Solitude

Reviews

The leading thinker about technology’s corrupting influence on our collective psyche. An elegant, thoughtful book . . . beautifully expresses the importance and experience of liberation from the battery-hen life of constant connection and crowds. A compelling study of the subtle ways in which modern life and technologies have transformed our behaviour and sense of self . . . The strength of Harris’s argument lies in his showing how seemingly harmless new technologies insidiously influence our ways of being . . . Harris proposes ways in which we can discover ourselves within an increasingly digitally connected world. I came away from this book a better human being. Michael Harris’s take on existence is calm, unique, and makes one's soul feel good yet never once does he rely on feel-good techniques. A timely, eloquent provocation to daydream and wander. A poetic, contemplative journey into the benefits of solo sojourning. The book – which weaves together personal anecdotes and fascinating research – makes a convincing argument for stepping away from the crowd (and your even more crowded phone) and scheduling some soul-resetting me time. Harris's book isn’t preachy; rather, it recasts small lifestyle changes as part of a struggle to regain that sense of self . . . It speaks to a long overdue conversation we still haven't properly had in our society. Harris has an intuition that being alone with ourselves, paying attention to inner silence and being able to experience outer silence, is an essential part of being human . . . Thick with fact and argument and some fine writing. An insightful, lively meditation on why this increasingly scarce component of our lives should be preserved. Elegant, accessible and often hilarious. Expand reviews