Fifty years ago, a half hour of silence, unwillingly undertaken changed the author's life. Half a century later that extraordinary experience is still something of a mystery to him. Here he embarks on an exploration of the world of silence and those who recognise its value.
Yet over the centuries people of all faiths and none have sought silence and still do. Why? What does it do for them? For some it is clearly a search for the divine. For others it is a yearning for tranquillity, relaxation and refreshment, something beyond themselves. Here Turner, one of the finest interviewers alive in the English-speaking world, talks to Arctic explorers, monks, round-the-world sailors, mountaineers and those who have experienced the limits of physical endurance. There is no attempt to proselytise, but to open up for readers a world they may never have though much about.
There is also much fascinating material about the creative use of silence in musical composition and psychotherapeutic practice.
