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Loading... Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (original 1854; edition 2004)by Henry David Thoreau
Work InformationWalden by Henry David Thoreau (Author) (1854)
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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. ( ) Coincidently enough, a neck-bearded misanthrope is exactly the picture that comes to mind when I imagine how eccentric a man must be to inflict such a wacky self-flagellation upon himself as to slough himself off in a kettle hole within a stone's throw of civilization, for the haphazard purpose of a "spiritual awakening". I don't know, but it sounds to me like he might have been cultivating more than just beans. 54. Walden by Henry David Thoreau OPD: 1854 format: public domain Kindle ebook (~280 pages) acquired: May 2 read: May 2 – Oct 3 time reading: 16:01, 3.4 mpp rating: 3½ genre/style: classic essays theme: Naturalitsy locations: Concord, MA around 1850 about the author: 1817-1862. American naturalist, essayist, poet, philosopher, and a leading transcendentalist. so, hmm. Part of me wants to rant at poor Thoreau, gut all his arrogance, or worse, faux-humble arrogance. That's my emotional reaction. It's not a fair reaction. This stands as an emblem for nature writing, and for independent spirit, and for combining the two together. I like the nature writing effort, and the touches of history, and the attempts at an open mind, the perspective of an abolitionist during deep slavery. I didn't like the independent mind. It was incoherent to me and much too...maga-like. Maybe I would have felt differently ten years ago. As an aside, I hadn't really thought about how tightly these two ideas are interwoven in nature writing - this bond with nature tied to an angry independence of spirit. Edward Abbey was like this. It's a long trail. But, back to this book. It has interesting aspects and high points, especially when he ponders deep winter and his isolation, or he rapturously captures Spring; and it has its natural observations and local character observations. But largely it's about guy randomly doing stuff in a self-made hut a short distance out of town. It's random and wandering. A lot more sane than [Desert Solitaire]; and more optimistic than most latter nature writing, usually having a nature-is-doomed stuff aspect, like [Goodbye to a River]. The prose of its time and softens a lot of the literary drama. It moseys along. Maybe that's ok. Somehow I was hoping for something more. 2023 https://www.librarything.com/topic/354226#8262291 Belongs to Publisher SeriesCollection L'imaginaire (239) Doubleday Dolphin (C10) dtv (12684) — 17 more Everyman's Library (281) Gallmeister, Totem (78) Limited Editions Club (S:7.07) Sammlung Hofenberg (Thoreau) The World's Classics (68) Is contained inA Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau Walden / The Maine Woods / A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau ContainsHas the adaptationIs abridged inInspiredHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideAwardsNotable Lists
Philosophy.
Nonfiction.
HTML:In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the town for the country. Beside the lake of Walden, he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect - while surviving on eight dollars a year. From this experience emerged one of the great classics of American literature, a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that he saw as the main impulses of mid-nineteenth-century America. No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumHenry David Thoreau's book Walden: With an Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsWalden by Henry David Thoreau – STEEL 2022 in Fine Press Forum Popular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)818.303Literature English (North America) Authors, American and American miscellany Middle 19th Century 1830-61LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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