Books on hermits - reviews

 

"The Way of the Hermit: My Forty Years in the Scottish Wilderness; London: Pan Books,2023; The Way of the Hermit: My Incredible 40 Years in the Wilderness; Toronto: Hanover Square Press, 2024, by Ken Smith with Will Millard.

From the outset, Ken Smith (b. 1947) indicates that his motive for being a hermit is not religious or spiritual. Early factors include introversion, his working class origins, indifference to schooling. At 15 Smith quit school to work for the UK Forestry Commission; he enjoyed the solitary outdors in later job.

The decisive event was a harrowing incident in his late twenties living in native Derbyshire, when a gang of skinheads assaulted him to the point of near-fatal brain damage requiring four operations, two months of hospitalization and ten months without working. Recovered and re-entering society, Smith soon became disillusioned by the values and priorities of the world around him, concluding that "I knew I needed to escape that system and all its trappings, as quickly as I possibly could." He worked outdoors a while longer, scrimping and saving for his exit.

The first venue was travel to northwestern Canada and Alaska to experience wilderness living, in part inspired by reading Richard Proenneke (1916-2003), the American hermit and survivalist, author of One Man's Wilderness: An Alaska Odyssey (1973). Returning to the UK, Smith tramped about the country a while, staying in a series of bothies in northwestern Scotland, before resolving to live in a wildness cabin of his own. But Smith had no property. By chance he learned the name of the landowner of the largest estate in the Treig area, and petitioned him for some land for constructing a log cabin for himself.

Not only was Smith granted permission but he was even given employment as a ghillie, that is, a ”manservant” attending to the estate owner’s hunting and fishing expeditions and their guests —— plus oversight of all aspects of estate land maintenance. Smith readily accepted, soon constructing his log cabin by hand, and over the years perfected his survival skills: hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, construction, wood-chopping —— and walking (the latter including walking twenty-five miles one way to a village shop for supplies).

The rest of the book describes the "way" of the hermit, or, perhaps, the way of the solitary-minded wilderness survivalist. The Way of the Hermit is chock-full of anecdotes, ruminations, insights, and practical wisdom, lived advice about wilderness, nature, winter survival, and lots of stories. Ken Smith is a modest, congenial, and reflective host to the reader, generously offering a unique and thoughtful memoir.

© 2025, Hermitary.com

Solitude: The Science and Power of Alone Time, by Netta Weinstein, Heather Hanson, and Thuy-vy T. Nguyen. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2024.

As the authors note from the outset of the book, the science of solitude is new but growing quickly, as attested within these pages. Evidence collected for this book reflects thousands of interviews, surveys, conversations and psychology lab sessions, with diverse groups of people by age, gender, ethnicity, and geography. From anecdotes to testimonials, the goal of the authors is to compile a grand picture of solitude and alone time habits and practices, turning these observations into insightful conclusions and helping establish a working sense of solitude for everyday people.

The presentation is congenial, conversational, informal, entertaining, and useful. Two of the authors (Weinstein and Nguyen) are academic psychologists, and one (Hanson) is a science journalist.

Chapter One quickly summarizes the history of eremitism and historical hermits distinct from solitude to focus more broadly for the est of the book on the concept of solitude as relevant to everyone else. (A few historical names — Pascal, Emerson, Thoreau — will recur in later chapters.) The premise of the book is -- as the title of Chapter Two indicates -- that “Everyday Solitude [is] for Everyday People.” In short, solitude offers a range of applications that can function within the needs of everyone.

Solitude is simply time alone, and how one chooses to be aware of solitude in daily life, or occasionally as disruption or curiosity can differ widely per individual. Scientists still do not define solitude broadly because solitude applies individually, and even varies within one person. But enough is known by psychology today to present vectors of solitude, or, rather, forms of solitude expression, as the authors do.

These solitudes are presented as four broad types: 1) complete solitude, or Buddha-style solitude, 2) private solitude, or down-to-earth-solitude, 3) companionate solitude, or partners-in-solitude, and 4) public solitude, or Alone in a Crowd. Thousands of interviews and research studies illustrate these wide applications, and the authors set out to document representative examples.

Solitude is distinct from involuntary aloneness, and is specifically not loneliness. Solitude is a natural condition of daily life’s ebb and flow, contrasting one moment to another individually, socially, collectively, or in conscious withdrawal, however long. A highlight of a conscious solitude is the benefit of autonomy, resilience, and a flow with nature.

To illustrate the benefits of solitude, the authors use the metaphor of a compass. Here the directional points are not geological or cultural but show the relations between what solitude does. So, north represents self-refection; south: rest, relaxation, and renewal; east: enrichment and creativity; west peak experiences and the good life. Thus we start with self, yielding a comfort zone, then moving to engaging with life and peaking with an internalization of the benefits of solitude. This parsing of sequential stages is essential for the average pursuant of solitude because it provides a psychologically healthy approach that builds on experience as much as psychological observation in the first place. Nothing need be rushed, skipped, or assumed. The auhors present a path or way, reflecting both science and historical wisdom.

Two chapter titles encourage beginners as well as seasoned practitioners. Chapter 9: "Can We Get Better at Being Alone?" and the final chapter, 10: "Solitude Across a Lifetime."

All this may sound familiar to readers comfortable with the subject of hermits and eremitism. But reading the many conversational snippets and anecdotes in this book will be pleasant confirmation that many average people are already attracted to the benefits of solitude and are waiting for a practical presentation and "how to." To further motivate readers, the authors even offer a helpful concluding “solitude checklist."

Take your solitude pulse.
Start small, stay mighty.
Adopt a thoughtful approach.
Create a framework.
Be curious.
Opt for a low-sensory environment.
Be open to experimentation.
Believe in belonging.
Practice “integrated emotion regulation."
Beware “sneaky infiltrators."
Plan for and protect periods of solitude.

This book is a delightful excursion, easy to read, easy to identify with the many sources the authors include, and a refreshingly positive invitation to incorporate solitude into daily life.

© 2025, Hermitary.com