Book Review: The Abundance of Less  书评: 简朴的广度

Book Review: The Abundance of Less

Erin Humphrey

The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan

By Andy Couturier

North Atlantic Books (2017), 405 pages

书评：简朴的广度

Erin Humphrey

《简朴的广度: 日本乡村生活的平凡面目下流淌的智慧》

作者：AndyCouturier 选自北大西洋系列丛书，总计405页。

Andy Couturier’s book, “The Abundance of Less” holds a prominent place in my permaculture library. A revised version of his 2011publication, “A Different Kind of Luxury”, this book still maintains the same curious intimacy and timeless quality of the original volume, while providing the readers with updated photographs and stories of each of the ten people profiled in the original. The hand drawn maps and sketches and the intimacy of the photographs gave me the feeling I was opening an old tome, a carefully assembled journal kept for many years. Snug right up next to Aldo Leopold’s “ASand County Almanac” and E.F. Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful”, this book holds its own as a mainstay of spiritual and practical insight for that dark nights of “will we ever get there?” despair over the current global human situation.

AndyCouturier 的著作，《 简 朴的广度》 在我个人的朴 门 学著作收藏中一直享有极高的地位。 该书 2011年的修 订 版《另一种奢 华 》（A DifferentKind of Luxury），不 仅 保留着原有内容的珍 贵 价 值 ，那股吸引人的魅力也如当初一般， 经 久不散，同 时 他 还对 原版 书 中 记录 的10个人的故事和照片也 进 行了更新。看着那些手 绘 的地 图 和速写，以及那些迷人的照片，不禁 让 我感 觉 我正在打开一本古老的 书 籍，一本 尘 封已久，精心 编 撰的旅行日志。

这 本 书 在 书 架上，安然的倚靠在Aldo Leopold 的《沙 县 志》和E.F. Schumacher 的《小者，美也》旁 边 。在无数漆黑深邃的夜里， 总 有一个声音在 轻 声低 语 ：“我 们 真的能做到 吗 ？”，它犹如一个 绝 望的幽灵，徘徊在当今世界人 类 形 势 之上。而 这 本 书 却 带 着来自灵魂深 处 的 呐 喊和 对现实 的洞察，巍然屹立在 这绝 望的阴云之中。

Barely escaping the slightly guilty and overwhelmingly curious feeling I was actually reading someone’s diary, I devoured Couturier’sbook in just under a day. Despite the author’s request in the Introduction to digest each story slowly, ruminating over the chapters to get a sense of this“slowed down life”, I found myself gorging on the realness and sincerity of this book. Here were ten accounts of real people living satisfying, affordable lives in a sustainable relationship with nature. In this updated version, Couturier gives us fresh perspectives of how these individuals have understood and coped with the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in March 2011. In a moving and inspiring new afterward he also draws clear connections for what the people profiled in the book have to teach us living in the West.This is a true feast for the reader searching for actual evidence of regenerative living amidst an eco-haze of green-washed capitalism.

怀 揣着一 丝对窥 探的内疚和 对 他人日 记强 烈的好奇心，我全身心的投入到了 书 中的世界中。 仅仅 花了一天，我就 读 完了 这 本 书 。尽管作者在 简 介中要求 读 者慢慢的品 读 消化每一个故事，每一个章 节 ，并 进 而感受到 这 种 “慢生活” 的节奏，我却沉浸在其中，无孔不入的感受着 书 中 饱 含的真 实 和真 诚 。 书 中 记载 了10个人的真 实 故事，他 们 都 过 着一种和大自然形成可持 续 关系的生活，令人 满 意，又力所能及。在最新的版本中，Couturier又 给 我 们带 来了一些新 鲜 的 观 点，是关于 这 些人如何理解并解决2011年3月福 岛 核 电 站泄漏造成的后果。令人振 奋 和感 动 的是，他接下来找到了 书 中 记载 的 这 些人物的生活和我 们 的关系，并指出他 们 的生活， 对 于我 们这 些居住在西方的人来 说 ，能有什么 样 的教育意 义 。 对 于那些 处 在“表面 环 保”的 资 本主 义环 境下，渴望新生生活存在真 实证 据的人来 说 ， 这 也无疑是一 场 盛宴。

Interspersed with insightful and vivid anecdotes describing the homes, interview settings and relationships with the author, every chapter reveals a narrative of each person’s history, philosophy, spiritual beliefs and current way of life. Couturier gives a lucid voice to these ten Japanese lives, representative of not only modern Japanese counter-culture, but more broadly of an emerging global response in both hemispheres to the multi-tasking material madness of mainstream consumer culture. As each story unfolds he probes with humility, gentility, and sensitivity into each individual’s thoughts on the very fundamentals of human life: time, money, work, art, music, food and family. But this is no change-out-your-light bulb kind of pseudo Eco-spiritual fluff.Couturier has crafted a philosophical opus, an essential read for the everyday person seeking an authentic, sustainable and creative life.

