Customer Reviews

A Plain Life

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

 

 

I attended an author reading in Portland, and found Scott Savage personally to be engaging, and utterly sincere. Buy, borrow, get ahold of this book and read it. It is inspiring, challenging, bordering on life-changing. It may change the way you view the Plain Folk, or it may lead to to incorporate plain ideals into your own life.

Savage offers insight on what a plain life really is. Some of us confuse this with the `simpler life' we hear about, a supposedly easier, leisure-filled life thanks to modern technology. As many have noticed, the technology we use in hopes of giving us more free time actually gives us more time to do more `stuff', often with more stuff. There can be an emptiness that comes along with all of the stuff, extra time some of us seek to fill with more activities and more stuff. What seems to be most lacking is a connection with people, with our community.

Giving up a driver's license is no small thing. Being able to drive an automobile in our society means independence - teen-agers and the elderly particularly find getting or maintaining possession of a driver's license paramount to their quality of life. But they aren't alone. If you do not drive, but travel by foot, bicycle or horse and buggy, you realize your world both shrinks and expands. Physically, it consists of places and events that are close enough to get to within a day. It expands because that smaller surrounding must be more filled with community, and the people you are more dependent upon.

Although he and his wife became Quakers in the beginning of their journey, most of what he writes about community comes from their experiences with the Amish families they first lived near.

This kind of community didn't exist at all if it only existed in one's mind, as for example in a computer-driven `virtual community.'"

"Unlike pretend or fantasy communities, the real one we were learning from wasn't filled with folks hand-picked for their similarities. They did not necessarily really, really like one another, nor completely share the same interests."

I thought if I read the book, I'd feel compelled to change my life completely, or to feel bad about the life I live. Instead, it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of reflective thinking, and to find ways and reasons to question how I am living my life, and to find small ways of changing it for the better. I found myself wishing I had the riches Scott Savage has, the family, the community, life partner, the strength of character, the determination to do without the things that seem to fill up my life, and that of my youngest son.

Everyone else has written such glowing reviews of this book, I almost hate to rain on the parade. Maybe I am just too cynical to be reached by this book, but I couldn't even get through it. His tone came across to me as smug and self-righteous. He and his community and his family can't possibly be as wonderful as he tries to convince us they are. He also seems (oddly) naive. As someone who grew up in a conservative religious community (though not "plain," I confess), I can tell you that for every positive, wonderful thing about it, there is an equally strong negative. They are not utopias. They are full of flawed human beings who can inflict deep, slow-to-heal wounds on those who don't fit in. Surely Mr. Savage can see that there is a big difference between voluntarily choosing as an adult to make the choices he has made and being raised in such a community with three or four generations of tradition behind you and feeling nearly strangled by all that weight. While that doesn't invalidate Mr. Savage's good experiences with the plain people, it does indicate that it is not the community he has chosen, but the fact that he *is* choosing, discovering his own values and making hard choices to live up to those values, that is important. His smug self-satisfaction with the plain lifestyle would be bearable if he acknowledged that there are other ways to achieve spiritual depth, but he doesn't--or at least, not in the first half of the book, which is as far as I could make it. I'm giving it three stars, though, because there were some very interesting descriptions of how the Amish and Quakers live and believe--and also for his daughter Tasha's wonderful puns, which I won't spoil for you if you are planning on reading it. :-)

Both "A Plain Life" and "The Plain Reader" are eloquent guides written on the road of simplicity and faith. Wise, soulful and humble in presentation, they will cause you to reflect upon your own life and that which you hold dear. I highly recommend both of these titles with appreciation to Mr. Savage for sharing his reflections in such a meaningful and profound manner...

To say I "enjoyed" this book would underrate it. It went to the core of me, changed my thinking, and intrigued me. Savage makes the world he has chosen to live in very attractive, peaceful,spiritual, and rich. As we are bombarded with technology, the loss of community, and the effects of the automobile, the simpleness of the Amish and Quaker life seems wonderful. As he related the Beatitudes to his current jouney, he pushed me to consider a different way of looking at them. This quiet little volume is one that I will add to my list of books that changed me.

