Brain on Fire

This book was okay. Medically, it was interesting, like a House episode as a book, but it didn't have much else going for it. At least it was a quick read.

I was bothered by the casual way Cahalan talks about her work culture: during the first five pages, she mentions simultaneously writing four articles on a Friday night, working on your free time, working past 10 pm on a Friday night, working at 4 am and taking sick days being dangerous for a new reporters career. It's not the fault of the writer, though, it's the US work culture, but still, it wasn't a good start for the book. There were also other things that I didn't like, such as stereotypical and somewhat toxic gender roles which she mentioned with the same nonchalance.

I’m a fan of Oliver Sacks after reading his legendary The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, where he describes strange and interesting neurologically based cases. I also love learning about scientific and medical oddities. This book was right up my alley, and though I vaguely knew some details about Susannah’s case, it was interesting to read this memoir and see ‘her’ perspective on it. A lot of this book is actually retold through the eyes of people other than Susannah, secondhand or through hospital videos, etc. Nonetheless, it is fascinating to go through the journey of recollection with her. She is also only 24 in this book, so it felt strangely relatable in that sense, since she’s still quite young (yet accomplished even at that age—being a full time journalist and all). I appreciate that this book has shed light on a rare condition, and that its publication has had a tangible impact on at least a few, maybe hundreds, of people getting their proper diagnosis.

The book does suffer from some weird and clunky writing at times, but it is a chaotic book to begin with. Some of the parts seemed irrelevant or random attempts to explain the underlying medicine/anatomy, but this may not necessarily be what is motivating the reader. There is also a strange narrative gap between parts two and three, and I understand that Susannah’s own experiences from this time in her life were hazy, but it still came off as a very abrupt transition in the writing. This was an interesting collection of memories, experiences, and evidence of a rare condition that took over the author’s life for mainly a month, but even beyond that—for the rest of her life, arguably. Yet for all of that, this book has had a tremendously positive impact on the world, simply by Susannah sharing her story. I am glad I got the chance to read it and witness this terrifying process with her.