Silence cover art

Silence

In the Age of Noise

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Silence

By: Erling Kagge
Narrated by: Atli Gunnarsson
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Silence by Erling Kagge, read by Atli Gunnarsson.

Behind a cacophony of traffic noise, iPhone alerts and our ever-spinning thoughts, an elusive notion - silence - lies in wait. But what really is silence? Where can it be found? And why is it more important now than ever?

Erling Kagge, the Norwegian adventurer and polymath, once spent fifty days walking solo in Antarctica with a broken radio. In this meditative, charming and surprisingly powerful book, he explores the power of silence and the importance of shutting out the world. Whether you're in deep wilderness, taking a shower or on the dance floor, you can experience perfect stillness if you know where to look. And from it grows self-knowledge, gratitude, wonder and much more.

Take a deep breath, and prepare to submerge yourself in Silence. Your own South Pole is out there, somewhere.

©2017 Erling Kagge (P)2017 Penguin Audio Adventure Travel Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Consciousness & Thought Philosophy Polar Regions Spirituality Meditation Adventure

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Critic reviews

As an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted. This breathtaking, inspiring little book teaches us how to find precious moments of silence - whether we are crossing the Antarctic, climbing Everest, or on the train at rush hour (Sir Ranulph Fiennes)
Silence braces a space within which we can hear ourselves think. Quietly, wisely, it makes a case for dumbing the din of modern life, and learning to listen again. Drawing on the experiences of Kagge's extraordinary life in wild places, this is a book of great concentration (Robert Macfarlane)
All stars
Most relevant
The gentle narration combined with the almost hypnotising content, made this a valued companion during lock down for me.

Captivating

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Whilst this doesn’t really offer how to bring silence into your life it does offer a lot of insight into why silence is so important.

A really interesting book about silence

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Not personal to the VO, but i struggled with the voice - quite robotic. However a really interesting read :)

Weirdest voiceover but an interesting book

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Some explorations were thought provoking. I was expecting, or would like to have heard more about Erling Kagge's first hand experiences of deep silence when he was alone. For instance diary entries about what he was going through psychologically throughout the night in Antarctica on an empty stomach and having 100s of miles more to walk. This book was more about different philosophical discussions of silence from old time philosophers. The advantage Erling has over these philosophers, is that he lived in silence most of the time (apart from the noise of the wind and occasional wildlife). It was disappointing from this perspective.

The theme

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The irony of beginning this winsome little audiobook on a smartphone, straining to hear the narrator on an oppressively noisy tube train isn’t lost on me…but fortunately I decided to postpone my listening for another, quieter, time. I’m glad I persevered, as Erling Kagge has produced a thoughtful meditation on the important – and often ignored – role of silence in our hectic, noisy modern lives. Since finishing this collection of charming anecdotes from the author’s life, I’ve worked to pay attention to the rare moments of quiet and embrace them. My phone has never spent less time by my side.

A short but charming antidote to busy modern life

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