I borrowed this from the library, but after reading it have ordered it so that I may keep it, underline it, and return to it when I need to sort through this modern existence. I have suggested that my sophomore in college read it as he is very opposed to the organized religious institutions he has witnessed. I hope he will see that God exists in our lives, as we work, walk, and commune with others.

I would like to know a little more about him. Many things about his former life were left out of this. However, the book isn't about him, it's about his belief and the society that he in which he lives that belief. Thanks, Scott Savage.

I love the Amish and Mennonite people, and am inspired to read every book I can find about them. Scott and his wife are focused on joining the Quaker "Friends"....but the idea of plain living and simple pleasures are significantly similar. Yes there are indeed people who desire to - and find much peace and satisfaction living this way...though its not for everyone. The best conversations I ever had in my life were with the Amish and Mennonite people. They are not backward....this is what Scott tries to explain. The stories about his horse are priceless. When I read this I'm taken away from everything and am right there with Scott. If you're a techno-wizard, this book may not be for you......but if you're a spiritual seeker, who wants to live a good and true life.....complete with morals and values that are dwindling in our society today, I recommend a sit down with this lovely book. Perhaps it will cause you to see society in a new light.....or better yet, perhaps it will cause you to think about the life you live. My life is forever improved because of my awareness of this lifestyle. Families are honored....and women are revered, and not owing to a high-powered career.....but for simply being who they are. I highly recommend both the lifestyle .... and this book.

I enjoyed the parts of the book which describe his family's day to day life.

What I could not get over was the author's tone. The author comes across as insufferably smug and elitist. He believes his way of life and his understanding of God are the only valid ways. Everyone else, including a "regrettably Hicksite Quaker professor of religion" must be mistaken. (pg 145) Interspersed throughout the book are mentions of Christian teachings on humility and not judging others, however these come across as an afterthought, perhaps thrown in later to soften the blow of the author's judgments of tourists, spiritual seekers, liberals, and anyone who uses the internet or otherwise attempts to find any other balance of being spiritual in the world. The author comes across as self-satisfied and spiritually immature.

Also, for a "plain" Quaker, the author clearly does not practice "plain speech" - his choice of language is almost deliberately exclusive. Was "ersatz" really the only fitting word there? Maybe you just want everyone to know how smart you are and make anyone who needed to consult a dictionary feel inferior.

I still read the book and enjoyed parts of it. My advice is to get this one from the library, because it won't be worth re-reading.

I bought Scott Savage's compilation, "The Plain Reader" The Plain Reader and loved it. I loaned it out, didn't get it back, and bought another copy because it's so good. I appreciated the viewpoints of the various authors, but really liked "A Plain Life" because it is Scott Savage's story, and I appreciated the complete set of thoughts from him.

The book is easy to read, light but inspiring. The author shares his heart. I appreciated "hearing" his heart on questions I've pondered: What's your impact on the world if you set yourself apart so drastically? How can you maintain free-market, small-town, local commerce? Is it possible to buy local all the time? Why not cars, why......

I'm not buying a buggy or sewing my own clothes anytime soon, but we haven't watched TV in 9 years, and try to cook healthy foods. This book doesn't pressure me into a Plain life, but draws me toward simplicity.

If you like it, I think you would LOVE "The Plain Reader". At least check it out from your library!

What an excellent peek into a life transformed. I so enjoyed spending time with Mr. Savage on his trek into deeper simplicity. Often in my reading of this book I considered my own life's focus and the "chase" I seem to be caught up in, and I was challenged to shift toward pursuits more wholesome and meaningful.

A book well worth the read...if for no other reason than the quieting effect it has on the soul.

Just like the vicar who was asked how he liked his boiled egg:
"Parts of it were excellent".

I liked many of the ideas presented by Scott - live simply, help your neighbors, take time to appreciate nature. The story is well told, interesting and mostly fun to read, especially for those who live in the midwest and can relate to some of the things Scott encountered on his journey.

However, a couple of things were negatives for me that made the book easy to put down at times:

1) Scott doesn't acknowledge the positive side of technology. There are some positives, after all.
2) A little heavy on the religion for me.

But overall, a very good read that makes you (hopefully) contemplate your own life.