Essay: “The Abyss”
Hailey Lantigua
Oliver Sacks — “The Abyss”
On September 24, 2007, neurologist Oliver Sacks published an essay in the New Yorker called “The Abyss,” where he talked about the story of an English musician named Clive Wearing that suffered from the most severe form of amnesia ever recorded. In his mid-forties, he was diagnosed with a brain infection called herpes encephalitis, which afflicted the parts of his brain associated with memory. He was left with memory that spanned only a few seconds, before he would forget everything once again. This is the first element that left an impression on me.
I’ve never heard of amnesia that affected someone so severely — and yet, as the essay continues, Sacks writes about how Wearing eventually grows from quiet and depressed as a result of his condition, to “garrulous and outgoing” as described by his wife, Deborah. This is where the title of the essay comes from. She describes his talkativeness as the factor keeping him perched above the abyss, and when he stops, it waits for him below. This metaphor is the second element that stood out to me. I realize that art in many forms (in this case, writing) can depict illnesses with an accuracy that may not resonate in scientific terms. I really like when it can get into the gritty, personal aspects of how conditions affect all kinds of people.
The essay continues on to mention how, despite Wearing’s amnesia, he retained the ability to do things that involve a procedure or pattern of action, like shaving, showering, making calculations, and finding his way around his home. But he also retains his ability to play piano flawlessly, with feeling and with improvisation added throughout. This is the third thing that really interested me and inspired my second project. Sacks described Wearing’s performances as emotional and intelligent, with a sensitivity to the musical structure and the composer’s style. Such an elaborate talent cannot be categorized as a “procedure,” so this simply means that music transcends the limitations of his memory and allows him to recall something that has been dear to him his entire life as a musician. I absolutely love this central aspect of Wearing’s story. Music is something that carries a lot of meaning to me and is associated with a lot of my memories as well. Knowing that it can have this much of an impact is so touching, and I hope to learn more about it in the future.