The Island of the Colorblind
by Oliver Sacks
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Book Summary Information
Author: Oliver SacksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-01-12
ISBN: 0375700730
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Island of the Colorblind
Book Review: An In-depth Review of The Island of the Colorblind
Summary: 5 Stars
This review should help people who favor non-fiction storytelling with a pinch of science. I sincerely enjoyed reading this book; Sacks is an excellent storyteller whose ability to recount fascinating adventures is truly astounding. As a general read I found it interesting from cover to cover; Sacks manages to keep the reader's attention throughout the whole book. Rarely a difficult read, the majority of the book gives readers a desire to continue forth and join Sacks on this amazing journey in the South Pacific island-hopping and observing phenomenon.
The book has two main sections:
Part I: The Island of the Colorblind
This is the title story, and the most interesting story that Sacks tells in my opinion. Sacks learns of an island whose inhabitants all possess the condition achromatopsia: inherited colorblindness. These people are born without any notion of color and are very sensitive to light. While this condition is rare amongst general populations, on isolated areas like islands the potential for rare genetic conditions to become more common increases dramatically. This phenomenon gives rise to populations that have common expression of recessive traits, and often discovery of these populations spurs scientists to come and study these people. Sacks and his two friends are just three of these scientists, and their adventures take them far beyond a simple scientific field trip.
Part II: Guam
This is the longer story of the two, and has a totally different focus except for similar geographic location. The Guam story focuses on two strange and isolated diseases that appear only in the South Pacific: lytico and bodig. Each of these diseases shares a large resemblance of symptoms to Western neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's and ALS, but when tissue samples are taken the patients do not seem to have all the characteristics of these diseases. What is particularly curious is that the diseases are isolated in the South Pacific, and only to islanders from Guam and nearby islands. Another interesting fact about the diseases is that the younger population does not contract the disease, Sacks even sites the year that is the lower limit to lytico and bodig patients. This is another fascinating tale and Sacks weaves an incredible story about his travels in Guam and nearby Rota.
Book Review
Overall, the book is wonderful. Sacks is a brilliant writer who possess the ability to relay not only basic fact but also an adventure that is generally a great read. His two trips focus on two totally different phenomena, and while both share ties with neuroscience there is ultimately very little neuroscience in the book. These stories are adventures in science: neurology, the mind, disease, genetics; but also about perseverance, culture, belief, humanity, and sociology. Sacks does not limit himself by his profession, rather he uses it a foundation to recount a truly inspiring story of cultural strength and resilience in the face of genetic obstacles and terminal disease. The focus is not limited to any single aspect of the adventure; readers will find scientific discoveries two pages away from a sailing adventure or a snorkeling adventure next to a botany review. The variety of topics that Sacks covers, and the way the topics flow together, make the read enjoyable even for the novice science reader. Overall Sacks' tales make for a very pleasant read and rarely leave you feeling stalled or bored.
That being said, the book is not without flaw. There is nothing major that is problematic, but Sacks banks on the fact that the reader has a high level of education. Though not a bad thing to have, I can really understand that some readers might find Sacks' word choices and overall style a bit confusing and perhaps cryptic. This might limit some of the potential audience, but I think the stories are still very enjoyable even if your scientific knowledge is limited. That is not to say that there is not any science in the story; sometimes the amount can be a little overwhelming with combinations of neurology, psychology, physiology, botany, marine biology, and anthropology appearing at various times throughout the story. But Sacks manages to keep the science to a minimum and certainly lack of understanding the science does not remove understanding of the stories.
I only had a single qualm with the book, and that is Sacks' use of imagery tends to leave the reader with either an incredibly vivid image or one that leaves you in the dark. That is to say that Sacks' version of imagery is generally very scientific, for example: "The roots were all macerated now, their lactones emulsified; the pulp was placed on the sinewy, glistening hibiscus bark," and in the following sentence "the sakau exuded, viscous, reluctant, at its margins." Certainly there are some parts of this book that can be difficult for all but the most experienced reader of science-based non-fiction. But this problem is minor at best and the book ferries the reader through a lot of the difficult material without much of the meaning being lost. Sacks rewards readers who can comprehend his imagery with vivid detail and lucidity, but by no means does he punish those cannot. However, I can imagine the some of his imagery would be lost on someone who does not understand facets of biology, chemistry, and neuroscience.
Pros/Cons:
Pros: Excellent storytelling, exciting adventures, great detail and good use of the multi-disciplinary approach to scientific non-fiction.
Cons: Requires knowledge of many scientific disciplines to understand portions and imagery, while focused seemingly on neuroscience much of the book focuses on other sciences, largely botany.
I would recommend reading this book if you find neuroscience interesting at all, as one of Sacks companions says "This has been the most exciting and interesting journey I will every make in my life." While I can't guarantee that this will be the most exciting and interesting book you'll ever read, I think that his declaration might tempt you into checking out/buying this book because it is well worth the read.
Summary of The Island of the Colorblind
"An explorer of that most wondrous of islands, the human brain," writes D.M. Thomas in The New York Times Book Review, "Oliver Sacks also loves the oceanic kind of islands." Both kinds figure movingly in this book--part travelogue, part autobiography, part medical mystery story--in which Sacks's journeys to a tiny Pacific atoll and the island of Guam become explorations of the meaning of islands, the genesis of disease, the wonders of botany, the nature of deep geological time, and the complexities of being human.
In his books An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks details the lives of patients isolated by neurological disorders, shedding light on our common humanity and the ways in which we perceive the world around us. Now he looks at the effects of physical isolation in The Island of the Colorblind. On this journey, he carried with him the intellectual curiousity, kind understanding, and unique vision he has so consistently demonstrated.
Drawn to the Micronesian island of Pingelap by reports of a community of people born totally colorblind, Dr. Sacks set up a clinic in a one-room dispensary. There he listened to patients describe their colorless world in terms rich with pattern and tone, luminance and shadow. Then, in Guam, he investigated a puzzling neurodegenerative paralysis, making housecalls amid crowing cockerels, cycad jungles, and the remains of a colonial culture. The experience affords Sacks an opportunity to elaborate on such personal passions as botany and history and to explore the meaning of islands, the dissemination of species, the birth of disease, and the nature of deep geologic time.
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