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A review by kalkie
The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology by Mark Boyle
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.