Customer Reviews

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Musicophilia is an absolutely phenomenal book, and will be of interest to anyone fascinated by music, mysteries of the mind, and the human condition. Sacks covers 29 different topics, ranging from synesthesia, to musical hallucinations, to savants, and beyond. In each chapter, he introduces the topic through cases (his own and famous ones in the literature--neurological and classic fictional literature, that is!), always maintaining a deep engagement with the humanity of the subjects: what is it like for these individuals? how do they describe their talent or illness or condition? Sacks also speculates on the possible neurological bases for these fascinating scenarios. This is a real page-turner, beautifully and clearly written, and it will give readers a new respect for the special place of music in our psychology, as well as a deeper understanding of the range of what it is to be human. 20 stars!

It is refreshing to see how a specialist still retains the ability to be marveled by the cases he sees in his office. Too often scientists get so blasé over their practice that they miss the finer human aspects of every case. Sacks leads the reader gently by hand, even while using neurological jargon, into amazing stories of patients who live through situation we would not have imagined. And they all involve music and how humans experience it.

I believe this book is a must for musicians, who will probably acquire new understandings regarding the dimensions of their music in relation to their own brains.

Dr. Oliver Sacks is a British neurologist with a love of music and science. This book blends music and science together like no book I've ever read. There are some amazing stories here. I love the story of surgeon Tony Cicoria who developed a passion for listening and playing music after he was struck by lightning. The story of British conductor Clive Wearing is amazing too. He developed amnesia after his brain became inflammed. He has the the memory and ability to conduct and sing music, but he can't remember anything else. I also loved the story the research chemist named Salimah. Her shy personality was changed after she suffered a seizure. She suddenly had the desire to listen to music all the time. I also touched by the story of Woody Geist. He suffers from Alzheimers disease, but he still performs in an a cappella singing group. Leon Fleisher is a classical piano player who performed with one hand for many years because of a condition called dystonia which affected his right hand. I learned about a genetic disorder called Williams Syndrome in this book. Kids with Williams Syndrome have difficulty paying attention, but they often possess a love for music. I was entertained and informed by this book so much.

My wife thoughtfully purchased this book for me. I had read about it and was very excited to dive right in. Unfortunately I ended up really having to convince myself to finish it, as it became redundant fairly quickly. Sacks presents (too) many case studies regarding music and the brain, but the presentation feels random and somewhat unfocused. Had his editor suggested grouping the studies by themes or urged Sacks to provide more neurological background information it perhaps would have better kept my attention. It felt as if the reader had to do a lot of work to pull together some of the concepts.

As for the perceived redundancy, I kept waiting for the conclusion or wrap-up that would provide the overarching theme to all the seemingly disconnected patient stories, but to no avail. It almost felt as if the stories were starting to repeat themselves but with different patient names. The length too felt far too long, almost as if everything presented in the first half were just recycled for the second. Additionally, the writing style is very informal and easy to digest, which is not necessarily a positive. The book begins to feel as if the author were afraid to intelligently, academically, and thoroughly dissect the subject matter for fear of alienating too many readers. The result is a glossy feeling, like you're reading the U.S.A. Today version of something that could have really offered some insightful perspectives.

Promising topic, but presented without much organization, background information, or conclusion. I'm surprised that an editor would allow such breadth to be published without any true depth.

In his latest book, Oliver Sacks continues to tell us stories that draw us in, engaging our minds and emotions. In each chapter he introduces different people, some sorely affected by neurological disease, who have strange and profound relationships with music. This is not a dry scientific treatise. Sacks describes these people in a highly personal way, so that we see and feel the human aspect of science. At the same time he teaches us about the science of the brain, and the wonderful ways that music and the mind are intertwined. The subject is inherently fascinating, and the author does not disappoint. Drawing upon case histories from his own practice, and some from literature, he delves into the mysteries of the human brain, how it produces music, and how it is profoundly affected by it.

Sacks writes in a clear and straightforward manner. It is wonderful to find medical writing that is so accessible. There is some material here from his prior books, but it does not detract from this work. This is a highly engaging and informative book. I took great pleasure in reading it. If you are interested in music or science, you will enjoy this new offering from Oliver Sacks.

