Rating: 
Summary: A Search Leads to Answers, some yes. some no...nevertheless
Review: there are, indeed, answers...try reading this book. Its present day American anthropology, and at the least, a personal experience that you'll relate to, and...yes, not relate to. But this book will give you inspiration, and make you question the basics of your own life.This is personal book. A journal. A journey. It has a distinct artist flavor to it, (I highly recommend it to artists or those of artist nature and intensity). Some people won't like it. They'll not understand the culture which is indeed, highly controversial, even amoung those who are close neighbors to the Amish, and yes, even among the Amish themselves. You might be intrigued, however, if "Amish" is something new to you. I grew up in the vicinity of an Amish community that the author describes, and I still visit the area regularly. My family has always deeply appreciated their beliefs, even though my family was from an entirely different culture/religion. Sometimes, many times, we didn't understand...but we recognized that they could create what we couldn't do. My family has many Amish quilts, we've eaten many Amish meals, purchased many of their wares...one of our favorites being one family's delicious Angel Food cakes (all made without electricity). I've seen the Amish plowing their fields, not long after the snow has melted (the last time was 11 months ago), with a team of magnificent horses on a hand-hewn plow that looks like something from a museum (in our culture)...and the scene...yes, so lovely... a scene like a painting that's come to life.... It is easy for people to imagine Van Gogh standing alongside the wooden fence which marks the boundry between horse-drawn plow and automobiles, painting quickly, watching the spirit slowly fade...how long can the Amish avoid technology? I knew of the Amish, before moving to Boston, and now, that, we're here in Silicon Valley. I happened on this book in the bookshop at Pacific Grove, in fact. It seemed to be a peaceful book, suited for my peaceful weekend getaway. It turned into more than that. I could relate to the author's curiousity; I could relate to the Amish from my own vague experiences; I could relate to the book as a journey of finding out how one really feels about our Self in this world that's scheduled within 15-minute segments on a Daytimer. I could relate to the importance of life's experiences that don't always involve the stock market and money. Its an easy read. Nicely experienced after a cup of tea just before bed, where you can privately sigh with a sense of true relaxation.... Yes, (sigh) slow down...read a while, turn off the light and imagine the world you just read about. But...in the morning...well.... How does it all connect? What is this odd formula that causes these small societies to produce many fine pieces of art? (Or is it, in marketing jargon, just a product?) What is it that pulls these people together? What is it that makes them try something seeming too difficult and seemingly too time-consuming? It is worthwhile, as a bottom-line, to... spend time? Enjoy. I'd love to meet the author...even though we have a library of thousands of books, I've only said that about Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who won the McArthur Award. I have met her briefly. She's wonderful. (She was the advisor to a dear friend of mine at university in NH.) The "air" of the books are somewhat similar. "Plain and Simple" is a good book, especially if you like "journal, diary-type" manuscripts. Buy it to try it. It might work for you. It might be just too foreign to you. But it is a good gamble.
Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps this book shouldn't have been published
Review: This book has its strong points but left me feeling uncomfortable. The layout, paper quality and drawings are just beautiful. The narrative is well-organized, expressed in tender prose. However, considering the reluctance of the Amish community to host an outsider, I wonder if the rhythm of their family lives should be shared with the general public. Ironically, the act of publishing a supposedly spiritual book is yet another in a list of the author's personal achievements. Has she really evolved to a higher plane?
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing.
Review: This book is 'just okay.' I came away from reading the book not knowing too much about the Amish. Sue prefers to keep most of the information to herself. She does, however, make sure she gets in adequate writing about all of her 'accomplishments' -- and makes apparent her desire to return to her old life of those accomplishments. (Big hairy deal!) Personally I think she's a bore....and a boor; actually I found her to be pompous. She had a wonderful idea which could have been made better. Sue Bender, you need to grow up.
Rating:
Summary: Just Okay
Review: This book is 'just okay.' I came away from reading the book not knowing too much about the Amish. Sue prefers to keep most of the information to herself. She does, however, make sure she gets in adequate writing about all of her 'accomplishments' -- and makes apparent her desire to return to her old life of those accomplishments. (Big hairy deal!) Personally I think she's a bore....and a boor; actually I found her to be pompous. She had a wonderful idea which could have been made better. Sue Bender, you need to grow up.
