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8 people found this helpful
4.0 out of 5 starsA useful addition to the collection of memoirs by acquired savants
Bytreekilleron January 12, 2017
Struck by Genius is a useful addition to the growing collection of memoirs written by acquired savants-- and I think is primarily of interest to those who have a particular interest in this topic. Some reviewers complain about the inclusion of detailed mathematical discussion of Jason Padgett's drawings. However, other reviewers wish there were actually more math, and lament the many pages devoted to descriptions of Jason's personal challenges in dealing with his accident and its consequences. Others (and I count myself in this camp) are put off by the persistent self-congratulatory remarks throughout the book, and I find myself wondering how these survived the influence of a co-writer, agent, and editor. Nevertheless, what the majority of readers seem to agree upon, is that the brain is an exquisitely complex and mysterious organ, and that Jason Padgett's account of his experience leads us to contemplate the remarkable possibilities as we progress in unlocking the brain's secrets.
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3.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing
ByBook Loveron May 18, 2014
I love books about the workings of the human mind, and the true story of a party boy who becomes a mathematical genius after surviving a mugging seemed like it was right up my alley. Unfortunately his newly-discovered genius did not extend to writing, and even with a co-author, the writing was labored and repetitive. What would have been a fascinating article in the New Yorker was a dull slog through the self-absorbed ramblings of a Rain Man wanna-be. Do yourself a favor and skip this in favor of Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet, a much more interesting memoir on a similar subject.
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One night at a bar the hard-partying 30-something author of this memoir was mugged. He was punched and kicked in the head, probably left with a concussion. As his brain healed from the trauma, the author found that he had a profound new interest in and understanding of geometry. Simply walking around outside came to be mesmerizing, as the patterns inherent in nature jumped out at him. Prior to his injury he was no student, but now the author enrolled in college and devoted himself to a study of math, in order to better be able to communicate the whole new world opening up to him.
The part of this story that discussed the science behind Padgett's injury and the amazing results of his recovery were fascinating. I would have loved it if this book were entirely focused on math and science--how Padgett experiences the world and why his brain interprets stimuli as it does.
Unfortunately, a larger portion of this book is about Padgett's personal life, which I found much less interesting. His narrative voice has a self-congratulatory tone that permeates every anecdote contained within this memoir. In high school it was only he who could befriend the dirty and abused outcast, bring him home, and rescue him. A falling out with his brother was the result of Padgett simply being better at everything, from winning games to getting the attention of girls. Even their stepmother preferred him to his brother.
After his attack, when the author became fixated on geometry, he continued to work in his family's furniture store while taking college classes. He talks about discussing math and showing his drawings to all who come into the store. According to him, customers universally love these discussions while they are trying to choose furniture. None find it intrusive or annoying. He talked math to one woman for four hours and even ended up curing her depression.
Story after story had a similar theme, which seemed not to match up with what I've observed about people and their relationships to others, especially when one person is obsessed with an insists on talking endlessly about an obscure topic. I found myself skeptical of many of the author's claims about himself and the others around him, and this uneasy feeling detracted greatly from my enjoyment of this memoir.
The part of this story that discussed the science behind Padgett's injury and the amazing results of his recovery were fascinating. I would have loved it if this book were entirely focused on math and science--how Padgett experiences the world and why his brain interprets stimuli as it does.
Unfortunately, a larger portion of this book is about Padgett's personal life, which I found much less interesting. His narrative voice has a self-congratulatory tone that permeates every anecdote contained within this memoir. In high school it was only he who could befriend the dirty and abused outcast, bring him home, and rescue him. A falling out with his brother was the result of Padgett simply being better at everything, from winning games to getting the attention of girls. Even their stepmother preferred him to his brother.
After his attack, when the author became fixated on geometry, he continued to work in his family's furniture store while taking college classes. He talks about discussing math and showing his drawings to all who come into the store. According to him, customers universally love these discussions while they are trying to choose furniture. None find it intrusive or annoying. He talked math to one woman for four hours and even ended up curing her depression.
