Voluntary Simplicity (rev) : Toward A Way Of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich

Customer Reviews

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.

~a glObal classic~

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.

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