Check It Out:

In an age where we have become immune to noise pollution and environmental destruction, noise is often considered an accepted and relished norm. Silence, as a result, can seem strange and abnormal. In the midst of increased noise, silence is a state we often turn our backs on. Authors who have recognized this cultural condition have written about the topic in the following books:

“Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence” by Anne D. LeClaire: In practicing silence, author Anne Le Claire learned to listen to her deepest self. In the midst of her hectic family life, she decides to practice a day of silence the first and third Monday of every month. Her reflections reveal how freedom from distraction and silence can foster self-awareness, a deeper connection with others and with nature.

“Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica” by Tom Griffiths: Australian environmental historian Griffiths recounts his exploration, research and management to the southernmost continent. He nimbly integrates his diary entries and essays in an effort to evoke the meditative element of his voyage. “To voyage to Antarctica is to go beyond the boundary of one’s biology toward a frightening and simplifying purity,” he writes. “It is a land of enveloping silence … To survive, you need food, you need warmth, and you need stories.”

“One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Natural Science in a Noisy World” by Gordon Hempton: Hempton, an Emmy-winning acoustic geologist, claims that natural silence is our nation’s fastest disappearing resource. He has made it his mission to preserve silence in all its variety and recalls the great works on nature written by John Muir, John McPhee and Peter Matthiessen. An American story, Hempton recalls his road trip across the continent armed with recording equipment to document the natural and disappearing voices of nature.

“Silence Fell” by Josephine Dickinson: This is a book of gentle poems about love and rural life in the remote village of Alston, England. Dickinson was rendered deaf at the age of 6, but nonetheless received an education at Oxford and then became a composer and music teacher before moving to Alston. It was there that she met her husband, a man twice her age, who was a sheep farmer and the landscape, life and her relationship that inspired her tender poetry.

“Writing in an Age of Silence” by Sara Paretsky: In this poignant memoir, bestselling crime-writer Paretsky talks about the major influences of her life such as the civil rights movement, the peace movement, and the women’s movement. She chronicles these social changes that have shaped our country and also how they have personally influenced her writing with such characters in her writing as contemporary female detective, VI Warshawski. She takes a strong stance on how corporate enterprise and government have conspired to silence meaningful free speech.

“The Weight of Silence” by Heather Gudenkauf: Seven-year-old Callie Clark, a sweet gentle child, hasn’t spoken a word for three years and suffers from selective mutism, a disorder in which she refuses to speak although she is capable. Her mutism has been brought on by a tragedy that occurred as a toddler. Callie’s mother tries to do her best within the confines of a marriage in which her husband is often angry. She fears but denies that her husband could be involved in Callie and another young girl’s possible abductions, and her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter’s voice.

As Walter Bagehot, once editor-in-chief of the Economist and British businessman and journalist once stated: “An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind.”

CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.