At the beginning it was good. Towards the end it became less practical in its advice, more repetitive and less "simple".
The first few chapters, focusing on simplifying the personal life, relationships and family were interesting. Though I was missing the actual advice on how to reach this level (practical real-life advice). The first few chapters were so simple and minimalist that they only outlined how a simpler life should or could look, but not how to achieve it.
Then it became longer, more examples or lifestyles and historic examples, but very little to apply here and now.
That was a shame. I had hoped for a little more from this book.

This book is all about simplifying your life but it is not just about decluttering. In fact, this is barely mentioned. Instead, it goes much deeper than that, into more nuanced areas of life such as how to be yourself rather than what society tells you to be, dealing with frustrations in your relationships, the cult of ‘busyness’, and a look at the human tendency to want what we don’t have. All this, and much more, is presented in a way that consistently stays true to the theme of moving from unnecessary complexity in our lives towards effortless simplicity.

Packed full of information, this book is written in easy to read, straightforward language that gets to the point quickly without waffle. It contains plenty of colour photos that serve to effectively illustrate the author’s narrative. I felt the book could have been improved by including actionable instructions or journal prompts at the end of each chapter but this is just personal preference and did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

This is a self help book that encourages us to ask ourselves why we do or feel certain things; to look within to find out what we really want and to question how we feel about different aspects of our lives. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a deeper look at simplification but particularly if you are feeling a little overwhelmed and lost and want some down to earth guidance on how to live a simpler life.

My thanks to The School of Life and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

A quick read. I am not a fan. I've read some books on minimalism, and this is not among the best. This book more explains how to act and look like a minimalist, and not how to actually become one. It's pedantic and condescending. The writing is dull. There are some okay messages to take away and some good pictures of art and buildings. I really wish I liked it more!

I wanted to like this book but it felt like a subject that I've read about a lot. It started off strong but started to feel repetitive as it went along. I'm sure someone newer to this subject matter will enjoy this. It was just ok to me.

In today's world we are drowned in a consumerism, noise, information and much more. This cult of busyness insists that a good life, indeed the only life worthy of a capable and intelligent person, is one of continuous activity and application; we must strive relentlessly to fulfil every ambition, and every hour of the day must be filled with intense activity. This is why, ultimately, modern existence feels so complicated. Millions of possibilities are offered to us, but we are never encouraged to stop and ask what any of them might actually be for.
We crave simplicity not because we are simple, but because we are drowning in complexity.

The book explores ideas around minimalism, simplicity and how to live comfortably with less and is an undecorated and straightforward manual for the simpler life we hanker for – and deserve.

This book explores a set of ideas with the power to foster simpler lives. It considers the outer world – how we might build ourselves simpler living spaces, routines, working patterns and friendships – but it also looks at how we might achieve inner simplicity.

When we lead quiet and simple lives, we aren’t deprived; we have been granted the privilege of being able to travel the unfamiliar, sometimes daunting, but essentially wondrous continents inside our own minds.


Simplicity isn’t so much a life with few things and commitments in it, as a life with the right, necessary things, attuned to our flourishing.

I highly recommend this guide to simpler and slower living.

4,5/5

If you have never read a book on this subject then maybe it’s interesting but even so this may not be the best place to start. Felt a bit of a pick and mix of classics in the genre.

Insightful review of many important ideas and topics relevant to living a simple life. An enjoyable read that prompts self-exploration and personal growth..

This book is hard to rate because for the person who is entirely new to the subject, it will offer some interesting food for thought and point one in the direction of useful resources. However, if you’ve been giving the topic some thought and have read works like Kamo no Chōmei’s “The Ten Foot Square Hut,” you’re likely to find it a disappointing regurgitation of the thoughts of others mixed with banal truisms. So, I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who’s begun simplifying their lives, but for someone who needs an entry point that isn’t as intimidating as hardcore works such as that of Chōmei it might be of use.

My biggest problem with this book was that it seemed to suggest that because simplifying means more simplicity that all readers would be converging toward the same life. In other words, that there isn’t space for a diversity of approaches to simplicity. In one of the great ironies of the book, it advocates for reading less and having at most a dozen books on one’s shelf. The irony isn’t the suggestion of fewer books, but that in a world in which no one had more than a dozen books on their shelves, this book would not exist on any of them. And the kinds of books this book suggests are essentially self-help titles. [To be fair, I almost never read self-help books because they mostly (and certainly in this case) leave me feeling like I would having come from a fortuneteller – i.e. feeling lighter in the wallet, but no wiser in the mind.]

This isn’t a bad book, but I think most readers can do better.

"Ten Foot Square Hut" is universally acclaimed to be one of the great masterpieces of Japanese literature. It is also an autobiography of a man who spent fifteen years of his life inhabiting a space that was just 3 metres square. Kamo no Chomei was born in an opulent family and initially led a life of grandeur. Bequeathed a large estate by his grandmother, Chomei lacked for nothing. However indiscriminate friendships and ill advised monetary dealings led him to financial ruin. His fall from grace and means was so steep that he was forced to construct a hut with his own bare hands and forage for food on a daily basis. His 'abode' was an isolated land's end near the hills of Toyama. Rotting leaves nestled on the roof while moss sprouted out the floor. He lay down every night on a pile of bracken and the hut was bereft of even a single piece of furniture. However it was in such abject poverty that Chomei found wealth. It was sitting in such sparse and harsh environs that he composed his mesmerising work. When he says "I love my little hut, my simple dwelling", the reader can almost visualise a man clad in tattered rags yet wearing a contended disposition; a man living in utter darkness yet exuding a beatific aura.

"A Simpler Life" an upcoming work from the house "The School of Life" is a primer on how to lead an uncomplicated life. The School of Life is a global organisation that has as its objective the furtherance of efforts expended in leading fulfilled lives. Lest the reader be misguided, "A Simpler Life" does not advocate abdication of all material riches and retreating to the confines of a meagre dwelling a la Chomei. It does however encourage its readers to embrace a concept known as "voluntary poverty". Even though the term reads novel, it's practice has stood the test of time and temptation. The Roman statesman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519-430 BC) was disgusted by a devious and materialistic world. Substituting palatial mansions for a plough, Cincinnatus retired to a life of idyllic farming. Even when Rome was threatened by external aggression, Cincinnatus briefly returned to his erstwhile world, staved off the threat before fleeing back to his isolated farm. A more contemporaneous example is that of the late Canadian artist Agnes Martin. In spite of churning out art that commanded millions by way of consideration, she preferred to lead a reclusive life in a tiny self-constructed mud brick-house in New Mexico.

“A Simpler Life” advocates the removal of avoidable complications from life so as to make it eminently livable. For example when two individuals are engaged in courtship, the tendency is to snuffle the real interests at the altar of “accommodation”. Only when they get married do the oblivious couple realise the danger of incompatibility. A degree of simple honesty would go a great deal in arresting an undesirable future situation. Express your aversion to museums when goaded to visit one, but do so in a manner that is frank and respectful. Set your expectations right and correct. Similarly contrasting philosophies representing a generation gap characterise relationship between parents and their children. It pays for both to speak out their minds, agreeing to disagree and reach a middle ground. Non-interference and at times even separate existence might work wonders in furthering good relations and repairing those that are slowly but surely and steadily going downhill.

While these are dollops of wisdom that have been preached and practiced for a long time, the appeal of the book lies in the simplicity (no pun intended) with which they are conveyed and real life examples that serve as eye-openers. The book also appeals to its readers to abhor pretentiousness and to stop leading lives for the singular purpose of obtaining approval and accord of others. Thus there is a stampeded to read the book that is on everyone’s bookshelves after winning a prestigious prize and a mad rush to get immersed in a movie that is the rage of its day. Even if the book does not make a jot of sense and the movie is more powerful than an anesthetic in inducing sleep, there is great hesitancy to admit the fact because doing so would make the person an “Other”, an exception from an “acceptable” norm.

I can personally relate to the example dealing with books. Influenced a great deal by a cryptic podcast, I armed myself with ‘Infinite Jest’, Ulysses’, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ and ‘A Suitable Boy’. After infinite attempts at giving the quartet a read, I finally realised the futility of my endeavours and gave up the seductive allure of being one of those ‘choice’ people who had chewed, swallowed and digested these supposed masterpieces.
Interestingly the book also warns against traveling just for the sake of it. Just to satiate bucket lists and jump on the tourist bandwagon we seem to have made travel an absolute necessity and a chore. Instead, one would do well to absorb the sage advice imparted by the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. “The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he cannot stay quietly in his room.” However this does not mean locking oneself up in the confines of a room until eternity like the unfortunate character in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”. All that the book requires is bouts of contemplation instead of aimless wandering.
Finally the book concludes with a plea to reconsider the phrase “retire early”. One must not aim to confine this term purely in connection with professional responsibilities. There must be a conscious effort to retire from perusing unnecessary wants, accumulating untold material possessions, and attending unwanted parties and congregations.

“A Simple Life” – a primer to selfless living.

(A Simpler Life by The School Of Life is published by The School Of Life and will be available for sale from the 31st May, 2022)

Thank You Net Galley for the Advance Reviewer Copy

I was initially interested in this book because minimalism and simplicity are concepts that fascinate me. Following watching The Minimalists documentary a few years ago, it's a choice that has always appealed to me. It's easy to be overwhelmed by complexity in our society. Everyone wants everything all the time and it's taxing. Relationships, family, living, possessions. It all takes a toll one way or another. I suspected that this book would be a really good starting point for those willing to make small changes in their lives to make a huge difference to their sense of self and mental wellbeing and I suppose in some ways it did meet that criteria.

That being said, I feel like as a whole, it largely fell flat.

This book reads as if it was written for the self-serving, the elite, those of us with the kind of money to put ourselves in what this book deems as "voluntary poverty". I personally found this term a bit gross. It romanticises the notion of living with nothing when for the vast majority in poverty, this is not a choice. This book is for the rich and the bored and I struggle to have my mind changed on that fact. It reads more like a history lesson than a guiding book and frankly, it's very cliche. It has nothing of substance. It recommends that the reader should read less because we only read a lot to know everything, an absolutely nonsense notion if you ask me. Overall, I just don't think this book achieved anything that it wanted too and I don't think I gained any insight from it other than being mildly annoyed.

If you're interested in quality content on how to simplify your life in ways, check out the likes of The Minimalists and Matt D'Alleva on Youtube.

I thought this book would be different. I couldn't really 'get into the book. I felt like I was in a history lesson when I first started reading the Introduction and I only got to the first chapter. This book would be good for my teenager to read. This book just wasn't for me.

A Simpler Life is a very short sort of how-to guide about leading a simpler life. It suggests you take a look at things in your life, both items and people and work out what exactly you need and what having less in quantity but richer items would bring to your life. It's not overly preachy and is an interesting enough quick read.

"A Simpler Life" is a practical and inspiring book for anyone interested in living, well...more simply.

Even though the book was not written in the first person, it contained many examples throughout history of people who led simple lives. I enjoyed reading the historical perspectives. It was a refreshing change from the first-person anecotes that can be found in many personal development books on the market today.

The book covered five main topics: relationships, social life, lifestyle, work and culture. Within each topic were numerous subtopics to reflect upon.

I would not consider "A Simpler Life" a step-by-step how-to manual, but a "soul-level-facilitator" to help the reader analyze their own life, habits and practices.

I don't often re-read books. This one is worth having on hand to read multiple times and reference.

A well written and thoughtful book. Short chapters that can be read and understood and with ideas that you are able to put into practice.
I will be looking out for more books by the school of life.
Thank you netgalley

I’ve read a few of the School of life books and regularly watch the videos. This book is my favourite to date. Every chapter made me stop and pause. Two quotes in particular stood out for me. The first on the news. “There’s so much ‘news’ we need to know in order to flourish; so little of it happened in the last few hours.” And the second on travel, “ that the pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.”
I will now read the news and how to travel, and start my reflection journal.
This book really helped me to kickstart an old habit I’ve been slack doing. Journaling.
Thank you School of Life for your work. It’s inspirational.
Highly recommend.

