Reviews from Amazon

Seeing Voices

Having read other books by Sacks, I found this something of a disappointment. He seems to jump too rapidly between different areas - a bit of history, a bit of applied linguistics, a bit of politics. Coupled with the fact that many of the pages are dominated by footnotes, this results a book which is difficult to read. Sacks became aware of the poor deal the deaf have been getting in our society - essentially being denied the use of their own language - and wanted to get this message out to a wider audience. However, in his enthusiasm for the cause, I feel Sacks has not given sufficient consideration to the readability of the book. That said, if you are not put off by the way it is laid out, then you will find much of interest in the book, for example the account of the students' strike at Gallaudet University (where Sacks does stay on one topic for a decent length of time).

In principle the argument is straightforward. Children need to learn a language at the earliest possible age and in the case of deaf children this means a true sign language, rather than spending years learning to deal with spoken language or a signed version of it. However in practice the parent of a deaf child will have some difficult decisions to make. I felt that Sacks didn't give sufficient attention to this, and in particular didn't distinguish this question sufficiently from the problems of young deaf adults in our society.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 189 pages
ISBN: 0330320904
Salesrank: 4141787
Weight:0.22 lbs

Published: 1991 Pan Books

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 189 pages
ISBN: 0330320904
Salesrank: 39145
Weight:0.22 lbs

Published: 1991 Picador

Marketplace:New from £6.75:Used from £0.01

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Product Description
Written by the author of "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", this book begins with the history of deaf people in the 18th century, the often outrageous ways in which they have been treated in the past, and their continuing struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. And it examines the visual language of the deaf - Sign - which has only in the past decade been recognized fully as a language linguistically complete, rich, and as expressive as any spoken language. Oliver Sacks has also written "Migraine", "Awakenings" and "A Leg to Stand on".

Product Description

Written by the author of "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", this book begins with the history of deaf people in the 18th century, the often outrageous ways in which they have been treated in the past, and their continuing struggle for acceptance in a hearing world. And it examines the visual language of the deaf - Sign - which has only in the past decade been recognized fully as a language linguistically complete, rich, and as expressive as any spoken language. Oliver Sacks has also written "Migraine", "Awakenings" and "A Leg to Stand on".

Cultural Differences Among Groups with Varying Perceptual Abilities *****
"Seeing Voices" is Dr. Sacks' account of the history of treatment and mistreatment of individuals born with no or limited hearing. This is a wonderful book for those interested in cultural differences between groups with varying perceptual abilities. For more book reviews, please visit: [...]

Cultural Differences Among Groups with Varying Perceptual Abilities *****

"Seeing Voices" is Dr. Sacks' account of the history of treatment and mistreatment of individuals born with no or limited hearing. This is a wonderful book for those interested in cultural differences between groups with varying perceptual abilities.

For more book reviews, please visit: [...]

A new appreciation for the deaf and the sign language *****
Most of the information that we get about the world comes through the sense of sight. Therefore it would seem that it there is one sense that we would be loath to part with, it would be this one. And yet, it is the sense of hearing that has the greatest impact on the acquisition of language and subsequently on the formation of our minds. If we don't acquire language really early on in our lives, we are bound to lead a very limited existence as compared to most other people. It is these facts and some other very deep and important ones that I was able to gather from this Oliver Sacks book. It really opened my mind to the world of deaf people in a profoundly different way. Sacks documents various attempts over the last few centuries to give deaf people a chance to acquire a sign language, and different approaches to the education of the deaf. The book also opened my eyes to the fact that the sign language is a real language, qualitatively and profoundly different from simple gesticulations and gestures that we engage on a daily basis in our regular communications. In fact, the sign language is in one sense much more complex than the regular spoken language. One can argue that the spoken language is one-dimensional - it consists of sounds of different pitch and duration in time. On the other hand, the sign language is four-dimensional - it employs all three dimensions of space to create various hand configurations and adds an extra layer in the form of motion. One of the greatest features of Olives Sacks' writing is the highly sophisticated and literary style that he employs. I would love reading his books even if he were describing the content of a box of cereal. We are fortunate that his writing brilliance is matched with the vast knowledge and expertise that he has in neuroscience. It is this incredible combination of writing and scientific talent that makes each of his books a masterpiece.

