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