Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Author of Walden; or, Life in the Woods
About the Author
In September 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne noted this social encounter in his journal: "Mr. Thorow dined with us yesterday. He is a singular character---a young man with much of wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is show more as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and somewhat rustic, although courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty. On the whole, I find him a healthy and wholesome man to know." Most responses to Thoreau are as ambiguously respectful as was Hawthorne's. Thoreau was neither an easy person to like nor an easy writer to read. Thoreau described himself as a mystic, a Transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher. He is a writer of essays about nature---not of facts about it but of his ideals and emotions in its presence. His wish to understand nature led him to Walden Pond, where he lived from 1845 to 1847 in a cabin that he built. Though he was an educated man with a Harvard degree, fluent in ancient and modern German, he preferred to study nature by living "a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust." Knowing this, we should beware of misreading the book that best reflected this great experience in Thoreau's life: Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). It is not a handbook of the simple life. Though there are elements in the book of a "whole-earth catalogue" mentality, to focus on the radical "economic" aspects of Thoreau's work is to miss much in the book. Nor is it an autobiography. The right way to read Walden is as a "transcendental" narrative prose poem, whose hero is a man named Henry, a modern Odysseus in search of a "true America." Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1846, exactly two years, two months, and two days after he had settled there. As he explained in the pages of Walden: "I left the woods for as good a reason as I went to live there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one." Growth, change, and development were essential to his character. One should not overlook the significance of his selecting July 4 as the day for taking possession of his residence at Walden Pond, a day that celebrates the establishment of a new government whose highest ideal is individual freedom. In terms of Thoreau's redefinition of the nation-idea, "the only true America" is that place where one may grow wild according to one's nature, where one may "enjoy the land, but own it not." Thoreau believed that each person should live according to individual conscience, willing to oppose the majority if necessary. An early proponent of nonviolent resistance, he was jailed briefly for refusing to pay his poll tax to support the Mexican War and the slave system that had promoted that war. His essay "On Civil Disobedience" (1849), which came from this period of passive resistance, was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi (who read it in a South African jail) as the basis for his campaign to free India. Martin Luther King, Jr. later attributed to Thoreau and Gandhi the inspiration for his leadership in the civil rights movement in the United States. Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. His health declined over three years with brief periods of remission, until he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly The Maine Woods and Excursions, and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of A Week and Walden. He died on May 6, 1862 at age 44. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Henry David Thoreau
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (1849) 935 copies, 2 reviews
Faith in a Seed: The Dispersion Of Seeds And Other Late Natural History Writings (1993) 323 copies, 4 reviews
Walden, Civil Disobedience, and Other Writings (Norton Critical Editions) (2008) 252 copies, 4 reviews
WALDEN AND OTHER WRITINGS 142 copies
Walden, or, Life in the Woods: Selections from the American Classic (Shambhala Pocket Classics) (1992) 74 copies, 1 review
Walden / The Maine Woods / A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Civil Disobedience (1997) 52 copies
The Concord and the Merrimack; excerpts from A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1954) 45 copies
Thoreau and the Art of Life: Reflections on Nature and the Mystery of Existence (2006) 45 copies, 9 reviews
Citizen Thoreau: Walden, Civil disobedience, Life without principle, Slavery in Massachusetts, A plea for Captain John Brown (1996) 37 copies
Henry David Thoreau: Walden, The Maine Woods, Collected Essays and Poems: A Library of America College Edition (Library of America College Editions) (2007) — Author — 36 copies
