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Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness SubscribeSign in Advertisement Democracy Dies in Darkness BooksBook Reviews Fiction Nonfiction May books Summer reading BooksBook Reviews Fiction Nonfiction May books Summer reading WHAT ONE MAN LEARNED LIVING ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS FOR 40 YEARS In his memoir ‘The Way of the Hermit,’ Ken Smith dispels myths about the solitary life off the grid. Review by Laurie Hertzel May 31, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. EDT Ken Smith’s cabin on the banks of the Treig, in Scotland. It was lost to a fire in 1991. (Courtesy of Ken Smith) Listen 4 min Share Comment on this storyComment64 Add to your saved stories Save Ken Smith has spent most of his life alone in the wilderness. For years, he was a “homeless nomad,” wandering through Alaska, Canada and Scotland. Now in his late 70s, he is simply a hermit, living in the Scottish Highlands in a cabin he built of fallen trees. Subscribe for unlimited access to The Post Save up to 83% for a limited time. Get one year for €0.99 every four weeks The word “hermit” might bring to mind ancient monks in stone huts, or, possibly, the Unabomber. But Smith is a gregarious hermit, downright jolly. His new book, “The Way of the Hermit,” is in part an effort to dispel myths about what it means to be a hermit. “More often than not, introversion and reclusion, the fundamental character traits of a hermit, have become closely associated with those who have a real visceral anger and forceful hostility toward humankind,” he writes. “This is absolutely not the way of the hermit, and is a dreadful smear on all those who prefer the quiet life — all introverts, as well as hermits and recluses.” Smith didn’t move to the wilderness to find God or to avoid people; he moved to the wilderness to become part of nature. When he first visited the Highlands at age 15, Smith “felt immediately at ease when wandering alone in those mountains,” he writes. “They spoke to me in a way that nowhere else had. “He might not have thrown himself wholeheartedly into the hermit life had it not been for an assault he suffered in his 20s. Leaving a pub late at night, he was jumped by “a gang of eight lads with shaven heads,” who beat him, kicked him and left him for dead. He was hospitalized for months and underwent four brain surgeries. After recovering, he decided to live the life he wanted rather than one “stuck indoors in a suit and tie, trapped behind a desk.” Advertisement Story continues below advertisement And so off he went, to the Yukon. The first half of this book is a rip-roaring read, filled with death-defying adventures — fighting off grizzly bears; avoiding a charging bull moose; nearly freezing in an ice-encrusted tent. Smith falls into a raging river, loses his supply pack and nearly drowns. Still, he loved it all: “It was intoxicating, invigorating, and utterly liberating.” Smith is a good storyteller. Written with Welsh writer Will Millard, his book flows smoothly, with just enough of the vernacular to give it personality. In the second half of the book, Smith settles down on the shores of a remote Scottish loch, builds a cabin, plants a garden. Compared to his nomadic adventures, this is a downright civilized life, even though it’s an eight-mile walk to the nearest road, nine miles more to collect his mail and nine miles beyond that to town for groceries. Share this articleShare He still has brushes with death — his cabin burns down, he endures tremendous storms and the coldest winters on Scottish record. But at this point the book morphs into a sort-of wilderness how-to guide: how to build a cabin, catch a fish, tap a birch tree, remove a tick. Smith has been the subject of a documentary by a Glasgow filmmaker, making him possibly the most famous hermit in Great Britain. (Late in the book, he’s picked up hitchhiking by a guy who says, “I’ve seen you on the television!”) He has suffered a stroke and cancer but always returns to the cabin. “Living in civilization is hard for me,” he writes after one lengthy hospital stay. So what has he learned, in a lifetime alone? His opinions about his life decisions remain firm: “I’ve spent the majority of my life living outside the conventions of mainstream society, and I’ll tell you what I think is weird, and it ain’t the hermit. It’s how entire generations of people have been conned into believing that there is only one way to live, and that’s on-grid, in deepening debt, working on products you’ll probably never use, to line the pockets of people you’ll never meet, just so you might be able to get enough money together to buy a load of crap you don’t need, or, if you’re lucky, have a holiday that takes you to a place, like where I live, for a week of the happiness I feel every day.” Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Is he never lonely? Does he miss his family? Does he ever wish for a wife or a partner? How does he get through those long snowbound winters without going stir-crazy? What we are left with is a love story to the mountains in the mist, the pulsating northern lights and the red deer at dawn. And to independence. And maybe that is enough. Laurie Hertzel is a writer in Minnesota. THE WAY OF THE HERMIT My Incredible 40 Years Living in the Wilderness By Ken Smith and Will Millard Hanover Square. 272 pp. Paperback, $20.99 MORE FROM BOOK WORLD Love everything about books? Make sure to subscribe to our Book Club newsletter, where Ron Charles guides you through the literary news of the week. Check out our coverage of this year’s Pulitzer winners: Jayne Anne Phillips won the fiction prize for her novel “Night Watch.” The nonfiction prize went to Nathan Thrall, for “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.” Cristina Rivera Garza received the memoir prize for “Liliana’s Invincible Summer.” And Jonathan Eig received the biography prize for his “King: A Life.” Best books of 2023: See our picks for the 10 best books of 2023 or dive into the staff picks that Book World writers and editors treasured in 2023. Check out the complete lists of 50 notable works for fiction and the top 50 nonfiction books of last year. Find your favorite genre: Three new memoirs tell stories of struggle and resilience, while five recent historical novels offer a window into other times. Audiobooks more your thing? We’ve got you covered there, too. If you’re looking for what’s new, we have a list of our most anticipated books of 2024. And here are 10 noteworthy new titles that you might want to consider picking up this April. Show more Share 64 Comments A note to our readers We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. NewsletterFridays Book Club Our weekly selection of book reviews and recommendations from Book World editor Ron Charles. Sign up Subscribe to comment and get the full experience. 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