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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Into the Silent Land: Travels in Neuropsychologyby Paul Broks
Staff Pick
"Into the Silent Land is a revealing study of the importance, as well as the limitations, of science in helping to define the nature of self. It's also a fascinating portrayal of bizarre and morbid medical accounts involving the physiology and anatomy of the human brain. Broks fuses this all together through scientific facts and personal anecdotes to create an enjoyable and illuminating collection." Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A finalist for the Guardian First Book Award, and hailed as "a tour de force intertwining of the clinical, the personal, the fictive, and the philosophical" (Kirkus Reviews), Into the Silent Land is a stunning look into how the human brain constructs a "self," or the essence of who we are as individuals.
A neuropsychologist with twenty-five years' experience and a runner-up for the prestigious Wellcome Trust Science Prize, Paul Broks writes with a doctor's precision and clarity in a series of narratives about the fascinating world of the neurologically impaired, delving not only into the inner lives of his patients, but into a deeper understanding of how we define who we are. Fusing classic cases of neuropsychology with the author's own case studies, personal vignettes, philosophical debate, and thought-provoking riffs and meditations on the nature of neurological impairments and dysfunctions, Into the Silent Land is an illuminating study of neuroscience, and an extraordinary look into the unknown world of the self. Review:"[I]nterlocking essays that blend brilliantly recounted clinical episodes with questioning, sometimes troubling internal meditations....Studded with dazzling insights and a great deal of food for...thought." Tess Taylor, The San Francisco Chronicle Review:"With great clarity and easy humor, Broks grapples with philosophical questions....His writing is leavened with wit and quirky personal tales that add a warm touch." Bernadette Murphy, The Los Angeles Times Review:"While he has readers chewing those insoluble nuggets, [Broks] tells his patients' and his own riveting stories, at least one of which, 'To be two or not to be,' is science fiction of the very highest order." Ray Olson, Booklist Review:"A tour-de-force intertwining of the clinical, the personal, the fictive, and the philosophical that doesn't always satisfy, but certainly keeps the pages turning." Kirkus Reviews Review:"[A] gifted writer....His prose is clear, his language concise....[Broks] gives readers entrée to the brains, minds, and behaviors of individuals who lack the awareness that they suffer from a disordered brain at all." Beth Greenberg, The Boston Globe Review:"Broks, called 'the next Oliver Sacks' by the London press, actually proves himself to be more freewheeling and personal than his acclaimed precursor with this collection of philosophically inclined case studies." Time Out New York Review:"Writing beautifully about our most unbeautiful cognitive apparatus, [Broks] describes its rumpled surfaces, its network of neurons, its deep, secret spaces with such care that the act itself powerfully illuminates the brain's creative capacities." Lauren Slater, Elle Review:"[Broks] displays skill at combining disparate elements...and a variety of writing styles and ideas, into a surprisingly satisfying narrative." American Scientist Review:"In an engaging series of vignettes about neurologically impaired people, Broks eloquently details how he and his colleagues analyze the relationship among personality, performance, and grain anatomy." Science News Review:"The new Oliver Sacks...knife-edge sharp and uncompromising. Brilliantly unsettling." The Times (London) Review:"An intriguing investigation of the link between the brain and the mind....Readers who enjoy the case studies of neurologist Oliver sacks will be drawn to this book." S. M. Colowick, Olympian Review:"[A] unique and fascinating exploration of the brain and mind, unlike any I have ever read....[A] quality of existential uncertainty and exquisite frustration, deftly conveyed...gives Broks's narrative its edge and effect on the reader." Todd E. Feinberg, M.D., Cerebrum Review:"Broks asks numerous questions that highlight the murky territory where biology meets philosophy....General readers will find this a thoughtful, absorbing, and, at times, humorous book." Library Journal Synopsis:A neuropsychologist and a runner-up for the prestigious Wellcome Trust Science Prize, Broks writes with a doctor's precision and clarity in a series of narratives about the fascinating world of the neurologically impaired, delving not only into the inner lives of his patients but also into a deeper understanding of how they define who they are. Synopsis:How does the brain construct a "self," the essence of who we are as individuals? And how does the self respond to the deconstruction of its brain? A neuropsychologist with twenty-five years' experience and a runner-up for the prestigious Wellcome Trust Science Prize, Paul Broks writes with a doctor's precision and clarity in a series of narratives about the fascinating world of the neurologically impaired, delving not only into the inner lives of his patients but into a deeper understanding of how we define who we are. In "The Sea and the Almond," a young woman who suffers from daily grandmal seizures agrees to a radical surgery that involves removal of the amygdala (from the Greek for almond) and part of the hippocampus (seahorse), which is responsible for memory and all conscious recall. "I Think Therefore I Am Dead" is both a meditation on human consciousness and an intimate case study chronicling Brok's efforts in working with a patient suffering from a debilitating illness that has no diagnosis or cure. Broks intersperses his accounts of these rare conditions with illuminating studies of what neuroscience can and cannot teach us about the mechanisms that allow us to define ourselves as individuals. About the AuthorPaul Broks is Senior Clinical Lecturer & Honorary Consultant in Neuropsychology at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. He was formerly Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. He writes regularly about his work for the British magazine Prospect and has been published in Granta and the Daily Telegraph. Table of ContentsSwallowing the Dark Different Lives 3 The Space behind the Face 17 The Seahorse and the Almond 22 The Sword of the Sun 39 Soul in a Bucket 42 In the Theatre 57 A-Z 65 The Mirror 67 The Visible Man 71 The Spark in the Stone I Think Therefore I Am Dead 89 Vodka and Saliva 105 Body Art 114 The Story of Einstein's Brain 117 Articles of Faith 123 Right This Way, Smiles a Mermaid 132 No Water, No Moon The Ghost Tree (1) 147 The Ghost Tree (2) 158 The Dreams of Robert Louis Stevenson 171 Voodoo Child (Slight Return) 181 Mr. Barrington's Quandary 196 Out of Darkness Cometh Light 200 To Be Two or Not to Be 204 Gulls 226 Further Reading 537 Acknowledgements 246 What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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