Story after story had a similar theme, which seemed not to match up with what I've observed about people and their relationships to others, especially when one person is obsessed with an insists on talking endlessly about an obscure topic. I found myself skeptical of many of the author's claims about himself and the others around him, and this uneasy feeling detracted greatly from my enjoyment of this memoir.
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Jason Padgett suffered a traumatic brain injury during a mugging and underwent significant personal and mental changes. Among other things, he is now synesthetic, meaning that he perceives things in multiple ways simultaneously. Most synesthetes see numbers, letters, or musical tones as having particular colors. Padgett sees a particular geometry overlaid on the entire world, particularly lights, running water, reflections, and certain other phenomena. As a result, he becomes obsessed with drawing his "impressions" of particular numbers or phenomena, particularly the irrational number pi and his understanding of certain subatomic processes. Most of these drawings are the kind of line drawings a bored young person with a straightedge and compass might draw to kill some time: many lines intersecting in a single point with a spirograph-like set of intersecting lines around the central point, forming an approximation of a circle. To Padgett, these drawings literally are how he "sees" these concepts.
The synesthesia is interesting, and I have no reason to doubt it. The story took a stranger and more disturbing turn, however, when Padgett holed up for four years with almost no human contact in an apartment that was literally falling apart (there were pigeons living in a hole in the roof) and spending all of his time on the internet. In the process, he diagnosed himself with synesthesia, savant syndrome, PTSD, OCD, agoraphobia, depression, and various other potential maladies. The internet may be a great tool, but a reliable source of lay diagnoses of medical and psychiatric conditions it is not. Most of these self-diagnoses were never confirmed, at least not in the book, and it is not clear how many of the purported diagnoses are, in fact, diagnoses, as opposed to casual conversation with persons in the medical, psychiatric, or academic fields. Moreover, he was subjected to almost no testing for years after the incident, and so most of the purported diagnoses are presented as musings, not as declarative statements.
The real hole in the book, however, is this: there is nothing in it that supports the title. Nothing in it indicates genius or Padgett's status as a "mathematical marvel." He certainly gained a new interest in math, especially geometry, but almost nothing in the book demonstrates that he actually understands any mathematical concepts beyond how to create his drawings. There is one equation in the book, a needlessly complex (and, in practical terms, useless) method of calculating pi. The remainder of the "math" consists of Padgett's geometric "impressions" of various formulae, which he believes reflect a deep insight into the very nature of the universe. Speaking as a math major, I can state that none of Padgett's impressions or theories are more sophisticated than those presented in a trigonometry or precalculus class, if not earlier.
I do not doubt Padgett's suffering, the sincerity of his interest in mathematics, or that he has many daily struggles to overcome in light of his attack, and I do not mean to criticize him in any way. Rather, I simply want to warn readers that this book does not actually demonstrate that Padgett was "struck by genius" or became "a mathematical marvel." Instead, it is a very biographical book that demonstrates, at most, that Padgett's experience gave him synesthesia and an interest in subjects that he previously ignored, primarily math and physics. He was, apparently, a bright student in school who simply didn't apply himself to certain subjects. What the book demonstrates is merely that he developed an interest in some of those subjects after his injuries.
The writing itself requires a brief comment. This is not a well-written book. It rambles and delves into extended discussions of minutiae that do not add anything to the story. As I have said, it is mostly biography, including a huge amount of material related to his party-hard lifestyle before the attack. The substance of the book -- the impacts the attack has had on Padgett's mind -- might make for a interesting and short article, but no more. Instead, it is more than 200 pages long, rambling, full of commentary that often borders on outright narcissism, and devoid of content related to the main point: Padgett's purported new mathematical abilities.
I recommend taking a pass on this book; it simply does not deliver on its promises.
