Customer Reviews

Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Revised edition)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book, a gift from a friend, was a simple read - I am surprised by some of the reviews that confuse the thoughts in here with Marxism, since I didn't find much of that. In fact, Elgin's book is filled with quotes from world religions, citing the reasons we truly need to live a simpler life. I sat reading this book, surrounded with my stacks of books and clothing - "things" I do not need but want - and can afford to get. Halfway through reading, I felt supported in my firm desire (and so far feeble efforts) to continue unloading my home of excesses while downsizing my "wants."

Elgin offers this support in a gentle and convincing way - he offers no directions, for he says "Because simplicity has as much to do with each person's purpose in living as it does with his or her standard of living, it follows that there is no single, "right and true" way to live more ecologically and compassionately."

His goal is to move his readers to live more simply because it makes more sense, not because we are told we 'should' do so, or because it is a trend. He hopes to move us from within.

He offers compassionate, thoughtful reasons to live with less "things." He also gives a history of simplicity's roots - using thoughts from a diversity of views: Christian, Eastern, early Greek, Puritan, Transcendental, and (one of my favorites, of course!) Quakers. He recalls an experience he had with Elise Boulding, a well known Quaker, which helped move him more toward voluntary simplicity (worth reading the book just to experience this with him.)

It makes more sense, according to Elgin, for the good of the planet, of other human beings, of our children's future, of our own quality of life, now. And the reasons are many - not economical OR spiritual OR environmental OR community - but any and all of those (a reader can focus on one that moves the individual)

He offers information on ways of thinking and acting that lead to a simpler life, and though I fall way short in my own actions and behaviors, I never felt judged. I did feel moved. In his final section on revitalization, he offers ideas for how we might make simplicity happen. Most of what he says I liked, though I'm not fond of his idea that "voluntary" changes in consumption would be made if a higher tax was applied to "luxury goods, gasoline, alcohol and cigarettes." While that might make changes, they would certainly not be "voluntary." However, that is one small suggestion, not a fixed line.

I especially liked his People Living the Simple Life chapter, with bits from people who found easy ways to simplify their lives.

This book goes on my gift list for friends who need encouragement, not specific 'how-to directions', in living the simpler life.

This is one of the landmark works of the simplicity movement. In contrast to the Dominguez' Your Money or Your Life, Mr. Elgin places his focus on describing the reasons for his advocacy for a voluntary alteration to a less consumptive lifestyle. The book's style is easy and accessible. The author uses a number of quotations and very brief anecdotes from survey respondents to make the argument that people should scale back into less material obsession and consumption as a way of attaining a more "conscious" life.

The reader is left convinced of the author's sincerity, and of the virtue of stepping away from rampant materialism, but the casual assumptions embedded in the book (the inherent error in modern corporate life, the somewhat leery viewpoint toward some forms of technology) seem a bit unexamined for a work considering the social implications of a more examined life.

Still, although I was not swept away with all the ideas herein, this is a well-written book with some real ideas, and deserves the cult status popularity it has achieved.

Elgin has been hailed, by some, as a guru of the simplicity movement, yet I was disappointed with the content of this book. He attempted to give a philosophical framework for the movement and did a good job exploring the possibilities of this type of lifestyle.

Yet, I found his philosophical examination of "religions" and the human condition to be lacking. He did a poor job of relaying the true messages of different spiritual pathways, and instead twisted them to match the simplicity movement. Furthermore, his attempts at showing what the simplicity movement will result in are at times accurate, yet often they are mere speculation. Elgin assumes that simplicity provides that satisfaction that the soul longs for, which simply isn't true. Simplicity can relieve stress, help our ecology, and help us live a more conscious and fruitful life. But ultimately, the soul longs for more than simplicity, decluttering, developing community and having more time.

I think this book would have hit the mark if the author would have spent less time trying to oversimply the spiritual pathways of the world, and instead given us more practical examples of the voluntary simplicity movement. More "how-to's" and less philosophy.

If the singular word "visionary" is one that can be used to describe such a popular and overwhelming bestseller as this book has become, then that is best word I can conjure up out of my subconscious to describe it in a word. In a time when the material excesses of our civilization are spinning out of control, Duane Elgin writes with passion and clarity about the costs of such materialistic strivings. He believes that to work for a sustainable future is not just a pipedream, but an achievable goal reached through a reorientation and enlightenment on the part of the postindustrial world that mere material goods cannot ever truly make us happy.

In fact, he argues, it is our love affair with acquiring more and more `things' that enslaves us and makes us quite the opposite. Thus, he writes with apassionate and informed concern for the disastrous consequences of our endless addiction to acquisition and ownership of more and more material goods. Yet such acquisition is a dead end street from which little can be gained. The author hopes to enlighten the reader into recognizing that it is in his or her interest to become less acquisitive, to simplify his or her own life and regain the balance that is missing from his or her own life.