As some who has a love of clutter unfortunately to an unhealthy degree and wants to try to learn to simplify their lives to focus on the more important simple things this is the book for you!
Premise
The modern world can be a complicated, frenzied, and noisy place, filled with too many options, products, ideas and opinions. That explains why what many of us long for is simplicity: a life that can be more pared down, peaceful, and focused on the essentials.

But finding simplicity is not always easy; it isn’t just a case of emptying out our closets or trimming back commitments in our diaries. True simplicity requires that we understand the roots of our distractions – and develop a canny respect for the stubborn reasons why things can grow complex and overwhelming.

This book is a guide to the simpler lives we crave and deserve. It considers how we might achieve simplicity across a range of areas. Along the way, we learn about Zen Buddhism, modernist architecture, monasteries, psychoanalysis, and why we probably don’t need more than three good friends or a few treasured belonging

I enjoyed this well written book about improving the quality of life and creating a more peaceful existence by simplifying some areas. It covers topics such as how to care less about the news, how to travel less, how to have simpler relationships and good materialism. The book in itself is simply laid out, with short, concise chapters and lends itself well to the reduction of our carbon footprint and re-focusing in a stressful world. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

While this book is about being simple, it is anything but. The author goes into great detail about how you can simplify your life in every situation and scenario. If you feel overwhelmed then you will find solace with this book.

Readers searching for recommendations for simplifying their lives will find food for thought in this relatively quick read, published by The School of Life. As the author notes, for much of human history, people aspired for more, rather than less, because to move beyond a subsistence level of existence was a type of freedom that only the privileged enjoyed. Making the choice to step away from more things, more opportunities, more engagement was almost unnatural, yet some managed to do just that: the 20th century philosopher Wittgenstein in a tiny cabin overlooking a Norwegian fjord, Thoreau at Walden, Diogenes in his barrel.

And perhaps this is what kept me from wholeheartedly enjoying “A Simpler Life,” that the perspective seemed to come from a place of privilege and a somewhat antiquated one at that. For those in lower socioeconomic classes, lack of financial resources means constant complications - arranging transportation, juggling medical bills, scrambling to obtain childcare in order to make it to a job that doesn’t pay enough to cover living expenses. Perhaps these folks are not the audience for this book. It’s tough to simplify when every little thing is a struggle and depictions in the media make it appear that most people are living the high life . But I think there is real value in a discussion of how people who are struggling can develop real skills as they develop networks of social support to manage some of their challenges. Living intentionally and simply isn’t a luxury. It can be a very real necessity.

The sections of the book I enjoyed most were those dealing with relationships, as the author extolled the wisdom of honesty and straightforwardness, arguing that we waste too much time and energy by trying to tell people what we think they want to hear. Another high point: the parts about family and an attitude of compassion towards one’s parents. Tears came to my eyes at this passage: “We would do well to accept that as a strange, yet constant and simple feature of the human condition, we are all emotionally tethered for life to someone who is both an irritating stranger with maddening habits and the person who wept for joy when we were born.” This is a perspective that becomes more meaningful the older I get, as I acknowledge that I am for my children that irritating stranger with maddening habits who still thanks the universe everyday that they are in the world.

The part on staying up too late also spoke to my condition, particularly the notion that “We’re not idiots because we stay up into the night; we’re just in search of something important. The problem isn’t what we’re looking for but the fact we can’t find it this way.” This is such a profound insight, something I hope to remember while doomscrolling at midnight.

This book, while not entirely what I’d hoped for, was intriguing, and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for other School of Life titles.

Review based on pre-publication copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting and thoughtful book that breaks down different aspects of life and how to simplify. A little wordy at times, but I liked how it made me pause and think too. Would recommend.