The synesthesia is interesting, and I have no reason to doubt it. The story took a stranger and more disturbing turn, however, when Padgett holed up for four years with almost no human contact in an apartment that was literally falling apart (there were pigeons living in a hole in the roof) and spending all of his time on the internet. In the process, he diagnosed himself with synesthesia, savant syndrome, PTSD, OCD, agoraphobia, depression, and various other potential maladies. The internet may be a great tool, but a reliable source of lay diagnoses of medical and psychiatric conditions it is not. Most of these self-diagnoses were never confirmed, at least not in the book, and it is not clear how many of the purported diagnoses are, in fact, diagnoses, as opposed to casual conversation with persons in the medical, psychiatric, or academic fields. Moreover, he was subjected to almost no testing for years after the incident, and so most of the purported diagnoses are presented as musings, not as declarative statements.
The real hole in the book, however, is this: there is nothing in it that supports the title. Nothing in it indicates genius or Padgett's status as a "mathematical marvel." He certainly gained a new interest in math, especially geometry, but almost nothing in the book demonstrates that he actually understands any mathematical concepts beyond how to create his drawings. There is one equation in the book, a needlessly complex (and, in practical terms, useless) method of calculating pi. The remainder of the "math" consists of Padgett's geometric "impressions" of various formulae, which he believes reflect a deep insight into the very nature of the universe. Speaking as a math major, I can state that none of Padgett's impressions or theories are more sophisticated than those presented in a trigonometry or precalculus class, if not earlier.
I do not doubt Padgett's suffering, the sincerity of his interest in mathematics, or that he has many daily struggles to overcome in light of his attack, and I do not mean to criticize him in any way. Rather, I simply want to warn readers that this book does not actually demonstrate that Padgett was "struck by genius" or became "a mathematical marvel." Instead, it is a very biographical book that demonstrates, at most, that Padgett's experience gave him synesthesia and an interest in subjects that he previously ignored, primarily math and physics. He was, apparently, a bright student in school who simply didn't apply himself to certain subjects. What the book demonstrates is merely that he developed an interest in some of those subjects after his injuries.
The writing itself requires a brief comment. This is not a well-written book. It rambles and delves into extended discussions of minutiae that do not add anything to the story. As I have said, it is mostly biography, including a huge amount of material related to his party-hard lifestyle before the attack. The substance of the book -- the impacts the attack has had on Padgett's mind -- might make for a interesting and short article, but no more. Instead, it is more than 200 pages long, rambling, full of commentary that often borders on outright narcissism, and devoid of content related to the main point: Padgett's purported new mathematical abilities.
I recommend taking a pass on this book; it simply does not deliver on its promises.
On a September night in 2002, Jason Padgett was brutally beaten outside a bar. He suffered a traumatic brain injury that literally turned him into a different person. Before the crime, he was a happy-go-lucky, 31-year-old bar-hopping player. Afterward, he became a "mathematical marvel," as the subtitle says, obsessed with the geometric fractal patterns he sees everywhere -- in a stream of running water, a line of trees, a ray of light glinting off a car hood.
The world becomes a fascinating place for Padgett. He obsessively draws precise pictures of what he sees and discovers their connection with math concepts he'd never known: sine and cosine, tangents, even particle fusion and relativity. Eventually, he is diagnosed as being the only known person in the world with having "acquired savant syndrome," an acute giftedness in a particular area (often math), and "acquired synesthesia," a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another; for example, seeing numbers as colors or shapes.
I was fully immersed in Padgett's story for a few chapters, but then I have to admit that it became repetitive. I can't imagine what he's seeing, no matter how many times he describes it. I don't see the point of the elaborate drawings he makes and can't make the math connection for myself. Not only that, but the more he reveals about his life, the sadder I became for him. Finding his place in the small community of people with his abilities assures him that he isn't mentally ill, and for that I'm glad. But although he is delighted with his new perceptions, they are accompanied by severe drawbacks: for years he is an agoraphobic hermit, venturing out only to grocery shop; he has obsessive compulsive disorder and practically bathes in antibacterial gel after touching someone; his sense of empathy is so keen he becomes physically ill when he hears the sad stories of others.
I also question some of the statements he makes. Can he really be the only person diagnosed with this acquired syndrome? The Department of Defense says that since 2000, close to 300,000 U.S. military members have sustained a TBI. Add to that the sports-acquired TBIs (and crime victims) and you have a cohort group of about 1.7 million sufferers a year. More importantly, I was put off by his statement that people with his heightened awareness alone are positioned to enjoy real spiritual insights. What a sad world it would be if only a few hundred people could lay claim to true spirituality.