A new appreciation for the deaf and the sign language *****

Most of the information that we get about the world comes through the sense of sight. Therefore it would seem that it there is one sense that we would be loath to part with, it would be this one. And yet, it is the sense of hearing that has the greatest impact on the acquisition of language and subsequently on the formation of our minds. If we don't acquire language really early on in our lives, we are bound to lead a very limited existence as compared to most other people. It is these facts and some other very deep and important ones that I was able to gather from this Oliver Sacks book. It really opened my mind to the world of deaf people in a profoundly different way. Sacks documents various attempts over the last few centuries to give deaf people a chance to acquire a sign language, and different approaches to the education of the deaf. The book also opened my eyes to the fact that the sign language is a real language, qualitatively and profoundly different from simple gesticulations and gestures that we engage on a daily basis in our regular communications. In fact, the sign language is in one sense much more complex than the regular spoken language. One can argue that the spoken language is one-dimensional - it consists of sounds of different pitch and duration in time. On the other hand, the sign language is four-dimensional - it employs all three dimensions of space to create various hand configurations and adds an extra layer in the form of motion.

One of the greatest features of Olives Sacks' writing is the highly sophisticated and literary style that he employs. I would love reading his books even if he were describing the content of a box of cereal. We are fortunate that his writing brilliance is matched with the vast knowledge and expertise that he has in neuroscience. It is this incredible combination of writing and scientific talent that makes each of his books a masterpiece.

"Better Understanding of the Deaf" by Sean Lynch ****
Oliver Sacks composed this work because he became highly intrigued by the deaf after reading the paper "When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf" by Harlan Lane. Similarly, it is hard not to be both intrigued and impressed by the deaf population after reading Sacks' work "Seeing Voices". The focus of this book is on those in the human population who were born deaf or became deaf at an early age, and thus had to learn to communicate with the world without the power of spoken language. The book is divided into three parts. The first section of the book introduces the deaf population and the definition of being Deaf. Sacks also explains how he became interested in learning about the deaf. Considering that Sacks has no prior connections to any deaf people, his curiosity for learning is impressive. The second section makes up the bulk of the book. In this section, Sacks describes his interactions with several patients, including Joseph and Charlotte, two deaf children who were raised differently by their parents. Sacks also discusses the neural background of being deaf, and makes several comparisons and contrasts between the deaf brain and the speaking brain. In the final section of the book, Sacks tells the story of the "Deaf Revolution" at Gallaudet College in 1988. In this revolution, deaf students rebel against the school administration and succeed in having a deaf member of the faculty named as president of the university. This section focuses mainly on deaf rights. Sacks interacts with several patients on his journey of learning, and finds many contrasts between the abilities of deaf children. Joseph, born deaf, was treated like many deaf children in our society: he was unable to learn sign language and was forced to struggle with English and lip-reading at an early age. When Sacks talks to Joseph, he discovers that it is impossible to have a dialogue with Joseph, and that he "found it impossible to ask Joseph a question" (p.45). Joseph does poorly in school and is not able to function in our society. On the other hand, Charlotte, also born deaf, was diagnosed with deafness as an infant. Her parents, realizing that their daughter would never be able to hear their own spoken language, quickly took up learning a basic sign language. They would continue to learn more complicated sign languages as Charlotte grew, and continued to teach their daughter everything that they were learning about Sign. Because of this, Charlotte developed as normally as any speaking child. She is highly animated and very expressive. She is able to communicate with others, both the deaf and the speaking, easily because she was given the opportunity to develop her linguistic ability in a language that she is a natural: Sign language. Charlotte's case shows that often, deaf people are seen as "dumb" because speaking people force them to try to learn our language, which is not natural for them. They fall behind in the world. These cases also show that "one cannot acquire language by oneself" (p. 49), and thus they need help from one who already knows language. Also, it shows that Sign language is the natural language for deaf people, just as spoken language is the natural language for speaking people. Sacks confirms this through studies of the deaf brain, in comparison to the speaking brain, later in the book. From these and other patient interactions, Sacks then dives into a study of the neural influences of the deaf. He discovered, through sifting through many studies, that the brains of deaf people were shown to show plasticity; that is, they reorganized themselves to adjust to the lack of speaking language. In these brains the areas that are responsible for language weren't not used, instead they were activated for visual stimuli. Since signers have a higher awareness of visual stimuli, signing is natural for them to learn. "Signers show the same cerebral lateralization as speakers, even though signing is entirely visuospatial in nature" (p.75). This discovery confirms that signing IS a language . Also,"the fact that Sign is based in the left hemisphere, despite its spatial organization, suggests that there is a representation of `linguistic' space in the brain" (p.76). This linguistic space must be reared correctly however, at a child's young age, when learning is very critical to their development. This marks the significant difference between Charlotte and Joseph, the two child patients discussed earlier. In conclusion, Sacks wants the reader to know that the deaf strive to not be seen as "deaf and dumb". They have their own schools, colleges, and language (sign, in various forms) and can be highly intelligent if reared correctly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the deaf as well as anyone interested in neural plasticity. I especially enjoyed hearing the stories of the deaf patients and deaf schools. I was not previously aware that deaf schools even existed! I believe that many of us are ignorant of the situation of the deaf, and Oliver Sack's book is a good place to start our understanding of them.

