In this book and one of his best-sellers, along with Awakenings, the well-known neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks describes the case stories of some of his patients who have neurological disorders. In fact, the title of the book comes from the case of a man who suffers from visual agnosia. The book consists of twenty-four case stories divided into four parts; "Losses," "Excesses," "Transports" and "The World of the Simple," and in each part are described specific disorders associated with brain deficits. Also, each one has its own introduction and every case story is followed by a postscript where Dr. Sacks compares them with similar cases and studies. In this review, the chapter that is going to be covered is part four, "The World of the Simple.".
The last chapter of the book contains cases from people with savant syndrome, "a rare, but extraordinary condition in which persons with serious mental disabilities, including autistic disorder, have some 'island of genius' that stands in marked, incongruous contrast to overall handicap" (Treffert, 2009, p.1351), whose world though plain is very concrete as Dr. Sacks notes. The fist story is the case of Rebecca, a young girl with no sense of coordination and many cognitive impairments. However, her emotional capacity seems normal as she cares deeply for her grandmother and is fascinated with narrative stories. Dr. Sacks notices that she has a talent in poetry despite her illiteracy. The more he talks with Rebecca, the more he realizes that her narrative and poetic world can actually compensate for her mental incapacities. There seems to be no hope to improve her everyday life until she joins a theatrical group and finds her meaning in life. The next similar case is Martin, a 61-year old man with an eidetic musical memory despite the fact he never learned to read music due to his mental retardation caused by a very serious meningitis in his early years.