Comments on: Review: My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Taylor

By: sensit

sensit — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:57:14 +0000

Buddhist-influenced perspective on My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

http://sensit.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/my-stroke-of-insight-by-jill-bolte-taylor/
sensit´s last blog ..Fountain

By: snowflier

snowflier — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:45:51 +0000

I’m sorry you didn’t like the book. I found it interesting and inspirational, and plan to delve more into the subject. I agree it is not a literary triumph, but I don’t think it was meant to be one. It is sincere and full of pertinent information for stroke survivors and anyone human!!

By: Frank Anastasio

Frank Anastasio — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:17:19 +0000

This superficial review may discourage some who could learn from the insights Taylor offers about how our brain works to create or distort reality.

By: jabru

jabru — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:09:09 +0000

I just finished this book. Perhaps not the best written, but its full of interesting information about the brain and its function and I found her journey fascinating. I found it helpful since my mother had a stoke, although a right sided one. Like Monica, I do not know why other’s would make fun of the book.

By: Ali

Ali — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:50:19 +0000

I'd listen to a rambling hobo's stories, for sure. Would I give his or her book a five-star review, though? Only if it were well-written. Ali’s latest blog post:Books to Drool Over

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:59:58 +0000

Sometimes your message can be misunderstood — or just plain not understood — if your style is not clear. How many people bother listening to the rambling hobo at all?

By: kris

kris — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:35:19 +0000

maybe you’ll like the soundbite instead then: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

also. wtf is up with you style nazis? wtf is important with style if the message is important? i’ll listen to a rambling hobo if there’s something i discern of essence in what he is saying. is it just me or is it mainly women who read literature because they think “nice sounding” sentences is important?

and why do i care, i think everyone’s stupid.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:57:19 +0000

By “bad” I mean that it’s poorly written — and yes, that is my judgement (whose it might be otherwise, I’m sure I don’t know). My issue with My Stroke of Insight is that the style is so bad that I couldn’t even get to the content. Perhaps I should have stuck it out, I’ll give you that, but as I was reading the book I really didn’t think it’d be worth the trouble. The writing wasn’t good enough to hold my attention, and I moved on.

I have nothing against Jill Taylor. I think it’s fantastic that she recovered so completely from her stroke — would that more people could do the same. But her amazing recovery has little to do with whether she can write clearly or compellingly. And there are books out there that tell the same story, in better prose — Norman Doidge’s The Brain that Changes Itself, for example. Her contribution to the field of stroke recovery/treatment may be ultimately valuable, but her writing is not for me.

By: monica tarzier

monica tarzier — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:35:15 +0000

What do you mean by “bad”? Useless or uninformative, or just badly written as per your judgment? You seem to focus on style while ignoring content. I maintain that what a book says is just as important as how it says it. My Stroke of Insight should be required reading in every medical and nursing school. Having encountered unfeeling professionals in a medical setting, I deeply feel for a “wounded animal” (Jill’s expression) who is shouted at, ignored, or treated as if deaf or stupid by hospital staff.

Her description of losing the ability to organize experience–what a gift. How many stroke survivors regain enough verbal fluency to tell their story? I maintain that this is a unique and extraordinarily valuable contribution, and not just because of its right-brain/left-brain spiritual implications.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:00:13 +0000

Not threatened; just allergic to terrible prose.

It doesn’t matter to me how touching or amazing her journey was — I review books, and the book she wrote was very bad, regardless of the events that triggered its writing.