"Better Understanding of the Deaf" by Sean Lynch ****

Oliver Sacks composed this work because he became highly intrigued by the deaf after reading the paper "When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf" by Harlan Lane. Similarly, it is hard not to be both intrigued and impressed by the deaf population after reading Sacks' work "Seeing Voices". The focus of this book is on those in the human population who were born deaf or became deaf at an early age, and thus had to learn to communicate with the world without the power of spoken language.

The book is divided into three parts. The first section of the book introduces the deaf population and the definition of being Deaf. Sacks also explains how he became interested in learning about the deaf. Considering that Sacks has no prior connections to any deaf people, his curiosity for learning is impressive. The second section makes up the bulk of the book. In this section, Sacks describes his interactions with several patients, including Joseph and Charlotte, two deaf children who were raised differently by their parents. Sacks also discusses the neural background of being deaf, and makes several comparisons and contrasts between the deaf brain and the speaking brain. In the final section of the book, Sacks tells the story of the "Deaf Revolution" at Gallaudet College in 1988. In this revolution, deaf students rebel against the school administration and succeed in having a deaf member of the faculty named as president of the university. This section focuses mainly on deaf rights.

Sacks interacts with several patients on his journey of learning, and finds many contrasts between the abilities of deaf children. Joseph, born deaf, was treated like many deaf children in our society: he was unable to learn sign language and was forced to struggle with English and lip-reading at an early age. When Sacks talks to Joseph, he discovers that it is impossible to have a dialogue with Joseph, and that he "found it impossible to ask Joseph a question" (p.45). Joseph does poorly in school and is not able to function in our society. On the other hand, Charlotte, also born deaf, was diagnosed with deafness as an infant. Her parents, realizing that their daughter would never be able to hear their own spoken language, quickly took up learning a basic sign language. They would continue to learn more complicated sign languages as Charlotte grew, and continued to teach their daughter everything that they were learning about Sign. Because of this, Charlotte developed as normally as any speaking child. She is highly animated and very expressive. She is able to communicate with others, both the deaf and the speaking, easily because she was given the opportunity to develop her linguistic ability in a language that she is a natural: Sign language. Charlotte's case shows that often, deaf people are seen as "dumb" because speaking people force them to try to learn our language, which is not natural for them. They fall behind in the world. These cases also show that "one cannot acquire language by oneself" (p. 49), and thus they need help from one who already knows language. Also, it shows that Sign language is the natural language for deaf people, just as spoken language is the natural language for speaking people. Sacks confirms this through studies of the deaf brain, in comparison to the speaking brain, later in the book.