书 中的每一个章 节对 每个人与作者的关系，各自的家庭和 见 面的地点都有 详细 的描述，无不反映出每个人独特的身世，生活哲学，精神信仰以及 现 有的生活方式。Courturier也少不了在 书 中穿插各种意 义 深 远 和新 鲜 有趣的奇 闻轶 事。 这 10个日本人的生活不 仅 代表了当今日本 “反主流文化” 长远来看更是全世界对于当今主流消费文化带来的多方面物质主义疯狂所逐渐传达的迫切响应 。当叙述每一个故事 时 ，Couturier都会 谦逊 、柔和、敏感地从生活最根本的 东 西来玩味每个人 对 如金 钱 ， 时间 ，工作， 艺术 ，音 乐 ，食物，以及家庭的看法，从而探 查 他 们 具有的精神品 质 ，不 过这 可不是什么“ 换 灯泡” 式的“ 伪 生 态 精神”行 为 。Couturier通 过这 种方式撰写了 这 部哲学必修 书 ， 给 那些想要追求本真、可持 续 和 创 意生活的人。

Through intriguing chapter titles choice, Couturier introduces the interviewees by communicating a respect for the true complexity and diversity of each person. The reader meets Wakako Oe, organic farming mentor, puppet carver, intuitive painter , botanic sculptor and calligrapher. The author also introduces us to San Oizumi , potter , anti-nuclear organizer, anarchist , community educator, and father. Each story has inherent appeal purely based on the unique methods each person uses to create their home and provide for their material needs in rural Japan. We learn how Osamu Nakamura collects his own firewood, stacks it with artistic care and lives and cooks by the heat of the traditional Japanese irori hearth. We discover how Koichi Yamashita grows all his own rice, wheat, millet and vegetables with hand tools and a wooden water wheel . We follow Gufu Watanabe through his forest garden of rare edible herbs and trees as he gathers ingredients for dinner along the way. However, the real juice of this book comes from the startling new perspectives and values infused throughout each person’s lived story: “Don’t spend. Do. Not. Spend. ”“ Convenience just speeds you up.” “Satisfaction is happiness.” “Going over here , going over there. Tiring! Better to just laze around the house.” These are certainly not the axioms I was spoon-fed growing up in the States!

形式各异，新 颖 有趣的 标题选择 ，无不 传 达着Couturier 对 于受 访 者各自生活的复 杂 性和多 样 性的尊敬。 读 者 们 会遇 见 WakakoOe一位有机 农场导师 ，木偶雕刻 师 ，直 观 性画家，植物雕塑家和 书 法家。同 时 ，也会邂逅SanOizumi，一名陶 艺师 ，反核 组织 者，无政府主 义 者，社区 导师 以及一位父 亲 。在 远 离城市的 这块 日本郊区的土地上，每一个人在建立家庭和 满 足物 质 需求上都有独特的方式，而 这 种 纯 粹足以令人心 驰 神往。我 们 会从 书 中了解OsamuNakamura 是如何 亲 手收集柴火，并富有 艺术 感地将它 们 堆 积 起来。我 们 也会 读 到，他又是如何利用 传统 的日本石炉来加以生存和烹 饪 。我 们 同 样 也会学 习 KoichiYamashita 是如何利用手工具和木 质 水 车 播种和收 货 大米，小麦，小米和蔬菜的。我 们 也会跟随着Gufu Watanabe 的脚步，漫步于他的“森林花园”之中，一个珍稀 药 材 树 木繁盛的宝地，沿途他 还 能 顺 便收集晚 饭 的材料。

然而本 书 真正的精 华 所在，是渗透到故事中每个人的生活的新 观 点和新价 值 ：“勿急勿躁勿消耗”  “便利乃是急躁之源”“知足常 乐 ”“碌碌忙忙，心力交瘁。不如淡然 处 之， 偷 得浮生半日 闲 。” 听上去好累呀！ 这 可 绝 不是我从小被灌 输 的格言戒律！

Many of these folks present an organic understanding of their own relationship to and values regarding the natural world (an understanding which many westerners are only now discovering through the modern permaculture and sustainability movements). This book left me intensely curious as to the diversity of living examples of resilient modern life that Japanese communities and individuals may provide to the rest of the world. As a nation with a living memory of both urban and rural sustainable culture (Edo PeriodTokyo was a fully regenerative and sustainable city of over one million people), Japan may offer the most relevant examples of how overdeveloped nations can begin post-industrial, post-carbon renewal. Certainly, Couturier’s work moves us in a new direction and is not just a call to revert to some traditional ideal. As Astuko Watanabe, one of the interviewees asserts, “I am not a traditional person. I am just a woman living a simple life in the mountains.That’s all.”

