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The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living
This one volume edition of Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life brings these classics on rural homesteading together. This couple abandoned the city for a rural life with minimal cash and the knowledge of self reliance and good health.
411 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Scott Nearing
256Ìýbooks13ÌýfollowersScott Nearing (1883-1983) was an American conservationist, peace activist, educator and writer. Born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Nearing is still viewed as a radical 20 years after his death. In 1954 he co-authored Living the Good Life: How to Live Simply and Sanely in a Troubled World with his wife Helen. The book, in which war, famine and poverty were discussed, described a nineteen-year "back to the land experiment" and also advocated a modern day "homesteading." Nearing's anti-war activities cost him two teaching jobs, and he was even charged under the Espionage Act for opposing the First World War.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
September 23, 2011
Flip the book over. The genre is written there on the top: Nature. "Nature"? This book is about "nature"? Are you kidding me?! See this is why I hate literary genres. Allow me to propose a few more: Philosophy; Environmentalism; Cultural Criticism; Agriculture; Health, Mind and Body; Building; Autobiography; Memoir; Home and Garden; History; Self-Improvement; Activism; American Dream; Food, Diet, and Cooking; Composting and Gardening; Simple Living; Radical Living; Aging, or Aging Well. "Nature"...psht! Oh, and I should also add "Romance," because if you don't find the Nearings' life to be extremely romantic, well, then those thousands of pounds of poison that you've been ingesting for years, provided by the market economy at your local food store, pre-packaged and full of toxins and colorings and dyes, must have eaten holes into your heart and brain, and those pills that you've been popping to repair the damage done to your body must have corroded your soul. Oh! And for that matter, I should add "Prophecy" to the list, because Scott and Helen foresaw what was coming, eventually: "We decided that western civilization would be unable henceforth to provide an adequate, stable and secure life even for those who attempted to follow its directives. If profit accumulation in the hands of the rich and powerful continued to push the economy toward ever more catastrophic depressions; if the alternative to depression, under the existing social system, was the elimination of the unmarketable surplus through the construction and uses of ever more deadly war equipment, it was only a question of time before those who depended upon the system for livelihood and security would find themselves out in the cold or among the missing." Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to set up an alternative lifestyle pattern free of all dependence upon the establishment market economy, buy me some land, build me a stone house, just right after I watch this episode of So You Think You Can Dance.
December 3, 2018
Aside from their politics, aside from their philosophy, their ingenuity, their pioneering veganism and their unity of purpose, I was most impressed, and amused even, by the Nearings' regularly interspersed expressions of irritation with their neighbors, and the hippies who descended on their property in the sixties, and the bastards back in the city who excommunicated them, and, really, everybody.
Never were two people better suited to go back to the land. They loved each other and dedicated their lives to not needing anybody else. It makes me wonder if being handy enough to build a house would automatically breed annoyance with people who can't find the end of a 2x4.
The Nearings' heroic self-sufficiency is an inspiration to everybody who's fed up with the world and longs to strike off on their own. But I think I'd hate to live next door to them.
Never were two people better suited to go back to the land. They loved each other and dedicated their lives to not needing anybody else. It makes me wonder if being handy enough to build a house would automatically breed annoyance with people who can't find the end of a 2x4.
The Nearings' heroic self-sufficiency is an inspiration to everybody who's fed up with the world and longs to strike off on their own. But I think I'd hate to live next door to them.
February 18, 2011
I went to college in New England. I became aware of the Nearings during the spring of 1972 when my roommate Jim Flagg enrolled in American intellectual history and discovered the Nearings as a research project. He wrote them a letter and received a timely response from Helen Nearing who invited him up to Camden, Maine for a weekend. (Perhaps on reading this Jim will memorialize his experience for posterity.) Scott and Helen Nearing invented the "back to the land" movement. The lifestyle involved the following: 1) daily hard physical work; anyone who has dug ditches will understand the animal nature of building houses out of stone 2) absolute economy; these communists out-yankeed their Vermont neighbors back in the great depression; no pity for rural poverty. Stalin's five year plans had nothing on the Nearings. 3) an appreciation for total reliance on local materials (rocks, blueberries, carrots)to fashion your life 4) strict order in the sense of accounting for money and equipment. Needless to say, the sunshine patriots of the hippie movement quickly returned from Nearing-like austerity to familiar habits of self-indulgence and waste.
I read The Good Life when I was working as a carpenter and builder. The Nearings popularized a method of building stone houses by using slip form construction. They were entirely self-taught and worked entirely by their own clock. They ultimately created a successful mini-economy based on sustainable crops such as blueberries and maple sugar. They relocated to Maine as their Vermont property became overrun with bourgeois skiers.
Scott and Helen died at the age of 100 and 91, respectively, from hard work.
I read The Good Life when I was working as a carpenter and builder. The Nearings popularized a method of building stone houses by using slip form construction. They were entirely self-taught and worked entirely by their own clock. They ultimately created a successful mini-economy based on sustainable crops such as blueberries and maple sugar. They relocated to Maine as their Vermont property became overrun with bourgeois skiers.
Scott and Helen died at the age of 100 and 91, respectively, from hard work.
January 2, 2013
I'd say this was the book that did it: effectively killed that far-off fantasy of procuring a small piece of land, building a little house, and living off mostly what we could do with our hands.
