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kalkie's review
3.0
This is an interesting read about a man who decides to live off grid. Following on from his adventures of living without money (“The Moneyless Man”) he buys a plot of land in Ireland and sets about building a cabin without running water or electricity to move away from the industrialisation of the modern world.
It is with no hint of irony he says he purchased the land with the proceeds of the book he wrote about living without money. And this is where the whole concept starts to fall down. Not many people can afford to buy a plot of land in Ireland in the first place. To buy it with the proceeds of a book about living without money just seems somewhat ironic. Surely if he really wanted to live without money he’d have given the proceeds away?
Towards the end he separates from his girlfriend and I can’t say I was hugely surprised. He comes across as a bit of an arse (to put it politely). While his aim to live without the influence of the industrial world are interesting he doesn’t quite succeed and admits ending up using a computer to write his book (about living off the grid).
Don’t get me wrong. I think the concept is admirable. But it’s of limited value. He still relies on other people with cars to give him lifts via hitchhiking places. He is essentially a single man with no responsibilities. Throw a couple of children into the mix and it may not be so easy to live entirely off the grid. It would also be interesting to know what he would do if he fell ill - would he go to the hospital and seek the benefits of industrialisation? Or would be refuse?
There are limitations to this kind of lifestyle and ultimately not everyone has the means to buy a plot of land and fall off the grid. But it’s an interesting book all the same.
It is with no hint of irony he says he purchased the land with the proceeds of the book he wrote about living without money. And this is where the whole concept starts to fall down. Not many people can afford to buy a plot of land in Ireland in the first place. To buy it with the proceeds of a book about living without money just seems somewhat ironic. Surely if he really wanted to live without money he’d have given the proceeds away?
Towards the end he separates from his girlfriend and I can’t say I was hugely surprised. He comes across as a bit of an arse (to put it politely). While his aim to live without the influence of the industrial world are interesting he doesn’t quite succeed and admits ending up using a computer to write his book (about living off the grid).
Don’t get me wrong. I think the concept is admirable. But it’s of limited value. He still relies on other people with cars to give him lifts via hitchhiking places. He is essentially a single man with no responsibilities. Throw a couple of children into the mix and it may not be so easy to live entirely off the grid. It would also be interesting to know what he would do if he fell ill - would he go to the hospital and seek the benefits of industrialisation? Or would be refuse?
There are limitations to this kind of lifestyle and ultimately not everyone has the means to buy a plot of land and fall off the grid. But it’s an interesting book all the same.
toniapeckover's review against another edition
4.0
I'm pretty sure that if Mark Boyle had lived in the Middle Ages he would have found his way to a monastery, possibly a hermitage. He has an ascetic's soul. This account of his withdrawal from a life dependent on technology is inspiring and revealing. What's most admirable about it is his honest engagement with the dilemmas his choices lead to and his commitment to his path. I loved following his story through the seasons, getting an idea of a different kind of life. It's clear from his account that until/unless our culture changes to support it, this choice is really only for the fit and relatively young, probably for people with few or no children. But I gleaned so much from his observations and his honest wrestlings and I am applying what I can to my own life in ways that suit me. As soon as I finished the book I put it on my nightstand to read again slowly so I don't lose the trail of thoughts Boyle's lifestyle has started for me.
bobreturns's review against another edition
5.0
Enjoyed this one a great deal.
Bonus irony points for listening to the audiobook.
Whilst I don't agree with everything Mark Boyle believes and promotes in this book, it's mostly a matter of degrees. There's a lot to be said for trying to live more in harmony with nature - fixing things, eating/growing local foodstuffs, and the like. I'd never go to the extent of living without technology (and indeed, depending on your definition of technology neither does he - he has a bike, metal tools, domesticated plants etc.) but it's interesting to see the benefits of going further down that path. It's certainly revitalised my motivation to turn the back garden into more of an allotment, and expand my foraging knowledge.
I think there's more to be said about the whole gift economy/moneyless lifestyle (and I'll probably pick up his book on the subject next). It's a valuable perspective and parts of it are important to learning to live more sustainably. However there are always the little frustrations and hypocrisies of it, much the same way as I feel about #vanlifers and the rest of the back to nature set. Money always comes in somewhere, because we live in a society where that's the dominant paradigm for resource management. If nothing else Boyle somehow bought the land he's living on, and he gets paid for his writing. That money is used to buy materials or services he can't get on his own (he himself discusses his fishing lines, the postal service, and second hand tools). At some level someone always ends up paying the bills, even if it's the reader, and even if it's a gift (after all, barter economics are still economics). This shouldn't undercut the message - it's all just a matter of degrees - and the book is certainly thought provoking. I certainly agree with his discussion on the value of communities and connection. Man isn't *solely* an economic animal (and I think David Graeber would agree), you can't reduce all of human society to solely economic interactions. Quite a nice empirical companion volume to Graeber's more academic writing, come to think of it.
Highly recommended.
Bonus irony points for listening to the audiobook.
Whilst I don't agree with everything Mark Boyle believes and promotes in this book, it's mostly a matter of degrees. There's a lot to be said for trying to live more in harmony with nature - fixing things, eating/growing local foodstuffs, and the like. I'd never go to the extent of living without technology (and indeed, depending on your definition of technology neither does he - he has a bike, metal tools, domesticated plants etc.) but it's interesting to see the benefits of going further down that path. It's certainly revitalised my motivation to turn the back garden into more of an allotment, and expand my foraging knowledge.