Summer 32 copies
Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life Without Principle (Literary Classics (Prometheus Books)) (2011) 25 copies
Henry David Thoreau, The Poet's Delay: A Collection of Poetry by America's Greatest Observer of Nature (1992) 25 copies
The Higher Law: Thoreau on Civil Disobedience and Reform (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2004) 25 copies
The wind that blows is all that anybody knows;: The thoughts of Henry David Thoreau (A Stanyan book, 5) (1970) 22 copies
Thoreau: Walden / The Maine Woods / A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Civil Disobedience (1997) 20 copies
A Yearning Toward Wildness: Environmental Quotations from the Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1991) 18 copies
In the Woods and Fields of Concord: Selections from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (1982) 18 copies
Resistance to Civil Government and Other Writings (Books That Changed the World Series) (2005) 18 copies
The Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau: Canoeing in the Wilderness, Walden, Walking, Civil Disobedience and More (2012) 17 copies
Early Spring in Massachusetts (The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: with Bibliographical Introductions and Full Indexes, Vol. 5) (2008) 17 copies
To Live Deliberately: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For (Obvious State Classics Collection) (2019) 15 copies, 1 review
Of Woodland Pools, Spring-Holes and Ditches: Excerpts from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (2010) 15 copies
The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau: Volume 1: 1834 - 1848 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2013) 15 copies
Walden and Other Writings: Civil Disobedience; Slavery in Massachusetts; A Plea for Captain John Brown; Life Without Principle (2000) 15 copies
résister à la tentation du laissez-faire, au réformisme et à l'esprit commercial des temps modernes (2011) 11 copies
Civil Disobedience; Walden (selections); The Death of Ivan Ilych (Great Books Foundation First Year Course, VIII) (1955) 10 copies
The Essential Henry David Thoreau Collection: 4 Books in 1 | Walden | Civil Disobedience | A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers | Walking (2021) 7 copies
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Volume 7: 1853-1854 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2009) 7 copies
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Volume 8: 1854. (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2002) 7 copies
Guide to Cape Cod; based on Cape Cod 6 copies
A Desobediência Civil Seguido de Walden. Rebeldes e Malditos. Convencional (Em Portuguese do Brasil) (2016) 5 copies
Denken mit Henry David Thoreau: Von Natur und Zivilisation, Einsamkeit und Freundschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik (2008) 5 copies
The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau: Volume 2: 1849-1856 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2018) 4 copies
Thoreau's complete works 4 copies
Henry David Thoreau The Maine Woods 4 copies
The Dream of the Toad 3 copies
Simplify: Selected Writings from Henry David Thoreau; Walden, Civil Disobedience, Life Without Principle, Reform and Reformers (2010) 3 copies
The transmigration of the seven Brahmans; a translation from the Harivansa of Langlois (1972) 3 copies
L'esclavage au Massachusetts : Le journal Heald of Freedom ; Wensell Philips au lycéum de Concord (2018) 3 copies
The Library a Wilderness 3 copies
Resistance To Civil Government: On Civil Disobedience and other Essays Annotated (2010) 3 copies, 1 review
The New Walden 2 copies
Correspondance: Henry David Thoreau et Ralph Waldo Emerson (Éditions du Sandre - bilingual edition) (2009) 2 copies
Selections from Thoreau 2 copies
Thoreau 2 copies
Vita di uno scrittore 2 copies
DESOBEDIÊNCIA CIVIL (P10L77) 2 copies
WALDEN O/S 2 copies
Cape Cod : volume II 2 copies
Shoe-strings 2 copies
Camping in the Maine woods 2 copies
Where the Pressed Earth Shines Most 2 copies
Walden and Other Writings Civil Disobedience, slavery in Massachusetts, A Plea For Captain John Brown & Life Without Principles (1970) 2 copies
John Brown 2 copies
Thoreau, Reporter of the Universe: A Selection of His Writings About Nature, for All Readers from Eight Years Old to Eighty (1939) 2 copies
Жизнь вне условий 2 copies
La d©♭sob©♭issance civile ; suivi de Visiteurs : propos sur un b© cheron canadien-fran©ʹais (1982) 2 copies
Pensoj el Valdeno 2 copies
The first and last journeys of Thoreau : lately discovered among his unpublished journals and manuscripts (2007) 2 copies
Désobéir 2 copies
L'esprit commercial des temps modernes et son influence sur le caractère politique, moral et littéraire d'une nation (2007) 2 copies, 1 review
