Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives - Couverture rigide

Brox, Jane

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0544702484 ISBN 13 : 9780544702486

Editeur : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019

Synopsis

From the author of the “dazzling epic”* Brilliant, a compelling history of silence as a powerful shaper of the human mind—in prisons, in places of contemplation, and in our own lives

Through her evocative intertwined histories of the penitentiary and the monastery, Jane Brox illuminates the many ways silence is far more complex than any absolute; how it has influenced ideas of the self, soul, and society. Brox traces its place as a transformative power in the monastic world from Medieval Europe to the very public life of twentieth century monk Thomas Merton, whose love for silence deepened even as he faced his obligation to speak out against war. This fascinating history of ideas also explores the influence the monastic cell had on one of society’s darkest experiments in silence: Eastern State Penitentiary. Conceived of by one of the Founding Fathers and built on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the penitentiary’s early promulgators imagined redemption in imposed isolation, but they badly misapprehended silence’s dangers.

Finally, Brox’s rich exploration of silence’s complex and competing meanings leads us to imagine how we might navigate our own relationship with silence today, for the transformation it has always promised, in our own lives. 

*Time

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

JANE BROX’s most recent book, Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2010 by Time.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Date d'édition: 2019
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0544702484
• ISBN 13: 9780544702486
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 320
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Product Safety Manager; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; HarperCollins, Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper; Dublin 1; D01 C9W8; Irlande