On the Move

A Life

De: Oliver Sacks

Narrado por: Dan Woren

When Oliver Sacks was twelve years old, a perceptive schoolmaster wrote in his report: “Sacks will go far, if he does not go too far.” It is now abundantly clear that Sacks has never stopped going. From its opening pages on his youthful obsession with motorcycles and speed, On the Move is infused with his restless energy. As he recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s, first in California, where he struggled with drug addiction, and then in New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, we see how his engagement with patients comes to define his life.

With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick—who influenced him. On the Move is the story of a brilliantly unconventional physician and writer—and of the man who has illuminated the many ways that the brain makes us human.

Oliver Sacks's great Audio Book Memoir!

If you could sum up On the Move in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining, Humbling and fascinating

What was one of the most memorable moments of On the Move?

When Oliver Sacks realizes he is as much a storyteller as a doctor

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

A great narrator brings out the story that words on the page can't do on Thier own and Dan Woren brings the "voice" of Oliver Sacks into your mind and made his book a great read

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Oliver Sacks's story makes awakenings seem like sleep walking!

Any additional comments?

I've been recommending g this book to all my friends. However if you are a doctor, you'll feel like Oliver Sacks is really just sharing his life with you!( I'm not a doctor and I still felt that amazing connection)

Book absorbing and thought provoking, narration i

This book felt like a meander through Oliver Sack's life. What a thought provoking pleasure. Opened up many things to think about as well as being very entertaining. The barrator detracted greatly from the experience mispronouncing words and names Disappointing and surprising given audibles usual quality. Am hoping that other Oliver Sacks books have a different narrator if not will read tgem

I Fell in Love With Dr. sacks

I have enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Even though I have no
Scientific background or inclination to investigate this world normally,
I found great interest and more understanding than I expect from
this world because of Dr. Sack' clear writing. It was marvelous!
I also loved all the human dimension of Sack's autobiographical
anecdotes and really fell in love with this brilliant, tender man . What
A lovely man. I was immensely relieved that he found true love
in old age and so hope his last days will be peaceful and without
too much pain.

Moving story for scientists and writers alike

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

Because it is a first person account from a very unusual life, it is particularly important to have a good narrator who sounds like he has empathy and understanding for the character he is portraying. He should have had an English accent, as Oliver Sacks does, but it really didn't matter.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sure!

Any additional comments?

It is inspirational to hear this great man's story and how he brought lyricism and love to his patients through his writing and his work as a doctor. The opposite of dry and impersonal, this doctor clearly has all his faculties - emotional, intellectual, scientific and artistic - operating at all times. A joy.

Fulfilled

What more could I ask for in a biography? More candor? More gravitas? No. This was more than could have asked for.