On Marvellous Things Heard

1. Did I fully understand this book?
2. No.
3. BUT.
4. I’d understand it better if I read it again.
5. And again.
6. And again.
7. Much like I pick up on song lyrics with repeated listening.
8. And like I begin to pick up on the nuances of the same song with even more listening.
9. This, I suspect, is one thing that On Marvellous Things Heard is about.
10. Indeed, the author poses several related questions about two-thirds of the way through the book: “Can we find better ways to listen? To music? To one another’s words? To the vibrations of our nerves and blood?”
11. An intriguing line of inquiry, if sometimes difficult to follow.
12. But overall, yes.
13. I liked this book.
14. A lot.
15. (Mystified though I was and continue to be.)
16. I wish there were more like it.

–Review by Marc Schuster