I do commend Padgett's ghostwriter, Maureen Seaberg. She's done a terrific job of translating arcane mathematical concepts and fantastical visions into layman's terms. At times, though, I feel the scenes she and Padgett chose to depict showed only the upside of his injury. Padgett works at his family's futon store, and time and again he corners customers with convoluted math monologues, mostly about pi. Everyone is depicted as being enthralled. Honestly, if I were trapped by a salesperson with that agenda, I would escape at the first possible moment!
I would highly recommend two other books in this genre: the recent book, The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia, a story of a man who suffered a psychotic break as the result of taking anti-malarial medication, and My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, by a woman who suffered a stroke at a young age and discovers the joys of more fully engaging the intuitive, kinesthetic right side of the brain.
The world becomes a fascinating place for Padgett. He obsessively draws precise pictures of what he sees and discovers their connection with math concepts he'd never known: sine and cosine, tangents, even particle fusion and relativity. Eventually, he is diagnosed as being the only known person in the world with having "acquired savant syndrome," an acute giftedness in a particular area (often math), and "acquired synesthesia," a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another; for example, seeing numbers as colors or shapes.
I was fully immersed in Padgett's story for a few chapters, but then I have to admit that it became repetitive. I can't imagine what he's seeing, no matter how many times he describes it. I don't see the point of the elaborate drawings he makes and can't make the math connection for myself. Not only that, but the more he reveals about his life, the sadder I became for him. Finding his place in the small community of people with his abilities assures him that he isn't mentally ill, and for that I'm glad. But although he is delighted with his new perceptions, they are accompanied by severe drawbacks: for years he is an agoraphobic hermit, venturing out only to grocery shop; he has obsessive compulsive disorder and practically bathes in antibacterial gel after touching someone; his sense of empathy is so keen he becomes physically ill when he hears the sad stories of others.
I also question some of the statements he makes. Can he really be the only person diagnosed with this acquired syndrome? The Department of Defense says that since 2000, close to 300,000 U.S. military members have sustained a TBI. Add to that the sports-acquired TBIs (and crime victims) and you have a cohort group of about 1.7 million sufferers a year. More importantly, I was put off by his statement that people with his heightened awareness alone are positioned to enjoy real spiritual insights. What a sad world it would be if only a few hundred people could lay claim to true spirituality.
I do commend Padgett's ghostwriter, Maureen Seaberg. She's done a terrific job of translating arcane mathematical concepts and fantastical visions into layman's terms. At times, though, I feel the scenes she and Padgett chose to depict showed only the upside of his injury. Padgett works at his family's futon store, and time and again he corners customers with convoluted math monologues, mostly about pi. Everyone is depicted as being enthralled. Honestly, if I were trapped by a salesperson with that agenda, I would escape at the first possible moment!
I would highly recommend two other books in this genre: the recent book, The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia, a story of a man who suffered a psychotic break as the result of taking anti-malarial medication, and My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, by a woman who suffered a stroke at a young age and discovers the joys of more fully engaging the intuitive, kinesthetic right side of the brain.
3.0 out of 5 starsHe goes on at great length about his fascination with graphics and the concept ...
Bybig nickon July 9, 2014
The main problems with this book are its title and length. Nowhere did I find any evidence that the author became a “mathematical marvel” after suffering head trauma from a mugging. Much of the book is interesting and describes how his personality was completely transformed from party animal to serious student after brain trauma which resulted from the beating he sustained on his way home from a party. However, I saw no evidence of mathematical genius. He goes on at great length about his fascination with graphics and the concept of pi. He also inserts math buzz words and drops the names of prominent mathematicians in an apparent attempt to convince the reader that his injuries gave him new insights into mathematics. He is critical of calculus because it relies on approaching infinity to obtain approximate results, yet he relies on exhaustive graphics to do the same thing. His drawings which are displayed in the book are impressive but it doesn't take a “mathematical marvel” to draw graphic designs; it takes great patience, a compass, a straight edge and time.
