Gratitude

A consummate storyteller of the human mind, author of the inspiring "Awakenings" and the whimsical "The Man Who Mistook His wife for a Hat," provides a final work peering into his own mind as an octogenarian facing imminent death. This brief set of essays is his most intimate storytelling, embodying the warmth of a gentle and always inquisitive soul. Reading this as I approach my own eightieth year of life, I found this a comforting model for approaching the last chapter of life against the panorama of its earlier chapters. I imagined him closing the book at the end of his read and setting it with satisfaction on the nightstand for others to find.

I attended a lecture by Dr. Oliver Sacks in Boston, 1989. Luckily enough, I was introduced to this amazing man. A year later when he was in San Francisco for a large speaking engagement on Migraines, I met him again. This time we had lunch in his private suite and never have I ever been so thrilled and felt so welcome. He was a gentle person with an ability to speak to anyone on any subject. I was so lucky. Just before his sad passing, I read his autobiography, “On The Move”. It truly portrayed his gentle, worldly, yet sophisticated self. I learned more about him then and was more intrigued and fascinated by his writings. “Gratitude” is a short read, but a succinct and gratifying one. Each of the four essays is carefully written with the Dr. Sacks earnest and honest soul baring itself with such honest emotion, it’s wonderful and satisfying to read. I’ve read it many times now and always marvel at his ability to easily convey his emotions and feelings. It’s a true gift and a gentle reminder to the reader that gratitude is very important and a great attribute to put things in perspective.

I usually love Oliver Sacks' books, most dealing with his adventures as a neurologist. My favorite remains, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." That volume includes a personal recollection by Sacks himself, dealing with when he woke in hospital and tried to throw the seeming foreign leg out of his bed, only to learn that it was his own! He was a masterful real-life story-teller. For some reason I just can't put my finger on, I found this final reflection to be a bit lacking. Certainly what the other reviewers have said in praise of it are true, but it still left me feeling something was missing. In reflecting, what I found was missing was that in the midst of his four essays, all remembrances of things past, he really does not emphasize his gratitude. It is more like he was saying, "Well, this happened and it changed my life." But as an existential-phenomenologist, I guess I was looking more for what Sacks meant by "gratitude." He never really does say. Still, it is a lovely farewell from a very interesting and gifted man, for whose life and contributions I am grateful. Good, quick read.

An extraordinary little book that everyone should read, in which the renowned author reflects on his life and his impending death, not with bitterness, regret, or anxiety, but with the kind of wisdom, perspective, and sense of wonder that comes with age, and experience. This is both an elegy and a celebration of life.

This admittedly very slender volume - a collection of 4 essays (although "Meditations" might be better description) is genuinely moving. Whilst this collection of essays is a slim volume is not in question - that it provides insights into some of the most sacred of mysteries is also not in question. That we shall all die is without question - that we shall all know, in advance of this event, that we shall die "soon" is not guaranteed and provokes a series of important questions such as: What is it to have a good life? Oliver Sacks provides his readers with much insight into what is it to have this "good life as well as to experience facing death and accepting ones fate with "Gratitude" not bitterness. As always Sacks draws on the personal for his writing however these 4 essays are, by far, the most personal of all his writings and provide an interesting coda and counterpoint to the second (and final) instalment of his autobiography "On the Move". Sacks' "Gratitude" leaves the reader with tears of both joy and sorrow - the joy that we have known him through his writing and the sense of wonder he conveys and tears of sadness for what we have lost. A truly beautiful addition to his life's work.

An interesting perspective on the thoughts and attitude of Sacks approaching the fate that awaits everyone. The title is quiet accurate in my opinion since Sack definitely had much to be grateful for. From childhood on he appears to have had an almost endless number of educational and career paths he could have chosen. He grew up in an extremely erudite family environment that provided him with social and intellectual contacts not available to most of us. And, unlike most he was free to search and explore until he found his muse. "To whom much is given, much will be required." After finishing this very short book I felt a bit let down. Perhaps I was expecting something beyond the common sense wisdom he puts forth. Also, for such a thin book the price is ridiculously expensive, especially the Kindle edition. Not a surprise that his estate would milk this non substantive pamphlet for all they could get out of it.

Clear powerful shared experiences and awareness of the gifts of life, love, gratitude. Easy to read and understand, impossible to forget.

This is the last book from the prolific neurologist essayist Oliver sacks, who died two weeks before the last piece appeared in print. They’re unlike any other essays Sacks published, except in the humanity that shines through them. He wrote them knowing that he was dying. In 2005, he had been diagnosed with cancer of the eye. The cancer was treated and seemed done with. In 2010, he published a book, The Mind’s Eye, in which, among other cases, he discusses his own. In 2013 he published the first essay in this book, “Mercury,” in which he ruminates on the pleasures of old age: he doesn’t dismiss the frailties it brings with it but he moves beyond them in writing about what one still can do. Then eighteen months later he learned that his old cancer had metastasized to his liver. He wrote another essay, “My Own Life,” expressing his gratitude for the life he had been allowed to lead, and then went under the knife, seeking to extend his active life by several months. It worked. The last two essays in this book are the product. In “My Periodic Table,” he writes about his lifelong fascination with the periodic table, but the piece is also about his impending death. He wrote the final piece, “Sabbath,” over and over in the short time left to him. It is a non-religious Jew’s affirmation of the importance of Jewish ritual in his life. It’s about how we’re shaped by the life we lead. Gone from this book is the careful analysis of complicated symptoms, the blending of advanced scientific knowledge with Sacks’ extraordinary respect for his patients’ human worth. These are Last Letters. There was no time, or need, any more for elaborate explanation. These are love letters to the human condition. As such, they are close in intent, though not form, to Carnegie-Mellon professor Randy Pauch’s The Last Lecture (2008), co-authored when he too was dying. They differ from Pauch’s work in two respects: concision (very short essays) and poetry (Sacks was a poet of scientific writing). I’m grateful to Oliver Sacks for this last gift to his readers. I’ll miss him.

His last book, sincere and thought provoking. Very short but still good.

A poetic little piece of writing, with musings that help to ease the burden of life. I'm glad I have read this tonight, I'm working towards being more grateful and this has certainly helped.

This book will be one that I go to time and time again for inspiration.

This is the best book to understand how time plays its role in our life. In this book, Oliver sacks express his thoughts during his last days. The four essays in this book will make you reflect on your life. He beautifully narrates how time flies away before we notice. He briefly mentioned that at the 80th year of his life he feels as if the life has just begun when it was almost over. In the book, he expresses his gratitude towards his life. The precise words in which he appreciated his life are as follows, ' I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure. '

A lovely book I’ll read and reread for years to come! My husband and I are both about the age he was as he wrote this, so we relate to the topics!