The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks

AUTHOR: Oliver Sacks

GENRE: Medical Non-fiction

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: Expected something very different. Learnt a lot. But didn’t enjoy this read. Might work better for those familiar with neurological terms.

Acclaimed neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks has been called the ‘Poet Laureate of Medicine’ by the New York Times. This book, first published in 1985, is a collection of twenty-four of his most intriguing case histories, each dealing with a peculiar issue connected to neurological health. The book is divided in four parts: Losses – which deals with abilities or senses being ‘lost’, Excesses – exactly the opposite of the first section with unusual senses being ‘gained’, Transports – mental portals into another time/place while the body is here, and The World of the Simple – the neurological issues of the ‘simple-minded’.

Ranging from a woman who could not feel her body to twins who had a remarkable faculty for digits and nothing else, and of course, the titular man who mistook his wife for a hat, the cases are mind-boggling. If ever you need a book to make you realise the extent to which the nervous systems impacts every factor of your being, this is the book to read.

One of the epigraphs at the start is a quote by William Osler, saying "To talk of diseases is a sort of Arabian Nights entertainment." You can see that Dr. Sacks believes in this quote to the core. Every case reveals his fascination with the disorder/problem, with his tendency towards evaluating the indicators, studying them keeping known cases in mind, and providing a neurological opinion wherever possible. No matter how shocking the symptoms, the doctor’s approach remains neutral towards the patient but passionate about the neurological factors. His explanations involve terms that medical professionals or those interested/knowledgeable in the field would get completely.

Why only three stars then?

I am not from a medical background, nor am I much aware of neurological terminology beyond some common concepts. As such, most of his explanation went above my head. After a point, I started skipping the explanation and read only the cases.

More importantly, I couldn’t accept his level of apathy easily. Here I was, horrified at the symptoms displayed by the patient, and there he was, going gaga over the same. I could see why he felt excited about tackling a previously unknown neurological affliction, but c’mon! Those affected were regular humans, many of whose lives were messed up by their sickness. Show some hint of sorrow or regret for them! Surely being clinical doesn’t interfere with being humane. (Good thing I didn’t become a doctor like my dad had wanted me to! I would have been hopeless at staying placid next to the patient’s bedside! 😄)

Also, honest confession: I thought it will be a funny book based on the title. To a certain extent, I was expecting something on the lines of books by Adam Kay or Rosemary Leonard, both of whom wrote relatively light-hearted experiences of their work. Both these were professionals who wrote for the general populace. This one, however, seems to have been written as a documentation of potential case studies for medical students or neurological professionals or anyone with a keen insight of the subject. Definitely not for lay people with not much medical knowhow. And definitely not humorous in the remotest sense of the word.

In short, the cases are startling, no doubt in that. The writing style, not for me. Will work better for those who have a certain familiarity with the medical concepts and who don’t mind the eccentric bedside manner of the doctor who is more excited about the neurological aspects than bothered about the patients.

3 stars, mainly for scaring me with what can go wrong with the brain.

PS: I get that this book was written ages ago. But it has been in print all these years. So the vocabulary in the final section - 'The World of the Simple' - should have been updated to match contemporary standards. It is quite outdated, and borderline offensive. I wish those in charge of handling this book at present look into this. (My copy was published in 2021, so nothing edited till then at least.)