Customer Reviews

A Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Yes, Mate rants in this book. A lot. Some readers will hate this. I agree with some of the criticisms of his critics (not particulary practical, hysterical, preaching to the choir, etc.). However, I am often perplexed by cranky reviews when people seem to be judging a book outside of its purpose. This is not a manual on self-reliance. (Read Scott & Helen Nearing's "The Good Life" for a fascinating, practical memoir/manual.) Mate is a gadfly. His role, as I see it, is to smack us upside the head. Even the choir can get lured into the insanity of this increasingly flakey, consumerist culture, and need a regular wakeup call.

My one criticism and genuine disagreement with the author is his abandonment of city living as a lost cause. At one time I felt like moving out to his idealic small-town countryside too. I stayed because of the vitality of relationships, my compassionate vibrant neighborhood church, my family in the nearby suburbs. I live within a short biking/walking distance of the beautiful Chicago lakefront, with its miles-long public park system. My tiny backyard (25 x 30')--loaded with veggies, flowers, fruit, etc.-- I call my very very small organic 'farm'. My wife and I only have one car, we walk, bike, bus, and train often. We walk to the corner for milk. We consider the incredible racial diversity of the local parks, schools, and neighborhood a gift to our children, something we never had in white small towns and suburbia. Despite their many charms, diversity is not a hallmark of most small towns, either in the US or, I suspect, in Mate's Tuscany.

Instead of bailing on the city, I am committed to making it a little bit better. This can be done through a million small things --community gardens, a church homeless shelter, block parties, consciously knowing and caring for neighbors. Is this easy? No, but it is possible and it is happening.

All of this said, I am rereading the book now, and in general I find it to be a great challenge to not cave in to to the culture of consumption and advertising. I need the smack upside the head as much as the next guy. Highly recommended.

There are a lot of things I like about this book and a few that I do not.

We have lived a voluntary simplicity lifestyle for decades and like most thoughtful people into the lifestyle we pick and choose what works best for us. The author sadly assumes that everyone mis-uses the television, credit cards, or doesn't need prescriptions or can't choose wisely what subscription they will actually use, or at least pass on to kindred spirits.

Some of the suggestions the author makes are much easier to make when one has money as a fall back in times of emergency. I and disagree with the author on whether one should throw the television out, since I think a major part of a simple lifestyle is self discipline and careful planning. We have DishTV since we like watching European news, as well as CSPAN and a few do it yourself shows. Driving fifty miles to take a class that I can take via television wouldn't be cost effective.

Chapter 5 The Home Garden is good. I agree that fresh is best, and know both city dwellers who have organic gardens that fill their front and back yards as well as myself and most of my neighbors here in a rural area who do the same.

I also disagree with the author that big cities (Chapter 10) are "unlivable" since I know New York, San Francisco, Seattle as examples offer ethnic diversity, free activities for families and mass transit, which living in the mountains as we do, doesn't. I agree with Chapter 12 Humane Small Towns, that if you can find a humane small town that you have found a gold mine. The key word in the chapters title is "humane." We live in the Sierras which we love because we love skiing, hiking and other out of doors activities. What we miss is the ethnic and political diversity. On page 133 as an example he says "...we abandoned our small towns for the mythical steady jobs, the excitement, fun people..." when in fact here in small town America people are abandoning the city for a more "white...republican...non-diverse" way of life.

I agree almost in total with Chapter 12 The Self Helpless Society. Because I think that there is something about living in a rural area where you really do have to develop some major self sufficiency that will be a survival tool when the power is out because of snow for a week, that makes a person stronger. But if everyone from the cities moves to the country, you get the central valley of California which was 70% agriculture 20 years ago, and now is one long suburban-city area from Sacramento to Fresno.

One thing I wish the author had addressed more, is a major solution issue, namely overpopulation. Fewer people means cleaner air, water, and few new houses needing to be built. But I am glad I bought the book on Amazon.com

I find it amusing that certain reviewers found this book to be unhelpful or negative. This is a life-affirming work -- 'tho maybe it doesn't affirm the life you are currently living!

Mate is a man who really has a knack for making sense of things. He boils the human race right down to its bare-boned inconsistencies. We are imperfect creatures -- frequently irrational, often nonsensical. Some of the things Mate has to say will make you angry. Some of it will make you laugh out loud (really!). All of it will open your eyes.

And no, Mate does not tell you how to build your own house or gut your own chicken (he recommends that every American be able to do both by the age of 12). But this book is not about little practicalities like that. Rather it is about changing the way we look at -- really look at -- all the everyday stuff we tend to take for granted. It causes us to rethink how we are living our lives. What is important to us. And who, as a nation and a world, we want to become.

All in all, this is a terrific book. I don't have one bad thing to say about it. It should be required reading for the entire Republican party.

I became curious about this book when I realized that it was written by an eastern European (Hungarian) who had come to The USA, lived and then written this commentary before leaving for Italy where he now lives. I grew-up in Communist East Germany myself and was curious to see if he too found this fascinating nation of dishwashers, electric can-openers, processed foods, clothes dryers, credit cards, riduculously wasteful & oversized homes and the "I must work more so that I can make more money so that I can buy more THINGS" mentality odd. He did.

