Customer Reviews

One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World (with CD)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the idea of this book. I'm extremely aware of the noises around, and especially the noises that are around in places that should have the noises of nature dominating. After living in and near a national forest for much of my life I've become resigned to the fact that while I love such places for the nearness of the nature, others love such places because of the open opportunity for them to exercise the manifold ways of making mechanical noise. Constant saws, motorcycles, and other sounds of human busyness contradicts the appeal and peace of wind blowing through the trees, or a raven cawing.

In the competition between those who seek noise to drown their soul and those who seek quiet to bring peace, those who make noise will always win. Because when a person makes noise they dominate the region they are in, making so everyone has to accept their hobbies or be judged intolerant.

So, the premise is great. Only, there's so much of the authors at every point that I feel like they're the noisy neighbors who show up at a camp and proceed to talk about how much they love quiet, regale you with stories of where they've been, and otherwise fill the quiet with their constant chatter. They love the quiet but fill it up with their own noise--oblivious to self while decrying others.

This is definitely more about "the one man's search" than the natural silence, making it more of a "road" story than an exploration of the quiet places to find. The quest for quiet becomes its own noise, in a way, an over-intentional awareness that can't seem to find peace.

Don't get me wrong, it's an interesting and well-written book. I don't disagree with the positive reviews here, just was myself too aware of their constant imposition that I kept wanting to hear more, see more, about the nature they were in.

I first became aware of Mr. Hempton when I complained to a mutual friend about my difficulties in making nature recordings without the intrusion of man-made noise. I was told of Hempton's ongoing frustration with the same issue. This has, in part, led to his establishment of One Square Inch (OSI) in Olympic National Park in Washington state. OSI establishes a single point free from the intrusion of man-made sound, which would affect approx. 1000 square miles.

His ongoing fight, focuses primarily on airplane overflight of the park, although he looks at other noise intrusions not only in national parks, but in other areas, cities, suburbs, and elsewhere. The book is a travelogue of his cross-country trip to Washington DC to plead his case to help protect OSI to the FAA and other government agencies. Along the way, he meets people affected by the encroachment of man-made noise into their lives, gathering their stories.

Early on, some of Hempton's remarks make him sound somewhat like a luddite crackpot, discussions of why park managements doesn't use horses instead of power tools and motorized vehicles to do park maintenance and so on. However, Hempton is no luddite, in fact, one might almost find some of his activities hypocritical, driving a noisy (by his own admission) VW microbus crosscountry and making frequent air flights mid-trip. He is not looking to eliminate all air traffic, just those over National Parks and other 'unspoiled' areas. One may make the argument that he is guilty of a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude, and I'm not sure that isn't entirely true. For me, one event that soured me on his crusade is when, while making a nature recording, it is ruined by a distant train. Instead of starting another "evils of intrusive man-made noise" rant, he shrugs it off because he has "a soft spot for trains".

Hempton's writing style is casual and readable, although he tends to overdescribe or include too much detail. In fact, he name drops his favorite brand of tea so often, I started to wonder if he was getting a promotional fee. He also makes sound level reading throughout his trip. I found it interesting and felt it helped to give specific examples of his observations, however, I think the average (non-audio geek)reader may find this tedious.

Overall, I found the account to be interesting, and while I primarily agree with his concerns, I felt some of his comments to be over the top.

If you have an interest in audio pollution, natural preservation or underdog vs. government fights, pick up a copy. I think you'll learn a lot, and be entertained.

As a person who spent thirty-three years in a very rural area, I never really considered the beauty of silence. It was a given. And when visitors would marvel that there was not a single speck of light (except for brilliant stars) and not a sound (except for the cry of an occassional coyote or screech of an owl), I simply couldn't appreciate their amazement. Then I accepted a position at a university ... and the four-hour commute forced me to pick-up a "crash pad" apartment outside of the city. Even in this "green" suburban area, I noticed the relentlessness of "noise." The persistent roar of trucks, the low hum of street lights, even the zing of bicycles up and down the street ... it's an adjustment. While I have the luxury of returning home on the weekends, I began to wonder about people who spend their lives this way ... and I began to understand the reaction of my visitors. On a whim (and with a sympathetic heart), I picked up this text ...

I have a feeling that this niche topic will not appeal to most readers. I have a feeling that most folks do not even notice this constant assault (or cannot "afford" to notice it). If you think you are interested in the topic, be forewarned that the text is a fairly lengthy (extremely focused) study and the author is a bit of a curmudgeon (unapologetically so). Nonetheless, it is accessible to lay-people and tends to read very easily (translation: it is not jargon-laden! Thank goodness!) It is (infinitely) passionate (even though you may occasionally find yourself skimming the text). And, it is well worth your time!

Invest in this text if you enjoy environmental studies, exploring nature, or are simply captivated by the (unusual) topic.

This book is about a man's quest to formalize the existence of one square inch of silence in the Hoh River Valley in the Olympic National Park. The book begins with the author visiting the site of his square inch of silence and then describes his drive across the country to discover if any "silent areas" are left in the country and culminates in his discussion with Washington officials to convince them to officially designate the one square inch of silence as part of the Olympic National Park.