As a person with a neurological disability who has been helped by music, I can relate to this book personally and thouogh yes, I found it entertaining (and incredibly informative), I find it a shame when people
think of Oliver Sack's books as amusing case studies as that is not his intent and his books, "Musicophillia" included are much richer than that in thought and retrospect. Understanding the intricate working of the brain is essential for all people and as well, many of the conditions detailed in this book such as Parkinson's, stroke, Alzheimer's can often be acquired in later life so these are experiences that may and often do happen to people later on in life to people they know or who are caregivers to (as is detailed). Most importantly, though music is an essential part of human life (would this site exist without it?) and of the social experience and the perception of sound and the world outside can be more easily interpreted through a fully understanding of people's interpretation of music. These are more than interesting stories about odd people whose brain functions differently. They are (in a figurative sense)portals into the thinking of everyone with or without neurological impairments. When you hear a song and say "that brings back memories" or find a song sticking in your head or don't know why or experience a feeling of sadness without knowing why when hearing music or turn on music(or more particulary a certain song) to relax, you may be experiencing in a more real world sense what the people described in this book are experiencing and it may bring a fully understanding of the phenomenon. And most importantly, its solid, intelligent, scientifically accurate but accessible writing by a top professional and expert in the field in a way that an average reader can comprehend.

Dr. Sacks has written about brains for decades now. He's also a decent, enthusiastic amateur musician. In Musicophilia, the good Dr. brings the brain and music together to cover what can go wrong and also oh so right when music and the brain get together.

Dr. Sacks first covers the various problems when the mind either fails to process music "normally" or attaches a variety of extra sensory reactions to music. His experience is both anecdotal and academic as he relies both on his own experiences as a neurophysiologist who has known and treated musical illnesses, and also his training as a networked professional involved in the studies of varous types of amusia and hypermusicality. I was also very interested in the positive corrolation between the higher occurrences of absolute pitch in those populations which speak tonal languages (like Mandarin).

Of special interest to me were the closing chapters on various aspects of music therapy in geriatric patients, autistics, those who suffer various types of dementia, and the very interesting introduction (for me) to those people at the opposite end from the autistics, those who have Williams' syndrome.

Some criticize the book for offering more questions than answers, but even the questions offer patterns from which the thoughtful reader can see a certain wondrous calculus emerge, a uniquely human and late-appearing link between what it means to think and how music is inextricably linked to our humanness.

This is a wonderful book on many levels. It is extremely well written. It is fully of compelling stories. And it helps us to look inside our remarkable instrument, the brain. If you have ever whistled a tune you might have wondered what others hear when they listen to music. Some hear nothing but noise. Some hear entire symphonies. Some hear music that won't stop. And others hear a stream of original music. Some can hear melodies but not rhythm. And some can hear rhythm but not melodies. I always thought it was remarkable that I could compose and hear complete symphonies in my dreams but not when I was awake. Well, I am not alone. You too have likely experienced some intriguing musical experience. You might find some insight into that experience in this remarkable book.

... I was a little disappointed. 4.5 stars

I enjoy every book by Dr. Sacks. He's always insightful, empathetic, and a brilliant storyteller. All the things you like about Dr. Sacks' writing you will find in full in this book. I really like this book. Once again, Dr. Sacks makes the stories of his patients come alive and demonstrate brilliantly the relationship between our mental states and abilities and the physiological functioning of the brain. Bravo. If you like Sacks, you will like this book (very much I would say.)

But ... my but: With a title like Musicophilia ("the love of music") I was expecting much more about WHY we humans ENJOY music so much. Why are we the musical ape? This is only touched on tangentially in this book. I felt a bit of false advertising in the title. I've read Anthony Storr's book "Music and the Mind" and "Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination" by Robert Jourdain (both are good.) With Dr. Sacks' title (and maybe it was chosen by his publisher, this often happens) I expected something more in that vein: the enjoyment of music. (And so, I still await further explorations ...)

All in all a great book. Enjoy.

This book is very interesting to me, as a music teacher. I teach over 500 students twice a week and sometimes their abilities and inabilities amaze me. I do ear training for 10 and 11 year-olds and the range of ability to hear and order pitches is all over the map. Sometimes it can be improved upon (usually) and occasionally I can't get them to ever actually hear and identify pitch. While this book does not suggest fixes, I am better able to understand and sympathize with my students. I have a few exceptionally gifted students also. As I am NOT one of them, it is fun to imagine how they conceive music. Great book - thanks.