He argues persuasively on behalf of living of life with greater balance and freedom, one in which the individual is more a person who is much than one who has much. For him voluntary simplicity supposes both an inner and outer condition requiring a singleness of purpose, sincerity and honesty within, a purposeful avoidance of exterior clutter. He recognizes that having many possessions is not only irrelevant to what most of us want from life, it is quite often the chief obstacle standing in the individual's way. Thus, voluntary simplicity means a purposeful focusing of our energy and desires, recognizing we have limited energies and capabilities and that we must exercise some control over our endless desires in order to live a life of higher quality and purpose.

For the author, many of the problems of life in today's society are related to our trivial diversions into mass consumerism and all that such diversions entail. What better recommendation can one make for a book than to say that reading it will likely enlighten you and profoundly change the way you look at, interact with, and proceed in the world around you? This is truly, without resorting unnecessarily to hyperbole, a powerful and visionary work, and one that should be on every thoughtful reader's bookshelf.

This revised edition reads as fresh as a morning flower, and its subject matter is even more timely and relevant today. Author Duane Elgin provides a wonderful exploration of the practical and philosophical meaning of simplicity, as well as a very comprehensive overview of our ecological predicament. He does not suggest we live like Thoreau or throw out notions of progress. In place of thoughtless grow or "no growth" Elgin prefers a path of "new growth," where inner and outer, spiritual and material, technological and ecological demands are harmonized and balanced. From beginning to end, I could not put this book down. After reading it, I feel like a changed person. To quote Elgin, "In an era dominated by hideously complex problems of global dimension, the ability to see the world more clearly is essential to the survival and well-being of the human family." And indeed, helping us see better is exactly what Elgin accomplishes. If this book moves you, you might also want to check out RADICAL SIMPLICITY, by Jim Merkel.

A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK

Voluntary Simplicity is more of a mood piece than an instruction manual. It's not designed to turn crass materialists into simple-living Ghandites. Rather it's to inspire those already on that path. In that task it suceeds admiringly. The book has a warmth and integrity to it that is appropriate to it's philosophy. In a culture where living simply and with principles is treated like an anachronism, that inspiration is important. Read it and be fortified.

Please read this book. Elgin's discussion of simplicity touches on every facet of life from personal growth, the environment, politics, work, money, to the survival of the human race. If you have a mind of your own you will not agree 100% with everything in the book, but almost. Reading this book will make your life better. You will find yourself changing small things about the way you live with hardly any effort and you will feel good about it.

Just read it. Check it out from the library if you don't want to buy it.

I'm a great devotee of voluntary simplicity and have read many excellent books on the subject (among my favorites are Janet Luhr's "Guide to Simple Living," Dominguez's "Your Money or Your Life," and Dyzychen's "Tightwad Gazette" collections). This is definitely the worst and least helpful of them all. Seems extremely dated (even though revised in 1998) and "70s" with rather hazy California granola/New Age overtones. The author spends a lot of time waxing poetic on the more general philosophy of the movement (with an emphasis on one motivation, while ignoring others) rather than discussing and offering practical suggestions and tips for achieving a simpler life. Excepts from those practicing the lifestyle were helpful, but the entire book seemed very heavily-handedly biased in favor of a sort of self-congratulatory socialist "sharing the wealth/taking from the rich to give to the poor" doctrine which not all who embrace VS also embrace. Personally, I don't work hard at living simply in order to give the noney I save in doing so away to those who don't work as hard as I do and thus don't have as much, and I gradually grew to resent the assumption that this is what VS is (or should be) all about. For many of us, it's more about being free (i.e., saving money so as to sustain ourselves on less) vs. feeling guilty about being born in "a land of wealth." Too 60s flower child and liberal-leaning for my taste, with not enough substance to sustain it. Possibly a good introduction to the subject and perhaps significant in its day (the early 80s), but it doesn't stand the test of time, in my opinion. There are better books on the topic out there, but at least now it's off my must-read list.

If you are looking for a good overview on the ideas of simple living, try this book. Lacking sometimes indepth information it still is a very good overview and introduction in the concepts of simple living.

I agreed with the basic premise of the book. I'm all for living a simpler and richer life. And I agree with Elgin's ideas about accomplishing this at a personal level, using individual creativity and imagination to work out our problems. But I was very troubled when Elgin started proposing things like massive taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and alcohol to force people to change their way of living. Once again I hit my head against the wall of "liberal thinking": great ideas, but always forced upon us by big government. If Elgin had stayed the course and argued for individual change through education and personal enlightenment (and leave the government out of it), I would have given the book five stars.