This book tackles an important subject that is long overdue for serious analysis. Noise is becoming an increasingly important social and health issue. Sim therefore deserves credit for focussing on it. However, in terms of being a political challenge to the culture of noise it loses steam relatively quickly. Having read the book, I remain puzzled by the sub-heading. Far from 'confronting the politics and culture of noise', the book is mostly a discussion of the role of silence in art, literature, religion, philosophy and other areas. One could say I could see this from the contents list, but even that promises to look at the 'virtues' of silence and Sim isn't always doing that. Besides, I also expected a much more direct link to the important issues raised in the first part of the book. Sim tries to link the two parts of his discussion, but not terribly successfully. In some places, the mere use of the word 'silence' seemed to be about the only link. With his discussion of religion, for example, he might have looked at the way in which contemporary religious practices have altered in order to squeeze out silence - the increasing use of 'happy-clappy' music festivals for the young religious, in contrast with the 'retreats' of yesteryear. How much use of religious retreats still goes on? We do not know. To what extent do churches remain places of spontaneous silent worship, or are they increasingly locked when not being used for services? To what extent do people still pray silently at home? In terms of the relevance of silence to religion and to the wider themes of the book, I'd have thought that these issues were at least as significant as the practices of Trappists and Quakers.
As noted, it is the first part of the book that most conforms to the title. In it, the author raises a series of important points about the increasing threat of noise to the well-being of individuals and societies. However, there is a certain intellectual laziness to the writing. A frequent reliance on clippings from 'The Guardian' newspaper is always a bad sign in an academic author. It betrays an unwillingness - or perhaps a lack of time, to be fair - to do the necessary digging to uncover the sources on which stories are based. Such sources often offer far richer material. There were also whole areas of important discussion that were merely touched upon. Where, for example, was the extended discussion of the powers and practices of local authorities in controlling noise in urban environments? Mayor Bloomberg of New York aside (and Bloomberg certainly went up in my estimation), the local politics of noise was thin on the ground. Also, the author cites the psychology of using noise in bars and restaurants to increase drinking and eating but doesnt provide any references. This could have been the cue for an extended analysis of the way in which noise is used as psychological tool in a whole variety of contexts (music in supermarkets, in sports stadiums and so on). However, that would have required more research than the author seemed willing to undertake.
Stylistically, the book was clear and easy to follow. Some repetition and the excessive and glib use of the phrase 'shock and awe' did marr things in places. The main problem was the content, though I'm sure that students of aesthetics, literary theory and cultural theory would have got more out of it than I did. However, the final chapter illustrates a further problem. Sim's 'manifesto' consists of a series of rather tame recommendations that we 'should' (for example) be clearer in marking out the boundaries between noise and silence. Something more concrete - changes in legislation, for example - would have been an advance on this. As it is, Sim's call to arms reminds one of Robert Putnam's disappointingly naive and tepid recommendations at the end of 'Bowling Alone'. From someone who clearly cares about this problem, one would have welcomed a bit more fire and focus. What do we do, for example, about the law in relation to mobile phones in theatres, lectures and so on. Should we be able to technically disable them in these environments? The technology is there but the law is problematic.
In the end, this is less than the sum of its parts. There is some good work here but as a book it falls short of what it sets out to be. Philosophically it is interesting, but socially and politically it is weak. The author deserves a lot of credit for highlighting an important issue but I am now hoping that others will go on and build on it by tackling the important issues that this book raises but only scratches the surface of.
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- J. GoddardReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2008
A Missed Opportunity
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