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Walden (1854)

by Henry David Thoreau

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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13,316173404 (3.83)2 / 431
Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts. The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development.… (more)
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Group TopicMessagesLast Message 
 Book talk: Walden12 unread / 12asurbanipal, November 2017
 1001 Books to read before you die: 1001 Group Read, June, 2012: Walden57 unread / 57JohnSophist, July 2014

» See also 431 mentions

English (158)  Spanish (7)  French (3)  Dutch (2)  Catalan (2)  Swedish (2)  Finnish (1)  Hungarian (1)  Italian (1)  German (1)  Danish (1)  All languages (179)
Showing 1-5 of 158 (next | show all)
oh my gosh, i had to type a fake review just to point out that i have noticed that i rated this book one star AND i have cleared the rating altogether. so dramatic!

i think i still get mad about Walden because i thought i was the one who always found a way to like required texts, and though many tested me, this one just totally beat me.

oh well. other people get some real nice stuff out of it, so that's cool.
  alison-rose | May 22, 2023 |
Devastatingly wonderful. I had read parts of this at uni, of course, but never the whole work. I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, or perhaps many, but it is the heart of a movement which I hold very dear. ( )
  therebelprince | May 1, 2023 |
Thoreau can be pretentious, out of touch, and extremely frustrating at times. Occasionally he rambles, or goes so in-depth into a description that you lose a full understanding of what is really going on.
However, he makes up for this—and is at his best—when he shows his pure and unadulterated excitement for what is around him. This appears specifically when he is nature writing. One can feel the joy and appreciation radiate off the page, and it fills you with the desire to see the world in a more Thoreauvian way.
I appreciate his “deliberate” and simpler perspective to life, especially in a time of my life that has been chaotic and somewhat arduous. I hope some of the messages of this book stick with me for the years to come. Especially, “time is but a stream I go a’fishing in.”
  RebMarAra | Apr 21, 2023 |
Not what I thought it would be, but interesting in some parts. I expected more of a criticism to society than details on his daily activities. ( )
  ESMP | Mar 7, 2023 |
I must be the only person that found this boring - but I did. ( )
  autumnesf | Jan 29, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 158 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (122 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Thoreau, Henry DavidAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Appelbaum, StanleyEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Auziņa, IrēnaEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Åsberg, StigIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ābols, ValdisTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bengtsson, Frans G.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Douglas, William O.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Emmerich, EmmaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fabulet, LouisTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fischer, TatjanaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gilpin, SamAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gissen, MaxEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Groševs, EduardsCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Harrison, JimPréfacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hope, WilliamNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Immonen, AnttiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kennedy, Paul E.Cover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Landré-Augier, GermaineTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mailhos, JacquesTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Meyer, MichaelIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nason, ThomasIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nobbe, WilhelmÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Onfray, MichelPréfacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ross, LauraEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Smith, PhilipEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Teale, Edwin Waysecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.
Dedication
First words
When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my two hand only.
Quotations
We are wont to forget that the sun looks on our cultivated fields and on the prairies and forests without distinction. They all reflect and absorb his rays alike, and the former make but a small part of the glorious picture which he beholds in his daily course. In his view the earth is all equally cultivated like a garden. Therefore we should receive the benefit of his light and heat with a corresponding trust and magnanimity.
wherever a man goes, men will pursue and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society.
Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
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Disambiguation notice
Only "Walden" - please don't combine with any edition containing other works as well.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts. The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development.

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Book description
Originally published in 1854, Walden, or Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Henry David Thoreau's book Walden: With an Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

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