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The History of Sound
The History of Sound: Stories | Ben Shattuck
12 posts | 11 read | 14 to read
Exquisitely crafted, deeply imagined, exhilaratingly diverse, The History of Sound places Ben Shattuck firmly among the very finest of our storytellers. Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Horse A stunning collection of interconnected stories, set in New England, exploring how the past is often misunderstood and how history, family, heartache, and desire can echo over centuries In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families. The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattucks inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyondinto landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artifacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries. Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.
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review
Jas16
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As someone who frequently struggles with short stories I was ambivalent about this #tob25 title. Lots of love on Litsy for it but I often find short stories unsatisfying. Not the case here. Each story feels well fleshed out and complete with enough time to break my heart or make me feel as if I had walked with the characters and understood them in a slice of their lives. I loved the connections between stories. Great addition to the short list.

squirrelbrain Great review! 1d
Jas16 @squirrelbrain Thank you so much! 1d
TrishB You may have persuaded me! 1d
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BarbaraBB Wow. Great review! 1d
Jas16 @TrishB That feels like a lot of responsibility but I think this book can handle it… 1d
Jas16 @BarbaraBB Thanks Barbara. So glad the shortlist has some gems. 1d
Anna40 Great review. I‘m currently rereading it. I‘m looking forward to what he will publish next! 15h
Jas16 @Anna40 Agreed. Very interested in what he writes next. 6h
42 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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Readerann
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Just loved this, especially with the unique way the stories are interconnected. The audiobook is fantastic, with different readers for each story.
#ToB25

sarahbarnes Glad you loved it too! 7d
BarbaraBB Yes, happy you loved it too! 7d
17 likes2 comments
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Cathythoughts
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I was lucky enough to be shopping in Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh this past weekend.

AnnCrystal 🤩📚💝. 2w
See All 26 Comments
charl08 Love Edinburgh bookshops so much... 2w
Cathythoughts @charl08 We found some lovely ones 👍🏻❤️ 2w
LeahBergen Lucky you!! 👏👏 2w
squirrelbrain Oh, how lovely! The History of Sound is fabulous. 2w
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen 🥰🥰🥰 2w
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain There should be a Golden Squirrel Bookshop too 😁 2w
LeeRHarry That brings back memories of my bookish time in Edinburgh last October - desperate to go back! 😊 2w
TrishB The tagged one keeps popping up everywhere! 2w
BarbaraBB What a beautiful shop! How nice you went to Edinburgh! I hope you‘ll love 2w
squirrelbrain Maybe I‘ll open a bookshop called just that, Cathy! 🤪 2w
Chelsea.Poole What a cute little shop! Lucky you! 2w
mcctrish Oh I missed going there this summer 😫 2w
Cathythoughts @LeeRHarry Beautiful city 🥰 2w
Cathythoughts @TrishB It does. I think it‘s going to be good 👍🏻❤️ 2w
Cathythoughts @BarbaraBB Lovely little trip. Looking so forward to the book. 2w
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain Wouldn‘t that be fab ! And we‘d all shop there ❤️ 2w
Cathythoughts @Chelsea.Poole Very cute shop 🥰 2w
Cathythoughts @mcctrish I can imagine. I can‘t wait to go back. ❤️ 2w
youneverarrived Lovely 🥰 1w
BkClubCare Cool! And this book is on my SOON list (letting my mom read it first) 1d
Cathythoughts @BkClubCare It‘s on my soon list too 😁 20h
90 likes26 comments
review
sarahbarnes
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I loved this book so much. 🩵 Happy to have read it in time to make my best of 2024 list - I loved it from the beginning and it was so good until the end. I liked the ways the stories revealed themselves throughout the book as the reader gets a different perspective on events or a mystery revealed. #TOB2025

Tamra Me too - I want a paper copy for my shelves. I will definitely reread it. 3w
squirrelbrain It‘s so good isn‘t it? Glad it made your favourites list too! 3w
Cathythoughts Can‘t wait to get to it 👍🏻❤️ 3w
See All 7 Comments
Tamra @Cathythoughts I‘m hoping you like it. 🤞🏾😄 3w
BarbaraBB Of course you loved it! Glad it made your best of 2024 list 🤍 3w
Suet624 I‘ve been giving this one out as gifts. Love it. 3w
Readerann Totally agree! 1w
37 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Chelsea.Poole
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This season has been so busy, but this short story collection was just what I needed to slow down. Another from this genre I adored, which is usually not the case! These stories were often focused on the natural world, in New England, but spanned from modern times backward in history. The connections were perfect! Subtle but hard to miss. Read for #tob25 — this is a real contender. Also, @TheKidUpstairs —is this on your radar? It‘s a “you” book!

sarahbarnes I‘m reading this right now and just loving it. 🩵 3w
BarbaraBB It is such a @TheKidUpstairs book indeed! Loved it too. 3w
TheKidUpstairs Yes! I think I stacked it when I saw @BarbaraBB review ❤️ I'll have to move it up the list! 3w
staci.reads Gorgeous tree 😍 3w
75 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Reading this book of interconnected short stories, many of them historical, set in the NE US and into Canada is like walking through a museum dedicated to New England and seeing different studies through the ages of people in this place. It‘s just marvelous. #ToB25

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BarbaraBB
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Fantastic, interconnected stories set in three centuries in New England. I loved most of the stories. Each so different and yet an unmistakable part of the whole. A favorite on the #ToB25 shortlist for sure!