Yalnizlik 1 copy
Henry David Thoreau papers 1 copy
Journal 1 copy
Still Deep & Sweet 1 copy
Succession of forest trees 1 copy
Sobre la desobediencia civil. Walden y la vida en los bosques. Los últimos días de John Brown. Profesión de fe (2014) 1 copy
Yürümek & Kış Yürüyüşü 1 copy
Henry David Thoreau Box Set 1 copy
Of Friendship 1 copy
Thinking Louder & Clearer 1 copy
Riverside Edition. The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Volume V. Early Spring in Massachusetts (2016) 1 copy
Walden & Other Writings (92) by Thoreau, Henry David - Matthiessen, Peter [Paperback (2000)] (2000) 1 copy
THE MAINE WOODS O/S ? 1 copy
A Walk to Land's End 1 copy
Burgerlijke ongehoorzaamheid 1 copy
On the study of disobedience 1 copy
The Essay on Friendship 1 copy
Desobedecendo 1 copy
UN FILÓSOFO EN LOS BOSQUES 1 copy
コッド岬 浜辺の散策 1 copy
ヘンリー・ソロー全日記 1851年 1 copy
ヘンリー・ソロー日記 1852年 1 copy
ソロー 博物誌 1 copy
THOREAU: PHILOSOPHER OF FREEDOM - Writings on Liberty By Henry David Thoreau, Selected, with an Introduction By James Mackaye (1930) 1 copy
American writers series 1 copy
La vida en los bosques 1 copy
Selected Writings 1 copy
THOREAU - Four Writings 1 copy
The Maine Woods and Walden 1 copy
Spring 1 copy
Opere scelte 1 copy
[Title missing] 1 copy
Friendship, Love & Marriage By Henry D. Thoreau and a Little Journey to Henry D. (1923) — Contributor — 1 copy
Walden ; Sartor Resartus 1 copy
Woodshed 1 copy
Summer (misfiled) 1 copy
“Sic Vita” 1 copy
An Ideal 1 copy
The writings of Henry David Thoreau ; with bibliographical introductions and full indexes Volume 10 (2012) 1 copy
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: With Bibliographical Introductions and Full Indexes. In Ten Volumes (V.3) (1893-99) (2009) 1 copy
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: With Bibliographical Introductions and Full Indexes. In Ten Volumes (V.5) (1893-99) (2009) 1 copy
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: With Bibliographical Introductions and Full Indexes. In Ten Volumes (V.7) (1893-99) (2009) 1 copy
Some Unpublished Letters Of Henry D. And Sophia E. Thoreau: A Chapter In The History Of A Stillborn Book (2007) 1 copy
Thoreau's Journals — Author — 1 copy
The Essay on Friendship. 1 copy
Cape Cod : volume I 1 copy
Les forêts du Maine : Suivi de Une excursion au Wachusett et La succession des arbres en forêt (2018) 1 copy
Thoreau’s Journals 1 copy
Henry David Thoreau Collection: Walden, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Walking, and Cape Cod (2020) 1 copy
A wood fire from Walden 1 copy
A Tribute to John Brown 1 copy
Reform and the Reformers 1 copy
Thomas Carlyle and His Works 1 copy
On Land 1 copy
On Water 1 copy
The Walk to Land's End 1 copy
The Chronicles of the Cid 1 copy
Kring Bellman 1 copy
Coratge cívic 1 copy
Breviario para ciudadanos libres.: Selección, traducción, presentación y apéndice de Mauricio Bach (1999) 1 copy
Life without principle : three essays / by Henry David Thoreau with a preface by Henry Miller. 1946 1 copy
Życie bez zasad : eseje 1 copy
Ausgewählte Essays 1 copy
A Different Drummer 1 copy
BOX CAMINHOS DE THOREAU (2 LIVROS + PÔSTER + SUPLEMENTO COM TEXTOS COMPLEMENTARES + MARCADORES) (2022) 1 copy
Breviario para ciudadanos libres: En defensa de una vida sencilla y en comunión con la Naturaleza (2023) 1 copy
The World Of Andrew Wyeth - 1 copy
Survey of a Swamp 1 copy
Selections From Walden 1 copy
Coratge cívic 1 copy
Variorum Walden, the 1 copy
Walden, sau viața în pădure 1 copy
The Essential Henry David Thoreau Collection: Walden, on the Duty of Civil Disobedience, And Walking (Illustrated) (2020) 1 copy
Gens de Concord 1 copy
O TRATADO DA DESOBEDIÊNCIA CIVIL - INCLUI O CLÁSSICO SOBRE A SERVIDÃO VOLUNTÁRIA -DOIS LIVROS EM UM (2023) 1 copy
Amistad, amor y matrimonio 1 copy
Associated Works
The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Robert Frost (2004) — Contributor — 1,249 copies, 3 reviews
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 623 copies, 9 reviews
A Patriot's Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love (2003) — some editions — 567 copies, 5 reviews
Choice Cuts: A Savory Selection of Food Writing from Around the World and Throughout History (2002) — Contributor — 369 copies, 2 reviews
Social and Political Philosophy: Readings From Plato to Gandhi (1963) — Contributor — 275 copies, 1 review
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1 (1990) — Contributor, some editions — 252 copies, 1 review
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Brontë Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray (2012) — Contributor — 213 copies, 2 reviews
The American Intellectual Tradition, A Sourcebook: Volume I, 1630-1865 (1989) — Contributor, some editions — 204 copies
