Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Knopf (2017), Edition: First Edition, 256 pages
Description
"Two weeks before his death, Oliver Sacks outlined the contents of The River of Consciousness, the last book he would oversee. The best-selling author of On the Move, Musicophilia, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Sacks is known for his illuminating case histories about people living with neurological conditions at the far borderlands of human experience. But his grasp of science was not restricted to neuroscience or medicine; he was fascinated by the issues, ideas, and questions of all the sciences. That wide-ranging expertise and passion informs the perspective of this book, in which he interrogates the nature not only of human experience but of all life. In The River of Consciousness, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes--above all, Darwin, Freud, and William James. For Sacks, these thinkers were constant companions from an early age; the questions they explored--the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness--lie at the heart of science and of this book. The River of Consciousness demonstrates Sacks's unparalleled ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless endeavor to understand what makes us human."--Dust jacket flap.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mdoris
The River of Consciousness by Oliver Sachs was a wonderful read. I think it is his 15th book published and this one posthumously. What a great writer he was. He was full of curiosity, loved to pursue ideas within his realm of neurology and in science too. He was so well read and knowledgable (often
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going back to the original writings) and his own writing has the human touch as well. He presents a big picture looking at the history of science of ideas and developments and theories and the milieu of readiness for these theories to take root. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisapeet
A highly interesting, multifaceted essay collection. Sacks's magpie mind is well-represented here, a series of essays that discuss more than their subject matter without ever getting too arcane. Fascinating to read about Freud's evolution from neurology to psychotherapy, or the nature of visual
There is no way by which the events of the world can be directly transmitted or recorded in our brains; they are experienced and constructed in a highly subjective way, which is different in every individual to begin with, and differently reinterpreted or reexperienced whenever they are recollected. Our only truth is narrative truth, the stories we tell each other and ourselves—the stories we continually recategorize and refine. Such subjectivity is built into the very nature of memory and follows from its basis and mechanisms in the brains we have.
I'll miss his thoughts in the world.
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consciousness, or to consider what Sacks calls "Scotoma"—dark spots in the field of vision—in scientific knowledge. And underneath all of those explorations, a deep joy in the possibilities of creation, evolution, and art. Sacks says: There is no way by which the events of the world can be directly transmitted or recorded in our brains; they are experienced and constructed in a highly subjective way, which is different in every individual to begin with, and differently reinterpreted or reexperienced whenever they are recollected. Our only truth is narrative truth, the stories we tell each other and ourselves—the stories we continually recategorize and refine. Such subjectivity is built into the very nature of memory and follows from its basis and mechanisms in the brains we have.
I'll miss his thoughts in the world.
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LibraryThing member Pauntley
A last harvest of papers by Oliver Sacks published by his friends after his death in August 2015. The death is foreshadowed in one of the essays, 'A General Feeling of Disorder', which relates an episode in his treatment for liver cancer, earlier in the same year. His own case, as so often in
'The River of Consciousness' is probably not the best of Oliver Sacks' books to begin with. The many allusions to his earlier books make this a collection to be enjoyed as a renewal of interests and reminiscence, rather than the opportunity for a first encounter.
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earlier books and essays, provided grounds for reflections on homeostasis, the core feeling of 'how one is' when one is in a state of normal well being and the disorders of consciousness when homeostasis is disrupted. The essays on Darwin are affectionate in their discussion of the books he wrote after the 'Origin of Species' on plants and worms. In 'Sentience: The Mental Lives of Plants and Worms', Sacks explores the thesis that consciousness is a continuum, exhibited across the range of living things in their responsive adaptation to changes in external circumstances, regardless of fundamental differences in biochemistry. His essay on 'The Fallibility of Memory', which deals with the familiar instances of confabulation and unconscious plagiarism is of particular interest for an unresolved puzzle about memory that only appears in a passing footnote. In the essay, Sacks relates his own experience of a confabulated childhood memory that appears in his autobiographical 'Uncle Tungsten'. He wrote of two bombing raids on London in 1940-41. The second memory, of an incendiary bomb, was particularly vivid. The first memory was real, the second confabulated for Sacks was informed after publication that had been evacuated from London when that bomb fell. Sacks had unconsciously appropriated an account of the bombing from graphic description in a letter written by an older brother that enthralled him as a child. The implanted 'memory' of the second bomb was no less vivid than the first. But the footnote does suggest an intriguing difference between the true and the false memories. In the first memory, Sacks 'sees' the scene through the eyes of the frightened seven-year old he was in 1940. In the second, false memory Sacks visualises the scene 'from different angles' as if he were a disembodied spectator. That may not or may not be a reliable way of distinguishing true memories from confabulation; Sacks does not speculate about that. But the anecdote and footnote do suggest a strange bifurcation of memory in which we can on occasion seem to see ourselves from the outside, as a participant in events, whilst on others we seem to be centered in a camera-eye recall of past events.'The River of Consciousness' is probably not the best of Oliver Sacks' books to begin with. The many allusions to his earlier books make this a collection to be enjoyed as a renewal of interests and reminiscence, rather than the opportunity for a first encounter.
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LibraryThing member MM_Jones
Always a pleasure to read Dr. Sacks even in this collection of essays published posthumously. This collection demonstrates Sack's ability to make impressive connections, taking advantage of his vast reading of historical scientific literature. It shares the joy he encountered in knowledge and in
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people. He defined consciousness as "always active and selective - charged with feelings and meanings uniquely ones own" makes one stop and think what it means to be human. Show Less
LibraryThing member bell7
Author and neuroscientist Oliver Sacks is known for his case studies of our weird and wonderful brains - whether talking about perfect pitch in Musicophilia or common hallucinations of hearing one's name when no one's around. The ten essays collected in The River of Consciousness, some of which had
Each essay was an erudite and wide-ranging exploration of its topic. I especially enjoyed "The Fallibility of Memory" and "Scotoma: Forgetting and Neglect in Science." The first explores memory and reflects on some of the mistakes we can make, such as "remembering" a story we've been told. The second discusses the variety of ways scientific advances have been made, and what sometimes gets forgotten until it's rediscovered. The titular essay, "The River of Consciousness", hews closets to neuroscience, and was a mind-bending meditation on what consciousness actually is and how we experience it. An excellent, challenging read.
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been previously published, showcases the range of Sacks' interests and studies, from botany and evolution to the nature of consciousness itself, and sometimes with specific subjects like Darwin and Freud.Each essay was an erudite and wide-ranging exploration of its topic. I especially enjoyed "The Fallibility of Memory" and "Scotoma: Forgetting and Neglect in Science." The first explores memory and reflects on some of the mistakes we can make, such as "remembering" a story we've been told. The second discusses the variety of ways scientific advances have been made, and what sometimes gets forgotten until it's rediscovered. The titular essay, "The River of Consciousness", hews closets to neuroscience, and was a mind-bending meditation on what consciousness actually is and how we experience it. An excellent, challenging read.
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LibraryThing member steve02476
Lovely, marvelous science writing by one of the very best. Beautiful essays, most about consciousness-related things, but not a single-topic book by any means. What a great writer.
Awards
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2017)
Original language
English
Original publication date
2017
Physical description
8.66 inches
ISBN
0385352565 / 9780385352567