This book, while going into much more "environmental preservation" stuff than I cared for, is a brilliant if not kind of whiney slap in the face that should wake most Americans from their unquestioned acceptance of some truly assinine practices. It points out just how ridiculous & wasteful many American things, ideals and concepts are. He continues to point out how our culture of "things" is removing us from our surroundings and we are losing sight of what life is all about. Video games, TV, 24/7 shopping, drive-through windows and worship of possessions has replaced normal human interaction/relationships as we willingly mortgage away 1/3 of our lives to pay for a house that once paid-off will have cost 3 times the sale price.
Buy! Buy! Buy! is the new American religion and the producer of people whom I personally refer to as "The breathing dead". Those who trudge through life, slaving away at a mediocre job to pay for unnecessary baubles that society says they must have to be happy.

One review above made some comment that this book was a guide to go from "european pauper to european pauper"...or was it "peon"? I'm not sure now. Anyway...anyone who says that is clearly untraveled, unable to open their eyes wide enough to see the obvious and in denial of the fact that the author successfully points out many commonly accepted absurdities and obscenities in our daily lives.

I am 39 years old and despite a good job in the land of plenty I CHOOSE to wash my laundry by hand & hang it to dry, to bake my own bread and regard the disposable aspects of this society with disdain and wonder. 8 months ago I left my well paid job in Austin, Texas as a Surgical Tech and moved to The Ozark Mountains where I bought a 560 sq.ft house for $26k. I drive a 14 year old car, am debt free, use a manual can-opener, have no cell phone and live like a king on $900 a month!

Buy the book, give it a read, excuse the monotonously repetitive details about carbon dioxide emissions, laugh a little as your lifestyle's absurdity is revealed before your eyes and enjoy. THEN do something about it!

I read this book years ago; actually put a sign above our front door that read "Only the 'Reasonable' May Enter" as a reminder to us and our friends to leave the unreasonable life outside the doors and walls of our home. I have given away 20 copies at least to friends. I LOVE that Mate hits you up 'side of the head with profound "what if's!" It made me think...no, actually, it made me THINK...about my choices and that I HAD choices. My husband and I ended up moving to the countryside for six years and now we've moved back to the city. BOTH lifestyles have advantages, both were choices. I'm now re-reading this book from the perspective of one that has experienced both and I'm loving the 'hit up side of the head' again, reminding me that I can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. That's what a good writer is supposed to do...make us THINK. And Mate is a master at doing that!

This book opens your eyes to the insanity to which we dedicate ourselves. In my opinion, the most important chapter is the one devoted to television. Mate really gives you a good slap in the face in making you realize how foolish and wasteful your time is spent when it is spent in front of that horrible little box. If anything, read that chapter and throw your stinking television set in the dumpster and start spending more time interacting with your kids. If not your kids, then your friends, relatives, neighbors, or even your pet goldfish. Staring at a wall is better for your mind than staring at that flashing screen. This book is amazing, and if you have even the slightest desire to contribute something positive to this life, you will enjoy it. I've read it twice, and I plan on reading it again. Read it!

This may not be the most profound book I've ever read, but in it's simplistic, idealistic way it makes you want to believe that we can achieve a more humane existence. We have grown so far from the individualistic people we once were into a mass that works for the "company". Or at least most people do. Just give it a read, it may open your eyes to some things.

If Only.....I have just read several of the reviews written, it was sad to see so much negativity surrounding this book. I found it to be written with such honesty and insight that I had a hard time putting it down. I don't think I will ever see the world in the same way!! Thank-you Ferenc Mate'. If only more people would follow the methods, brought to light in this book, and take Responsibility for what they contribute to this world, we could collectively produce a more Sane, Simpler and Humane Existence. If Only....

I've gone through life searching for meaning in relationships, work, and place; and, I've often turned to books to glean whatever wisdom I could from others. I often walk away unsatisfied. Mate's book struck a definite chord with me and I highly recommend it to anyone who's questionning much of what passes for civilized living. While I didn't agree with all of Mate's beliefs and conclusions, I did find a considerable amount of thought-provoking inquiry that gave me pause to reconsider my own life and how we all relate to each other and our physical surroundings. I'll say this about this book that I've NEVER said about any other book . . . ever: "A Reasonable Life" has changed my life.

My expectations of the subtitle, "Toward a simpler, secure, more humane existence," were that helpful advice would be given to achieve that end. Instead, I was disappointed to find a useless rant that lost all credibility after the first chapter. I read the entire book and agree with the concept that many of our human practices damage the earth; however, I think for anyone who reads this book, he is preaching to the choir and we'd like him to get to the practical concepts of how to change those practices. The only helpful and truly possible information was the gardening section at the end. However, since I'm already an organic gardener, it wasn't helpful to me personally. I appreciate the author's idealism, but to truly assist mankind to live more humanely, one must also give advice that is feasible and not hypocritical. On the one hand extolling the virtues of modern technology that would allow us to live in "today's country life" while also disparaging those who work in the technology industry doesn't make sense. And to belittle those already trying to make an effort through recycling and whatever activism they can manage without assisting them in moving to the larger picture is a superior attitude that does little to encourage readers to take his ideas seriously. Exactly how is it humane to treat your fellow human beings, lost though we may be, with such contempt? Give us some down-to-earth guidance, please, instead of a scolding tirade.