I was looking forward to reading this book, as I am very familiar with the Hoh River Valley and the Olympic National Park. I have spent many days hiking through the park. I am also very sympathetic to the author's concern---one of my pet peeves are people who have stereos blaring out of their cars as they drive around national parks.

The author is raising an important (and difficult) subject and deserves credit for doing so. However, he does not do a very good job of conveying the subject and comes off as being somewhat a self-centered misanthropic crank. For example, he continually complains about man-made noise and often becomes upset when the sound that people or machines make interrupts his solitude and his quest for silence. However, he drives around in a beat up VW van from the sixties that, by his own admission, makes a horrible racket. It never seems to occur to the author that his VW may be ruining other people's moments of silence. It also can't go more than fifty miles an hour and the author has no compunction about clogging the traffic on the freeways.

I also do not understand his intense dislike for all sounds human. Are not humans part of the natural landscape? Are we not a product of the same natural forces that created the Hoh River Valley? Why is it that all human noises must be excluded. At one point in the book the author yells at his daughter for speaking at the site of the one square inch of silence---why? The author also objects to noises that are made by domesticated animals----again, why? Why is it that the taint of "humanness" ruins the author's enjoyment of nature. There is a vast difference between the industrial noise of coal powered power plant and the sound of Boy Scout's having fun at a campsite, but I am not sure if the author realizes or admits this.

Again, I think this book talks about an important subject and the idea of the role of quiet in our national park system does need to be discussed. It is also abundantly clear the author has done a great deal of thinking (and acting upon) this subject. However, this book does not do justice in presenting this topic. A better editor would have helped reduce much of the repetition in the book. If this subject intrigues you, then I would recommend reading the book. Otherwise, I would recommend you pass it by.

In "One Square Inch of Silence", Gordon Hampton is on a quest and he has mission. The quest is to find places with "no audible human noise intrusions of any kind for a minimum of 15 minutes"; and the mission is to protect a one square inch area in Olympic National Park from sound intrusions.

In the process, Hempton, travels from Washington to Washington DC in a VW bus stopping along the way at many of the likely sources of silence such as National Parks and other public and open landscapes before finally walking underneath the air traffic routes leading into the DC area. "One Square Inch of Silence" is travel narrative about our nature world where we need to protect the landscape from sound intrusions both locally and from such places as the air where one plane can affect a large area of open space.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Once you have read One Square Inch you will never hear the same.
You suddenly become aware of what has annoyed, provoked, and stressed you out without your awareness of it. Should be read by everyone.

I love the message of this book, and I think it's one we need to hear! However, the story progresses very slowly, and without a sense for where it is going. Seems like an endless series of events that prove his point over and over again that there are very few places in this world that one can experience silence.

I didn't finish it...as I got the point of the book in the first few chapters and after that it just began feeling like a chore to read.

Gordon Hempton is an interesting man with a talent for noticing the most subtle sounds in life. As a result, he is troubled by the increasing intrusion of noise into daily life and the difficulty of experiencing complete silence.

He established one square inch of silence in Olympic National Park as a means of promoting the preservation of quiet. Then he set off in an old vehicle to head across the country to lobby for his chosen cause.

Simply stated, the book needed an editor. It is filled with unnecessary details (such as where he ate or slept), as well as the type of details one would expect to find in a personal journal. If the book could have benefitted from substantial trimming, as well as a better development of an overarching arc to guide the story, I think it could have been much more compelling.

It was the CD that drew me to the book and I imagine the Emmy-Award winning acoustic ecologist has probably assembled some amazing sounds of nature. Unfortunately, the CD was not included with the review copy.

The author is a unique individual with an unusual passion. He opens a topic for discussion that is worthy of greater public attention. But the book fails to rally readers to the cause.

I am a big fan of silence. I hope this catches on so that parks and conservation areas will designate quiet zones. We miss so much by blaring through our lives. I hope everyone takes a moment to listen to the "sounds of silence".

As an avid hiker living in an urban area, I'm well acquainted with the need to get away from all that noise! However, Gordon Hempton showed me that I'm far from alone in this, or with being annoyed with the intrusion of human-based sounds on the last remaining vestiges of true quietude in the wilderness.

Hempton took a road trip in his "Vee-Dub" from Washington state to Washington D.C. to lobby for protection of quiet places. While on this trip, he searched for some of the few quiet places left over, taking with him a small stone that marked his One Square Inch of silence in wild Washington. The book chronicles not only his experiences in the great outdoors (with ample descriptions of the soundscapes he encountered), but the people he met along the way, as well as a wealth of information on everything from his occupation as a recorder of sounds to the impact loud noises have on wildlife. Even airplanes thousands of feet up have a negative effect.

Additionally, the appendices include hands-on information for those wishing to cut down on the immense amount of noise pollution, as well as correspondence between the author and assorted personae regarding policies and philosophies. They're a worthy addition to Hempton's journey.

This is a truly fascinating book, both for the environmental messages, but also for pointing out just how much we don't pay attention to what we hear on a daily basis. In a world increasingly stuck to its iPods, we rarely, if ever, remember to just stop and listen. This is an excellent reminder to take a moment.