Chelsea.Poole V glad to hear this, I have just checked out the audiobook. I hope that format will work out! 1mo
BarbaraBB @Chelsea.Poole I did audio and print and audio is wonderful as well! 1mo
squirrelbrain I can imagine that the audio is as good as the print. @Chelsea.Poole - I think you‘ll love it too! 1mo
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Chelsea.Poole Great, looking forward to it! Thanks @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB 1mo
Tamra So good!!! 👏🏾👏🏾 1mo
Cathythoughts Stacking 👍🏻❤️ 1mo
Suet624 I‘m so glad you liked it. 1mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 Loved it! 1mo
youneverarrived Love the photo! 1mo
Amiable Ooh! As a lifelong New Englander, my antenna goes up when I see that as a setting. Stacking! 1mo
BarbaraBB @Amiable You‘ll love it I think! 1mo
BarbaraBB @youneverarrived thank you Katie 😘 1mo
sarahbarnes Just started this and it‘s exquisite. 4w
BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes Your kind of book too 🤍 4w
sarahbarnes 🩵🩵🩵 4w
Readerann I agree both print and audio are wonderful! 1w
74 likes3 stack adds16 comments
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squirrelbrain
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I loved this collection of short stories from the #ToBlonglist.

I‘m not usually a fan of the genre but I appreciated that these were all beautifully written with proper endings. They‘re also linked to each other in some way, even by just a small object, which was lovely.

The whole book felt like a lively warm bath (even though 1 or 2 of the stories were sad / upsetting)

Definitely on my shortlist.

Tamra I loved it as well! 💙 Beautiful 2mo
TheBookHippie I love short stories. This was so very good. 2mo
squirrelbrain I didn‘t know you‘d read it already! @TheBookHippie - I remembered it as being the *one* book you were interested in from the #ToB list. 2mo
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TheBookHippie @squirrelbrain yesterday 😂😂😂😂 2mo
TheBookHippie @squirrelbrain my friend had a copy and dropped it off with muffins! 2mo
BarbaraBB Your shortlist? Another one I must get to then. So many good books this year! 2mo
squirrelbrain What a lovely thought! @TheBookHippie - glad you enjoyed the book (and the muffins!) 2mo
TheBookHippie @BarbaraBB I liked it too if that helps push you 😅😂 2mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB I loved this one. Read it a while back. And short stories aren‘t really my thing. Its the book I‘m giving to friends for Christmas. 2mo
BarbaraBB @TheBookHippie It does, and your recommendation too @Suet624 , in fact I already ordered a copy 🤦🏻‍♀️ (edited) 2mo
TheBookHippie @BarbaraBB 😂😂😂😅♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😘 2mo
AnneCecilie This makes me want to read it even more 2mo
squirrelbrain We‘re all so naughty aren‘t we, encouraging each other to buy books?! @BarbaraBB 2mo
BarbaraBB It‘s so contagious 😀 2mo
Hooked_on_books Oh nice! I have the ebook of this from the library and hope to get to it next week. I could stare at the cover all day. 1mo
squirrelbrain Yes, it‘s a gorgeous cover isn‘t it?! @Hooked_on_books 1mo
Megabooks I‘m so excited about this one. Great review!! 1mo
sarahbarnes Just started this and I love it. 4w
squirrelbrain I loved it right from the start @sarahbarnes and it stays wonderful all the way through. 4w
sarahbarnes Yay!! 😃 4w
56 likes2 stack adds20 comments
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Tamra
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I‘ve only just started this collection on audio (2 stories in) and wow, I‘m going to need to get this in print! 😍 The cast of narrators is out of sight!

I‘ve already stacked Six Walks.

Suet624 Loved this book and starting on six walks now. 4mo
Tamra @Suet624 I hope it‘s as good! 4mo
46 likes2 comments
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Anna40
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I loved these stories so much. The writing is engaging, elegant, the characters are complex, the storytelling ranges from historic fiction to contemporary, focusing on art, music, farming, religion, nature, love and loss … just wonderful. Highly recommend!

Suet624 Great review! I really liked this one. 4mo
Anna40 @Suet624 Yes, I read your beautiful review for this collection but I also read one of the stories in The Common, a literary magazine I love. I think that story was even featured in the PEN debut story collection but not sure. What a wonderful writer. I ordered his debut: (edited) 4mo
Suet624 @Anna40 I can‘t wait to hear what you think of that one. 4mo
Anna40 @Suet624 I will let you know once I‘ve read it 😊 4mo
25 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Suet624
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This is an exceptional short story collection. Spanning centuries, primarily focusing on events in New England, the stories each have a companion piece that offers a perspective or answer to the first piece. Despite not being a lover of short stories, I couldn‘t put the book down and read it more as a novel. Each character, each event, so clearly outlined, and each story draws you in. The title story will be made into a movie with Paul Mescal.

Tamra On my radar! 5mo
Suet624 @Tamra great! 5mo
kspenmoll This sounds like a pick! 5mo
Suet624 @kspenmoll I think you‘d like it a lot. 5mo
Jas16 Oh I hadn‘t heard about the movie. That is going to be devastating b 2d
51 likes1 stack add5 comments