For me, reading for fun just isn't what it used to be.
Ah, how I used to look forward to reading chapters
slowly in quiet spaces, especially in the summertime. But reading for pleasure became a casualty when my whoosh started
a year and a half ago. Now, as a whoosher, quiet is not something I long for. Quite the opposite. The whoosh
is too distracting in quiet spaces. It sometimes makes focusing on the life of a story seem impossible.
I
have to read a lot for work, but since I HAVE to do it, I get it done even when I don't enjoy doing it. And when I read
for enjoyment, I really want to enjoy it, so I try not to push myself to read when the whooshing irks me out of the mood.
Solution? I use noise to drown out the whooshing so I can focus on the words on the page. Yes, I read in
loud places. The subway! Loud cafes! Or if I'm at a quiet place like at my desk or in my house, I listen
to white noise loudly with headphones while I turn the pages. And yes, I recognize that feeding my brain and
my eardrums more noise probably (definitely) is not good for me, but give me a break.
For these reasons, the irony never
escaped me while reading, "Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute Silence," by George Michelsen Foy. After all, I was reading a book about a man's life-changing search for silence while drowning my surroundings in the
noisiest of noises. Much like reading about heart disease while pigging out on fast food. I was pigging out on noise.
Silence. We whooshers have a love/hate relationship with silence, don't we? On one hand, I'm a whoosher
with dreams of my first day of post-whoosh silence, but until that wondrous day comes, I try to keep my minute-to-minute awake
time as freaking loud as possible with fans, sound maskers, etc. Okay, I'm not blowing vuvuzelas in my living room like
at the World Cup, but let's just say my noise tolerance would probably make a "silence-seeker" like Mr. Foy a little
nervous.
The funny thing is, in just the first few pages, I learned that Mr. Foy had an epiphany on the very
metro system I had just found a seat on to start reading his book. Oh, how familiar to me were the loud screeches,
the trains zooming by in all directions, the crying babies he described. Whereas non-whooshing noise has become my
friend, living in loud spaces -- and realizing how loud is loud -- rendered an almost desperate curiousity in My. Foy's
search for silence. He had had it with noise, and with each page, Mr. Foy gets closer to measuring and realizing
what he calls "absolute silence." It's a journey full of surprises for Mr. Foy and just as many contemplative questions
that the reader can ask himself or herself.
Not the least of which is the question - as we discussed
several months ago here on this site - what is silence, anyway?
I admit, I'm not finished reading this book... another consequence of my whooshing. I used to read books
front to back in one sitting, but now that just doesn't happen. It takes me longer to turn the pages because it almost
feels like I'm learning to read again. I don't know if that makes any sense to any of you, but that's what it feels
like. I'm not as patient a reader as I used to be. I'll get to the last pages, but it just takes me longer.
But if you're looking for a good summer read, and if you've ever considered what silence means to you, I encourage
you to check out "Zero Decibels: The Quest for Absolute Silence" by George Michelsen Foy. Be sure to check
out our whoosher pal Blondie's review of "Zero Decibels" here.
Soon, we'll have a book section under "Books On Sound," because there seem to be quite a few authors exploring
the question of silence. I think it's an interesting one, for whooshers and non-whooshers alike.
Happy summer
reading, y'all!
UPDATE: Read this NYTimes Book(s) Review, titled "Noises Off," by Ted Conover, May 20, 2010. Includes a review to Foy's book and two other books by other authors on similar topics.