American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation (2012) — Contributor — 147 copies
The Glorious American Essay: One Hundred Essays from Colonial Times to the Present (2020) — Contributor — 119 copies
War No More: Three Centuries of American Antiwar and Peace Writing (2016) — Contributor — 111 copies, 2 reviews
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (Expanded 10th-Anniversary Edition) (2008) — Contributor — 102 copies, 1 review
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Contributor — 73 copies, 1 review
Out of the Best Books: An Anthology of Literature, Vol. 2: Love, Marriage, and the Family (1966) — Contributor — 36 copies
Out of the Best Books: An Anthology of Literature, Vol. 5: Community Responsibility (1969) — Contributor — 30 copies
American Literature: The Makers and the Making (In Two Volumes) (1973) — Contributor, some editions — 25 copies
The Serpent and the Fire: Poetries of the Americas from Origins to Present (2024) — Contributor — 18 copies
America's Great Wilderness: In the words of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, John Burroughs, Theodore Roosevelt, Stewart (1976) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Delphian Course : Part Seven : Story of the Drama, Nature Study — Contributor — 4 copies
A reader for writers — Contributor — 2 copies
Ode to Boy: Vol. 2: An Anthology of Same-Sex Attraction in Literature from the 19th Century Through the First World War (2014) — Contributor — 2 copies
Les Misérables / The White Seal / Remembrance of Things Past / Selected Passages from Walden (1987) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Thoreau, David Henry
- Birthdate
- 1817-07-12
- Date of death
- 1862-04-06
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Harvard College (AB|1837)
- Occupations
- teacher
writer
essayist
poet
philosopher
inventor (show all 7)
pencil maker - Organizations
- Underground Railroad
Huckleberry Party
Transcendentalism - Relationships
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo (friend)
Alcott, Louisa May (student)
Fuller, Margaret (friend)
Jackson, Lidian (friend) - Short biography
- Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.
He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an anarchist. Though "Civil Disobedience" seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government—"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government"—the direction of this improvement contrarily points toward anarchism: "'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York, USA - Place of death
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Burial location
- Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Map Location
- Massachusetts, USA
Members
Discussions
Thoreau in Fine Press in Fine Press Forum (September 2024)
Walden by Henry David Thoreau – STEEL 2022 in Fine Press Forum (March 2024)
Walden in Book talk (November 2017)
1001 Group Read, June, 2012: Walden in 1001 Books to read before you die (July 2014)
Reviews
I vacillated as I read this. I was often engrossed in Thoreau's twin urges—to simplicity, and to presence in each moment within nature. But I was repelled by his twin delusions—that the poorer a person is, the happier he must be, and that Thoreau himself was aware of the One True Way to live. He spends an awful lot of time disparaging the common actions & manners of virtually every human being other than himself. And over & over again he valorizes poverty, in a way that makes one doubt show more he's ever actually experienced it.
But after all, those are mostly just faults in the author's voice, and they're more than outweighed by the moments of clarity and presence that suffuse the book. I remembered a lot of the quotes, of course—"In wildness is the preservation of the world", "If you have built castles in the air...", "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer", etc.—but to come across them again in context was to encounter them as new. There's a richness and texture to Thoreau's philosophy that's really quite gorgeous. I was glad to spend time there. show less
But after all, those are mostly just faults in the author's voice, and they're more than outweighed by the moments of clarity and presence that suffuse the book. I remembered a lot of the quotes, of course—"In wildness is the preservation of the world", "If you have built castles in the air...", "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer", etc.—but to come across them again in context was to encounter them as new. There's a richness and texture to Thoreau's philosophy that's really quite gorgeous. I was glad to spend time there. show less
A brilliant essay by Henry David Thoreau, and proof that the struggle to define the American destiny has been going on since its inception.
