Oliver Sacks’s book A Leg To Stand On tells a great
story. It’s a story of personal triumph
over adversity, including a near-death adventure, a giant bull, and swelling
classical music. And it is a great
exploration of proprioception at the same time. Sacks, as a neuropsychologist and doctor, brought unique
skills to bear on an exploration of his own major injury and the resulting loss
of recognition of his leg. The
surgical repair went well, but somehow he could not feel his leg at all. It vanished from his sense of his
body. He does, eventually recover
both full use of his leg and his leg does rejoin his body-concept, but it is a
fascinating and frustrating process.
What he learns, among other
things, is that our bodies define themselves in action. Our movements make ourselves.
Even if I hadn’t been interested
in the subject itself, I think I would have enjoyed the book because he is a
smart, literate person with a flair for language and a poetic sense of the
world. I recommend the book!
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