The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars
A Neuropsychologist's Odyssey
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:2nd May '19
£9.99
Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.
Combining neurological case stories and memoir, and with excursions into speculative fiction and mythology, this is an audaciously original, deeply personal meditation on grief, time and selfhood.
'[A] beautifully written investigation of grief ... As an exploration of love and loss, as a portrait of a person and of the nature of personhood, this book is about as true as any I have read' James McConnachie, Sunday Times
An audacious and beautiful account of grief and who we are. Memoir, neuroscience and myth interweave to create a book unlike any other
When celebrated neuropsychologist Paul Broks' wife died of cancer, he found himself plunged into the world of the bereaved. As he experienced the pain, alienation and suffering that make us human, his clinician-self seemed to watch on with keen interest. He embarked upon a voyage of experience: a journey through grief, philosophy, consciousness, humanity and magical thinking - seen through the prism of a lifetime's work in neuroscience. Fusing an account of living with and recovering from loss with thought-provoking meditations on the nature of the mind and the self, The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars is an audacious and beautiful work by a writer of astonishing wisdom and compassion.
[A] beautifully written investigation of grief ... As an exploration of love and loss, as a portrait of a person and of the nature of personhood, this book is about as true as any I have read -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *
A wonderful, strange and genre-defying book -- Adam Zerman * Standpoint *
A rewarding mind to spend some time with -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *
The Darker the Night, The Brighter the Stars is a work of extraordinary insight and imagination. Broks is a 21st century Dante of the human psyche, guiding us on a journey full of surprise, erudition, and wit -- David George Haskell * author of The Forest Unseen and The Songs of Trees *
In this gorgeous kaleidoscope of a book, the neuroscientist Paul Broks takes us image by image, story by story, into an exploration of life with all its brilliant hues of grief and despair, joy and resilience, biology and society. There's science here, and curiosity, and humanity, all forming a remarkable portrait of who we are - and who we hope to be -- Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist * author of The Poisoner’s Handbook *
Broks weaves many threads - memoir, neuroscience, and metaphysics - into a rich fabric of reflection, speculation and deep feeling. This is a work that defies categorization, fusing non-fiction and imagination into a single instrument of piercing insight and emotional honesty -- Charles Yu * author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe *
Truly remarkable prose . . . Throughout, Broks is like a naturalist taking you through the wilderness of the human mind, and he's a companionable guide. -- Eben Schwartz * The Journal of the American Medical Association *
ISBN: 9780241957462
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 18mm
Weight: 236g
320 pages