On the Move

A Life

By: Oliver Sacks

Narrated by: Dan Woren

When Oliver Sacks was 12 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 minutes 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.

©2015 Oliver Sacks (P)2015 Random House Audio

Moved by On the Move

A fascinating look into the life of a very special man. A rare combination of huge intelligence with amazing powers of story telling. Why didn't the narrator have an English accent?

a wonderful autobiography

As an adjunct professor and teacher I taught all of her sacks has books. they were wonderful autobiographies of his life and work and the countless people that he has helped. In this very revealing autobiography and memoir Oliver sacks reveals the person that he is inside and not just the doctor. I believe that his life and his work is the basis for the show ,House, that everybody love so much or love so much. we miss him but know that while alive. he truly did live and help others.

Narrattion

Narrator should have been British as was Oliver and there were too many audio patches

Interesting book about an extraordinary man

This is avery open and complete story of a very brilliant but down to earth human being. This book is extremely well written and the passages bring to mind the scenes that were witnessed by the author. I recommend this book to any literate individual.

Great book, but strange choice of narration.

Very interesting story of an incredible man. I share the opinion of many reviewers that that narrator should have been English. Dan Woren did a fine job but it made me overly aware that I was listening to someone read the book, rather than allowing myself to be engulfed by it. This, however, is not a good enough reason to avoid the audiobook. Now I'm considering diving into some of Dr. Sacks' other works.

Typical Oliver Sacks

I admire Oliver Sacks. I like how he discusses neuroperception in broad strokes. The only negative I find in him is he is overly self indulgent in his books. This one is the same, but, afterall it is an autobiography.

Where was the British accent?

I enjoyed hearing about this fascinating life, but would have preferred hearing it narrated in a voice similar to that of Oliver Sacks.

good

I enjoyed it. Sacks always has something interesting to say. 4 3 2 1 0

Creating a Place of Your Own in the World ...

I ended my listening of this reading of Oliver Sacks’ memoir with a whelming sense of melancholy. I had to give myself a day to mull over all I had listened to before I attempted a review. It seems Oliver Sacks and I shared many similar experiences in common as well as several not. I, too, left at the age of twenty-seven for the Left Coast far away from family and all I knew. Oliver happened to land in San Francisco the year I was born. I followed him twenty-seven years later and, though San Francisco of 1960 was as different from that of 1987 as 1987 is to that of San Francisco today, I find it hard to fully describe the kinship I felt the more I listened. If Oliver were alive today I would very much have liked to meet him and ask, “How did you do it?” How did you, the outsider, the interloper, the stranger from Mars, yet manage to accumulate such a bountiful wealth of connection over the years? I suspect having a “functional” family rather than a dysfunctional one helped immensely. Nonetheless, I felt the roads he had travelled very familiar to some of my own. I came away grateful from the listening feeling that I had “met” a man of great intelligence and quiet kindness, composed of the best qualities of what it means to be Sapiens. I look forward to listening to readings of his other writings to gain even more insight into this remarkable man. Should you find yourself familiarizing yourself with Oliver Sacks’ writings, I hope you too gain from the experience.

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)