NEWS: I am participating in a Banned Book Week event hosted by BookJourney.net. You’re invited to join us! Visit BookJourney to get more details and sign up.
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A friend and I were having coffee the other day, and the conversation turned to the recent deaths of Wayne Dyer, who I wrote about last week, and famed neurologist/writer Oliver Sacks. She recommended I read his memoir, On the Move: A Life. Since I was about to get on a plane and needed something to read, I thought, “Why not?”
I’ll never be able to think about Dr. Sacks without remembering the movie Awakenings, based on Sacks’ book of the same name. The late great Robin Williams played him, so in my brain, when I think of Oliver Sacks, I picture Robin Williams.
Oliver Sacks was more than a pioneering physician and neurologist. He was, as a young man, a bit of a daredevil, especially on a motorcycle. He also battled amphetamine addiction and disapproval from his colleagues. On the Move details adventures and misadventures of his colorful life.
The beginning of the book feels disjointed as Sacks lays the groundwork for the story he has to tell, but if you hang in there, it gets better. What I found most compelling is his insatiable curiosity and penchant for obscure, long-forgotten medical books. The sheer twists and turns of this man’s mind gave me the sense of riding on a mental roller coaster.
For writers, Sacks includes plenty about his writing process. Despite his brilliance, he carried the same self-doubts that plague any writer. He tended to display his through over-writing and a fondness for excessive footnotes, but any writer will nod his or her head in recognition while reading these passages.
Dr. Sacks died August 30 of cancer at the age of 82. His unique way of looking at medicine, and the larger world, will be sorely missed.
Banned Book Week is a great initiative. Not everyone gets it – I remember one student telling his lecturer that the library was banning books! She came down to check and discovered our banned book week display / leaflet and had a good laugh. Worryingly, that rather dim student is probably teaching a class somewhere today!
That’s a great point. I assume people coming to this blog would know, but maybe not. Hopefully that student learned a big lesson that day!
The English teachers love banned books week. It’s a great opportunity to get students reading.
So true! Seems to be great for an author to get on the list, because the kids will be clamoring for the books.
It blows me away that schools would ban books. I would think the book would be an excellent opportunity to show how thinking has changed since the book was written. Learn about the good and bad in the world. I was totally shocked to learn that “Huckleberry Finn” had been banned from schools.
Thanks for telling me about the website. I’ll have to check it out!
Huckleberry Finn is the book that has shocked me the most as well. I agree, reading and these books is a great way to elicit some profound discussions.
I’ve downloaded Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I love his work, it’s a great way to spotlight a Seattle-based writer, and I want to see what would cause it to be banned. I’ll report back during Banned Books Week!
You have to be KIDDING… Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was banned??? He did a presentation at the tribe a few years ago about this book. He is an ABSOLUTE crack-up!! However, I have not read his books.
I got to hear Alexie in Houston, and yeah, he is really funny. I was a bit star-struck, to be honest. I’d read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Indian Killer, plus a few other miscellaneous short stories.
I won’t say much about the book for now — will save it for the blog post — but I’ll just say that I know why it caught some negative attention. Stay tuned!
Enjoy Banned Book week. It’s great to raise awareness.
I will, thanks. I can’t wait to see what others will write that week!