This American government--what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity?
Thoreau was deeply aggrieved of the American government and its politicians, who were dancing about the issue of slavery. He states, and rightfully so, that a moral issue such as show more this cannot take a backseat to any political allegiance to a government, and that the individual must not bend to an immoral demand simply because it is exigent.
I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.
This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.
I can think of a number of issues on which I feel the moral position and the government position could not be further apart. Thoreau refused to pay his taxes in protest of being made to be party to the State’s position by doing so. I am not that brave, but I would often like to scream to the skies how can anyone believe in this position of government and still count themselves as a moral human being.
I was taken by how much the political hypocrisy resembles some of what we encounter in our own political arena. And, the old adage that you must “follow the money” holds true then and now.
Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may.
One last comment that impressed itself upon me was the following.
to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it. The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual.
I’m afraid a “true respect for the individual” might be something our government has completely lost, but I hope it is not something we, the people, are willing to concede.
Always amazing to read something written 171 years ago and find so much there that will apply to life in 2020. show less
This American government--what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity?
Thoreau was deeply aggrieved of the American government and its politicians, who were dancing about the issue of slavery. He states, and rightfully so, that a moral issue such as show more this cannot take a backseat to any political allegiance to a government, and that the individual must not bend to an immoral demand simply because it is exigent.
I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.
This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.
I can think of a number of issues on which I feel the moral position and the government position could not be further apart. Thoreau refused to pay his taxes in protest of being made to be party to the State’s position by doing so. I am not that brave, but I would often like to scream to the skies how can anyone believe in this position of government and still count themselves as a moral human being.
I was taken by how much the political hypocrisy resembles some of what we encounter in our own political arena. And, the old adage that you must “follow the money” holds true then and now.
Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may.
One last comment that impressed itself upon me was the following.
to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it. The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual.
I’m afraid a “true respect for the individual” might be something our government has completely lost, but I hope it is not something we, the people, are willing to concede.
Always amazing to read something written 171 years ago and find so much there that will apply to life in 2020. show less
"Enter ye that have leisure and a quiet mind, who earnestly seek the right road." (pg. 219)
There's an odd mix of surprise, frustration and satisfaction that comes when you enjoy a book that, in the majority of opinions you have heard, has been casually maligned. The often-adverse reputation of Walden – and its author, Henry David Thoreau – seems to be forged by many in its opening chapter, a long, indulgent ramble into its young author's worldview.
But you should never trust the opinion show more of someone who can't even finish a book, for not only does Walden emerge from its ramble into open ground, but that opening chapter begins to look better on reflection. Thoreau makes the case for a more even-paced, introspective life, arguing that the shift towards industrialization and ever more integrated societies has diminished man spiritually ("while civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them" (pg. 28)). While never a Luddite, he suggests there is an 'illusion' about our 'modern improvements'; "there is not always a positive advance" (pg. 43). For this, he is regularly cast as outdated, unrealistic and impenetrable (if he was writing nowadays, he would be 'problematic' or 'elitist', maybe even 'reactionary'). Thoreau is often criticised as verbose (is an essayist meant to provide action scenes?) and as workshy (is working around the clock for a corporation just to earn enough to put a rented roof over your head for a time supposed to be preferable?). Most absurdly, he is often labelled a fraud, because his cabin on Walden Pond hasn't been deemed remote enough; it was only a mile from his nearest neighbour, and only a short walk into the nearest town.
