This is a great read if you're in a certain mood. However, the mood isn't necessarily 'communing with nature.' I think Thoreau is more of a misanthropist than is generally admitted.

My favorite parts are the descriptions of the woods and the pond. It's easy to see why Thoreau is seen as the father of nature writing.

My copy is a Modern Library edition from 1962.

Upgraded from 3 to 3.5 stars after visiting Walden Pond in July 2009. ( )

Thoreau is my new favorite author. I am going to re-read this book many times in my lifetime. His views on nature, government and everyday life are like no one else's. His observations are profound. It was also great to read about an area I am familiar with. ( )

Still hate this book ( )

Thoreau ranks high on my list of admired Americans, and this book, containing his best-known writings ("Walden" and "Civil Disobedience"), contains everything that I know of that gives rise to that admiration. Thoreau never would have survived as such in our crowded, conformist, hectic society, and his ideas would have received short shrift except as a fashionable darling of the intelligentsia. But his notions of personal independence from the crowds, and civil disobedience when called for, are qualities that were neccessary for the making of this country, and hopefully will keep her honest to her professed ideals. ( )

Timeless, beautiful, truthful. ( )