Rating: 5 out of 5

Three essays relating to Deaf culture - “A Deaf World”, “Thinking in Sign”, and “The Revolution of the Deaf” - each covering a separate aspect.

Beautifully written, but the kind of book that needs attention. And with endnotes of equal, or greater, length than the essays themselves. In fact, Oliver Sacks says

“I have never found it possible to tell a story, or pursue a line of thought, without taking innumerable side trips or excursions along the way, and finding my journey the richer for this”

“The many (and sometimes lengthy) endnotes should be regarded as mental or imaginative excursions, to be taken, or avoided, as the reader-traveler chooses”

I chose to take the excursions and this is the first book that I remember having two bookmarks in - one for the content and one for the endnotes.

The, obvious in retrospect, key takeaway for me is this sentence

“If a deaf person becomes seriously ill, it is crucial to immobilize only one arm with IVs; to immobilize both arms may render him unable to talk. Similarly, it is often not realized that to handcuff a deaf signer is equivalent to gagging him”

Something I’d never previously thought of but which I hope I shall remember and consider for the rest of my days.

This is part of my endeavour to widen my reading to include more diversity.

Originally posted to my Goodreads account