Still, it was interesting to read how he turned his life around after suffering his self-diagnosis of PTSD and obsessive compulsive disorder after the beating. I just wish he hadn't devoted so many pages to details about his interactions with people or with his new interest in meditation after he was mugged. I had the feeling that there wasn't enough material for a book and his publisher told him to flesh it out.
This book could have benefited from some good editing or, better, it would have made a good magazine article. An even better alternative would be to condense it substantially and offer it to Oliver Sacks for a case history in his next book. If you can't speed read, you'll spend a lot of time on this book.
Bottom line: The book is really about a young man who changed from a party boy to a serious student after he suffered brain trauma from a mugging. Worth reading but not worth buying. Check your local library.
Still, it was interesting to read how he turned his life around after suffering his self-diagnosis of PTSD and obsessive compulsive disorder after the beating. I just wish he hadn't devoted so many pages to details about his interactions with people or with his new interest in meditation after he was mugged. I had the feeling that there wasn't enough material for a book and his publisher told him to flesh it out.
This book could have benefited from some good editing or, better, it would have made a good magazine article. An even better alternative would be to condense it substantially and offer it to Oliver Sacks for a case history in his next book. If you can't speed read, you'll spend a lot of time on this book.
Bottom line: The book is really about a young man who changed from a party boy to a serious student after he suffered brain trauma from a mugging. Worth reading but not worth buying. Check your local library.
BySTEPHEN PLETKOon August 2, 2014
XXXXX
"I struggled to my feet. Not only was I in a lot of pain, but I was having trouble getting my bearings. The world looked different: off-kilter, dreamlike. Everything that moved had trails of colored light following close behind it.
There were triangles and squares in repeating patterns wherever I looked, from the windows to the lampposts to the street signs...
I rubbed my eyes. The glow of the streetlights seemed amplified. I could see the cars going by, little chipped shapes bouncing off their hoods."
The above is what was experienced after a brutal mugging and is found in this fascinating book by Jason Padgett (and Maureen Seaberg). Padgett is now an aspiring number theorist. He's an award-winning artist who hand-draws the stunning geometric patterns he sees everywhere. (Seaberg is an author with several forms of synesthesia (see below). She has written for numerous notable publications.)
This book briefly describes Padgett's life before his TBI (traumatic brain injury) that resulted from a mugging and his long struggle to understand what was happening to him after his TBI. Padgett is determined to overcome psychological and neurological trauma and fully embrace his new mind that now has an extraordinary gift.
What is that extraordinary gift? Answer: acquired savant syndrome (the first documented case) with mathematical synesthesia.
(Savant in the term "savant syndrome" is one whose mental capabilities are quite limited but who possesses some extraordinary talent. Padgett's talent is mathematics and his other mental capabilities seem not to be affected as in the typical savant. Synesthesia is a process in which one type of stimulus produces a secondary, subjective sensation, as when some colour evokes a specific smell. In Padgett's case, he associates shapes with numbers.)
What's even more amazing is that before his TBI, Padgett was a party-loving jock and a college dropout who did not make it past pre-algebra.
This is a true story of sorrow and joy, of falling in love, finding a passion for mathematics and physics, and above all, discovering a profound sense of wonder for the order in our seemingly chaotic world.
Finally, there are twelve colour photographs near the center of this book. My favourite has the following caption:
"My conception of particle fusion [or nuclear fusion where two atomic nuclei combine to form a more stable heavier atomic nucleus resulting in a considerable amount of energy being released]. I imagine the center hexagon [in the photo] as the inert iron core of a star [like our sun] and the six surrounding hexagons [in the photo] as the outer mass, collapsing due to the immense pull of gravity. I'm fascinated by the process of fusion and the possibility of harnessing it to create unlimited, clean energy."
In conclusion this is a well-written book about the story of an ordinary man who was transformed when a traumatic brain injury left him with an extraordinary gift.
