John Lane (1) (1930–2012)

Books such as this and John Lane's other book 'The Art of Ageing' don't have any indexing. This is really frustrating as one can't go back and find what one is looking for. For example I would like to look at what is actually said about creativity but am not able to.

John Lane has gathered together so many writers on the spiritual aspects of life and there are so many apposite quotations. I like the chapter at the end where he gives examples of people who have lived lives of creativity. It has challenged me to think about people I know who are like this. I didn't know about Virgil or Wangari Maathai.

A book like this needs re-reading almost immediately!… (mehr)

I have just finished reading this and was hooked from the first paragraph of the introduction. This is a book about simplicity-not destitution, not parsimoniousness, not self-denial-but the restoration of wealth in the midst of an affluence in which we are starving of the spirit. It is a book about the advantages of living a less cluttered, stressful life than that which many of us now live, in the over-crowded and manic-paced consuming nations.If any of you are feeling that you need to find a slower pace of life, I recommend that you read this as a good starting point. It is only just over 100 pages long and is a gentle but absorbing read. The book is organised into 6 chapters and covers subjects such as how to reduce expenditure, adopting a positive attitude and following your bliss.It has taken me many years of struggling and a recent severe bout of depression for me to finally start to make positive changes to my life. I have given up my job and begun to take pleasure in performing simple activities such as cooking and knitting. These combined with my love of reading and desire to write and I finally feel that I am living the life I should be.What could you be doing?… (mehr)

I absolutely loved Lane's 'Timeless Simplicity' and it is a book I regularly re-read. So I was looking forward to reading this book. However, I don't think it is quite as good. While the premise is an interesting and important one - how in the modern world we have lost an interest in the importance of silence and what it can do for us - the book doesn't really do a great job of explaining why it is important. Rather, it seem to be a conceit to gather together the potted biographies of people Lane admires. While some do have a relation to silence, others don't seem to have much to do with silence at all and you are left wondering why they are in this book.[return][return]I am also disappointed that Lane used many examples of people who retreated from the world who could achieve this only because they lived in positions of privilege - Dickinson, Virgil etc. - and didn't discuss the fact that you don't need to have parents who provide you a house or an independent income to be able to 'take a break' from the outside world sometimes.… (mehr)