I imagine the same sort of people who make this criticism would also turn off At Folsom Prison and shatter the vinyl across their knee, upon learning that Johnny Cash never really shot a man in Reno. For not only are these criticisms absurd, but Thoreau pre-empts and incorporates them into his discussion. Walden is an honest and sincere work; while not rigorously academic, it argues its points lucidly and (surprisingly) playfully. Its general thesis is that modern man has no time to improve himself mentally or spiritually, and that in society we are too often "obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly… [losing our] time into the bargain" (pg. 57). Nevertheless, Thoreau accepts he would seem indolent to a working townsman, but argues that this is because the townsman is living an unnatural life (pg. 92). Even in that opening polemical chapter, which occasionally strays towards bitterness, he acknowledges his "shortcomings and inconsistencies", his "cant and hypocrisy – chaff which I find it difficult to separate from my wheat, but for which I am as sorry as any man" (pg. 41). I suspect people don't like realising that so much of their lives is not their own (we can ignore the ball-and-chain so long as it doesn't make a noise), and so react badly to the one – Thoreau – who points it out to them. Considering Walden contains appeals to abolitionism, social improvement and even vegetarianism (all in 1854), it's odd that Thoreau is sometimes characterised as an idle, head-in-the-clouds misanthrope. Some of the modern criticism of Thoreau amounts practically to character assassination, a countermeasure deployed almost as a reflex.
There is far more to Walden than the general thesis I mentioned in the previous paragraph, though it's hard to isolate the ideas in a way that would allow for a flowing review. There are persistent reflections on life and society, often told in a very quotable way that encourages further pondering on the part of the reader. And for a book that appears at first glance to be quite stuffy and dated, Walden is often bracingly relevant. In our modern rush, we are "determined to be starved before we are hungry" (pg. 75); we don't have the "leisure for a true integrity day by day" (pg. 5) and have "become the tools of our tools" (pg. 31). "We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other" (pg. 112), and we are "in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate" (pg. 43). Yes, the magnetic telegraph may be obsolete, but how many Twitter handles are there in Maine and Texas today? "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone," Thoreau says on page 66, hence the simple life in a log cabin by a quiet pond. In light of this, how many of us, with all our competing worries, indentures and petty responsibilities, can be considered rich today? How many of us even have the time to think about it? Let me sit with Thoreau by Walden Pond awhile.
Thoreau's criticisms of the modern way of life won't appeal to everyone, but for those who love to read challenging books not for prestige but for the sensation they bring, and for those introspective types who "find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time" and that "to be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating" (pg. 111), Walden will be a very rich experience. At its best moments, it may even be a tonic. Its rich, even pace, its ornate but straight-shooting sentences, and its unashamed advocacy of intelligent living and book-learning over superficial, unreflective scrabbling and junk-reading will appeal to people of a certain mark, and only those of that mark. I am one of them, and if you believe you're of the same mind, then it's "worth the while to see the silver grain sparkle when you split this wood" (pg. 164). It's worth seeing what thoughts you can hew from Walden's trunk.
"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." (pg. 265) show less
There's an odd mix of surprise, frustration and satisfaction that comes when you enjoy a book that, in the majority of opinions you have heard, has been casually maligned. The often-adverse reputation of Walden – and its author, Henry David Thoreau – seems to be forged by many in its opening chapter, a long, indulgent ramble into its young author's worldview.
But you should never trust the opinion show more of someone who can't even finish a book, for not only does Walden emerge from its ramble into open ground, but that opening chapter begins to look better on reflection. Thoreau makes the case for a more even-paced, introspective life, arguing that the shift towards industrialization and ever more integrated societies has diminished man spiritually ("while civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them" (pg. 28)). While never a Luddite, he suggests there is an 'illusion' about our 'modern improvements'; "there is not always a positive advance" (pg. 43). For this, he is regularly cast as outdated, unrealistic and impenetrable (if he was writing nowadays, he would be 'problematic' or 'elitist', maybe even 'reactionary'). Thoreau is often criticised as verbose (is an essayist meant to provide action scenes?) and as workshy (is working around the clock for a corporation just to earn enough to put a rented roof over your head for a time supposed to be preferable?). Most absurdly, he is often labelled a fraud, because his cabin on Walden Pond hasn't been deemed remote enough; it was only a mile from his nearest neighbour, and only a short walk into the nearest town.
