More than money, power, and even happiness, silence has become the most precious—and dwindling—commodity of our modern world. ...
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reviews
May 11, 2010
Greg
rated it: 
Eh. Not, Eh!, the very friendly goodreader, but, Eh.
I saw this book and got excited. I like silence. I believe that there isn't enough of it. I think that there is a whole lot of useless bullshit being said and noises being made. I generally sit most of the time in my apartment with no background noise, well for example right now there is a garbage truck making a beeeeeepppp beeeeeeppppp noise, and now a plane, and some engine noise off in the distance and noises like that whic More...
I saw this book and got excited. I like silence. I believe that there isn't enough of it. I think that there is a whole lot of useless bullshit being said and noises being made. I generally sit most of the time in my apartment with no background noise, well for example right now there is a garbage truck making a beeeeeepppp beeeeeeppppp noise, and now a plane, and some engine noise off in the distance and noises like that whic More...
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Jan 27, 2012
Aram
rated it: 
I read this book a second time for the Noe Valley Library Book Club. I actually read it last year and nominated it and the other members decided to give it a go. I like that Mr. Prochnik starts out with a simple story and then it continually evolves and changes to be such a difficult and confusing belief system that silence is good. It really is something that I need and yet it is truly not able to achieved.
I really enjoyed the chapter on architecture designed by deaf people and Deaf More...
I really enjoyed the chapter on architecture designed by deaf people and Deaf More...
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 27, 2012
If you regularly find yourself wishing you could erase the constant noise of traffic, cell phones, music, TVs, car alarms, sirens, construction work, and all those other distracting noises of our modern world, and just find a nice, quiet place to sit and think and decompress, then you’ll find Prochnik’s latest book of interest. The author lives in Brooklyn, so he knows a thing or two about the unwelcome sounds of big city life, and this book chronicles his journey to discover just what all this
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Apr 11, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
One man's quirky adventure into the cultures of noise and silence. As a city dweller, I understand his neediness for the unintrusive, the still, the quiet; as a suburban and rural dweller, I remember craving the frenetic, the indistinguishable mass of sound. Clearly we can't listen without both sound and silence, can't perceive without the dance between presence and absence, but in the city, the balance is tipped to the point of manic.
The book is a survey of interesting ideas about More...
The book is a survey of interesting ideas about More...
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Jul 09, 2010
Tony
rated it: 
Prochnik may not give us deep philosophy but does provide a multifaceted survey of current contemporary noise and silence issues. From the silences of the monastery to boom cars with stereos loud enough to break their own windshields to the ubiquitous earbuds he makes explicit many aspects of silence and noise we likely have not thought through: “the military and the monastery are each … dedicated to the watchful preparation for death—often in silence.” “… the centrality of silence to life More...
Jul 04, 2010
Stephany
rated it:
I am incredibly sensitive to noise. I have, on more than one occasion, walked out of a grocery store mid-trip, a half-filled cart left in an aisle (never with refrigerated items, of course), because the blaring music and announcements were too much and I Had To Leave Right Away Before I Killed Someone. My expectations for this book, then, were quite high: I wanted a diagnosis and actionable solutions for the Problem Of Noise. It was a little light on these.
In Pursuit of Silence is More...
In Pursuit of Silence is More...
Feb 19, 2012
Bonnie
rated it:
While this book has its moments, I found it disappointing overall. The author spends a lot of time talking about noise rather than silence, and advances in the sound-proofing industry are given far too much geography. The book begins and ends strongly, those sections where the author really discusses his pursuit of silence. What gets left out from the promising title, however, is "meaning." The meaning and importance of silence is just not central enough to the narrative to justify
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Jul 16, 2011
Vanessa
rated it:
You wouldn’t believe but I actually got my first tattoo on my lower back which reads "...and the rest is silence". I to have an obsession with silence, so much so, that I have am attending Gallaudet University and am super excited to be living in a much quieter world. I of course also have a passion for Deafness and Deaf culture and plan on opening a school for the Deaf when I am graduated. Either which way, I haven’t read the book yet but I ordered it and should be expecting to receiv
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Jul 19, 2011
David
rated it:
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
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Aug 09, 2011
Heather
rated it:
I thought that this book would be the modern version of "Walden" and in many ways it is about the need for silence and reflection in modern life. However, Prochnik instead uses this medium to explore the experience and meaning of silence. He speaks to astronauts, noise experts, car stereo fanatics, religious figures and many other noise/silence experts. At times I feel that his writing style rambles, however, he is exhaustive in his use of sources and information. His last chapter is t
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Oct 31, 2010
Amy
rated it:
Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise
One recent beautiful day, I was curled up with a book outside, enjoying the change in the light and air of fall, with a fat orange cat on my lap. The baby was asleep, work was done, and it was finally a chance to relax. It was bliss. All was quiet. Quiet, until an extremely loud dirt bike, without a muffler, began doing circuits of the road below my house. I went from peaceful and content to plotting More...
One recent beautiful day, I was curled up with a book outside, enjoying the change in the light and air of fall, with a fat orange cat on my lap. The baby was asleep, work was done, and it was finally a chance to relax. It was bliss. All was quiet. Quiet, until an extremely loud dirt bike, without a muffler, began doing circuits of the road below my house. I went from peaceful and content to plotting More...
