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The Foghorn's Lament

The Disappearing Music of the Coast
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( 230 ratings, 34 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Foghorn's Lament by Jennifer Lucy Allan delves into the cultural and historical significance of the foghorn. Through personal reflection and thorough research, the author explores the haunting sound of this maritime instrument, its impact on communities, and its eventual decline in an age of advanced technology. The book weaves together elements of music, history, and human connection, bringing to life the stories tied to the melancholic horn.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2999
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you have a fascination with the intersection of technology, history, and culture. It offers an intriguing exploration of foghorns, delving into their social significance and the melancholic beauty they represent, making it ideal for readers captivated by unique cultural narratives and atmospheric storytelling.

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Part memoir, part travelogue, part history of the foghorn: a uniquely ambitious new kind of nature book.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'A truly unusual and strangely revealing lens through which to view music and history and the dark life of the sea' - Brian Eno

'As memorable, pleasurable and irrational as all the highest quests' - John Higgs

'A perfect example of the power and beauty of industrial music' - Cosey Fanni Tutti

What does the foghorn sound like?

It sounds huge. It rattles. It rattles you. It is a booming, lonely sound echoing into the vastness of the sea. When Jennifer Lucy Allan hears the foghorn's colossal bellow for the first time, it marks the beginning of an obsession and a journey deep into the history of a sound that has carved out the identity and the landscape of coastlines around the world, from Scotland to San Francisco.

Within its sound is a maritime history of shipwrecks and lighthouse keepers, the story and science of our industrial past, and urban myths relaying tales of foghorns in speaker stacks, blasting out for coastal raves.

An odyssey told through the people who battled the sea and the sound, who lived with it and loathed it, and one woman's intrepid voyage through the howling loneliness of nature.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Reviews for The Foghorn's Lament by Jennifer Lucy Allan describe it as a unique exploration of music, history, and the maritime world through the lens of the foghorn. The book is praised for its emotional depth and the way it captures a fading soundscape, offering a profound reflection on how sound shapes our perception of place. It engages readers with heartfelt storytelling, blending maritime tradition with cultural history and evoking a strong sense of nostalgia and longing.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781474615044

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 April 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: White Rabbit

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 260g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Jennifer Lucy Allan is an author, journalist and broadcaster with a PhD in foghorns. Her first book, The Foghorn's Lament, was published in May 2021. She is a presenter on BBC Radio 3's long running music show, Late Junction, and presented Life, Death and the Foghorn, and Oh Yoko! for BBC Radio 4. As a journalist she has written on underground and experimental music for over 15 years, and also co-ran the record labels Arc Light Editions and Good Energy.

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