Customer Reviews

The Good Life

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While I admire the Nearings for dropping out of urban society and making it on their own in rural Vermont way before it was fashionable to do so, I found their tone to be didactic in the extreme, and their attitude (we are the only ones on the planet who know exactly how to live, work, play, eat, sleep, breathe etc. correctly) to be annoying.

The book gives no real practical knowledge of homesteading, other than a densely written, obtuse chapter on building with stone. It also actively disparages the rural culture and traditions of the people around their homestead. The Nearings are the only people who know anything (in their estimation), and the fact that the people around them don't bow down to them, and acquiesce to their every wish and demand, just proves that they are all dolts.

I also found it curious that despite the fact that the Nearings claimed not to use any animals on their homestead, there are two pictures of them in the book (at least in the 1970 edition I was reading) using a team of horses.

I was very interested in reading about a couple who took the plunge and homesteaded. I found the references to why they moved to the homestead interesting, but unfortunately, the rest of the book is interweaved with this philosophy as well as social issues. The practical is overshadowed or not explained in detail. The detail that is there focuses on what they did not how they did it. If you are looking for a how-to book, you should look elsewhere. I did find the section on health interesting and helpful. Also, the second section, "Continuing the Good Life" had some practical ideas on gardening. Overall the book was a disappointment, since I expected a how-to book not a philosophy book.

...although extremely interesting and informative, to the degree of familiarizing any prospective "homesteader" with making it on your own, I became disenchanted with the sophomoric attempts to whine about espousing a communal life on the neighbors or any others interested in simply living a "good life" as THEY see it and not become a disciple of the Nearings...

...it seems that Scott was rejected by the establishment of his day, and time and again you have this feeling of him snubbing his nose at anyone who doesn't laud him as the "promised one"...

...informative for the day in which it was written, I am still interested in establishing my own "good life" similar to the Nearings, and I appreciate what they did...but mine will allow others to live the way they choose, without me throwing a hefty amount of contemptuous disdain their way...

This way of life is not for me and I admit it right up front. 'The Good Life' does some mandatory chest-thumping and has more detail on building a fence or a wood shed than I'll ever need (I hope). Still, I kept on with the book 'til the end.

More than anything, I found myself feeling sorry for Helen Nearing. I know she supposedly went along with this way of life willingly, but if you read between the lines, you'll find Scott Nearing self-righteous, overbearing, a pretty bad host to company and not much fun at parties.

On the other hand, if you want someone to build you a fence and throw you a handful of granola, he's your man.

This book is a reprint of two classics "Living the good life" and "Continuing the good life". In these books, Scott and Helen Nearing describe how they chose to live deliberately, and built for themselves a sustainable life and lifestyle in Vermont and Maine. In "Living the good life", they explain some of the circumstances that led them to stage a strategic withdrawal from New York City and relocate to a run-down farm in Vermont during the 1930s. They describe how they acquired and developed their land, how they built their house, and their garden and diet. A major focus of the book is explaining their philosophy of non-exploitation, and how they wanted to implement their ideas of social justice into their lifestyle. The Nearings believed so strongly in avoiding exploitation of any kind that they avoided resorting to animal labor or products on their farm. They arranged their days so that they could spend 4 hours doing bread labor, 4 hours working with the community, and had 4 hours of free time each day to pursue independent interests. They also describe how they earned cash income from maple sugaring on their property. Towards the end of this first section, they explain that growing crowds of visitors, combined with a general lack of cooperation in the community eventually convinced them to abandon their project in Vermont and move on to Maine.

In "Continuing the Good Life," the Nearings describe how they built a second homestead in Maine. Once again, they explain how they constructed a house from stone, and how they developed a case income, this time based on blueberries. Gardening and diet is also given more space in this volume than it had in "Living the Good Life".

