The Center Cannot Hold

By: Elyn R. Saks

Narrated by: Alma Cuervo

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Professor of psychiatry Elyn R. Saks writes about her struggle with schizophrenia in this unflinching account of her mental illness. In The Center Cannot Hold, Saks draws readers into a nightmare world of medications, a misguided health-care system, and social stigmas. But she would not be defeated. With a strength and force of will that most can only imagine, Saks reclaimed her life and went on to achieve great success.

©2007 Elyn R. Saks (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"In this engrossing memoir, Saks...demonstrates a novelist's skill of creating character, dialogue, and suspense." ( Publishers Weekly)

Hot Snow

I loved this book. Thorough. Surprising. Impossible. Much Illness. Much Recovery. Understandings & Misunderstandings. Even Romance. Time well spent!

Excellent

As a family member of a young adult with schizoaffective disorder, this book was scary, encouraging, uplifting and rang true on so many levels. I highly recommend this to anyone struggling to understand this disorder.

Inspiring

I normally would not have read a book such as this, but I think now my list of books to read has increased! I was assigned this book for reading in a Psychotherapy class and I can't even describe the emotion this book held. Elyn Saks is unbelievably strong and after all she went through to come out with the positivity she still carries.... just astounding! The performance was wonderful, putting inflections in all the right places. when Elyn was mad, the reader was mad. When Elyn was confused, so was the reader. I could feel everything Elyn and her friends and family was feeling. A great performance and a solidly wonderful life story.

AMAZING!

Such an amazing book with amazing insite into a very misunderstood disorder. So proud of her for speaking out about her illness and the treatment she went through. Must read/listen for everyone!

Read this before anything else!

Phenomenal read! I’d give it 10 stars if I could. The story is so informative with research findings and medication insights, but the flow of her life story is riveting and you don’t want to put it down. A must read if you struggle with mental illness or have a loved one who does. You will find hope here. Not false hope, but true hope about what might be possible for some who thinks all hope is lost. Her honesty is refreshing and in the end you want to somehow enlist a standing ovation for the life she achieved that she fought SO hard for. If you haven’t seen her TED TALK go there next. I’m so thankful I found this book!

Great book! Explains from sufferer's viewpoint.

Where does The Center Cannot Hold rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is by far one of the best audiobook I listened to. It introduces me to concepts I would not have known otherwise. For instance, while psychotic, the sufferer is cogent and understand that people are violent towards him. Psychosis is therefore not a dream like state from which the sufferer awakes with no recall. It is rather a real life experience from the individual sufferer's point of view, and must be approached as such.

What did you like best about this story?

I like that it made me a better person in that I understand what it's like to suffer from this illness. It made me realize that we (the non-sufferers) violate the rights of these vulnerable people among us, by forcibly medicating them against their will, or holding them in restraints when we don't understand them. We so readily are willing to pronounce those we don't understand as dangerous, when in fact, we are the dangerous ones with delusions of what normalcy should look like. My hope is that every one reads/listens to Dr. Saks's personal account and appreciates it for what it offers: the sufferer's perspective. I also like appreciate how articulate Prof. Saks is, and I am certain that she is the best person to have spoken on behalf of people suffering from schizophrenia. These people often lack the language and emotional dimension found in Prof Saks's account. I am grateful to the author for having shared her experience. Thank you Elyn!!

What about Alma Cuervo’s performance did you like?

I like her voice, and her intonations. They were appropriate and moving.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. It made me cry, and it made me question, and think through preconceived notions of dangerousness, prejudice and stereotypes of the mentally ill. It changed me, and my views on this illness, and the people who suffer from it.

Any additional comments?

Many thanks to Prof. Saks!!! You are a survivor, a champion and a hero in my book!

Courageous and compelling

This is an important autobiography of a gifted person with a chronic psychotic disorder who describes her life with great depth.

Wow!

Provides a unique insight into the life of a woman with what we call schizophrenia, as well as the ways our mental health system can help or harm people with any mental illness.

Such a brilliant look into an interesting life

Where does The Center Cannot Hold rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This isn't my usual genre but needed to read a book for a class that was a bio/autobio on someone with mental illness. This was excellent. I was absorbed the entire book. Such an amazing life with such real and honest descriptions of her unique experience.

What does Alma Cuervo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I found her narration a bit distracting at first, because it was a bit choppy. I got used to it fairly quickly

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A must read for anyone studying Schizophrenia.

Any additional comments?

Well balanced, entertaining but very informative and hopefully; not tragic

Unforgettable and informative

A fascinating memoir of a woman with schizophrenia. Clear portrayal of differing treatment techniques and practices in the US and England. First person descriptions of how it feels to have hallucinations and delusions, and severely distorted thought and speech. Amazing that Saks is still able to study, perform extraordinarily well in school, with close friends, and professionally.