Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence

by Ferenc Máté

Book Overview

With our environment on its knees, our great myths and cities crumbling, Ferenc M?t? argues in this passionate, darkly funny book that now is the time to begin our lives anew, on a more human scale. With our lust for mechanized "progress" we have damaged and endangered not only our planet but also our communities, families, and even friendships. He warns that our environmental movement by itself is as effective as "trying to stop a freight-train with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0920256309
• ISBN13: 9780920256305
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Insightful Read

If Only.....I have just read several of the reviews written, it was sad to see so much negativity surrounding this book. I found it to be written with such honesty and insight that I had a hard time putting it down. I don't think I will ever see the world in the same way!! Thank-you Ferenc Mate'. If only more people would follow the methods, brought to light in this book, and take Responsibility for what they contribute to this world, we could collectively produce a more Sane, Simpler and Humane Existence. If Only....

A little preachy, heavy on environmental issues but GREAT!

I became curious about this book when I realized that it was written by an eastern European (Hungarian) who had come to The USA, lived and then written this commentary before leaving for Italy where he now lives. I grew-up in Communist East Germany myself and was curious to see if he too found this fascinating nation of dishwashers, electric can-openers, processed foods, clothes dryers, credit cards, riduculously wasteful & oversized homes and the "I must work more so that I can make more money so that I can buy more THINGS" mentality odd. He did. This book, while going into much more "environmental preservation" stuff than I cared for, is a brilliant if not kind of whiney slap in the face that should wake most Americans from their unquestioned acceptance of some truly assinine practices. It points out just how ridiculous & wasteful many American things, ideals and concepts are. He continues to point out how our culture of "things" is removing us from our surroundings and we are losing sight of what life is all about. Video games, TV, 24/7 shopping, drive-through windows and worship of possessions has replaced normal human interaction/relationships as we willingly mortgage away 1/3 of our lives to pay for a house that once paid-off will have cost 3 times the sale price. Buy! Buy! Buy! is the new American religion and the producer of people whom I personally refer to as "The breathing dead". Those who trudge through life, slaving away at a mediocre job to pay for unnecessary baubles that society says they must have to be happy. One review above made some comment that this book was a guide to go from "european pauper to european pauper"...or was it "peon"? I'm not sure now. Anyway...anyone who says that is clearly untraveled, unable to open their eyes wide enough to see the obvious and in denial of the fact that the author successfully points out many commonly accepted absurdities and obscenities in our daily lives. I am 39 years old and despite a good job in the land of plenty I CHOOSE to wash my laundry by hand & hang it to dry, to bake my own bread and regard the disposable aspects of this society with disdain and wonder. 8 months ago I left my well paid job in Austin, Texas as a Surgical Tech and moved to The Ozark Mountains where I bought a 560 sq.ft house for $26k. I drive a 14 year old car, am debt free, use a manual can-opener, have no cell phone and live like a king on $900 a month! Buy the book, give it a read, excuse the monotonously repetitive details about carbon dioxide emissions, laugh a little as your lifestyle's absurdity is revealed before your eyes and enjoy. THEN do something about it!

Simply great

I find it amusing that certain reviewers found this book to be unhelpful or negative. This is a life-affirming work -- 'tho maybe it doesn't affirm the life you are currently living! Mate is a man who really has a knack for making sense of things. He boils the human race right down to its bare-boned inconsistencies. We are imperfect creatures -- frequently irrational, often nonsensical. Some of the things Mate has to say will make you angry. Some of it will make you laugh out loud (really!). All of it will open your eyes. And no, Mate does not tell you how to build your own house or gut your own chicken (he recommends that every American be able to do both by the age of 12). But this book is not about little practicalities like that. Rather it is about changing the way we look at -- really look at -- all the everyday stuff we tend to take for granted. It causes us to rethink how we are living our lives. What is important to us. And who, as a nation and a world, we want to become. All in all, this is a terrific book. I don't have one bad thing to say about it. It should be required reading for the entire Republican party.

Would be 10 stars if the rating system went that high!

I've gone through life searching for meaning in relationships, work, and place; and, I've often turned to books to glean whatever wisdom I could from others. I often walk away unsatisfied. Mate's book struck a definite chord with me and I highly recommend it to anyone who's questionning much of what passes for civilized living. While I didn't agree with all of Mate's beliefs and conclusions, I did find a considerable amount of thought-provoking inquiry that gave me pause to reconsider my own life and how we all relate to each other and our physical surroundings. I'll say this about this book that I've NEVER said about any other book . . . ever: "A Reasonable Life" has changed my life.

A Very Important Book

This book opens your eyes to the insanity to which we dedicate ourselves. In my opinion, the most important chapter is the one devoted to television. Mate really gives you a good slap in the face in making you realize how foolish and wasteful your time is spent when it is spent in front of that horrible little box. If anything, read that chapter and throw your stinking television set in the dumpster and start spending more time interacting with your kids. If not your kids, then your friends, relatives, neighbors, or even your pet goldfish. Staring at a wall is better for your mind than staring at that flashing screen. This book is amazing, and if you have even the slightest desire to contribute something positive to this life, you will enjoy it. I've read it twice, and I plan on reading it again. Read it!