The Way Home: Mark Boyle

Book Review: The way home – Mark Boyle.

I would never have come across this book had it not been given to me by a good friend. Out of respect I read it. At times it was predictable, certain parts I skimmed others I skipped, and it probably could have been shorter. Yet it had quite an impact me.

The story is auto-biographical: Mark Boyle decided to remove himself from the hypocrisy of modern life and unplug from industrial civilisation. With his partner, he bought some land in remote Ireland, built a cabin and then attempted to live, for an entire year, without any electricity, plastic or indeed anything man-made that might have harmed the environment. To be clear this meant no computers, no light-bulbs, no power-tools, no gas cooker etc,….quite an undertaking.

He strived to model a form of living at one with the environment - a more simple life, trying to conquer the crowded busyness of life with all it technological seductions and stresses.

‘I decided that instead of spending my life making a living, I wanted to make living my life.’

There are numerous descriptions of his life, everything from hunting down a deer (he was previously a vegan), to washing with ash, to axing wood, to nettle soup.

One of his points is that we spend so much time at work earning money to then spend on things. So, he grew grapes, crushed them and made dozens of bottles of wine. Some he gave away and in the process strengthened relationships. The time he spent making he wine was less, he calculated, than the time he would have spent at work to earn the £ for the wine.

For me, he slightly laboured these points until they felt contrived.

Mark is not motivated by a faith – in fact his only mention of formal religion is an observation that a church was using pollutants on their grave-yard grass. A hypocrisy he shared with disdain. And rightly so..... perhaps expecting more from the churches mandate to creation and maybe perceiving it had blindly become a ‘chaplain to consumerism’.i

Despite it’s short-comings as a book: This was as noble a quest as it was ambitious. He went through significant sacrifice and hardship. Time and again he would talk of the challenges of small things like washing up, going to the toilet when it is raining, having a warm bath or the boredom of long winter evenings. In the end, also, it was too much for his partner to bear and she left him. He isn’t the first man whose ambitions have cost him his closest relationships!

At the end of the year he realised that life is never simple, that his new life consisted of a lot of complicated tasks to survive: everything from the fallibility of fishing to the seasonal vulnerability of vegetables. Yet it did kind of work: I was, by the end, convinced of his authenticity, determination and sense he will continue and ‘succeed’ in this way.

Despite sharing some of my negativity – I’ve found, to my surprise, it has influenced me more than I realised. It has helped me find joy in simple chores. I’ve begun appreciating the kinaesthetic beauty in laundry, washing-up, gardening etc. All can be enjoyable as an end rather than a process to be achieved. It strengthened and justified a desire for a simpler life. If our clothes from 20 years ago still fit, why do we need new ones? It challenged this constant need to buy, to fly, to consume, to gobble resource, to do, to crowd my time and a subconscious linkage between my busyness and my worth. I’ve found myself thinking about nettle soup because nettles are there, in my garden, and why not use the resources around me. I’ve found myself wanting to eat less meat, to appreciate vegetables even more, to care for creation, to show more affection to my dog all of which also enhances, softens and betters me.

So thank you Mark Boyle for your example, challenge and prophetic lifestyle. While this compliment may not mean much to you it feels as though you are a modern John the Baptist – living in the deserts, eating the locusts and honey while challenging us that we don’t need 2 tunics!

A quote for those still reading:

‘Interpreted another way, there is a timeless simplicity about my life. I have found that, when you peel off the plastic that industrial society vacuum-packs around you, what remains – your real needs – could not be simpler. Fresh air. Clean Water. Real food. Companionship. Warmth. ….There’s no extravangance, no clutter, no unnecessary complications. Nothing to buy, nothing to be. No frills, no bills.

Rod Dreher: The Benediction Option