It's funny, because when I saw it one night at a used bookstore in Anchorage, it sang out to me, and I had this idea that all the answers were inside. In a way, they were. I learned that to live in the way described in this book requires just about everything you have, and I realized that the life I've created thus far -- a life of trying to write and be an artist, a life of raising a young family -- is simply not compatible with the time and effort and sacrifice needed to build these self-sufficiency skills. Maybe when we're fifty, who knows. It is a lifestyle that remains throughly respectable in my mind, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the person to do this. It give me hope, though, to think of people who are.
And these people are pretty fascinating. The Nearings are hard-core -- I love the part where he describes just washing the fresh vegetables and setting them on the table and that's dinner. But there are obvious lessons anyone can learn from this account, lessons about what we can give up, about what we are capable of, about hard work and idealism and values.
As far as the writing style goes, parts of this book were a total slog simply because the sentences were dry or repetitive. The best parts reminded me of Pound's _ABC's of Reading_ -- the sense of an impassioned man ranting as if he's figured it all out, if only anyone would listen to him. What I mean is, the writing improved when there was more feeling involved. I was intrigued, too, by the politics of the time, and the deliberate choices they made.
"We were not seeking to escape. Quite the contrary, we wanted to find a way in which we could put more into life and get more out of it."
It's funny, because when I saw it one night at a used bookstore in Anchorage, it sang out to me, and I had this idea that all the answers were inside. In a way, they were. I learned that to live in the way described in this book requires just about everything you have, and I realized that the life I've created thus far -- a life of trying to write and be an artist, a life of raising a young family -- is simply not compatible with the time and effort and sacrifice needed to build these self-sufficiency skills. Maybe when we're fifty, who knows. It is a lifestyle that remains throughly respectable in my mind, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the person to do this. It give me hope, though, to think of people who are.
And these people are pretty fascinating. The Nearings are hard-core -- I love the part where he describes just washing the fresh vegetables and setting them on the table and that's dinner. But there are obvious lessons anyone can learn from this account, lessons about what we can give up, about what we are capable of, about hard work and idealism and values.
As far as the writing style goes, parts of this book were a total slog simply because the sentences were dry or repetitive. The best parts reminded me of Pound's _ABC's of Reading_ -- the sense of an impassioned man ranting as if he's figured it all out, if only anyone would listen to him. What I mean is, the writing improved when there was more feeling involved. I was intrigued, too, by the politics of the time, and the deliberate choices they made.
"We were not seeking to escape. Quite the contrary, we wanted to find a way in which we could put more into life and get more out of it."
July 11, 2020
What a curious, self-possessed narrative of elitism, withdrawal and sufficiency. The two, Helen Knothe and Scott Nearing (who was 20 years older than his second wife, Helen) were perfectly suited to each other. One brings the aesthetic, spiritual aspects of living and the other, the political and economic. 1934 back-to-the-landers in VT and then ME, their days were perfectly ordered: 4 hours working for bread, 4 hours to improve the place and 4 hours for professional work and leisure. Nothing interrupted the pattern, paced by vegetarian food largely grown on the property. A fascinating read, referencing older works on living the good life. They spoke widely on their way of life and developed a following and many travellers would come to the Nearing farms where they were put to work.
However, the idyllic narrative is put into question with this Wikipedia note on Bright's further tellings of the Nearings. "In her book "Meanwhile, Next Door to the Good Life", Jean Hay Bright documents that the Nearings were both heavily subsidized by substantial inheritances which supported their forest farm. In 1934,[48] around the time they purchased the Vermont property, Helen inherited between $30,000�$40,000 from former suitor J. J. van der Leeuw (equivalent to $560,000 in 2019[49]). Scott received an inheritance from his father that was said to be "at least a million dollars" in 1940 according to Nearing's son Robert. Hay Bright's calculations make clear that while very hard working homesteaders, the Nearings never came close to supporting themselves on their "cash crops" as they state.[50]
To be fair, Helen Nearing is clear in The Good Life that any new farm requires at least 3 years of labor before it will produce any cash needed for the market economy, and they also required cash expenditures to rehabilitate property and structures and build new ones. Nearing just doesn't note where that cash may have come from. She does note accounting books that reference income and expenditures at several points and the importance of a business plan.
And funny, except for their political and spiritual natures, their upper class background and inherited money, Helen and Scott could have been my grandparents.
However, the idyllic narrative is put into question with this Wikipedia note on Bright's further tellings of the Nearings. "In her book "Meanwhile, Next Door to the Good Life", Jean Hay Bright documents that the Nearings were both heavily subsidized by substantial inheritances which supported their forest farm. In 1934,[48] around the time they purchased the Vermont property, Helen inherited between $30,000�$40,000 from former suitor J. J. van der Leeuw (equivalent to $560,000 in 2019[49]). Scott received an inheritance from his father that was said to be "at least a million dollars" in 1940 according to Nearing's son Robert. Hay Bright's calculations make clear that while very hard working homesteaders, the Nearings never came close to supporting themselves on their "cash crops" as they state.[50]
To be fair, Helen Nearing is clear in The Good Life that any new farm requires at least 3 years of labor before it will produce any cash needed for the market economy, and they also required cash expenditures to rehabilitate property and structures and build new ones. Nearing just doesn't note where that cash may have come from. She does note accounting books that reference income and expenditures at several points and the importance of a business plan.
And funny, except for their political and spiritual natures, their upper class background and inherited money, Helen and Scott could have been my grandparents.
June 11, 2010
I love this book. It answered all my questions about how one would go about ditching the capitalist game and living self-sufficiently and it is a constant inspiration. The Nearings had me completely smitten until they got to their eating habits, which are basically vegan, raw vegetable, fruit, some nuts and grains and things and occasionally peanut butter. I love them as one can only love people you know as characters in a book, but what seems to me skipping out on a basic function of human social interaction (cooking and eating for pleasure) stopped me cold and made me realize it was not to be for me. But I still love this book and think Helen Nearing's description of the young people who came to the farm to help is pointed and accurate to a fault for a lot of the young people I meet today.
November 29, 2009
Recommended to me by my Aunt after talking about reading . Beyond politics, animal husbandry (which the Nearings avoided) and building with wood (Salatins) vs. stone (Nearings), by and by the Nearings are pretty similar.
is thought to have inspired a generation of back-to-the-earth types in the 60s accomplish just that. This book seemed to be used as a manual for better living through simple living.
was a PhD economist who was a socialist as well. He was very outspoken during WWI which caused him to lose a professorship. He was living in NYC with his wife, Helen during the depression and in 1932 they decided to leave it all and move to Vermont.
has two books. The first is about their first 20 years in Vermont. They talk about the necessity of having a cash crop and an alternate income on top of that to support you, even if you live completely off the land.
The second book, is about their move to the coast of Maine where they switched to Blueberries as their cash crop, but lived a similar life - building houses out of field stones that they found, gardening year round by using glass houses, eating well and only working 4 hours a day. It sounded too good to be true. In fact, they spent a lot of time talking about organizing their years ahead and preparing to take 14 years to build a stone fence.
If that's the kind of reward you're into, I recommend reading this book and highlighting the lists as they appear in the text. Nearing is the easiest economist to read I've ran across, and since I was interested in the material, it made this book a breeze to read. There are quotes from plenty of centuries regarding agriculture and being a good "husband-man". There are also pictures of the stone structures they built, the gardens they had and also the Nearings as they aged for the more than 50 years they lived off the land.
died 18 days after his 100th birthday because he was fasting in protest of the US government. I'm willing to bet that because of the life he lived, that he would've lived much longer than 100 had he not been so politically driven. Not that I mind, but 100 years old hardly seems like a martyr compared with younger people. But maybe I'm wrong.
I think a new goal of mine is to search out homesteads and farmers who don't follow the easy path (not the good path), but those that seek the path to better self, community and environment. People like , , and even since he has a garden, too.
is thought to have inspired a generation of back-to-the-earth types in the 60s accomplish just that. This book seemed to be used as a manual for better living through simple living.
was a PhD economist who was a socialist as well. He was very outspoken during WWI which caused him to lose a professorship. He was living in NYC with his wife, Helen during the depression and in 1932 they decided to leave it all and move to Vermont.
has two books. The first is about their first 20 years in Vermont. They talk about the necessity of having a cash crop and an alternate income on top of that to support you, even if you live completely off the land.
The second book, is about their move to the coast of Maine where they switched to Blueberries as their cash crop, but lived a similar life - building houses out of field stones that they found, gardening year round by using glass houses, eating well and only working 4 hours a day. It sounded too good to be true. In fact, they spent a lot of time talking about organizing their years ahead and preparing to take 14 years to build a stone fence.
If that's the kind of reward you're into, I recommend reading this book and highlighting the lists as they appear in the text. Nearing is the easiest economist to read I've ran across, and since I was interested in the material, it made this book a breeze to read. There are quotes from plenty of centuries regarding agriculture and being a good "husband-man". There are also pictures of the stone structures they built, the gardens they had and also the Nearings as they aged for the more than 50 years they lived off the land.
died 18 days after his 100th birthday because he was fasting in protest of the US government. I'm willing to bet that because of the life he lived, that he would've lived much longer than 100 had he not been so politically driven. Not that I mind, but 100 years old hardly seems like a martyr compared with younger people. But maybe I'm wrong.
I think a new goal of mine is to search out homesteads and farmers who don't follow the easy path (not the good path), but those that seek the path to better self, community and environment. People like , , and even since he has a garden, too.
June 22, 2022
I follow Shawn James on YouTube and believe this was a book he mentioned.
This is actually two books that were written by Helen and Scott Nearing about their life homesteading in Vermont and New Hampshire beginning in the 1930's I believe.
Feeling at odds with American culture this couple transitioned to a rural lifestyle where they strove to live simply and without debt.
Whether you agree with their principles or not, the Nearing' s were impressive for the influence they had on others seeking a similar lifestyle. They had an endless stream of visitors over the years who wanted to see how they lived this alternative lifestyle they called 'the good life'.
I liked how Helen and Scott managed to live simply. They had no interest in material wealth and managed to live off the land purchasing what they weren't able to grow themselves.
I was amazed this couple could work so hard physically on a vegetarian diet, building stone buildings they were convinced were vastly superior to anything built from wood.
While this is no page turner it must be essential reading for anyone considering an off grid or more self reliant lifestyle as many of the concepts are timeless.
This is actually two books that were written by Helen and Scott Nearing about their life homesteading in Vermont and New Hampshire beginning in the 1930's I believe.
Feeling at odds with American culture this couple transitioned to a rural lifestyle where they strove to live simply and without debt.
Whether you agree with their principles or not, the Nearing' s were impressive for the influence they had on others seeking a similar lifestyle. They had an endless stream of visitors over the years who wanted to see how they lived this alternative lifestyle they called 'the good life'.
I liked how Helen and Scott managed to live simply. They had no interest in material wealth and managed to live off the land purchasing what they weren't able to grow themselves.
I was amazed this couple could work so hard physically on a vegetarian diet, building stone buildings they were convinced were vastly superior to anything built from wood.
While this is no page turner it must be essential reading for anyone considering an off grid or more self reliant lifestyle as many of the concepts are timeless.
November 10, 2021
It sounds ridiculous but I think this book changed my life. I talk to people about it almost every day. Don't know how to recommend other than if you want to read the story of two detail oriented persnickety white city people who decided to go be weirdo homesteaders in the woods during the great depression then this is the book for you! If you weren't already obsessed with building stone houses before reading this book, then just you wait! Easily my #1 book I read this year (and it's only October!)
June 17, 2020
I didn't actually finish this book... only made it to page 89. I'm really interested in the idea of simplifying, of what technologies and comforts and conveniences are necessary in life and worth the trouble of owning/maintaining. This book seemed right in line with my explorations and it is sporadically. But the Nearings's general philosophy about a simple, useful, life of integrity is mixed in a whole lot of technical stuff about the size of boulders they used for their house and details of maple sugar production.... like a "how to" manual, which I don't need and couldn't maintain an interest in because I'm not actually moving out into the country to be self-sufficient.
January 23, 2020
I first read Living the Good Life: How to Live Simply and Sanely in a Troubled World in my twenties, a few months before my wife brought our first child into the world. The title caught my eye, because I was seeking answers to that ancient human question: What is a good life? As a teacher, a writer, a husband, and soon to be a father, I felt blessed but also bewildered by opportunities. Amid so many possibilities and responsibilities, how could I discover what is essential, what gives meaning? How could I avoid frittering away my days on duties and distractions?
In these pages, Helen and Scott Nearing tell the story of their own search for answers to such questions. Early in the Great Depression, they left New York, where they had been harassed because of their pacifist and socialist views, and moved to rural Vermont, where they homesteaded, growing much of their own food, constructing a house and outbuildings with timber and stone, harvesting maple syrup, and avoiding, as much as possible, the cash economy. (Years later, a neighbor claimed that Helen and Scott had been supported in part by inheritances that each had received from parents.) I had grown up in the country, with parents who gardened, canned, carpentered, sewed, mended, and otherwise met as many of the family's needs as possible through their own efforts and skill. They did this partly for lack of money, partly from principle. So I readily identified with the Nearings' efforts to live simply and sustainably, as much a possible by their own labors, and I admired their values.
The volume cited here combines Living the Good Life with a sequel called Continuing the Good Life. Now in my seventies, I read the Nearings' testaments with a more critical eye, but I still respect their striving for self-sufficiency, their resistance to the consumer economy, and their witness to peace and social justice.
In these pages, Helen and Scott Nearing tell the story of their own search for answers to such questions. Early in the Great Depression, they left New York, where they had been harassed because of their pacifist and socialist views, and moved to rural Vermont, where they homesteaded, growing much of their own food, constructing a house and outbuildings with timber and stone, harvesting maple syrup, and avoiding, as much as possible, the cash economy. (Years later, a neighbor claimed that Helen and Scott had been supported in part by inheritances that each had received from parents.) I had grown up in the country, with parents who gardened, canned, carpentered, sewed, mended, and otherwise met as many of the family's needs as possible through their own efforts and skill. They did this partly for lack of money, partly from principle. So I readily identified with the Nearings' efforts to live simply and sustainably, as much a possible by their own labors, and I admired their values.
The volume cited here combines Living the Good Life with a sequel called Continuing the Good Life. Now in my seventies, I read the Nearings' testaments with a more critical eye, but I still respect their striving for self-sufficiency, their resistance to the consumer economy, and their witness to peace and social justice.
July 12, 2011
A homesteading how-to from the Nearings. Having worked on their archival papers and (as an unrelated coincidence) having lived within a mile of their homestead in Vermont at one point, I really should have read this one all the way through a LONG time ago. I admire their drive to live an independent life and follow through with it for the majority of their lives. They lived life as they thought it should be lived, and worked hard at trying to spread the word throughout the U.S. Is it the life for me? No. I really love my verboten pancake breakfast with eggs and bacon on a Sunday (though I'll meet them part of the way with keeping things organic) and I really like living independently without housing random folk that show up at the door.
It's a miracle that they were able to reap as much of a crop as they did on the property. The year I lived in Winhall/Bondville/Stratton/Pike's Falls (no one knows what to call the darn area) snow fell before Halloween and didn't melt until May. I also don't know how they didn't go crazy over the long winter (March sugaring is a long way off from November) even with the occasional lecture travel. So, kudos to them for enjoying their VT lifestyle for 20 years.
It's a miracle that they were able to reap as much of a crop as they did on the property. The year I lived in Winhall/Bondville/Stratton/Pike's Falls (no one knows what to call the darn area) snow fell before Halloween and didn't melt until May. I also don't know how they didn't go crazy over the long winter (March sugaring is a long way off from November) even with the occasional lecture travel. So, kudos to them for enjoying their VT lifestyle for 20 years.
March 21, 2012
'the good life'? more like 'the hard life'!
as an actual homesteader, i was very much looking forward to reading this book and finding great bits of information and methods of improving our own farm. and while they are there, the terse tone, rigid methods, and military discipline of the nearings is quite frightful, and am amazed that readers find their methods inspiring to 'sell it all and move to the country'. [farming is actually more fun and easier than they make it out to be, and in reality is unnecessary to follow any of the processes outlined by the nearings.]
it is a very rigid book written by very rigid people; while it is a precursor to organic farming and permaculture, this is not an example of a 'natural' farm, let alone 'the good life'. i was specifically not impressed by their attitudes towards animals and the use of animals, nor was i by their attitudes towards their neighbours or any method that was not theirs.
for a more realistic and pleasing farming vision, i would recommend Sepp Holzer and Rudolf Steiner - anything related to the permaculture and biodynamic methods.
as an actual homesteader, i was very much looking forward to reading this book and finding great bits of information and methods of improving our own farm. and while they are there, the terse tone, rigid methods, and military discipline of the nearings is quite frightful, and am amazed that readers find their methods inspiring to 'sell it all and move to the country'. [farming is actually more fun and easier than they make it out to be, and in reality is unnecessary to follow any of the processes outlined by the nearings.]
it is a very rigid book written by very rigid people; while it is a precursor to organic farming and permaculture, this is not an example of a 'natural' farm, let alone 'the good life'. i was specifically not impressed by their attitudes towards animals and the use of animals, nor was i by their attitudes towards their neighbours or any method that was not theirs.
for a more realistic and pleasing farming vision, i would recommend Sepp Holzer and Rudolf Steiner - anything related to the permaculture and biodynamic methods.
January 2, 2021
The ideas presented in this book were both daring and delightful. It was such an appropriate read for the financial scare we've been in (and comforting!. How empowering that two people with no farming experience learned to care for themselves and their community through their studies and just trial and error. I picked up a ton of tips in this book that can help even the deepest city dweller appreciate the world around them and communities they live in. The book also helped me understand why some people choose to live outside the concrete jungle. I won't lie- they do paint a fairly romantic picture of a simple way of living off of the land in the country and, as they point their fingers away from materialism, I wonder if every Christian couldn't learn a little something from the Nearings. It was a very refreshing read.
April 11, 2020
This book is a recap of the experiences of a married couple who moved from New York City to the boonies of Vermont in 1932 and "homesteaded" for 20 years. They wrote it in 1954, and the writing style is kind of quirky. The authors themselves are... unique, to put it mildly. They seem highly intelligent, but more than that, absolutely phenomenal at advance planning and self-discipline. They made every aspect of homesteading work because they planned in advance, educated themselves, learned from their mistakes, took careful notes... they almost seem Vulcan in the logical manner in which they approached everything: building their own home out of native stone; growing 80% of their own food; making and selling maple syrup to have enough money to pay for the other 20% of their diet, and to pay for tools, auto repair and such; chopping their own lumber to provide heat.
I have a great deal of respect for these people, and I learned some important things from this book. That said, I would never in a gazillion years want to try this myself. They lived without running water. Or electricity. They didn't drink, or smoke, or even drink coffee. They were hardcore vegans, for philosophical reasons. Their diet consisted mostly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. That's it! They rarely ate bread, sweets, or any kind of baked goods. They say they both had phenomenal health from this lifestyle. They NEVER needed a doctor. If they ever felt a cold coming on, they simply "emulated the cats and dogs of the neighborhood" and stopped eating until they felt better. They seem to have figured out a Whole Foods Plant Based Diet and intermittent fasting decades before other Americans did.
Politically, they were communists. They admit that that did NOT go over well in rural Vermont. All of their efforts to organize shared community facilities, to build a more integrated society with the other families in their valley, just didn't work out. Rural Vermonters at that time were a rugged, fiercely individual bunch. And, no one else seemed to have the foresight and self-discipline that the authors did to plan for, and implement, long-term projects.
They say that, if they had to do it all again, knowing at the beginning what they did at the end of the 20 years, they absolutely would. They clearly took great satisfaction and pride in not only learning to do all sorts of things themselves, but in successfully removing themselves from modern, urban, industrial America, and living true to their own principles and philosophical beliefs as much as possible. These people seem way more Thoreau-like than Thoreau, frankly. They deserve to be better known.
I have a great deal of respect for these people, and I learned some important things from this book. That said, I would never in a gazillion years want to try this myself. They lived without running water. Or electricity. They didn't drink, or smoke, or even drink coffee. They were hardcore vegans, for philosophical reasons. Their diet consisted mostly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. That's it! They rarely ate bread, sweets, or any kind of baked goods. They say they both had phenomenal health from this lifestyle. They NEVER needed a doctor. If they ever felt a cold coming on, they simply "emulated the cats and dogs of the neighborhood" and stopped eating until they felt better. They seem to have figured out a Whole Foods Plant Based Diet and intermittent fasting decades before other Americans did.
Politically, they were communists. They admit that that did NOT go over well in rural Vermont. All of their efforts to organize shared community facilities, to build a more integrated society with the other families in their valley, just didn't work out. Rural Vermonters at that time were a rugged, fiercely individual bunch. And, no one else seemed to have the foresight and self-discipline that the authors did to plan for, and implement, long-term projects.
They say that, if they had to do it all again, knowing at the beginning what they did at the end of the 20 years, they absolutely would. They clearly took great satisfaction and pride in not only learning to do all sorts of things themselves, but in successfully removing themselves from modern, urban, industrial America, and living true to their own principles and philosophical beliefs as much as possible. These people seem way more Thoreau-like than Thoreau, frankly. They deserve to be better known.
November 18, 2017
An honest glimpse into the life and two people trying to live their values. Though I don't have a lot in common with the Nearings, I appreciate so much this kind of book. It reminds me of an adult version of the Little House books, just an accurate portrayal of a human life. In some ways it is more interesting than the Little House books because the Nearings explain why they chose to live how they did. There is nothing arrogant or sell-y about this book. If anything, the tone is wistful and sad.
This book reminds me of the Ted Talk "Life is Easy." The addendum needs to be, "... if you don't mind third world poverty." The Nearings may have lived in the United States, but they bought their free time at the price of extreme discomforts that most people would be unwilling to suffer. Everything said in the "Life is Easy" Ted Talk and this book is accurate: Survival is easy. As long as you don't want indoor plumbing, central heating or cooling, meals with herbs or sauces, comfortable clothes and furniture, and children. And as long as no bandits show up at your place to take what little you have (i.e. pick your government protectors wisely! Then again, why would any government want to protect you if you are living off the land and not paying them taxes? Good luck, guys...)
This book also reminds me of all the passionate heroes willing to live their values. Ayn Rand comes to mind. Like Rand, the Nearings expressed a beautiful vision and people flocked to them, to study them, learn from them, some wanted to join them. Like Rand, there are people today long after their death who have dedicated their lives to keeping the Nearing's vision and work alive. But the Nearings themselves were never able to create the community they dreamed of because, like Rand, they dreamed of equals and only found followers. In the end, all the fans weren't worth it. In the end, they just wanted to be left alone. This is what I have read from Every Philosopher Ever. Want to be a hero among men? Prepare to be lonely.
That being said, I do think that MicroCities centered around different values are the future, and I am really looking forward to them.
This book reminds me of the Ted Talk "Life is Easy." The addendum needs to be, "... if you don't mind third world poverty." The Nearings may have lived in the United States, but they bought their free time at the price of extreme discomforts that most people would be unwilling to suffer. Everything said in the "Life is Easy" Ted Talk and this book is accurate: Survival is easy. As long as you don't want indoor plumbing, central heating or cooling, meals with herbs or sauces, comfortable clothes and furniture, and children. And as long as no bandits show up at your place to take what little you have (i.e. pick your government protectors wisely! Then again, why would any government want to protect you if you are living off the land and not paying them taxes? Good luck, guys...)
This book also reminds me of all the passionate heroes willing to live their values. Ayn Rand comes to mind. Like Rand, the Nearings expressed a beautiful vision and people flocked to them, to study them, learn from them, some wanted to join them. Like Rand, there are people today long after their death who have dedicated their lives to keeping the Nearing's vision and work alive. But the Nearings themselves were never able to create the community they dreamed of because, like Rand, they dreamed of equals and only found followers. In the end, all the fans weren't worth it. In the end, they just wanted to be left alone. This is what I have read from Every Philosopher Ever. Want to be a hero among men? Prepare to be lonely.
That being said, I do think that MicroCities centered around different values are the future, and I am really looking forward to them.
March 28, 2021
This was a re-read. This book is one of the clearest accounts I have read of an average individual (couple really) explaining the major choices they made in life, their values, and why they made their choices. Additionally, how things changing over time has impacted their choices, and led to regrets and lessons learned. For those of you familiar to Thoreau's Walden, think about his explanations of growing beans or building his home, but far more pleasant to read and applied to all aspects of their life.
You aren't going to agree with them, their views are quite fringe to begin with (almost raw vegans, definitely communists), and they are writing from the last century. Indeed the book doesn't read like they are trying to convince you to adopt their way of life, more just documenting it for those curious, which is probably why it has stood up to time and was also worth the re-read.
Instead of reading it with an eye of adopting their life style, read it to reflect on your current lifestyle. If you documented the major choices you made, the regrets you've had, the lessons you learned, would you feel as satisfied as they clearly feel about theirs? (the book finishes when the remaining partner is ~ 80)
I think the power of this book is it prompts reflection into your own life and reminds you there are other paths and other choices you can be making (but maybe not _should be_), with the key point that you should be _consciously_ making choices and not just going with the flow of life.
You aren't going to agree with them, their views are quite fringe to begin with (almost raw vegans, definitely communists), and they are writing from the last century. Indeed the book doesn't read like they are trying to convince you to adopt their way of life, more just documenting it for those curious, which is probably why it has stood up to time and was also worth the re-read.
