Silent Spring

When it first came out 45 years ago, SILENT SPRING ignited a firestorm of concern about pesticide and herbicide use, and the chemicals' long-term effects on global ecology. Widely credited with ensuring the ban of DDT, the book's warning of consequences remains fresh today. Unfortunately, Kaiulani Lee treats her listeners with condescension. Her breathy, sibilant voice stops just short of a lisp. She ever so slowly and softly reads the text, as if to children. While the listener would expect the spoken production to refresh the still relevant work, instead it has the effect of minimizing its importance. Carson and her readers deserve more. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

August 29, 1994
This new edition of Carson's classic features a new introduction by Vice President Al Gore.

Carson's seminal work SILENT SPRING has been the gold standard of the environmental movement for more than 50 years. In this new audio production, narrator Susie Berneis faces the same problem that Carson herself tackled: how to make the complex workings of the natural world easy for the average person to follow. Berneis is more than up to the task as she uses a clear voice and careful tone to walk the listener through passages of scientific exposition. Berneis truly excels when her narration mirrors the emotion Carson made so evident in her work. She is by turns passionate, saddened, uplifted, and furious at the history and impact of synthetic pesticides on every aspect of nature and our lives. N.M. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine