Walden: Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben by Henry David Thoreau

Dec 28, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The first half is written by Thoreau, the accomplished philosopher and soars much above my humble powers of comprehension; the second half is written by Thoreau, the amateur naturalist and swims much below my capacity for interest.

After reading about the influence the book had on Gandhi, I had attempted reading Walden many (roughly four) times before and each time had to give up before the tenth page due to the onrush of new ideas that enveloped me. I put away the book each time with lots of fo...more The first half is written by Thoreau, the accomplished philosopher and soars much above my humble powers of comprehension; the second half is written by Thoreau, the amateur naturalist and swims much below my capacity for interest.

After reading about the influence the book had on Gandhi, I had attempted reading Walden many (roughly four) times before and each time had to give up before the tenth page due to the onrush of new ideas that enveloped me. I put away the book each time with lots of food for thought and always hoped to finish it one day.

Now after finally finishing the book, while I was elated and elevated by the book, I just wish that Thoreau had stuck to telling about the affairs of men and their degraded ways of living and about his alternate views. Maybe even a detailed account of his days and how it affected him would have been fine but when he decided to write whole chapters about how to do bean cultivation and how to measure the depth of a pond with rudimentary methods and theorizing about the reason for the unusual depth of walden and about the habits of wild hens, sadly, I lost interest. I trudged through the last chapters and managed to finish it out of a sense of obligation built up over years of awe about the book.

The concluding chapter, to an extent, rewarded me for my persistence and toil. In this final chapter, he comes back to the real purpose of the book: to drill home a simple idea - "I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings."

This I think was the core philosophy of the book - if you pursue the ideal direction/vision you have of how your life should be, and not how convention dictates it should be, then you will find success and satisfaction on a scale unimaginable through those conventional routes or to those conventional minds.

I will of course be re-reading the book at some point and thankfully I will know which parts to skip without any remorse.(less)

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Aug 01, 2007 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essays, read-for-school, classics

Or "The Guy Who Liked to Go Outside and Do Stuff". If Thoreau were alive today, I bet he'd be one of those guys who won't shut up about how he "doesn't even own" a television. Curiously, however, I don't think he'd smell bad. And he'd find Radiohead neither overrated nor God's gift to modern music. Just a talented band with a few fairly interesting ideas.

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Jun 02, 2008 Chris Bradshaw rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

When Henry Thoreau went to Walden Pond in 1845, I wonder what he really thought he was doing there. I wonder if he had second thoughts about the whole idea; although when he began it was July, and July is a good month to be outdoors, whatever the weather. The man, and what he did and how he lived and what he lived for have always been a source of inspiration to me, and to many others... Walden is much more than one man's account of the years he spent in the woods communing with nature; it is a s...more
When Henry Thoreau went to Walden Pond in 1845, I wonder what he really thought he was doing there. I wonder if he had second thoughts about the whole idea; although when he began it was July, and July is a good month to be outdoors, whatever the weather. The man, and what he did and how he lived and what he lived for have always been a source of inspiration to me, and to many others... Walden is much more than one man's account of the years he spent in the woods communing with nature; it is a statement of defiance. Thoreau was educated at Harvard, and spent some time as a teacher where he despaired of the idea of classroom learning. He had a great respect for the Native Americans, admiring their hardiness and skill. He couldn't understand why people thought of them as inferior. To him, they were wise and strong and more in tune with reality than the farmer with his insulated life. He loved wisdom, and spoke of an enlightened society based on compassion and simplicity. He did not align himself explicitly with any religious view...he was a philosophical person. Solitude was what he valued, not just because he was a thinker, but also because he believed it made you a better person, a more independent mind. These ideas, and the kind of existence they represent, are important for me because I think that we're losing something very crucial...not just in the physical loss of the natural environment, but also in the spiritual environment, which is reliant upon it. If it was obvious 150 years ago, it is now the de facto reality, and the question is: what will it be like 150 years from now?

So...what are we supposed to do about it? You can see how huge the problem is: global warming, overpopulation, poverty, corporate hegemony... You look at it all, and it floors you; you can't see the edges of it because it's all around you, everywhere. It's just how things are...it's what you're used to seeing. And it's horrible, but that's also accepted to a certain degree...the wrongness of it is tolerated because people feel powerless, or bogged down, or maybe they're just tired of trying...all valid points and very understandable ones. I think Henry would look at it as a consequence of a compulsively complicated culture, and once you look at the massiveness of what we have done, the sheer size of our footprint, maybe you can see it too. Going to the woods ain't gonna cut it... But for the people who feel the way Henry felt, who see what he saw in the deep waters of Walden Pond, the option of inaction is no option at all. The real power of his words is in the actions of those they inspire...the good people doing the hard work of trying to make this culture a less complicated one, and maybe they'll succeed and maybe they won't...the value is in the attempt.