Instead of reading it with an eye of adopting their life style, read it to reflect on your current lifestyle. If you documented the major choices you made, the regrets you've had, the lessons you learned, would you feel as satisfied as they clearly feel about theirs? (the book finishes when the remaining partner is ~ 80)
I think the power of this book is it prompts reflection into your own life and reminds you there are other paths and other choices you can be making (but maybe not _should be_), with the key point that you should be _consciously_ making choices and not just going with the flow of life.
June 10, 2024
A fascinating mix of brilliant and bizarre. Mixes excellent, if occasionally outdated, advice about gardening, building, food preservation, and utopian socialism. Brought down a bit by a certain Puritan moral arrogance.
This is actually two books in one. The first, Living the Good Life, is the story of how and why the authors bought land and set up a homestead in rural Vermont. The second, Continuing the Good Life, is about how they pulled up stakes and moved to costal Maine. Both start with a detailed account of how the gardens were set up, how the house and other buildings were built (always with raw stone and cement, I should ask my father about that...) more details about their gardening projects, a few diatribes about the horrors of modern supermarkets and the health risks of overprocessed food, an account of their own violently simple diets (us white people can be DEFENSIVE about our inability to cook), and end with some talk about their struggles to interact with their community. The earlier parts are most useful to would-be gardeners, the last to would-be socialists, but I suspect the bits about diet has had the most impact. Starvation can be a form of gluttony, after all.
I will not be starting a homestead or commune anytime soon, nor will I be adopting a raw vegan diet. But even if raw vegetables placed uncut in the center of the table (the authors' preferred way of feeding guests, at least in the first half) aren't to my palate, there is plenty of food for thought and worldbuilding. Raw stone instead of brick indeed...
This is actually two books in one. The first, Living the Good Life, is the story of how and why the authors bought land and set up a homestead in rural Vermont. The second, Continuing the Good Life, is about how they pulled up stakes and moved to costal Maine. Both start with a detailed account of how the gardens were set up, how the house and other buildings were built (always with raw stone and cement, I should ask my father about that...) more details about their gardening projects, a few diatribes about the horrors of modern supermarkets and the health risks of overprocessed food, an account of their own violently simple diets (us white people can be DEFENSIVE about our inability to cook), and end with some talk about their struggles to interact with their community. The earlier parts are most useful to would-be gardeners, the last to would-be socialists, but I suspect the bits about diet has had the most impact. Starvation can be a form of gluttony, after all.
I will not be starting a homestead or commune anytime soon, nor will I be adopting a raw vegan diet. But even if raw vegetables placed uncut in the center of the table (the authors' preferred way of feeding guests, at least in the first half) aren't to my palate, there is plenty of food for thought and worldbuilding. Raw stone instead of brick indeed...
December 15, 2018
So . . . supposed to be a classic in "basic living." And it does deal with that . . . 1930s-1950s. But these people are just a little too self-righteous for my taste. So proud that they don't eat meat. Fine. But they won't raise chickens for eggs or cows for milk. Calls them "slaves." Worse, they are down-right proud of how the refuse to make a "profit." If they make something that people want, they keep track of their hours of labor, and refuse to charge more than enough to pay them a basic wage. Nothing for their cleverness, or entrepreneurial activity. Nothing about how in demand the product is, and what the market will bear. They ignore the information-sharing and allocation function of pricing. Much like the Pope, and all socialists, they have a sick, twisted view of economics, and are proud of it. So. Pretty annoying a lot of the time. An interesting peek into the country life 100 years ago, and they were certainly nice people and nice neighbors. But were just plain wrong about so many things.
August 17, 2021
Being a gardener and past farmer, I was most interested in the wealth of information on organic gardening. I do not have the ability to develop large compost piles for my fertilizer and humus source but some aspects of their program I can adapt.
The large amount of details on how they constructed their buildings where a bit vague at times referring to posts and outcroppings and notching a log or rafter at this point of that point.
Something can be said of their "use economy" or an adaptation of it to the lives of many people where a homesteader or an urban dweller.
I think the same can be said of their diets. Apparently, their way of life is quite different from much of western Civilization. They have remained healthy from their practices which says much for them. I do, however, think that much health can be gained moderating their type of living and diets and that common to many non-homesteaders.
The large amount of details on how they constructed their buildings where a bit vague at times referring to posts and outcroppings and notching a log or rafter at this point of that point.
Something can be said of their "use economy" or an adaptation of it to the lives of many people where a homesteader or an urban dweller.
I think the same can be said of their diets. Apparently, their way of life is quite different from much of western Civilization. They have remained healthy from their practices which says much for them. I do, however, think that much health can be gained moderating their type of living and diets and that common to many non-homesteaders.
September 15, 2021
The amazing thing about this true tale is they don’t mention their ages when they left the city to start a new crazy difficult life in self sufficiency. She was in her 40’s and he was in his 60’s. Wait what? I heard later in an interview with Helen (89 at the time) that Scott lives to be 100 and at 89 neither of them experience(d) any illness, cancer or difficulty in going on with their Good Life. Just a mere wearing down of the body. It would seem that working hard and remaining as close to nature in diet and surrounding as much as possible is a true recipe for living a long good life more than any medication out there.