这 些受 访 者 对 于人和自然的关系和自然世界价 值 的 认识 非常到位。（而 许 多西方人， 还 在通 过现 代朴 门 学和可持 续发 展理 论 ，不断在前 进 道路上摸索。）

这 本 书给 我很大的启迪，日本社会和个人 实 例的多 样 性，在 现 代社会体 现 的 韧 性，能 为 世界 带 来什么， 这 激 发 了我的好奇心。日本城郊的可持 续 文化由来已久（早在日本江 户时 代， 东 京就已 经 是一个 拥 有着100万人口的可持 续发 展城市），他 们 就如何 进 入后工 业时 代，后碳可再生 时 代， 给发 达国家做了很好的先例。 诚 然，Couturier的理 论 将我 们带进 了一个新方向，并非止于 对 人 们 回 归 到 传统 的理想化社会的呼吁。正如受 访 者Astuko Watanabe所言：“我并不是一个遵循 传统 的人。我只是一个居于山 间 的普通 妇 女。就是 这样 。”

I wonder how the “extreme” living conditions of many of the people featured in this book might present an unattainable or even undesirable example of sustainable life for many Japanese and American readers. The remote rural settings and lack of modern “amenities” in the houses of those interviewed for this book may cause some sustainability-curious readers to write off these people as radical back-to-the-landers. Although some people featured, like Atsuko Watanabe, are actively involved in their local community, more examples of people living in community may have helped the author create a larger and more complete picture of simple and sustainable living options inJapan. Hopefully, readers will look deeper to the insightful ways in which Couturier connects the choices of these individuals to larger patterns and values, which any aspiring “think global, act local” citizen can adopt.

Yet however intense and possibly unachievable these examples may seem to some readers, they deliver an empowering example of our ability, or even our responsibility, to reclaim two of the most important aspects of our own humanity: time and simplicity. Even I, the committed permaculture designer, organic farmer and sustainability educator, was shaken by the almost alarming directness of the questions raised in this book. Self-sufficient farmer, batik fabric artist, mother and author/illustrator Asha Amemiya asks, “First, you have to think, does it involve money or not? Then you look at whether it is natural or not. That and whether it causes suffering and pain to others… or not.” With an unapologetic precision, these kind of questions cut directlythrough to the core of the spiritual-cultural dissatisfaction of the moderngrind and bring us back to daily commitment to taking it slow and simple.

Couturier has opened a portal for English-language readers(and hopefully Japanese readers too, as the translation is now finished) to look openly at the lives of ten people living an authentic experiment with what it really means to be human. At the most fundamental level, this book explores the human relationship with the idea of “satisfaction” and our experience with “enough”.These seemingly radical ways of life and points of view are not just a fringe response to the modern rush and grind. They are a clear path laid out for all of us to follow. When we live with less, we can reclaim the time we need to respect and creatively reuse the abundant resources all around us. Feeling overwhelmed? Feeling tired? Feeling busy? This book reminds us we are in control. We are the ones responsible for reclaiming the real luxuries of time, nature and simplicity. In fact, a life lived in the abundance of less may be the very thing, the only thing, which leads us to the luxury we have all been seeking. Just how that unfolds is up to you.

书 里受 访 者采取可持 续 生 态 生活方式的背景是很极端的情况，我不知道以 这样 的方式提倡可持 续 生活方式是不是会 让 美国和其他日本 读 者望而生畏。偏 远 的 乡 村地 带 和缺乏 现 代化“便利 设 施” 的环境，可能会使一些 过 激 读 者 给 他 们贴 上了“返祖者”的 标签 ，哪怕 这 些 读 者 对 可持 续 生活心 怀热 忱。尽管 书 中提及的一些重要人物，像是AstukoWatanabe，活 跃 于自己的社区，但可能有更多 类 似的人帮助作者找到灵感勾画出一 张 更大，更完整的日本可持 续 生活 蓝图 。我希望每一个 读 者都能用心去体会Couturier在 书 中的做法，他并不是随随便便地挑出 书 中 这 些人物，而是将 这 些人物与更高 层 次的模范和价 值联 系到了一起。 这 也是“放眼世界，两脚踏地”的公民所能接受的。 对 于某些 读 者来 说 ，无 论这 些例子看上去是多么的 紧 凑、 难 以企及，它仍然向我 们 展示了我 们 的能力，甚至是 责 任，帮助我 们 回 归 人性中最重要的 时间 和朴素。就 连 我，一名 坚 定的朴 门 学 设计师 ，有机作物的 农 耕者和可持