Rating:
Summary: This book changed my life.
Review: This book took me on a journey through my own everyday life. I really was able to stand back and look at my life through a plain and simple perspective. Happiness is not about reaching a final all-powerful accomplishment; it is about enjoying each experience in life. Each task, thought, and experience is just as meaningful as the next. Only when we begin to make this realization are we truly happy.
Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting book. Enjoyed Reading.
Review: This book was a great book to pick up and read while waiting for children at music lessons. I would like to go back and read it again and make some notes in the side bars. A book you could read again, and again and come out with something else learned.
Rating:
Summary: A book to be read over and over for relaxation.
Review: This book was given to me as a birthday gift by a friend with whom I was in business. Unkowingly, this friend, also named "Sue", gave me the key to relaxation. When things get hectic and chaotic in my life, I read Plain and Simple. From the time I start reading, there is a peace that comes over me and I feel so calm afterwards. The writing seems to put me where Sue was when she was visiting the Amish...the same quiet peace I feel when gazing over miles of farmland dotted with homes with barns and silos - - and no electrical poles! Unfortunately, I am not surrounded by that environment, so reading Plain and Simple brings me there! Having loaned my copy to an elderly friend who was rehabilitating after heart surgery, I waited for her response. She didn't think she could read it since she was having trouble "concentrating on more than a paragraph of anything printed". I left it with her anyway, and at my next visit, she not only thanked me profusely, but told me she was adding it to her book "gift list"! So, I knew then it was not only me who benefited from the peace of the book. My thanks to the author!
Rating:
Summary: Simply a good story...
Review: This is a little story about a woman who goes on a journey of self discovery. If you are hesitant to believe there is such a thing as "self discovery" and describe such actions as "selfish" instead, then this book is not for you. I enjoyed reading Sue Bender's story about her insights while living with an Amish family. What began as an interest in the Amish quilts became an obsession for her. She eventually finds an Amish family in Iowa who is willing to let her stay with them for a summer as a companion for the families aging grandmother. From the very beginning what Sue notices is not so much the obvious differences in clothing, lifetstyle and religion but the way this Amish community had deeper way of just being. Timelessness or being in the moment was something they displayed with each and every activity. "It was as if they had uncovered a way to be in time, to be part of time, to have a harmonious relation with time." The author comes to re-evaluate the life she has been living and asks many of the same questions we ask ourselves. There are no easy answers in this book, just observations to be read and pondered upon, to enrich and stimulate. What would be our answer to the ultimate question Ms. Bender asks of herself,"Am I a successful human being and not only a success?"
Rating:
Summary: Simply a good story...
Review: This is a little story about a woman who goes on a journey of self discovery. If you are hesitant to believe there is such a thing as "self discovery" and describe such actions as "selfish" instead, then this book is not for you. I enjoyed reading Sue Bender's story about her insights while living with an Amish family. What began as an interest in the Amish quilts became an obsession for her. She eventually finds an Amish family in Iowa who is willing to let her stay with them for a summer as a companion for the families aging grandmother. From the very beginning what Sue notices is not so much the obvious differences in clothing, lifetstyle and religion but the way this Amish community had deeper way of just being. Timelessness or being in the moment was something they displayed with each and every activity. "It was as if they had uncovered a way to be in time, to be part of time, to have a harmonious relation with time." The author comes to re-evaluate the life she has been living and asks many of the same questions we ask ourselves. There are no easy answers in this book, just observations to be read and pondered upon, to enrich and stimulate. What would be our answer to the ultimate question Ms. Bender asks of herself,"Am I a successful human being and not only a success?"
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, but revealing
Review: This was a nice book to read. It was pleasantly vivid, especially when talking about amish food habits (heaps of ice cream and all kinds of fattening food). I enjoyed the descriptions. the author's own disturbing and overwhelming need to express herself reasserts itself at the book's end, and as we move out of the sublime simplicity back to the mainstream American's need for selfish self-expression of every nitwit feeling and emotion and intuition I felt a bit nauseous. The book is a clear snapshot of a symptom of self-obsession which is perhaps most obvious in San Francisco, where this book is a best seller.
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