A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad is a novel by Jennifer Egan written in a format of several linked stories. The stories span several decades from the early 1980's to the 2020's and include many different characters in a sort of chain. The overarching theme is that of progression, transition, or the slow metamorphosis of life.

The first story is about Sasha, a kleptomaniac who works for a music producer Bennie Salazar. Then we see Bennie as a younger man entering the music business. We see Bennie's mentor Lou womanizing with a younger crowd.

Many of the chapters show a relationship between the older and younger generation. There's Lou and his younger retinue, Bennie and his son. Dolly is a PR agent who served time for terrible accident at a party at her house, so can only get a publicity job for a murderous third world dictator. She takes her daughter to the general's country along with a young actress who has been in some trouble. Unfortunately the actress proves to be a bit too unpredictable and gets them all into trouble. There is a definite contrast between the wildness of the young actress and the older woman who is just trying to provide for her daughter, while at the same time keeping the truth from her.

Then there is the young Sasha who disappears and spends months in Milan, and her uncle who is sent to look for her. Both are on a sort of sabbatical, a vacation from life. The uncle spends his time looking at art and finds Sasha only by accident. She is living in a small room and picking pockets for a living. Neither can tell the other what they are doing in Milan. A section towards the end is created by Sasha's daughter, explicating their family by a Powerpoint presentation. This uses form to enhance the theme, showing how far behind the parents are from the children.

I found the novel interesting, but I am not sure that all the pieces add up well. Part of the problem may be that I listened to the audiobook, and some parts did not translate well. For example, the Powerpoint section was morphed into an audio presentation, which still worked but lacked the effects of the visual graphs. Some audiobooks just translate better than others. I would definitely recommend reading a text version instead.

Part of my problem was that we never got enough about any characters to know them well enough. The exceptions are Bennie and Sasha, who we see from many others. Also the lack of a central plot is a bit of a stumbling block, though usually I am open to different narrative styles. Upon reflection, it does have a lot to say about aging and the difference between youth and maturity. B

Musicophilia

I have been interested in the brain for a while and have recently gotten interested in neurology. Oliver Sacks is a noted neurologist and author on brain science, yet I hadn't read any of his books until I picked up Musicophilia. The book is a compilation of cases of people who have particular capabilities or impairments of enjoying music after suffering neural damage or a brain disease or in some cases being born with the condition.

Sacks doesn't start off with any theory or analysis of how the brain processes music, he just jumps right in to the cases. Starting with a man who suddenly gains intense enjoyment of music after getting struck by lightning, he discusses extreme cases of music processing in the brain. While some people have heightened enjoyment of music, others are plagued by musical hallucinations. These auditory hallucinations are different from the musical imagery most people can conjure up in their minds--the auditory processing of the brain makes it sound as if a real orchestra were playing in the room. Other people can have seizures when listening to music.

I was struck by the section on music and memory. Sacks shows that music is stored in a different sort of memory structure than normal episodic memory. Some patients who have lost all memory of who they are can still remember and sing songs from their past. One man with severe memory impairment could go through his daily routine as he kept songs running through his mind. Music can even help those who have lost all language; they can sing even when they can't talk.

Another interesting case is that of synesthesia, the condition of mixing of the senses. Some people can see colors in music. One man sees each key as a different color, but individual notes are meaningless. Others see each note as having a unique color. They sense music differently than the rest of us but to them it is just part of the experience.

Other people can memorize vast amounts of music, while others can barely perceive music at all. For the few people with absolute pitch, there is evidence to support heightened activity in certain auditory processing parts of the brain. In other cases, those who have lost hearing in one or both ears hear noise, sometimes nice, sometimes terrible, as the nerves in the brain replace the missing input with new sensations. A wonderful section describes the condition of Williams syndrome, where the patient is mildly retarded but very outgoing and extremely musical. Williams patients are often drawn to music. Sacks closes with a positive note about how music has helped many people with neurological deterioration improve their condition, and especially their enjoyment of life.

A wide range of experiences are described in this book, some wonderful and many terrifying. It is a fascinating look at how music works in the brain and how it can malfunction. I was most intrigued by the sections that described how music can help those with mental impairments. It is illuminating to consider that even if we lose all of our memories or our speech capabilities then we can still have a sort of musical existence. It is also interesting to ponder how music is perceived by those with extraordinary musical abilities. Even normal people can hold a tune and keep a remarkably close rhythm to the original piece. Music is a central part to the human experience. A-