On the Move: A Life

gimley reviewed On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks

Review of 'On the Move: A Life' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I'd always liked the books he'd written but had known nothing of his life until he left it. He was very much an original person, but one who managed to be successful without losing who he is. He did this not as a rebel but as its opposite. Despite his ambition (or his family's ambition for him--I don't think he chose medical school voluntarily), he couldn't help be who he was. He also valued his patients as the individuals they were.

He wrote compulsively as part of the way he thought. He was closer to his journals than to most people, I imagine, but that initimacy allows him to connect with his readers. I hope his last love was the exception, allowing him to overcome that personal distance that seemed to surround him. I just read the prologue of [b:The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy|1884902|The Anatomist A True …

Eduardo Santiago reviewed On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks

3 stars

This took me completely by surprise: it was not at all how I had imagined him. In his earlier books I always envisioned him as patient, kindly, avuncular. His case studies show great empathy and humor. What I hadn't expected was that he was a highly driven adrenaline junkie, living a fast intense life, the kind that exhausts me simply to read about. It has been both challenging and rewarding to alter my understanding of his life and work, to realize that there are many paths to compassion. I'm thankful to him for teaching me so much throughout my life.

Rounding down to three stars because the final third felt so disjointed; lacking cohesion or unity. It felt rushed. Understandable, of course.