The book tries to preempt and defuse accusations of hypocrisy or inconsistently by addressing them outright toward the end with the Whitman quote of Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes., yet the persistent theme throughout the book has to be one of a purity spiral and the contradictions within it.

The author was vegan and environmentally conscious and points this out repeatedly; however, working for a fair trade company isn't good enough. Advocating environmentalism isn't good enough. Because it's all still within "the system". This purity spiral leads him to reject money but embrace eating roadkill. Again and again we're reminded how unsustainable the current system is, as the author feels bad and hypocritical for even using a fishing line in self reliance.
Yet if this is actually about saving the world and environment there's never a single comment about what would happen if people actually followed the author's path. The answer is obvious. The entire ecological system would collapse if everyone tried to fish their local waters and kill local game. The author can enjoy this hermetic lifestyle by nibbling on the edges of the system he's trying to reject (or end?). I was waiting for any reflection on this but it never happens. Nor any reflection on the negligible impact of a single person doing this (in terms of environmental impact).

Toward the end of the book his relationship ends and he has a momentary panic seeming to realize that he's stuck in a rural area with no woman, among elderly peers (the death of rural community as he's repeatedly waxed), but no greater reflection is made about this illustrating the dead end of this lifestyle either (needing urban life to find someone to drag out into the wild). The obvious missing puzzle piece is community which requires connection. The author laments the impossibility of friendships across the world and country when you eliminate technology and modern transport, but writes a book that advertises his open house and invites people to come there.

The layers of contradictions are really what kept me glued to this book. The rejection of technology seems reflexive and poorly thought through, with arbitrary limits - and for homesteading there are a lot of other people doing it more realistically and better (with many documenting their work on youtube). For becoming attuned to nature a book like Proenneke's Alone in the Wilderness is much more evocative. Still, the author has actually done the lifestyle change instead of just talking about it in theory, and is living his philosophy (however patchy), which is commendable. ( )

He buys a smallholding in west Ireland, builds a cabin, and lives there with no technology more modern than a bicycle and a pencil and a monofilament fishing line (which he really beats himself up over). He tries not to be self-righteous, and fails. It wasn't a very rewarding read. ( )

It was late one evening when Mark Boyle checked his email one last time and turned off his phone. He fully intended to never switch it back on again. In his new home, a cabin alongside a wood there was no electricity or running water, no internet or sewage connections nor was he even going to have solar power! He was going fully off-grid.

Boyle was going to have to grow and catch his own food, collect his own firewood, build and repair anything that he needed around the home and collecting water from the stream. Washing is done by hand, he catches his own food and lives frugally off the land. It was a simple life, but tough as everything that you do means that you get to live another day. He had almost no money or and his only income was from his writing. Even that was problematic as all correspondence was going to be by letter so arranging anything could take several days and more often weeks. He had consciously made the decision to completely avoid all forms of technology and was a totally committed eco-warrior.

As tough as his new life was, it was good for his mental health as he had none of the stresses of modern day life. He rose with the sun, and life around the small holding was dictated by the weather and the seasons. Some days there were never enough hours in the day to do all the things that he needed to do. On other days he had the luxury of time to pursue projects like a homemade hot tub. His partner, Kirsty is there as almost an afterthought in the text.

Boyle gives an insight into what it is like to step off-grid and make your own way in the world. It does make you think about our dependence on many things that we now take for granted, for example, electricity, internet, refrigeration and light. It also goes to show that we still need human interaction even though we may not need technology all of the time and that gaining skills in other areas may be beneficial. When writing this book he did have to hand write the manuscript which as he only had the single copy meant that he either had to copy it out again of hope that it wasn’t lost or damaged. However, he did have to type it up for submission and it reminded him why he hated computers. I didn’t think that this was a good as Deep Country. In this eloquent book, Neil Ansell undertakes a similar exercise for five years in Wales. It is still worth a read if you have ever considered walking away from the modern world. Another in the same vein is How To Live Off-Grid – Journeys Outside The System by Nick Rosen. ( )

“Many years ago, I decided that instead of spending my life making a living, I wanted to make living my life.” P 250

I’m not unfamiliar with people living off the grid; I live in Montana and it’s not unusual to hear about those living the lifestyle.

This memoir by Irish author [[Mark Boyle]], who has a previous book about living entirely without money, is quite different, though.

He eschews every bit of technology – no emergency cell phones or computers, no self-generated electricity. Instead he lives on a three acre plot in rural Ireland. He is surrounded by neighbors living the modern lifestyle. He bicycles everywhere, takes only public transportation (not widely available in rural Ireland) and refuses even to hitch hike.

He celebrates that his lifestyle keeps him mindful and engaged with his daily life instead of having life rush by without being lived. He believes that although he has far fewer human contacts, the ones he has are more meaningful.

His days are mostly spent with the chores to keep him alive: raising food, improving soil, gardening, fishing and debating the ethics of hunting. He also enjoys brewing wine and beer through scavenged fruit and local plants and keeps a free hostel so others can observe his lifestyle.

As a writer, he even considers making his own paper and ink. He writes his journal and articles with a regular wooden pencil, but he questions even that:

“I buy my pencils from the small art shop in our nearest town, specifically because the owner and his wife are trying to get the money together to jack in the world of business, and, instead, move to a smallholding in Connemara. If he were to give me a guided tour of the entire process of making one – from the building of the roads to get the workers from suburbia to the factories, to the extraction and felling of the materials, etc. – I wouldn’t want to buy a single pencil. But he doesn’t and I do. “ p 244

It’s a tough lifestyle, though, and even his beloved partner can’t cope with the very bare bones life and eventually, and sadly, decides to leave.

It’s an interesting story and well-written, but he has not convinced me that this lifestyle is an attractive one. When does simplicity become mere subsistence?

Four stars because it will make you think, even if, like me, you decide the lifestyle is not for you.

I received a copy of this from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )

Living off the grid was not such a traumatic thought a hundred years ago! Two hundred years ago, there was no other alternative! Today, at least for those of us dependent on electricity, food distribution and communication devises, it is with a sense of awe and wonder that we consider the story of someone with strong ideals and drive, who decides to cut those ties and go it alone.

Mark Boyle's The Way Home is a thought-provoking testament to perseverance and commitment. His small freehold in Ireland is not the optimum slice of land to attempt this journey, but with good neighbors, a loving companion and a nearby pub, you are never truly disconnected. ( )