Some Words About Some Books

In the last week I finished reading these books. The Good Life is actually a pairing of the Scott and Helen Nearing's two books, Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life. Living the Good Life chronicles their homesteading in Vermont for 19 years. This journey began in 1932 near Sratton, and the books defines what the "Good Life" is to them and tells what they did to accomplish that goal. Continuing the Good Life tells of their choice to move to Maine and continue their homesteading journey, what they continue to call the"Good Life."

 You must understand a bit about their background and the history of the times to appreciate what they did. Scott was a college teacher in the new field of economics, but his Socialistic and Communistic views were contrary to the establishments. He was dismissed from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in 1915, but continued teaching for a while at Toledo University. He became a much in demand speaker for labor unions, socialism, communism and child labor laws. These struggles eventually led he and Helen to buy a farm in Vermont and move there. He did continue to speak and they traveled the world in their off seasons.

 I heard of the Nearings and their book in the 70's. It was mentioned in The Whole Earth Catalog as the "bible" of the back to the land movement. It was one of those books I wanted to read. In the late 1981 Warren Beatty made the movie, Reds, about John Reed, the only American buried in the Kremlin. In the movie was a collection of interviews about Reed and one of the speakers was 98 year old Scott Nearing. It has struck me that Scott Nearing was involved heavily in the 20th Century and had a big impact in some circles.

 The short story is I never read the books until recently. It took me my typical few months of reading between other tasks and just plain pondering to finish the books. My thoughts ran many places as I read. There are some ideas and ruminations that kept me going in reading the books.

 This was a man who was confident in following his own path. Who else at the age of 50 changes their entire way of living, and again at 70 change locations and start over constructing stone buildings. In both cases the Nearing explain their reasons. Both books are very detailed, and the style of writing is so detailed it is almost to a fault. The descriptions of the Vermont farm are precise enough to be a blueprint of how to follow their footsteps. The writing about the Maine farm is less detailed about the farm, but has more specifics about other topics.

 After the first book was published in 1954 and especially in the 1970's, the Nearings became famous in their own way. With fame comes seekers, and these looking didn't always have the discipline of Scott Nearing. A entire chapter is called, "Visitors and Helpers." They write, "Never before in our lives have we met so many unattached, uncommitted, insecure, uncertain human beings." That seemed to sum up that time and in many ways become a prologue to our current times. It is worth the time to read these two as many may be heading back to that way of life.