(first published 2014; a note from Maureen; 18 chapters; main narrative 225 pages; acknowledgements; bibliography; index)
<<Stephen PLETKO, London, Ontario, Canada>>
XXXXX
"I struggled to my feet. Not only was I in a lot of pain, but I was having trouble getting my bearings. The world looked different: off-kilter, dreamlike. Everything that moved had trails of colored light following close behind it.
There were triangles and squares in repeating patterns wherever I looked, from the windows to the lampposts to the street signs...
I rubbed my eyes. The glow of the streetlights seemed amplified. I could see the cars going by, little chipped shapes bouncing off their hoods."
The above is what was experienced after a brutal mugging and is found in this fascinating book by Jason Padgett (and Maureen Seaberg). Padgett is now an aspiring number theorist. He's an award-winning artist who hand-draws the stunning geometric patterns he sees everywhere. (Seaberg is an author with several forms of synesthesia (see below). She has written for numerous notable publications.)
This book briefly describes Padgett's life before his TBI (traumatic brain injury) that resulted from a mugging and his long struggle to understand what was happening to him after his TBI. Padgett is determined to overcome psychological and neurological trauma and fully embrace his new mind that now has an extraordinary gift.
What is that extraordinary gift? Answer: acquired savant syndrome (the first documented case) with mathematical synesthesia.
(Savant in the term "savant syndrome" is one whose mental capabilities are quite limited but who possesses some extraordinary talent. Padgett's talent is mathematics and his other mental capabilities seem not to be affected as in the typical savant. Synesthesia is a process in which one type of stimulus produces a secondary, subjective sensation, as when some colour evokes a specific smell. In Padgett's case, he associates shapes with numbers.)
What's even more amazing is that before his TBI, Padgett was a party-loving jock and a college dropout who did not make it past pre-algebra.
This is a true story of sorrow and joy, of falling in love, finding a passion for mathematics and physics, and above all, discovering a profound sense of wonder for the order in our seemingly chaotic world.
Finally, there are twelve colour photographs near the center of this book. My favourite has the following caption:
"My conception of particle fusion [or nuclear fusion where two atomic nuclei combine to form a more stable heavier atomic nucleus resulting in a considerable amount of energy being released]. I imagine the center hexagon [in the photo] as the inert iron core of a star [like our sun] and the six surrounding hexagons [in the photo] as the outer mass, collapsing due to the immense pull of gravity. I'm fascinated by the process of fusion and the possibility of harnessing it to create unlimited, clean energy."
In conclusion this is a well-written book about the story of an ordinary man who was transformed when a traumatic brain injury left him with an extraordinary gift.
(first published 2014; a note from Maureen; 18 chapters; main narrative 225 pages; acknowledgements; bibliography; index)
<<Stephen PLETKO, London, Ontario, Canada>>
XXXXX
Jason Padgett was badly injured in a robbery attempt in 2002. His story of the brain changes as a result of his brain injuries is totally fascinating. Jason sees fractals when he looks at trees. He sees light filtering through the branches and lighting individual leaves. He sees water in a web-like structure. He sees numbers as shapes. He is fascinated with the mathematical properties of pi, and the physical dimensions of mathematical equations. His injury has given him the ability to see and draw physics, yet he had no previous education in either math or physics. His world he sees is very different than the one seen by most of us, but his injury makes scientists question our "innate" abilities.
It hasn't been an easy transition for him. His book describes significant personality changes that also took place due to the injuries, and years of pain and physical therapy. Yet I found this book about synthesethia to be extremely compelling, since there are relatively few people who have these abilities and his trauma induced genius must be rare indeed.
It hasn't been an easy transition for him. His book describes significant personality changes that also took place due to the injuries, and years of pain and physical therapy. Yet I found this book about synthesethia to be extremely compelling, since there are relatively few people who have these abilities and his trauma induced genius must be rare indeed.