From these and other patient interactions, Sacks then dives into a study of the neural influences of the deaf. He discovered, through sifting through many studies, that the brains of deaf people were shown to show plasticity; that is, they reorganized themselves to adjust to the lack of speaking language. In these brains the areas that are responsible for language weren't not used, instead they were activated for visual stimuli. Since signers have a higher awareness of visual stimuli, signing is natural for them to learn. "Signers show the same cerebral lateralization as speakers, even though signing is entirely visuospatial in nature" (p.75). This discovery confirms that signing IS a language . Also,"the fact that Sign is based in the left hemisphere, despite its spatial organization, suggests that there is a representation of `linguistic' space in the brain" (p.76). This linguistic space must be reared correctly however, at a child's young age, when learning is very critical to their development. This marks the significant difference between Charlotte and Joseph, the two child patients discussed earlier.

In conclusion, Sacks wants the reader to know that the deaf strive to not be seen as "deaf and dumb". They have their own schools, colleges, and language (sign, in various forms) and can be highly intelligent if reared correctly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the deaf as well as anyone interested in neural plasticity. I especially enjoyed hearing the stories of the deaf patients and deaf schools. I was not previously aware that deaf schools even existed! I believe that many of us are ignorant of the situation of the deaf, and Oliver Sack's book is a good place to start our understanding of them.

Not my favorite **
I loved some of his other books like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" and his autobiography so this was a dissappointment. I didn't even finish it, not rivited to the page as I was by other books.

Not my favorite **

I loved some of his other books like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" and his autobiography so this was a dissappointment. I didn't even finish it, not rivited to the page as I was by other books.

Struggling to read! **
This book is extremely difficult to wade through as there are an endless amount of footnotes and one feels as if they will never get to the "real" story. There is, however, a lot of valuable historical information about deafness and the obstacles the deaf population has had to endure. Many times during the reading of this book, I was struck with the awareness that I hadn't even considered certain aspects of living in a hearing world as a deaf person that seemed obvious upon reading them. The book is enlightening but a struggle to read.

Struggling to read! **

This book is extremely difficult to wade through as there are an endless amount of footnotes and one feels as if they will never get to the "real" story. There is, however, a lot of valuable historical information about deafness and the obstacles the deaf population has had to endure. Many times during the reading of this book, I was struck with the awareness that I hadn't even considered certain aspects of living in a hearing world as a deaf person that seemed obvious upon reading them. The book is enlightening but a struggle to read.

Excellent, fast delivery *****
Brilliantly fast service. Product in extremely good condition. I will use them again. A1

Excellent, fast delivery *****

Brilliantly fast service.
Product in extremely good condition.
I will use them again.
A1

A revelation *****
I once saw a documentary about a couple whose daughter was deaf, and they were agonizing about whether to go ahead and have a complex and risky procedure performed which might restore some hearing for their child. I couldn't understand why the father's brother, who was himself profoundly deaf, was so upset that they were even considering this operation. Having read Oliver Sacks' book, I now have a much greater understanding of how intensely proud deaf people are of their culture. The book describes much of the history of the deaf communities' language and struggle for identity. It reads like a history of a nation struggling for recognition of its rich culture and language. The book also gives many insights into deafness and its causes too, and describes sign language as a fully formed language (or languages!), as rich as any spoken form, but with a quality quite different. It becomes quite clear in the book that deaf people don't necessarily consider themselves 'ill' or 'disabled', but have a human condition which is simply different. This is perhaps why the uncle of the deaf girl in the documentary was upset by his brother's actions---it might be perceived as a kind of prejudice. I would recommend this book to anyone who is simply interested other cultures, or perhaps just curious about a different human experience which can't be fully imagined if one is not deaf, but still some understanding and appreciation might be gained. As ever, this Oliver Sacks book is easy to read, like his other popular accounts, and he is not just a passive observer but has many personal tales of his contacts with deaf people, their views and his relationships with them.

