Unthinkable - Helen Thomson

   2018; 253 pages (plus Extras).  Full Title : “Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey Through the World’s Strangest Brains”.   New Author? : Yes.    Genre : Neuropsychology; Science; Non-Fiction.  Overall Rating : 9½*/10.

    Back when I was in junior high school, once a week – Wednesday, last period, IIRC – we had something called “Assembly”.  It was pretty neat, all us students would be “assembled” in the auditorium, and we were treated to some sort of cheap entertainment act that the principal had presumably found.  One time it was this guy who did memory tricks.  I remember two of his acts, although I’m certain he did more that day.

    In the first, several Sears catalogs (remember those?  They were 500 pages or so thick), previously torn into 25-page sections, were distributed to random students in the audience.  Each kid then chose a page in the section given them and when called upon, asked the guy onstage what was on that page.  It sticks in my mind, because one of those students was a friend of mine, and when it was his turn the page he selected  (and which the man correctly identified) had “women’s foundation garments” on it.  Let’s hear it for the ladies’ underwear sections of those old Sears catalogs.

    In the second act, a student volunteer was called onstage, given a deck of cards, and asked to shuffle them.  There was a blackboard on the stage as well, with the numbers 1-thru-52 written on it.  The student called out each card, one at a time, and chose at random to one of the 52 numbers on the board.  After all the cards in the deck had been tagged with a number, the man proceeded to rattle off each selection.

    “Number one - seven of hearts; number two – Queen of Spades; number three – three of Diamonds”, etc., all the way through the 52 numbers.  I was in awe of the feat.  It impressed upon me that some people’s brains function quite differently from how the rest of us “think”.

    That’s what the book Unthinkable is all about:  People who are blessed (or cursed), with various and rare mental anomalies.

What’s To Like...

    Unthinkable has eleven chapters:  an “Introduction” at the beginning, a “Conclusion” at the end, and nine “case studies”, each about a strange neuropsychological (her term, not mine) oddity she investigated.  Each case study highlights a main “patient”, although quite often Helen Thomson interviewed and investigated others who have that disorder, and worked their stories into the chapter.  Briefly:

1.  Bob: Never Forgetting a Moment.

    “HSAM” (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory).

    Side note: the actress Marilu Henner (“Elaine” in the Sitcom “Taxi) has HSAM.  Wiki her. 

2.  Sharon: Being Permanently Lost.

        Prosopagnosia, Topographical Disorientation.

3.  Rubén: Seeing Auras.

        Synesthesia.

4.  Tommy: Switching Personalities.

        Hypergraphia, Sudden Artistic Outburst.

5.  Sylvia: An Endless Hallucination.

        Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

6.  Matar: Turning into a Tiger.

        Clinical Lycanthropy, Schizophrenia.

7.  Louise: Becoming Unreal.

        Depersonalization Disorder.

8.  Graham: Waking Up Dead.

        Walking Corpse Disorder, Cotard’s Syndrome.

9.  Joel: Feeling Other People’s Pain.

        Mirror-Touch Synesthesia, Empathy.

    My favorite chapters were Bob, Ruben, Tommy, and Joel; your faves will probably be different   I know two people who are synesthetes, another who suffers from schizophrenia, and quite a few chess-players who are able to memorize an incredible number of “book” moves.  Thus a lot of this book resonated with me.

    I loved Helen Thomson’s writing style; it reminded me of Mary Roach’s science books or Sarah Vowell’s history works.  Each chapter is packed with fascinating details; things like “The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine”, a 1985 book titled “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, the “Jim Twins”, and “Xenomelia” (the desire to amputate a healthy limb).

    Equally enlightening are the practical “how-to’s”.  You’ll learn  how do amazing memory feats; how to make your own hallucinations (without drugs); and how to train yourself to be a synesthete.  You can also test yourself for schizophrenia and scientifically determine if you’re an extrovert or an introvert.  You can even experience the sensation of a “phantom limb”.

Excerpts...

    I started my journey in America, where I met a TV producer who never forgets a day in his life, and a woman who is permanently lost – even in her own home.  In the UK, I spent time with a teacher whose memories don’t feel like her own, and the family of an ex-con whose personality changed overnight.  I flew across Europe and the Middle East to meet with a man who turns into a tiger, a woman who lives with a permanent hallucination, and a young journalist who sees colors that don’t exist in real life.  And then there was Graham, a man who, for three years, believed he was dead.  (loc. 211)

    A synesthete (…) might experience the number five as having a pink hue, or taste strawberry at the sound of a horn.  Music might be perceived as having a particular shape; months of the year might be seen as a ribbon in space.  My favorite description of synesthesia comes from the Russian author Vladimir Nabakov.  “The long a of the English alphabet … has for me the tint of weathered wood, but a French a evokes polished ebony,” he says in his autobiography.  "I am puzzled by my French on which I see as the brimming tension-surface of alcohol in a small glass. … In the brown group, there are the rich rubbery tone of soft g, paler j, and the drab shoelace of h."  (loc. 1121)

Kindle Details...

    Unthinkable sells for $11.99 at Amazon right now, although I picked it up when it was temporarily discounted.  At the moment, it appears this is the only e-book Helen Thomson offers.

“She’s writing a book about crazy people (…) and I’m one of them!”  (loc. 929)

    There really isn’t anything to quibble about in Unthinkable.  The only nit I can pick is its brevity.  Amazon lists it as being 278 pages long, but the text actually stops at page 253 (86%).  The rest of  the book is “Extras”: Acknowledgements, Notes and Sources, and an Index.  But hey, when I say that a book ends too quickly, I mean that as a compliment.

    There are a couple cusswords in the text, but that happens only when Helen Thomson is giving a direct quote by someone, usually one of her interviewees.  If you’re quoting someone and they cuss, you're obligated to write it exactly as they said it. 

    The low-star Amazon reviews seem to be primarily other neuropsychologists who either didn’t like Helen Thomson’s writing style or disagreed with her clinical conclusions.  My degree's in chemistry, not psychology, but frankly, the author’s scientific reasoning seemed logical to me.

    For me Unthinkable was a fascinating read.  I have a keener insight to the various syndromes and disorders presented in the book, especially the ones that I have firsthand experience with via friends and coworkers.

    9½ Stars.  A closing word about one of the “memory wizards” cited in Unthinkable.   George Koltanowski was a well-known Belgian chess grandmaster back in the 1920’s.  I play chess, and have on occasion played it while blindfolded.  Not surprisingly, my talent level falls off, but with much concentration I can at least envision the board and make correct moves.

    George Koltanowski once played 34 games of blindfold chess at the same time.   His score was 24 wins, 10 draws, and zero losses.  Freaking incredible.