"Struck By Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel" (2014 publication; 255 pages) is the memoir of Jason Padgett (co-authored with Maurenn Seaberg). At the beginning of the book, we get a brief glimpse of what the author refers to as "Jason 2.0", before we go back in time and get to know the original "Jason 1.0", a somewhat brash kid who loved nothing more than to go out and party and have a good time. One evening in September, 2002 on his way home from a bar, Jason is mugged by a couple of guys, and along the way Jason suffers a traumatic brain injury. Then strange things start happening... To tell you more would spoil your reading experience, you'll have to read for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: first, I cannot even begin to comprehend what a life-changing event this must be for someone. Comments Jason: "I was able to compare the me from before the mugging and the me after it, and they didn't match up, which was very confusing to me". A good part of the book comes from this self-reflection and confusion about the "old" and "new" Jason Padgett. Second, the book is full of semi-medical talk of things like "synesthesia", "sudden-onset savant syndrome" and the like. While I assume all of it is correct (I personally wouldn't know), it just goes on and on and frankly feels tedious after a while. Far more interesting (to me anyway) are the things happening in Jason's personal life, and his retelling of the courtship of a Russian young woman named Elena, which leads him to visit her in St. Petersburg and Pskov, is the highlight of the book. The book then really nosedives towards the end when Jason gets more and more involved in the "society of synesthetes" (my words), speaking at conferences etc. It feels a bit like a cult to me, but more importantly the descriptions of the conferences and the speeches at the conferences go on way too long to keep the reader's interest.
Bottom line: the mugging of and ensuing brain injury to Jason Padgett was horrible, yet some great things happened to him as a result. It seems that Mr. Padgett is a genuinly "nice guy" and I wish him nothing but the best. That said, this memoir is not the most compelling, and in the end feels as if it is written only for those who have a particular interest in "synesthesia/savant syndrome".
Couple of comments: first, I cannot even begin to comprehend what a life-changing event this must be for someone. Comments Jason: "I was able to compare the me from before the mugging and the me after it, and they didn't match up, which was very confusing to me". A good part of the book comes from this self-reflection and confusion about the "old" and "new" Jason Padgett. Second, the book is full of semi-medical talk of things like "synesthesia", "sudden-onset savant syndrome" and the like. While I assume all of it is correct (I personally wouldn't know), it just goes on and on and frankly feels tedious after a while. Far more interesting (to me anyway) are the things happening in Jason's personal life, and his retelling of the courtship of a Russian young woman named Elena, which leads him to visit her in St. Petersburg and Pskov, is the highlight of the book. The book then really nosedives towards the end when Jason gets more and more involved in the "society of synesthetes" (my words), speaking at conferences etc. It feels a bit like a cult to me, but more importantly the descriptions of the conferences and the speeches at the conferences go on way too long to keep the reader's interest.
Bottom line: the mugging of and ensuing brain injury to Jason Padgett was horrible, yet some great things happened to him as a result. It seems that Mr. Padgett is a genuinly "nice guy" and I wish him nothing but the best. That said, this memoir is not the most compelling, and in the end feels as if it is written only for those who have a particular interest in "synesthesia/savant syndrome".
Written well and somewhat engaging, this book is more about one man's ability to turn a tragic occurrence into a gift that mirrors the synesthesia found in savants. While the story of how this all came to be and the process of how Padgett recovers to discover his newfound gift are engaging, to a degree, I'm not sure the skills he develops as a result of the accident could be considered the skills of a genius. Interesting and thought-provoking, for sure. If this had been a story told from the perspective of a man who considered himself lucky and possible the result of a miracle (a stretch, but there are those out there convoluted enough in thinking to suggest such an occurrence here), that would have been something else entirely. Synesthesia is a gift best told by those born with such a gift. As such, hearing it from individuals like Daniel Tammet, for example, might provide for a far more interesting read.
ByAkcloudwomanon March 29, 2014
This is a fascinating look into what our minds are capable of, especially under dire circumstances. Jason was viciously attacked as an adult, and as a result experienced a major change in the way he sees and understands the world. I am fascinated by how the human brain learns and how each of us interprets the world differently. Jason describes in vivid detail how he sees the world in mathematical patterns, and in ways most of us will never see due to the synesthesia that developed after his injury.
He remembers his life before the traumatic brain injury so is able to give a unique perspective when comparing his intellect, attitude towards life, and changes with the synesthesia before and after the assault. (My son has synesthesia, and like most, had no idea he "saw" the world differently from the rest of us until high school when he realized we all didn't "hear" colors!)
