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A review by chriskoppenhaver
A Book of Noises: Notes on the Auraculous by Caspar Henderson
4.0
A fascinating and joyous celebration of sound.
Henderson coined the word auraculous, in the subtitle, as a combination of aural and miraculous, and defines it as "wonder for the ear." In this book he takes a trivia-heavy deep dive into as many different types of auraculous as he can identify, from the sounds of the cosmos and deep space through the noises of thunder, volcanoes, and other natural phenomena to the calls and hearing of animals and humans. The echolocation of bats and whales, the history of bells, the mythical sounds of Hell according to our famous works of literature, and so much more.
It is a work of wide-ranging exploration, appreciation, and fun.
Excerpts:
Henderson coined the word auraculous, in the subtitle, as a combination of aural and miraculous, and defines it as "wonder for the ear." In this book he takes a trivia-heavy deep dive into as many different types of auraculous as he can identify, from the sounds of the cosmos and deep space through the noises of thunder, volcanoes, and other natural phenomena to the calls and hearing of animals and humans. The echolocation of bats and whales, the history of bells, the mythical sounds of Hell according to our famous works of literature, and so much more.
It is a work of wide-ranging exploration, appreciation, and fun.
Excerpts:
The rhythms of night and day, season, tide and long-term change inform our own, and the way we perceive and live. There is a vast, pulsing harmony--its score inscribed on a thousand hills, its notes the lives and deaths of plants and animals, its rhythms spanning the seconds and the centuries.
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It has also been found that when bees bump into each other they go 'whoop!'. At first, researchers thought that this was a signal to the other bee to stop, but it now appears they are merely surprised.
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Evolutionary processes give rise to forms and capabilities that few if any of us would have been able to think up. Evolution is not only smarter than you; it has a stranger imagination.
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Tupa, the first father of the Guarani people, stood up in the middle of the darkness and, inspired by the reflections of his own heart, created the flames and the thin fog, the beginning of a song.
While he still felt inspired, he created love, but he had no one to give it to. He created language, but no one could hear him speak it.
So Tupa recommended the gods to build the world and take care of the fire, fog, rain, and wind. And he handed them the music with the words of the sacred hymn, so they could give life to the woman and man. Now the world would not be in silence at last.
So love became communion, and language took over life, and the first father redeemed his solitude in the company of the man and the woman who sing, “we are walking this land. We are walking this shiny and beautiful land.”