As someone who aspires to follow in their footsteps, the details of how they built their building and organized their days is invaluable if not a bit tedious and most likely unattainable for most people. But it certainly gives you the format on one way to achieve success on the homestead.
As someone who aspires to follow in their footsteps, the details of how they built their building and organized their days is invaluable if not a bit tedious and most likely unattainable for most people. But it certainly gives you the format on one way to achieve success on the homestead.
July 28, 2022
I can imagine trying to do what the Nearings did—hard physical labor doesn’t scare me—but the austerity of their diet would do me in. Raw veg and uncooked oats?! Like, every day! Even soup every day would depress me. They lived long lives in part because they ate like they didn’t care about food. I think I’m too much a city person to truly embrace this healthful approach.
The one thing I was really craving in this book was to hear about the ways they spent their time when there wasn’t any “bread labor� to do. I got the sense the bread labor never really ends and that eventually, they enjoyed building stone walls more than reading, writing, traveling, etc. Which is fine, I get it. It does sound fun and probably seems more fruitful, knowing you made something lasting. 200 years from now their stone buildings will be there, but what about we humans? We haven’t seemed to learn or apply any of the lessons about reviving topsoil or reducing our attachment to capitalism and fossil fuels.
The one thing I was really craving in this book was to hear about the ways they spent their time when there wasn’t any “bread labor� to do. I got the sense the bread labor never really ends and that eventually, they enjoyed building stone walls more than reading, writing, traveling, etc. Which is fine, I get it. It does sound fun and probably seems more fruitful, knowing you made something lasting. 200 years from now their stone buildings will be there, but what about we humans? We haven’t seemed to learn or apply any of the lessons about reviving topsoil or reducing our attachment to capitalism and fossil fuels.
November 23, 2017
The Nearings were an impressive couple who truly lived by their principles - a rare trait which makes for a real treat. My only grievances with this book are the, at times, lengthy descriptions of specific topics such as house building. They wrote separate books on these topics for readers who plan to put their philosophy and way of life into practice. But be forewarned, the Nearings were not distinctive in their beliefs but they were in the way they were able to put them into action, without doubt, but rather with an incredible drive and certainty that is uncommon to find among other human beings. I recommend this book for those who find the status quo unappealing and are considering alternatives to the reality they find themselves in.
December 20, 2019
The Nearings embarked on their own Walden-like project during the Great Depression, and at first their account of it seems a bit too quaint. But where’s Thoreau “went to the woods� (Walden Pond was just a brisk walk from town) for just two years, Helen and Scott Nearing never left. This memoir has been a handbook for generations of back-to-the-landers and has tons of practical tools for anyone living anywhere as well. My favorite is their practice of doing “bread labor� (physical work) for the first few hours of each day as a means to keep fit, dissolve class roles, and just get stuff done. So build a shed, bake some bread, read this book and go to bed.
September 2, 2017
Much excellent exploration on the mindset of abandoning a city life in favor of communal self-sufficiency, and plenty of practical advice on challenges and techniques learned on the way. Some chapters are downright preachy, however, and with the hindsight of an additional 50 years of historical context, plain wrong (especially those concerning diet). But overall a valuable book and a remarkable chronicle of a remarkable adventure. Well worth reading for anyone considering adopting a "country life".
January 28, 2020
Written in 1954 and part 2 in 1979 I swear it is just as vital today! Plant based, health conscious, do no harm to animals and homesteading! Every page is packed with a wealth of information. I mean dense with concentrated information. It reminded me of my Anne Labastille Woodswoman books I read in 2007, 2008. Their extremely rigid work ethic I really admired! I wish I was an adult during those times when people visited and worked on their homesteads. I learned a lot. Although I doubt I will be building stone houses or fences I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
March 22, 2021
This is a dense read and full of amazingly detailed information about living off the grid. Ever wondered how to build a stone house or a composting toilet? Explained from start to finish. Also, how to garden in cold climates, how to live off frugally off your own resources and reject the capitalist life, and how to both have a strict homesteading schedule while finding time for pleasure and bettering oneself. Scott and Helen seem like they would be really great people to know. Full of knowledge and a want for improving the communities they live within. An inspiring book.
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February 22, 2024Fascinating and detailed account of self-sustaining life, partially outside the cash economy. The Nearings were clearly extremely principled folks. While I may not agree with every principle they espoused, I have so much respect for people who dedicate their lives to living their values. They put in a lot of work to prove that their vision of the world is possible, at least to some degree.
Also, I will probably reference this book in the future for cold climate gardening and composting tips.
Also, I will probably reference this book in the future for cold climate gardening and composting tips.
October 24, 2018
Definitely dated at times, and certain points on which they go into excessive technical detail are not worth the modern reader's time. The walls of quotes that bookend the chapters may have seemed nice when the book was published but here represent a frivolity and an annoyance to the reader. Overall, something I would recommend to anyone interested in self-sufficiency, but here the book's contours matter more than the firm details.
August 22, 2024
So many aspects of this book and their lifestyle are how we either strive to live or desire to live. I really want to build something with stone & rocks! I also appreciate some of their views on breaking from the "Establishment" and what living healthy means. I did have to read this in small chunks at a time due to the amount of information presented at one time. I wish I could have visited and learned alongside them.
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