This book is rich with both inspiration and practical details. Scott Nearing was a well published academic in the field of economics before he started the adventures described in these volumes. As a result, his style of writing is rather academic, and his chapters contain quite a few footnotes. It's a little strange to read this book out of context, to dive right in without knowing anything about the Nearings beforehand. This is what I did the first time I read the book, and I found the premise of the adventure rather preposterous- -two city people going off to establish a commune in the mountains during the 1930s. They mentioned that they earned some money from traveling and writing. Without further explanation, I thought they were travel writers or something. It wasn't until I read John Saltmarsh's book The Making of a Homesteader that I began to get the full picture. In that book, Saltmarsh describes how Scott Nearing had been a very successful economics professor in the first decade of the century. However, he was a very outspoken pacifist, and lost his teaching positions because of his politics. He was living in New York City, separated from his wife, when he met Helen, his soul mate. Because of his political stances, Nearing was recruited by the Communist Party as an educator and politician. However, he was too much a freethinker for the communists, and was soon expelled from the party for continuing to voice his independent ideas. It was at this point, when he was about 50, when he and Helen began their Good Life experiment in Vermont. With this background in mind, Nearing's comments and opinions stated in this book make a lot more sense.

This book is about a couple who develop a self-sufficient life style. Originally I bought the book as a blue print for retirement so that I could pluck from it those things I wanted for my family - a very good guide for such a purpose. However, the Nearings had a very strong set of principles, which sets them aside from most people who want to get away from city life. An initial period of work in his grandfather's mine alongside immigrant workers turned Scott into an outspoken critic of the social system resulting in his being fired from his university post and made unemployable. Royalties on his textbooks, widely used in the educational system, ceased. Scott's wife, Helen, was also a very high-principled person. Perhaps this was the ultimate secret of their long-term success - they were completely uncompromising on whatever principles they adopted.

Helen Nearing tells us that they left the city with three objectives:
- economic: independence from the commodity and labor markets
- hygienic: to maintain and improve health
- social and ethical: to liberate and dissociate from the cruder forms of exploitation - plunder of the planet, slavery of man and beast, slaughter in war and animals for food. They were against the accumulation of profit and unearned income by non-producers.

She goes on to tell us that after 20 years:
- a piece of eroded, depleted mountain land had been restored to fertility
- a successful economy without animals, animal products, chemical fertilizers had been created
- a subsistence household had been established , paying its way and yielding a modest surplus
- a small scale business had been established from which wagery had been virtually eliminated
- health was at a high level
- the complexities of city life had been replaced by a simple life pattern
- they enjoyed six months labor and six months leisure used for research, travel, writing, speaking, teaching
- they always had an open house for hundreds of people annually

We are told that no family group of vigor, energy, purpose, imagination and determination need continue to wear the yoke of a competitive, acquisitive, and predatory culture. A family can live with nature, make a living, preserve and enhance efficiency, enjoy leisure, and do their part to make the world a better place. They maintain that a couple of any age 20-50 with minimum health, intelligence and capital can adapt to country living, learn its crafts, overcome its difficulties and build a rich pattern of life of simple values, being productive of personal and social good.

If you have wondered whether city life is for you, there is no better book to read than "The Good Life".

Since I am planning to retire in rural Ontario and grow my own food, I because fascinated by the Nearings. I have read five of their books and found each one more fascinating than the next. However, I just could not understand how they accomplished so much and built so many buildings just the two of them. I also could not figure out how they were able to keep all those fruits and vegetables throughout the winter in their "root cellar". And how on earth did they survive the long,dreary dark winters without electricity! Well, what a surprise to learn that they had numerous people (neighbours, worshippers) to assist them AND had both a fridge and freezer hidden from view. Well, who can't live like them with all that appendage! But what was upsetting the most was to learn that they spent the four months of winter travelling and giving lectures. The Nearings, yes, those socialists who hated capitalism but didn't mind making money from selling blueberries, maple syrup, their books along with charging a fee to attend their lectures. The Nearings were not great homesteaders; they were capitalists enjoying all that life has to offer, just like the rest of us. There is nothing special about this couple. There are real homesteaders who have written books, so go find those. They are really truly living the "good life".

This book first came into our lives a good 15 years ago. Since then,
because of our interest and pursuit of homesteading, we have read and
re-read it and much more about the Nearings.

This particular book chronicles their lives setting up their homesteads in
Vermont and in Maine. There is much to admire -- their strength, tenacity,
and very liveliness should be inspiration to any back-to-the-land-er. But
there are also contradictions and conundrums -- like did his brand of
Communism not pay attention to Lenin? Did that wire fence not serve the 15
years it took to construct the stone one? What is the ideal against using
animals when one will condone them as pets and as producers of products one
uses freely (not admitted to in this book but clear in others)?

