A review by mcclarty03
In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik

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 donā€™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 ā€œworlds only hygieneā€. Note, the author euphemistically/dismissively calls this tirade a ā€œregrettable formulation.ā€ *eyeroll*

ā€œMarinettiā€™s [the futurist] rhapsody to war sounds like the birth of gangster rap.ā€

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 heā€™s either had no experience in or limited exposure to. Which Iā€™m assuming by how myopic and binary he is in discussing them.

Itā€™s a shame, Iā€™m curious about the subject matter and Iā€™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 donā€™t at all reflect my experience, and are incredibly limited to a Western European approach and ethos.

Iā€™m good.