A revelation *****

I once saw a documentary about a couple whose daughter was deaf, and they were agonizing about whether to go ahead and have a complex and risky procedure performed which might restore some hearing for their child. I couldn't understand why the father's brother, who was himself profoundly deaf, was so upset that they were even considering this operation.

Having read Oliver Sacks' book, I now have a much greater understanding of how intensely proud deaf people are of their culture. The book describes much of the history of the deaf communities' language and struggle for identity. It reads like a history of a nation struggling for recognition of its rich culture and language. The book also gives many insights into deafness and its causes too, and describes sign language as a fully formed language (or languages!), as rich as any spoken form, but with a quality quite different. It becomes quite clear in the book that deaf people don't necessarily consider themselves 'ill' or 'disabled', but have a human condition which is simply different. This is perhaps why the uncle of the deaf girl in the documentary was upset by his brother's actions---it might be perceived as a kind of prejudice.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is simply interested other cultures, or perhaps just curious about a different human experience which can't be fully imagined if one is not deaf, but still some understanding and appreciation might be gained.

As ever, this Oliver Sacks book is easy to read, like his other popular accounts, and he is not just a passive observer but has many personal tales of his contacts with deaf people, their views and his relationships with them.

Sacks is great, but this bookshould only have been a chapter *****
I love Oliver Sacks's writing because of his excitement, even his passion that he brings to his subjects. In every book of his that I have read, he has infected me with his sense of amazement at the puzzles of the human brain. Even after studying neurology I learned a lot about deafness and language from this book. However, I found the writing to be redundant and the editing to be poor. When he started to repeat the same ideas over and over again I started wondering whether this book had not originally been just a long article for the New York Review of Books. Moreover, many of the most interesting ideas were relegated to the footnotes and this made for very choppy reading. In short, I will always remain a big fan of Oliver Sacks, but I think his writing has improved a lot since he wrote this and I sure won't miss the footnotes if he leaves them out of his next book.

Sacks is great, but this bookshould only have been a chapter *****

I love Oliver Sacks's writing because of his excitement, even his passion that he brings to his subjects. In every book of his that I have read, he has infected me with his sense of amazement at the puzzles of the human brain. Even after studying neurology I learned a lot about deafness and language from this book. However, I found the writing to be redundant and the editing to be poor. When he started to repeat the same ideas over and over again I started wondering whether this book had not originally been just a long article for the New York Review of Books. Moreover, many of the most interesting ideas were relegated to the footnotes and this made for very choppy reading. In short, I will always remain a big fan of Oliver Sacks, but I think his writing has improved a lot since he wrote this and I sure won't miss the footnotes if he leaves them out of his next book.

Fascinating look at deafness and language *****
I loved this book and could have wished it twice as long. However, a friend to whom I recommended the book didn't think that highly of it. So to be honest, I guess this book isn't for everyone. It is true that particularly in this book, Sacks gets carried away by lots of long footnotes printed at the bottom of the pages. For me, reading them was like exploring every nook and cranny of a great cathedral. Absolutely enthralling. But for others, it may prove to be rather distracting. If you have ever pondered the endlessly fascinating relationship of language to thinking, you will like this book.

Fascinating look at deafness and language *****

I loved this book and could have wished it twice as long. However, a friend to whom I recommended the book didn't think that highly of it. So to be honest, I guess this book isn't for everyone. It is true that particularly in this book, Sacks gets carried away by lots of long footnotes printed at the bottom of the pages. For me, reading them was like exploring every nook and cranny of a great cathedral. Absolutely enthralling. But for others, it may prove to be rather distracting. If you have ever pondered the endlessly fascinating relationship of language to thinking, you will like this book.