Aug 20, 2010
Blog on Books
rated it: 
Though rarely mentioned, the world is getting louder. Urban expansion, media explosion, piped in muzak and ubiquitous earbuds are all adding up to a society that has become immersed in noise pollution, and often unwittingly so. George Prochnik, a psychology-based writer (‘Putnam Camp: Sigmund Freud, James Jackson Putnam and the Purpose of American Psychology’) has studied this in both its rudimentary and more advanced levels and published the results in his latest book, ‘In Pursuit of Silence: L
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Sep 22, 2011
Andrea
rated it:
Not news: The world is loud and it's getting louder.
Also not news: Silence has been used in many religions throughout time as a means of reverence.
Nor this: rich New Yorkers have fancy parklets with waterfalls where they can enjoy their elitism and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist. Same with spas and Zen centers. But working-class tattooed dudes who drink soda enjoy adding booming bass systems to their low-riders, which perturbs and confounds rich elitists.
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Also not news: Silence has been used in many religions throughout time as a means of reverence.
Nor this: rich New Yorkers have fancy parklets with waterfalls where they can enjoy their elitism and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist. Same with spas and Zen centers. But working-class tattooed dudes who drink soda enjoy adding booming bass systems to their low-riders, which perturbs and confounds rich elitists.
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Jan 23, 2011
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 arc More...
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 arc More...
Jul 31, 2011
Amanda Catharine
rated it:
This is a really enjoyable book. There wasn't as much waxing poetic on silence as I expected - I actually learned a lot about soundscaping, acoustics, and boom cars. The chapters about the monastery and the pocket parks - the most personal of the book - have stuck with me.
Feb 19, 2012
Nari (The Novel World)
rated it:
An in-depth exploration of silence in our modern community. In his pursuit of silence, Prochnik went everywhere from a trappist monastery, to a boom car convention in Florida to study the effects of noise and silence in our lives. Along with science studies about the ear, as well as history lessons of anti-noise policies developed by local and federal governments, Prochnik provides a well-rounded look at the benefits of silence, why we have to search for it, and the detriments of noise and lack
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May 20, 2010
Martin
rated it:
This book is well-written and well organized. I read books about silence, but I'm not sure how many other people do! I think this would be a good introduction to people unfamiliar with the topic. The different parts of the book each have their own charm. Thought provoking.
Mar 07, 2011
When one has a million books on the "to read" list and a book in hand by yet another whiny New Yorker (oh wahh, your life is soooo miserable and now you feel compelled to share your misery) something's gotta go. In this case, the whiny book isn't going to make the cut. I'll keep it on my reading list just in case I ever need some filler in some mystical future where I have some free time.
Apr 15, 2010
Jeffrey
rated it:
This book is so important! I recommend it to anyone concerned with...Hell I recommend it to everyone! Noise pollution is a complex and devastating problem, I don't believe that I am understating this fact. This book is essential.
Jun 29, 2010
Marianna
rated it:
Lots of interesting technical details about noise and why it exists. I was hoping for more of a focus on silence and where the author found it. But I suppose his underlying premise is that silence is extremely difficult to find.
May 10, 2010
David
rated it:
It was alright with some good info about silence and our desire to avoid it. Most of the material was about sound and/or noise.
Dec 09, 2011
Kevin
rated it:
This books starts with an interesting premise, but it does not go into the spiritual and social implications of noise in our modern world in as much depth as I had hoped.
Jul 01, 2010
Judithproller
rated it:
Interesting sociological study of the effect of noise in our landscape. Really good first 1/3 and then gets repetitive.
Aug 21, 2010
j.c.
rated it:
Tread carefully. Reading this book will make it impossible not to hear the noise in the everyday world.
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May 10, 2011
Sailormouth Stay
rated it:
I read George Prochnik's 'In Pursuit of Silence' because, being recently diagnosed as 'functionally deaf', I was interested to learn about hearing people's take on seeking out silence. I've often tried to explain (-and perhaps Prochnik could appreciate this-) the benefits of being able to turn your hearing on and off. There is nothing as relaxing as literally being in any situation, loud or quiet, and having the option of completely eradicating all noise around you (minus the tinnitus!).
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Sep 28, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
This actually turned out to be really interesting. It's as much (if not more) about noise as it is about finding silence. I might have given it more stars, but his transitions are often awkward. I liked pretty much all his stories and experiences--it just felt like he had to make up filler stuff to get them all in. That, and I don't think he needed that whole book to reach the conclusion he did. But it's a worthwhile read and a good one if you just have little chunks of time available.
Nov 19, 2010
Emma
rated it:
I originally shelved this book under spirituality but really it was more like reading a pbs documentary about silence and noise. The author investigated what we consider noise, what we do about it (like covering it with more noise through headphones) and the socio-cultural associations with both silence and noise. I recommend this book, it's engagingly written and well researched.
Jan 13, 2012
Lauren
rated it:
I liked this book because the author tried to keep an open mind about the various people's viewpoints on sound. The chapter about deaf people's interactions with their surroundings and landscapes was pretty interesting.
Apr 25, 2011
Meowbie
rated it:
Great book, really enjoyed it. I think I was more affected though by the author's Radio National (ABC) interview, which really gave me a flavour of his spiritual relationship to silence. His distinction between quiet and silence fascinated me.
