wendoxford's review
3.0
A mixed bag for me. Some sections felt like stating the bleeding obvious whereas other completely fascinated me. It is laid out as a book for dipping into so I guess that the author has readers coming from different perspectives in mind.
I found the section on Earthship housebuilding eye opening. Creating homes from old bottles, tyres, adobe - a brilliant example of reuse, reduce, recycle. I was torn about the idea of learning these techniques had meant flying to New Mexico which can hardly embrace the core principles but I am letting these misgivings just hang.
Learning about the Mens Shed movement was a closer to home (although a global idea) example of what can be done when families and healthcare professionals use common sense to deal with isolation, lack of purpose instead of prescription medication.
I personally found great joy in Humble's writing of her visit to Lundy which gave focus and rich texture to the life of one man's working life on this remote island. These individual portraits were my favourite parts of the book. The couple who wanted a home but didn't want a lifetime of debt, the skilled woman who felt her skills were not valued enough to give her security of accommodation. All these people discovered that actually security is something other - within community, a slower lifestyle, joy in each day, rather than running to stand still to make money to keep up.
Despite its challenges to the world, this is a wonderfully soothing book which opened many conversations with myself!
I found the section on Earthship housebuilding eye opening. Creating homes from old bottles, tyres, adobe - a brilliant example of reuse, reduce, recycle. I was torn about the idea of learning these techniques had meant flying to New Mexico which can hardly embrace the core principles but I am letting these misgivings just hang.
Learning about the Mens Shed movement was a closer to home (although a global idea) example of what can be done when families and healthcare professionals use common sense to deal with isolation, lack of purpose instead of prescription medication.
I personally found great joy in Humble's writing of her visit to Lundy which gave focus and rich texture to the life of one man's working life on this remote island. These individual portraits were my favourite parts of the book. The couple who wanted a home but didn't want a lifetime of debt, the skilled woman who felt her skills were not valued enough to give her security of accommodation. All these people discovered that actually security is something other - within community, a slower lifestyle, joy in each day, rather than running to stand still to make money to keep up.
Despite its challenges to the world, this is a wonderfully soothing book which opened many conversations with myself!
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