I imagine the same sort of people who make this criticism would also turn off At Folsom Prison and shatter the vinyl across their knee, upon learning that Johnny Cash never really shot a man in Reno. For not only are these criticisms absurd, but Thoreau pre-empts and incorporates them into his discussion. Walden is an honest and sincere work; while not rigorously academic, it argues its points lucidly and (surprisingly) playfully. Its general thesis is that modern man has no time to improve himself mentally or spiritually, and that in society we are too often "obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly… [losing our] time into the bargain" (pg. 57). Nevertheless, Thoreau accepts he would seem indolent to a working townsman, but argues that this is because the townsman is living an unnatural life (pg. 92). Even in that opening polemical chapter, which occasionally strays towards bitterness, he acknowledges his "shortcomings and inconsistencies", his "cant and hypocrisy – chaff which I find it difficult to separate from my wheat, but for which I am as sorry as any man" (pg. 41). I suspect people don't like realising that so much of their lives is not their own (we can ignore the ball-and-chain so long as it doesn't make a noise), and so react badly to the one – Thoreau – who points it out to them. Considering Walden contains appeals to abolitionism, social improvement and even vegetarianism (all in 1854), it's odd that Thoreau is sometimes characterised as an idle, head-in-the-clouds misanthrope. Some of the modern criticism of Thoreau amounts practically to character assassination, a countermeasure deployed almost as a reflex.
There is far more to Walden than the general thesis I mentioned in the previous paragraph, though it's hard to isolate the ideas in a way that would allow for a flowing review. There are persistent reflections on life and society, often told in a very quotable way that encourages further pondering on the part of the reader. And for a book that appears at first glance to be quite stuffy and dated, Walden is often bracingly relevant. In our modern rush, we are "determined to be starved before we are hungry" (pg. 75); we don't have the "leisure for a true integrity day by day" (pg. 5) and have "become the tools of our tools" (pg. 31). "We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other" (pg. 112), and we are "in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate" (pg. 43). Yes, the magnetic telegraph may be obsolete, but how many Twitter handles are there in Maine and Texas today? "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone," Thoreau says on page 66, hence the simple life in a log cabin by a quiet pond. In light of this, how many of us, with all our competing worries, indentures and petty responsibilities, can be considered rich today? How many of us even have the time to think about it? Let me sit with Thoreau by Walden Pond awhile.
Thoreau's criticisms of the modern way of life won't appeal to everyone, but for those who love to read challenging books not for prestige but for the sensation they bring, and for those introspective types who "find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time" and that "to be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating" (pg. 111), Walden will be a very rich experience. At its best moments, it may even be a tonic. Its rich, even pace, its ornate but straight-shooting sentences, and its unashamed advocacy of intelligent living and book-learning over superficial, unreflective scrabbling and junk-reading will appeal to people of a certain mark, and only those of that mark. I am one of them, and if you believe you're of the same mind, then it's "worth the while to see the silver grain sparkle when you split this wood" (pg. 164). It's worth seeing what thoughts you can hew from Walden's trunk.
"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." (pg. 265) show less
“There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing.”
Reading this is worth it, purely for some of the quotations alone. Startlingly relevant and a call to arms, Thoreau asks us to question what is legal (or written as law) vs. what is right, and if they show more are the same. If they're not, what can we do to change the legislation so that we are can align the law, and the government with our consciences.
Of course, Thoreau was privileged, and his position, power and education allow him to ponder these issues -- in some cases, they are not his lived experience. And yet it was refreshing to see someone in this time and context protest war and protest slavery. "They were a product of their time" is an excuse I hear a lot, and it's a tired one.
I found this really easy to read and while I didn't understand a lot of the finer points (this would be interesting to discuss in a classroom setting) I enjoyed it nonetheless. show less
Reading this is worth it, purely for some of the quotations alone. Startlingly relevant and a call to arms, Thoreau asks us to question what is legal (or written as law) vs. what is right, and if they show more are the same. If they're not, what can we do to change the legislation so that we are can align the law, and the government with our consciences.
Of course, Thoreau was privileged, and his position, power and education allow him to ponder these issues -- in some cases, they are not his lived experience. And yet it was refreshing to see someone in this time and context protest war and protest slavery. "They were a product of their time" is an excuse I hear a lot, and it's a tired one.
I found this really easy to read and while I didn't understand a lot of the finer points (this would be interesting to discuss in a classroom setting) I enjoyed it nonetheless. show less
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