I think there's more to be said about the whole gift economy/moneyless lifestyle (and I'll probably pick up his book on the subject next). It's a valuable perspective and parts of it are important to learning to live more sustainably. However there are always the little frustrations and hypocrisies of it, much the same way as I feel about #vanlifers and the rest of the back to nature set. Money always comes in somewhere, because we live in a society where that's the dominant paradigm for resource management. If nothing else Boyle somehow bought the land he's living on, and he gets paid for his writing. That money is used to buy materials or services he can't get on his own (he himself discusses his fishing lines, the postal service, and second hand tools). At some level someone always ends up paying the bills, even if it's the reader, and even if it's a gift (after all, barter economics are still economics). This shouldn't undercut the message - it's all just a matter of degrees - and the book is certainly thought provoking. I certainly agree with his discussion on the value of communities and connection. Man isn't *solely* an economic animal (and I think David Graeber would agree), you can't reduce all of human society to solely economic interactions. Quite a nice empirical companion volume to Graeber's more academic writing, come to think of it.
Highly recommended.
kiwiknitter's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
upward_not_northward's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
janiswong's review
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I had high expecations from this book, having picked it up at a woodlands cafe before a hike around a few hills. Although the author reveals important values and tensions between living with nature and our everyday lives, I did not feel that it tied the two closely to enable readers to empathise or think beyond their comforts. While the average city dweller would find it difficult to live such a life away from society, both from technological and communal perspectives as noted by Doyle, it still seems like an incredible privilege to do so and block out the challenges faced by most people in society. In any case, the book brings up important conversations to have with friends and family about our attachment to things and what we can do as indiviudals and groups to improve community livelihoods.
hazalmaru's review against another edition
Sanırım hayatım boyunca böyle bir yaşama özenip sadece kitaplardan okuyarak deneyimleyeceğim. İnsanların cesaretlerine, fedakarlıklarına ve kararlılıklarına hayranım.
Çeviride Google Translate mi kullanmışlar diye düşünmeme neden olan çok fazla yer vardı ama yine de anlaşılmayacak derecede değildi. Kendime engel olamayıp üstünü çizdiğim yerler oldu...
Çeviride Google Translate mi kullanmışlar diye düşünmeme neden olan çok fazla yer vardı ama yine de anlaşılmayacak derecede değildi. Kendime engel olamayıp üstünü çizdiğim yerler oldu...
heather2h2o's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
halfmanhalfbook's review
3.0
It was late one evening when Mark Boyle checked his email one last time and turned off his phone. He fully intended to never switch it back on again. In his new home, a cabin alongside a wood there was no electricity or running water, no internet or sewage connections nor was he even going to have solar power! He was going fully off-grid.
Boyle was going to have to grow and catch his own food, collect his own firewood, build and repair anything that he needed around the home and collecting water from the stream. Washing is done by hand, he catches his own food and lives frugally off the land. It was a simple life, but tough as everything that you do means that you get to live another day. He had almost no money or and his only income was from his writing. Even that was problematic as all correspondence was going to be by letter so arranging anything could take several days and more often weeks. He had consciously made the decision to completely avoid all forms of technology and was a totally committed eco-warrior.
As tough as his new life was, it was good for his mental health as he had none of the stresses of modern day life. He rose with the sun, and life around the small holding was dictated by the weather and the seasons. Some days there were never enough hours in the day to do all the things that he needed to do. On other days he had the luxury of time to pursue projects like a homemade hot tub. His partner, Kirsty is there as almost an afterthought in the text.
Boyle gives an insight into what it is like to step off-grid and make your own way in the world. It does make you think about our dependence on many things that we now take for granted, for example, electricity, internet, refrigeration and light. It also goes to show that we still need human interaction even though we may not need technology all of the time and that gaining skills in other areas may be beneficial. When writing this book he did have to hand write the manuscript which as he only had the single copy meant that he either had to copy it out again of hope that it wasn’t lost or damaged. However, he did have to type it up for submission and it reminded him why he hated computers. I didn’t think that this was a good as Deep Country. In this eloquent book, Neil Ansell undertakes a similar exercise for five years in Wales. It is still worth a read if you have ever considered walking away from the modern world. Another in the same vein is How To Live Off-Grid – Journeys Outside The System by Nick Rosen.
Boyle was going to have to grow and catch his own food, collect his own firewood, build and repair anything that he needed around the home and collecting water from the stream. Washing is done by hand, he catches his own food and lives frugally off the land. It was a simple life, but tough as everything that you do means that you get to live another day. He had almost no money or and his only income was from his writing. Even that was problematic as all correspondence was going to be by letter so arranging anything could take several days and more often weeks. He had consciously made the decision to completely avoid all forms of technology and was a totally committed eco-warrior.
As tough as his new life was, it was good for his mental health as he had none of the stresses of modern day life. He rose with the sun, and life around the small holding was dictated by the weather and the seasons. Some days there were never enough hours in the day to do all the things that he needed to do. On other days he had the luxury of time to pursue projects like a homemade hot tub. His partner, Kirsty is there as almost an afterthought in the text.
Boyle gives an insight into what it is like to step off-grid and make your own way in the world. It does make you think about our dependence on many things that we now take for granted, for example, electricity, internet, refrigeration and light. It also goes to show that we still need human interaction even though we may not need technology all of the time and that gaining skills in other areas may be beneficial. When writing this book he did have to hand write the manuscript which as he only had the single copy meant that he either had to copy it out again of hope that it wasn’t lost or damaged. However, he did have to type it up for submission and it reminded him why he hated computers. I didn’t think that this was a good as Deep Country. In this eloquent book, Neil Ansell undertakes a similar exercise for five years in Wales. It is still worth a read if you have ever considered walking away from the modern world. Another in the same vein is How To Live Off-Grid – Journeys Outside The System by Nick Rosen.
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