Alas, the dichotomies only serve to make them more interesting and perhaps
more useful to those of us who would use their reflection to more clearly
see in our own mirrors.

There is very little hard, factual, useful information in this book, but the
depth and breadth of the vision is astounding.

This is a wonderful book if you want to learn what to do and what not to do if you desire to be as self sufficient as possible. I especially appreciated the sections on eating for health as well as what they eat and why.

But it is the sections on how they supported themselves with blueberries and maple syrup that I appreciated so, because they explain how they used what was native to their area, as a means of support, but only as much as they needed. They never "raped" the earth in order to survive, but instead are demonstrative of what a legitimate wise steward is or should be.

I also liked the section on how they came to use hand laid stone wall fences rather than wire fences. And the choice and use of wood for heating, which in 2003 is even more efficient with stove inserts that have catalytic converters so air pollution is diminished drastically. Although I believe if they were alive that a solar home would have been their main source of energy.

And their section on building a garden soil with compost and no artificial fertilizer is something anyone who wants to grow a hearty organic vegetable garden should read. We have used their sage advise and people joke that our garden must be on steroids. Chapter seven dealing with water issues is a must read for anyone looking into buying land and buying land for the purpose of living on it and surviving.Needless to say I like all their books and read and re-read them gleaning valuable information each time.

... I believe I was first made aware of this excellent book in the pages of THE WHOLE EARTH CATALOG over twenty five years ago. I did not read it until now, in 2003. ... I wish I had read it back then, for it may have influenced my life to take a different direction than it had. Nevertheless, I have no regrets, and I am happy that I finally made the effort to read this wonderful volume of wisdom from Helen and Scott Nearing. I know a couple who have met with Helen and Scott a number of times in their lives, and when I recently told them the other day that I was reading their book, The Good Life, they were overjoyed! This is the kind of book that leaves a lasting impression on anyone who reads it.

... Here are just a few of the pieces of wisdom you will find in this book... from pages 33 and 34: "3. All of our operations will be kept on a cash and carry basis. No bank loans. No slavery to interest on mortgages, notes and I.O.U's. Under any economy, people who rent out money live on easy street. Whether as individuals or banking establishments, they lend money, take security and live on a rich harvest of interest and the proceeds of forced sales. The money lenders are able to enjoy comfort and luxury, without doing any productive labor. It is the borrowing producers who pay the interest or lose their property. Farmers and home owners by the thousands lost everything they had during the Great Depression because they could not meet interest payments. We decided to buy for cash or not at all." ... But, don't be fooled into thinking by reading the sage advice that runs through this book like pure streams of mountain water that this is a book of philosophy! FAR FROM! This book is chock full of PRACTICAL ADVICE and pages and pages of HOW-TO'S that will increase your confidence to actually try implementing some of these keen techniques yourself!

... An example of the same can be found here, on page 282: "The Chinese drain their ponds and ditches, making special provision for the survival of their fish. They clear ditches and ponds of all accumulated refuse. When the ponds are emptied of silt, the gates are put back in the dams and the ponds are refilled. The accumulated silt and usable trash from the bottom are spread on the land or on compost piles. The product, as with us, will be a pile of first-class rotted sod which can be used in greenhouse, in mulching fruit bushes and trees, in compost making or transplanting. What we are doing on a few square yards of a North American farm, the Chinese are doing on a nationwide scale. They are planning their agriculture, dovetailing it with the changing seasons and the weather and building their farming base."

... I could go on and on further, quoting page after page of practical gardening tips, wall-building instructions, compost-pile producing advice, maple sugar-making lore, and more philosophical, sociological, and political wisdom as well. Unlike this book, it would be fruitless! You simply must read this book for yourself if you want to get any clear idea at all of what it would be like to be truly independent and living in the country - as well as what it would take to do so. The Nearings have proven to us all that it CAN be done. "The proof is in the pudding," as they say - and the pudding is The Good Life they have lived. It's all here in this book. GO FOR IT! ... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid