The Way Home, Mark Boyle
The Way Home, Mark Boyle
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The Way Home
Tales from a Life without Technology

Author: Mark Boyle

Narrator: Gerard Doyle

Unabridged: 8 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/11/2019

Synopsis

It was 11:00 pm when I checked my email for the last time and turned off my phone for what I hoped would be forever.No running water, no car, no electricity or any of the things it powers: the internet, phone, washing machine, radio, or light bulb. Just a wooden cabin, on a smallholding, by the edge of a stand of spruce.The Way Home is a modern-day Walden―an honest and lyrical account of a remarkable life lived in nature without modern technology. Mark Boyle, author of The Moneyless Man, explores the hard-won joys of building a home with his bare hands, learning to make fire, collecting water from the stream, foraging, and fishing.What he finds is an elemental life, one governed by the rhythms of the sun and seasons, where life and death dance in a primal landscape of blood, wood, muck, water, and fire—much the same life we have lived for most of our time on earth. Revisiting it brings a deep insight into what it means to be human at a time when the boundaries between man and machine are blurring.

About Mark Boyle

Mark Boyle is the author of several previous books, including The Moneyless Man, which have been translated into over twenty languages. A former business graduate, he has lived entirely without money for three years.

About Gerard Doyle

Gerard Doyle reads everything from adult, young adult, and children's books to literary fiction, mysteries, humor, adventure, and fantasy. He has won countless AudioFile Earphones Awards and was named a Best Voice in Young Adult Fiction in 2008. His audiobook credits include the bestselling Inheritance series (Eragon, Eldest, and Brisinger),  How to Train Your Dragon, The Looking Glass Wars, Clubland, And Thereby Hangs a Tale, and Risk Worth Taking. His career in British repertory theatre includes many productions, most notably The Crucible, The Tempest, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Fiddler on the Roof.  In America, he has appeared in Broadway in The Weir and on television in New York Undercover and Law & Order.  Born of Irish parents and raised and educated in England, Gerard has taught drama at Ross School for the past several years.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on April 08, 2023

3.5 Stars The Last Unicorn is one of my all time favorite fantasy stories. I love the novel and the animated movie adaptation. So I was thrilled to learn that the author returned to the world with these two novellas. These two novellas are interlinked, following the same characters. I enjoyed seeing s......more

Goodreads review by Alyson on January 11, 2023

Because Peter S. Beagle, that's why. Always with the bittersweet endings that leave me somewhere between wonder and tears. Thank you Netgally and Edelweiss for the ARC.......more

Goodreads review by Aleshanee on April 25, 2023

Als Fan von Das letzte Einhorn hat es mich natürlich sehr gefreut, dass die Fortsetzungsgeschichte jetzt endlich auch im deutschen erscheint. Allerdings beinhaltet das Buch auch die Kurzgeschichte "Zwei Herzen" die auch schon in einigen Ausgaben von Das letzte Einhorn abgedruckt war. Es geht hier um......more

Goodreads review by Helen on July 29, 2023

Stop using r*pe as a plot device! There will be spoilers. . . . . . I loved The Last Unicorn. I loved Two Hearts! I did not love the pretentious drivel that was The Way Home. And it was mostly because the main character was gang raped by four fairies, then it became an integral part of her personality, bec......more

Goodreads review by Melissa Rochelle on March 02, 2023

The first story was wonderful, the second I struggled through.......more

Quotes

“Gerard Doyle’s narration aptly reflects the author—a man of strong convictions who chose to chart his own course…Doyle brings an Irish lilt to the narration, adopting a relaxed and unhurried pace…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“A deeply appealing examination of nearly all aspects of modern human life…This memoir about living off the grid and tech-free in County Galway will inspire, connect, and slow down the most impatient of readers, and that is a very good thing.” Shelf Awareness

“[Boyle] writes vividly of Ireland’s village culture, with its neighborly sharing and cozy pubs, and of the satisfactions of hard work with tangible results…His elegy for rural life is lovely.” Publishers Weekly

“Boyle knows few people can live like he does, but positive change seems inevitable if one follows his advice to resist material trappings, revolt against industrial ecological damage, and re-wild landscapes. Boyle’s anti-technology stance upsets many, making this a must-read.” Booklist

“A candid chronicle of letting go of and living without the seemingly ubiquitous technological connections of modern society…There’s not enough space on Earth for everyone to move off the grid and back to the land, but Boyle’s pleasant book allows us to at least imagine the dream.” Kirkus Reviews

“This one matters. Boyle is the real thing: vital, angry, and kind. And real things are terribly rare.” Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

“Illustrates beautifully that giving up many of the things in life that we treat as indispensable may actually be less of a sacrifice than a liberation.” Neil Ansell, author of Deep Country

‘The Way Home paints a picture not only of how broken our culture has become but of how to begin building a new one. It demands to be read—and then lived by.’ Paul Kingsnorth, author of Real England

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
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