see why others might find the notes section a bit tedious and unnecessary as I, excited by my reading of brain eating cannibals and 'Ishi' trees, tried to share these tidbits with my husband and was told it was horribly boring. Not everyone shares Oliver and I's fascination with these odd facts, understandably so.
January 26, 2008
In the first half of the book, Oliver Sacks goes to Micronesia to explore the high rate of colorblindness amongst the population of Pohnpei. One theory cites a terrible hurricane over two hundred years ago decimated over ninty percent of the island. In order to restock the island, inbreeding had to take place over numerous generations which would lead to genetic defects.
The second half of the book has Sacks going to Guam to look at a mysterous neurodegenerative paralysis similar to Parkinson's. There are many theories into which this disorder has struck the island. One in particular is from the many generation of eating/drinking of the Cycad. Another theory, directly linked from the first one, posits that the preparing of the cycads, washing out their poisons in the water supply could lead to this disorder.
A weird thing about this disorder is that it only effected generations born after 1910 and before 1960. The generations after that were fine.
The second half of the book has Sacks going to Guam to look at a mysterous neurodegenerative paralysis similar to Parkinson's. There are many theories into which this disorder has struck the island. One in particular is from the many generation of eating/drinking of the Cycad. Another theory, directly linked from the first one, posits that the preparing of the cycads, washing out their poisons in the water supply could lead to this disorder.
A weird thing about this disorder is that it only effected generations born after 1910 and before 1960. The generations after that were fine.
July 5, 2016
Kendim de başlangıç seviyesi renk körü olduğumdan kitabı kendime yakın hisseden bir ön yargı ile okumaya başladım. Prof. Sacks ın dili kitabın içerdiği bir sürü bilimsel ifadeye rağmen oldukça basit ve akıcı. Kitabın ismi konusunda oldukça önemli bir hata olduğunu düşündüm. Evet, başlangıç kısmı renk körlüğü araştırması içeren pasifik adaları ziyareti hakkında anılarla dolu. Fakat ikinci bölüm tamamen yine aynı adalardaki başka bir hastalık litiko-bodik araştırması ile ilgili. Bunun için kitabın isminin mikronezya günlükleri, anıları ya da araştırmaları olarak değiştirilmesi gerektiğini düşündüm:) Bunun yanında kitap, Mikronezya ve adaları, Pingelap, Pohnpei, Guam ve Rota hakkında bilgi edinmemi sağladı. Ayrıca, adalardaki insanların (Chamorrolar, vb) başlıca hastalıkları akromatposi (renk körlüğü), litiko-bodik (ALS, parkinson benzeri bir hastalık) ve adaların bitki örtüsü (sikad ağaçları, vb) hakkında bilgiler edindim.
December 17, 2016
I took this book to Hawaii and read it most of the way home. So reading about island travel (and he was going A LOT farther into the Pacific than Hawaii) resonated.
Beyond that, I think I understand why I didn't like The Mapmaker's Wife as much as this. For science writing to reach a wide audience, it has to be about more than science, and it has to be written with emotion as well as scientific accuracy. Sacks is a compassionate, curious man, eager to collaborate, to note the work of another scholar or artist, to go down a rabbit hole for a good footnote or observation. As much as this book is about geographic isolates and what we can learn from them about the passage of disease, or cycads and deep time, it's also a very human book. He always has a key detail about someone's personality or actions or a location's most interesting feature. His interest in the people and world around him come through. He is a nerd in the best sense of the word.
Beyond that, I think I understand why I didn't like The Mapmaker's Wife as much as this. For science writing to reach a wide audience, it has to be about more than science, and it has to be written with emotion as well as scientific accuracy. Sacks is a compassionate, curious man, eager to collaborate, to note the work of another scholar or artist, to go down a rabbit hole for a good footnote or observation. As much as this book is about geographic isolates and what we can learn from them about the passage of disease, or cycads and deep time, it's also a very human book. He always has a key detail about someone's personality or actions or a location's most interesting feature. His interest in the people and world around him come through. He is a nerd in the best sense of the word.
May 2, 2009
A very good and unusual combination of travelogue and medical mystery-- this book would be an excellent choice for a vacation anywhere in the Pacific. As in his other books, Sacks has a talent for painting very vivid pictures of people and places-- and moreover, he brings a similar clarity to his descriptions of complex scientific and medical phenomena. One thing I love about him is that he never dumbs it down-- he speaks in the language of science and expects you to have the right vocabulary.
A side-note: the volume I had was written in 1998, but in 2002, Sacks and a colleague published an interesting new theory on the cause of Lytico-Bodig, the Guam disease that is the focus of the second half of the book. Once you're done reading, look that up on the internet-- it's a great postscript.
A side-note: the volume I had was written in 1998, but in 2002, Sacks and a colleague published an interesting new theory on the cause of Lytico-Bodig, the Guam disease that is the focus of the second half of the book. Once you're done reading, look that up on the internet-- it's a great postscript.
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