Description:
Mapping the acoustic onto the human soul, moving meditations on the power and meaning of sound.
Nature writers Michaela Vieser and Isaac Yuen set out in search of sounds beautiful and loathsome, melodious and disturbing, healing, strange, and intimate. The phenomena of sound may be fleeting and evanescent, but the memory of it can open a window into the soul, deepening our connections with time, the environment, and each other. From the edge of the solar system to the crackle of arctic sea ice, from the ancient oracle site of Dodona to the singing pillars of Hampi, each of these thirty-six essays explores stories of sound through the lens of history, science, and culture, stylishly blending fantastical facts and unique anecdotes to create a compelling narrative.
Brief description: Michaela Vieser is a writer based in Berlin. Her books include the German bestseller Tee mit Buddha.
Review Quotes:
"This is a fascinating idea: thirty-six brief essays exploring that most evanescent of phenomena, sound--how it acts on the human sensibility, how it is captured in memory and understood in culture. It begins with the sounds of deep space and winds its way through an extraordinary array of acoustic experiences from both animate and inanimate sources--moths, bats, cicadas, and whales as much as stones and seas and Eelds. The authors promise a commentary that blends personal experience with cultural insight, informed by history and science alike. I'm seriously intrigued by this, and I have a lot of trust in Reaktion as a publisher."
-- "The Broken Compass"