The story is very well written and easy to follow. There are reference included for those who want to do further research. If you are interested in how the brain works, how geniuses think, synesthesia or any other aspects of how the brain works, I highly recommend this book!
He remembers his life before the traumatic brain injury so is able to give a unique perspective when comparing his intellect, attitude towards life, and changes with the synesthesia before and after the assault. (My son has synesthesia, and like most, had no idea he "saw" the world differently from the rest of us until high school when he realized we all didn't "hear" colors!)
The story is very well written and easy to follow. There are reference included for those who want to do further research. If you are interested in how the brain works, how geniuses think, synesthesia or any other aspects of how the brain works, I highly recommend this book!
It's a fascinating story: the average party-animal guy almost predictably sustains serious physical damage in an attack or fight, and turns into a mathematical, geometric, synthesthetic genius. Not something you see around the house every day.
Jason Padgett lays out his story well. Its narrative is clear and easy to follow. The character of pre-damage Jason is clearly drawn and you know that you've met a hundred guys just like him. This serves to make the results of the cranial damage he suffers when he's struck by a 2x4 all the more interesting and makes the story much more compelling, but there are definite problems with his writing.
Not surprisingly, he retells the pre-damage portion of his story in a very clinical way. The story is complete and descriptive but it read like a report given by a disinterested third-party. Of course, Jason is in the odd position of *being* a disinterested third party to his own story. He no longer has any mental or emotional connection to that person who shares his name and who occupied his body. He knows what happened, and he tells you all about it, but it is only tangentially related to the person he is today.
Jason's emotional connection to his earlier life is almost entirely manifest through his reactions to skills, abilities and reactions that he has no previous connection to. He's synthesthetic now, so even the most normal thing, like water flowing from a tap looks like a series of triangles; he's a mathematical and geometric genius, so he sees in those triangles patterns and relationships that were invisible to his old mind. His resulting panic, OCD and agoraphobia are the most understandable and accessible portions of the book.
As he pulls himself together, he returns to the far more studied way of writing that characterized the first part. This time it seems to be more that this is where his mind now lives. It's where he's comfortable and how he naturally reports things. But it is still somewhat alien.
This is a great book in terms of the events, the results, the history of his condition and an excellent, detailed telling of Jason's story. Read it if those things interest you. It is not a compelling read; no compulsive page turner here, which is somewhat sad, since I can't escape believing that the life he's lived, of itself, is worthy of a compelling book.
Jason Padgett lays out his story well. Its narrative is clear and easy to follow. The character of pre-damage Jason is clearly drawn and you know that you've met a hundred guys just like him. This serves to make the results of the cranial damage he suffers when he's struck by a 2x4 all the more interesting and makes the story much more compelling, but there are definite problems with his writing.
Not surprisingly, he retells the pre-damage portion of his story in a very clinical way. The story is complete and descriptive but it read like a report given by a disinterested third-party. Of course, Jason is in the odd position of *being* a disinterested third party to his own story. He no longer has any mental or emotional connection to that person who shares his name and who occupied his body. He knows what happened, and he tells you all about it, but it is only tangentially related to the person he is today.
Jason's emotional connection to his earlier life is almost entirely manifest through his reactions to skills, abilities and reactions that he has no previous connection to. He's synthesthetic now, so even the most normal thing, like water flowing from a tap looks like a series of triangles; he's a mathematical and geometric genius, so he sees in those triangles patterns and relationships that were invisible to his old mind. His resulting panic, OCD and agoraphobia are the most understandable and accessible portions of the book.
As he pulls himself together, he returns to the far more studied way of writing that characterized the first part. This time it seems to be more that this is where his mind now lives. It's where he's comfortable and how he naturally reports things. But it is still somewhat alien.
This is a great book in terms of the events, the results, the history of his condition and an excellent, detailed telling of Jason's story. Read it if those things interest you. It is not a compelling read; no compulsive page turner here, which is somewhat sad, since I can't escape believing that the life he's lived, of itself, is worthy of a compelling book.
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