“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. 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.” —Oliver Sacks No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly … illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks.
During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death.
“It is the fate of every human being,” Sacks writes, “to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.”
Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.
“Oliver Sacks was like no other clinician, or writer. He was drawn to the homes of the sick, the institutions of the most frail and disabled, the company of the unusual and the ‘abnormal.’ He wanted to see humanity in its many variants and to do so in his own, almost anachronistic way—face to face, over time, away from our burgeoning apparatus of computers and algorithms. And, through his writing, he showed us what he saw.”
—Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal
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Most of us spend our lives endeavouring to avoid being reminded of our own mortality, but some people are brought up sharp, especially when the discovery of a medical condition results in them being informed that things are terminal. Dr Sacks wrote this slim volume (It is 45 pages long) in the full knowledge that he was dying, yet rather than wallowing in self-pity, he shares a series of vignettes and reflections that are remarkably uplifting. He was (He died in 2015) an extremely erudite individual, and yet what strikes one about these short pieces is how seemingly matter of fact they are, whilst at the same time being profound.
Sacks shares something of his cancer journey, but it is evident that he is determined not to be defined by it. Gratitude whilst being a deeply personal book, benefits from its candour, its episodic nature, and from the degree of detachment in which elements are shared. Anchored and shaped by his Jewish faith Sachs manages to write a human book, one liberated from the silos of sectarianism and heritage. He chooses not to shy away from the realities of his deteriorating health, whilst reminding the reader of some of the fundamentals of what life is about. Some may find this a curious book, I find it life affirming, a reminder that we would do well to cherish the example of people such as Oliver Sacks, for he has helped remind us that in our own lives there have, are, and will be people for which we should feel sincere gratitude.
In this day of chaos, horrific events and so much hatred, it’s easy to become bereft of joy. I keep going back to Gratitude to remind myself that I am and have been blessed and have much for which to be thankful. You also need to add more descriptors than inspirational. How about meaningful, relevant and thoughtful?
This is a very short and very inspirational book about life by a man with a very short time to live. If you’ve read other things by Oliver Sacks you will especially appreciate this treatise. If not, hopefully it will inspire you to read other things by this uniquely wonderful, caring, and insightful man
beautiful introduction.
Very insightful read.
A collection of essays from the brilliant mind of Oliver Sacks published after he died, Gratitude is at times interesting, entertaining, funny, and heartfelt.
All four of the essays were published in the New York Times around the time Sacks was diagnosed with cancer, and they mark different stages of the disease and his relationship to it–but also where he’s at in terms of thinking about his own life.
I hadn’t read much Oliver Sacks before this, but I found his thoughts on life, death, and growing up and living as both a gay and Jewish man fascinating. As was his perspective and courage in the face of what had to be a difficult diagnosis. His words are both lovely and inspiring, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy memoir or bittersweetly uplifting reads!