A Beautiful Mind
(Sylvia Nasar)
Sylvia Nasar does a superb job of informing readers about John Nash?s
struggles with schizophrenia in the biography A Beautiful Mind. Nash, a
Nobel Prize winner, is an eminent mathematician with (in the words of a
colleague) ?a beautiful mind.? Unfortunately, it?s also a sick mind.
Although he manages to function ?normally? these days, without the aid
of medication, Nash is still a schizophrenic (who has an adult son who
suffers from the same disease).As moviegoers know, Ron Howard
directed the movie version of the book, starring Russell Crowe. While
the film does a fine job of introducing audiences to the ins and outs
of schizophrenia and the difficulties that caregivers experience while
trying to assist someone afflicted with the disease, it shows only the
tip of the iceberg. Anyone wanting to know more about what
schizophrenia entails should read Nasar?s book. It is gripping and
reveals the agonies of a schizophrenic life.Thoroughly
researched and effectively presented in a cohesive narrative which
fully engages the attention of readers, this biography shows how Nash
fell prey to the disease and how his family?first his mother and
sister, and later his wife?sought to have him treated and provided with
the best medical care then available. At one point that treatment
called for electric shock treatment (as vividly dramatized in the
movie).Nash?s colleagues, many of whom had relatives who were
schizophrenics or who were schizophrenics themselves, helped him time
and time again, when he was at risk of becoming unemployed and/or
destitute. Through sheer force of will, Nash managed to pull himself
back from the brink and to pursue a life of domestic contentment and
professional achievement. His is definitely a story worth
knowing. And Nasar relates it in detail and comprehensively, helping
readers to appreciate the horror of possibly losing such a beautiful
mind.
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