Books &Life Entropy | 14 Jun 2010
Wisdom of Simplicity
“Such is the way of civilized man; we no longer kill in a bloody hunt for food. We’re refined. We work in clean well-lighted places making civilized movements, and kill instead from a great distance . . . .”
Wish to introduce wonderful world & Books of Ferenc Máté
Ferenc Máté was born in Hungary and escaped after the revolution at the age of eleven. He grew up in Vancouver, and has lived in California, Paris, the Bahamas and New York. He had worked on a railroad extra-gang as a boat builder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. He and his family run their vineyards and winery in Montalcino, Tuscany.
The Wisdom of Tuscany
Simplicity, Security, and the Good Life
With our world so storm-tossed and rudderless, this might just be the book for our times.
Sun-drenched Tuscany is synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn’t happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and, in hamlets and hill towns, have built a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and a love of daily life. Ferenc Máté, a Tuscan resident for twenty years, explores this idyllic existence. He finds Tuscans brimming with creative practicality, down-home humor, and relentless optimism. Blended with their passion for work and independence, they have achieved a haven of economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging.
From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses to the joys centered in human contact, Tuscans live a healthy, emotionally rich life. Máté—engaging, funny, and insightful—shows us how to live like Tuscans.
A Reasonable Life
Toward a Simpler, More Secure Existence
With our environment on its knees, our great myths and cities crumbling, Ferenc Máté 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 a feather.” He argues for fundamental change–by each of us.
We must place simple human needs and the human spirit far ahead of material wealth. We must rethink our concepts of career, home life, habits, and what we call security and success. And we must resurrect our foundations: the small town, the family, and a dignified caring self. Only then will our earth become sustainable, we once had and mistakenly took for granted.
Explore his website here