Smitchy's Reviews > The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
by
by
Smitchy's review
bookshelves: american, audio, bored-me, environment, house-money, non-fiction
Apr 30, 2023
bookshelves: american, audio, bored-me, environment, house-money, non-fiction
I did something I rarely do when listening to audio books with this one. I put the play on 1.5x speed. Honestly even that was a little slow at times.
There is a way that Americans, particularly those that think they have something truly, deeply, profound to say, like to speak and it does my head in (I'm looking at you Elizabeth Willard Thames and the painfully voiced and self-indulgent "Meet the Frugalwoods").
I'm not saying that there are not some good points in this book and if you are interested in minimising your life or just streamlining your belongings this isn't the worst place to start but there is nothing really earth-shattering in this book that you won't hear from any other minimalist. There is a nice guide to tackling your home and Becker gives good suggestions on how to responsibly dispose of unwanted items.
Listing to the audio I do wish he had employed someone else to voice the testimonials as there times when I got confused (briefly) between personal anecdotes and the testimonials of others. There are elements of evangelicalism creeping into the book. His history of religious (American Megachurch - which we learn about at the end of the book) experience very clearly shows through - several times while I was listening I did wonder if I was getting preached at. Like religious evangelicals Becker is certain his way is the best way. Like an evangelical he desperately wants to convert the unconverted and bring his "truth" to the world. Nothing wrong with the passion but it does result in an overly wordy and quite frankly unnecessarily long book (over 10 hours on audio) which really could have been easily 5 hours or less.
Also, the author comes across as smug, patronising, and honestly just judgy: In short, he comes across as a privileged middle-aged white man who has never experienced anything less than everything falling into place when needed, or being judged for his appearance in a professional setting. He is also incredibly smug about people being insecure about measuring up to the expectations of others (a failing he is clearly above) without really delving into the social pressures and economic experiences that truly drive that mindset.
If I had to sum this book up in one word, that word would be: SMUG.
There is a way that Americans, particularly those that think they have something truly, deeply, profound to say, like to speak and it does my head in (I'm looking at you Elizabeth Willard Thames and the painfully voiced and self-indulgent "Meet the Frugalwoods").
I'm not saying that there are not some good points in this book and if you are interested in minimising your life or just streamlining your belongings this isn't the worst place to start but there is nothing really earth-shattering in this book that you won't hear from any other minimalist. There is a nice guide to tackling your home and Becker gives good suggestions on how to responsibly dispose of unwanted items.
Listing to the audio I do wish he had employed someone else to voice the testimonials as there times when I got confused (briefly) between personal anecdotes and the testimonials of others. There are elements of evangelicalism creeping into the book. His history of religious (American Megachurch - which we learn about at the end of the book) experience very clearly shows through - several times while I was listening I did wonder if I was getting preached at. Like religious evangelicals Becker is certain his way is the best way. Like an evangelical he desperately wants to convert the unconverted and bring his "truth" to the world. Nothing wrong with the passion but it does result in an overly wordy and quite frankly unnecessarily long book (over 10 hours on audio) which really could have been easily 5 hours or less.
Also, the author comes across as smug, patronising, and honestly just judgy: In short, he comes across as a privileged middle-aged white man who has never experienced anything less than everything falling into place when needed, or being judged for his appearance in a professional setting. He is also incredibly smug about people being insecure about measuring up to the expectations of others (a failing he is clearly above) without really delving into the social pressures and economic experiences that truly drive that mindset.
If I had to sum this book up in one word, that word would be: SMUG.
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Reading Progress
April 29, 2023
–
Started Reading
April 29, 2023
– Shelved
April 30, 2023
–
Finished Reading