
Musicophilia
Tales of Music and the Brain
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Lee
-
By:
-
Oliver Sacks
Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does - humans are a musical species.
Oliver Sacks’s compassionate, compelling tales of people struggling to adapt to different neurological conditions have fundamentally changed the way we think of our own brains, and of the human experience. In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people. He explores how catchy tunes can subject us to hours of mental replay, and how a surprising number of people acquire nonstop musical hallucinations that assault them night and day.
Yet far more frequently, music goes right: Sacks describes how music can animate people with Parkinson’s disease who cannot otherwise move, give words to stroke patients who cannot otherwise speak, and calm and organize people whose memories are ravaged by Alzheimer’s or amnesia.Music is irresistible, haunting, and unforgettable, and in Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks tells us why.
©2007 Oliver Sacks (P)2007 Books on TapeCritic reviews
"[Sacks'] customary erudition and fellow-feeling ensure that, no matter how clinical the discussion becomes, it remains, like the music of Mozart, accessible and congenial." (Booklist)
“Dr. Sacks writes not just as a doctor and a scientist but also as a humanist with a philosophical and literary bent...[his] book not only contributes to our understanding of the elusive magic of music but also illuminates the strange workings, and misfirings, of the human mind.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)
"Sacks is an unparalleled chronicler of modern medicine, and fans of his work will find much to enjoy when he turns his prodigious talent for observation to music and its relationship to the brain." (Publishers Weekly)
People who viewed this also viewed...


















I almost never comment on narrators--but this one was very good!
The Best Of Sacks...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A a lot of stories
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A Great Gift you can give your loved ones
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Soulful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
"Musicophilia" examines in some detail man's unique and intimate relationship with music. Sacks does this through numerous case studies of patients with various diseases, injuries, genetic differences, etc. of the brain. The results is an amazing variety of unique (some might say wondrous) acquired abilities and disabilities. It becomes quite obvious that the power of the human brain is almost hard to grasp, and that despite our huge scientific and medical advances, we are still in the infancy of brain understanding.
This book is well worth your time if the topic is of interest. Be forewarned, however, at times it can be like taking a drink from a firehose!
Man's intimate relationship with music.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Just fascinating!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Musicophillia
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you consider yourself a music (especially classical) aficionado, you'll enjoy this book more as specifics regarding composers and symphonies are referenced throughout. This book is somewhat educational, but appropriate for a relaxed audience.
Entertaining short stories and case studies
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
quite insightful, though nothing about harmonics
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, especially if that person likes either psycology, music or the inner works of our brain. It is very well narrated, very informative.Who was your favorite character and why?
It is not a fictional work. But you can relate to some of the cases discussed in here.Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?
I didn't finish all the book yet, but John Lee has done a great job. I downloaded another book narrated by the author himself. I could not stand it, whereas in this book even the most technical details seem to be a normal complement to the whole book. With a lesser narrator, I don't even know if I could stand it either.Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It is not that kind of book, although someone else might be more sensitive than me as to this.Any additional comments?
I cannot say what exactly makes this book so good. Could be its narrator, the way it is written, the odd aspects related to music, or the whole ensemble. Whatever it is, is a very good reading to learn things about our mind.The brain and music: how they are connected it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.