hananr8's review against another edition
1.0
I have read only 100 out of this 300-page book. It was promising in the beginning but something went wrong and it became way to boring and disorganized to complete.
colophonphile's review against another edition
The book is more about fleeing noise than pursuing silence, at least until its end, when Prochnik makes peace with the stronger emotions that fueled his sonic quest early on.
That quest is a remarkable one. He's a curious and active reporter -- visiting a school for the deaf, a boom-car rally, a soundproof-technology convention, a monastery, a Quaker meeting room, a Japanese garden, and numerous other places, as well as speaking with astronauts, police officers, urban planners, and architects, all toward his cause of reducing the noise that blinds us (sonically) to the word and each other.
However, the conflict between noise and silence is not as summarily contained as the book's concluding paragraphs might suggest, and the book's founding thesis -- that the world is louder than ever, a state Prochnik dubs "the new noisiness" -- is not supported by enough data to make it fully convincing.
That quest is a remarkable one. He's a curious and active reporter -- visiting a school for the deaf, a boom-car rally, a soundproof-technology convention, a monastery, a Quaker meeting room, a Japanese garden, and numerous other places, as well as speaking with astronauts, police officers, urban planners, and architects, all toward his cause of reducing the noise that blinds us (sonically) to the word and each other.
However, the conflict between noise and silence is not as summarily contained as the book's concluding paragraphs might suggest, and the book's founding thesis -- that the world is louder than ever, a state Prochnik dubs "the new noisiness" -- is not supported by enough data to make it fully convincing.
mcclarty03's review against another edition
2.0
I was incredibly intrigued by the subject matter as someone who LOVES quiet.
Still, there have been a number of cringe moments. A focus on the musings, philosophies, and paradigms of men that don’t seem necessary. Waxing nostalgically about the Greeks while mis-attributing to them.
Then I came across this sentence this morning. After the author talks about an Italian Futurist that brags about war being the “worlds only hygiene”. Note, the author euphemistically/dismissively calls this tirade a “regrettable formulation.” *eyeroll*
“Marinetti’s [the futurist] rhapsody to war sounds like the birth of gangster rap.”
What in entire hell is he talking about?
For a book that dives headfirst into the nuance of sound and silence, he misses nuance every where else. He speaks authoritatively on matters he’s either had no experience in or limited exposure to. Which I’m assuming by how myopic and binary he is in discussing them.
It’s a shame, I’m curious about the subject matter and I’m a book finisher.
If you can read past all of the personal musings (which is a lot) you will probably find the book enjoyable. His musings don’t at all reflect my experience, and are incredibly limited to a Western European approach and ethos.
I’m good.
Still, there have been a number of cringe moments. A focus on the musings, philosophies, and paradigms of men that don’t seem necessary. Waxing nostalgically about the Greeks while mis-attributing to them.
Then I came across this sentence this morning. After the author talks about an Italian Futurist that brags about war being the “worlds only hygiene”. Note, the author euphemistically/dismissively calls this tirade a “regrettable formulation.” *eyeroll*
“Marinetti’s [the futurist] rhapsody to war sounds like the birth of gangster rap.”
What in entire hell is he talking about?
For a book that dives headfirst into the nuance of sound and silence, he misses nuance every where else. He speaks authoritatively on matters he’s either had no experience in or limited exposure to. Which I’m assuming by how myopic and binary he is in discussing them.
It’s a shame, I’m curious about the subject matter and I’m a book finisher.
If you can read past all of the personal musings (which is a lot) you will probably find the book enjoyable. His musings don’t at all reflect my experience, and are incredibly limited to a Western European approach and ethos.
I’m good.
helinae's review against another edition
If you're already struggling with noise, this won't change your life. Has some curious snippets and research findings on the effects of noise.
mpho3's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. Fascinating survey but the execution was lacking something I can't quite figure out.
lintulai's review against another edition
2.0
First of all: listening to a book about pursuing silence as an audiobook in my noisy car contradicts the purpose of a book about silence. Apart from that, I don't think the author reached his explicit purpose of finding a "meaning in a world of noise". There were interesting excursions to different areas of noise/sound/silence, and a somewhat surprising chapter about the deaf world, which wasn't made relevant - I find it hard to imagine that a seeing person would write about darkness and lack of sunlight and interview a blind person about the subject. Maybe that's just me being weird, but silence as lack of noise and silence as a result of being deaf seem to be very different things and not sides of the same coin.
kedawen's review against another edition
3.0
I feel so lucky to live in a city with plenty of places one can go to find peace and quiet for an hour or two, where there are parks and sparsely populated coffee shops and wide open spaces. I love my neighborhood, where we're far enough away from the nearby roads that only a little bit of traffic noise can be heard at rush hour and the rest of the time the space is filled with birdsong and the chirping of frogs.
This book got me thinking about these things, and all the implications of a modern life filled with noise. I would rate it 3.5 stars if I could - the format felt a little disorganized and chaotic (fitting, I suppose) but I did appreciate the ending that suggested we teach children about the benefits of taking a moment and enjoying the silence. The section about Deaf architecture was fascinating as well.
This book got me thinking about these things, and all the implications of a modern life filled with noise. I would rate it 3.5 stars if I could - the format felt a little disorganized and chaotic (fitting, I suppose) but I did appreciate the ending that suggested we teach children about the benefits of taking a moment and enjoying the silence. The section about Deaf architecture was fascinating as well.
davidr's review against another edition
4.0
I am often irked by excessive noise, so this book naturally appealed to me. I enjoyed the style, as well as the wide range of topics covered. The chapter on "boom cars" and the competitions was hilarious. The book also dipped into the subject of architectural acoustics, which is interesting to me. I also appreciate the author's conclusions, near the end of the book. The author found that trying to reduce overall noise in an environment is often a losing battle. So, instead of reducing noise, a better approach might be to increase small zones of silence. This can be done even in the hearts of cities, to some extent.
1sourapple's review against another edition
2.0
I'm very interested in the subject, but this book was too long-winded for me.