It begins with an idea; ideas are the seeds of change, they are what our culture rests upon. But, like a seed, they will become nothing without the proper attention and care. The best one's change the world, the worst one's bring the world to it's knees...which is where we are now. Is it a good idea to continue polluting the planet when we know that it will kill us in the end? No, but that continues. Is it a good idea to pamper the wealthy and tax the poor? No, but that continues. People see these things and forget about Walden Pond because it seems small and ineffectual. It says something about the spirit of a society when the best ideas are purposefully abandoned for shiny, complicated, bad one's. But the people who benefit most from the bad ideas are the people who are effectively running the show. And so they dress them up and give them interesting titles and wrap them in exciting packages and peddle them as good one's. Henry built his home with the trees he took from the forest surrounding the pond at Walden. He built it with tools he borrowed from his neighbors, in good faith, and used recycled materials for what he couldn't get from the woods. It was a good house and it kept him warm in the winter, cool in the summer and dry when it rained. The great wisdom of his life was in how he lived it, with care and appreciation and respect for what was in his environment. Is it a good idea to live as a student, no matter your age? Yes, and also to be a teacher of good ideas, as Henry was.

Thoreau stayed at Walden Pond for two years, wrote extensively in his journal, then left. He could have stayed, I suppose, but solitude is not something which benefits forever. I think he says as much, though I'm not sure. He stayed long enough to learn what he needed to, then he moved on. There is wisdom in that, too. Take what you need and leave the rest. Things are changing, despite how it seems sometimes. People are angry. They're tired of being scared. Maybe they won't go to the woods; maybe that's not even an option anymore. The "woods" now are more a state of mind, a world view. Whatever happens, Walden will be there, as full of good ideas as it ever was...because a truly good idea will always be good, no matter what the censors say.(less)

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Jan 02, 2009 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I will go against the grain of society here and say that this was not worth it. There are a few gems of wisdom in here, maybe the Cliffs Notes or a HEAVILY abridged version would be more tolerable. Here's what I didn't like: Thoreau went off to "live by himself", when in actuality he was a mere 2 miles away from town and could hear the train whistle daily. Not exactly out there roughing it. He lived in a shack on land that a friend of his owned so he was basically a squatter. Most of the food he...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Clare rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading Walden was kind of like eating bran flakes: You know it's good for you, and to some degree you enjoy the wholesomeness of it, but it's not always particularly exciting. The parts of this book that I loved (the philosophy, which always held my interest even though I sometimes didn't agree with Thoreau), I really loved, and the parts that I hated (the ten pages where he waxes poetic about his bean fields, for instance), I really hated.

I also got the impression that Thoreau was the kind of...more

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Nov 13, 2008 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, historical

His whole 'back to nature' & simplistic look at life do have their appeal. I don't subscribe to transcendentalism, but did find his musings broken up by the seasons to be interesting. Like most philosophers, his view on life tends to ignore minor details (like reality) that don't fit into his worldview, but he does stay in the real world most of the time. Luckily, he had some money, good health & people he could borrow from.

I don't particularly like the man, though. His comments on marr...more His whole 'back to nature' & simplistic look at life do have their appeal. I don't subscribe to transcendentalism, but did find his musings broken up by the seasons to be interesting. Like most philosophers, his view on life tends to ignore minor details (like reality) that don't fit into his worldview, but he does stay in the real world most of the time. Luckily, he had some money, good health & people he could borrow from.

I don't particularly like the man, though. His comments on marriage being "a ball & chain" for the man were absolutely offensive. It's no wonder he never married or had kids. His self-centered nature wouldn't allow for such distractions.

Even more offensive was the way he treated the axe he borrowed. I don't care much for tool borrowers anyway, having had too many people borrow mine over the years & then 'treat them as if they were their own'. That means they beat them up or never return them. That's exactly what Thoreau did, ruined a fine axe as if it was of no consequence.

An axe in 1845 was a useful & fairly expensive tool. Generally, handles were handmade by the owner to their pattern. Often the axe head was handmade by the local smith. It required folding one piece of softer steel or iron to create the hole for the handle & then welding the ends back together. Then a higher quality piece of steel was forged on to the blade end. Different tempering was required for the two pieces.

Thoreau used his borrowed axe to both build his cabin & grub roots out with. Usually only a very old axe was used for the latter since hitting rocks & dirt dulled it quickly & shortened its life. After breaking the handle, he BURNED the old handle out of the head, which ruined any temper it had. His ill-fitting replacement handle required him to soak it in water, which expands the wood to fit, but does so only briefly. Once dry, the fit is even looser since the expanding wood fibers are crushed by the iron head. Yuck!

Anyway, this is why I was often distracted from his discourse on nature - I wanted to throttle him too often.(less)

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Mar 06, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school

Re-read in March 2011. I first speed-read it last November over our American Thanksgiving vacation since I had a reading test due on the Thursday. Being Canadian with an American husband can sometimes lead to such unfortunate experiences as having to rush through Walden and being supremely annoyed with it for taking me away from lazing away in the hot summer weather and drinking bourbon ale. So of course I didn't enjoy it much then -- I mean, how absurd to idealize solitude and quiet in the wood...more Re-read in March 2011. I first speed-read it last November over our American Thanksgiving vacation since I had a reading test due on the Thursday. Being Canadian with an American husband can sometimes lead to such unfortunate experiences as having to rush through Walden and being supremely annoyed with it for taking me away from lazing away in the hot summer weather and drinking bourbon ale. So of course I didn't enjoy it much then -- I mean, how absurd to idealize solitude and quiet in the woods and economical living while on a road trip from Ontario to Florida to visit family and eat delicious food -- but after hearing the professor's lecture and re-reading it in preparation for writing a paper, I have changed my opinion and am kind of thrilled with Walden. So okay, Thoreau seems a bit of a douchebag in some ways, but seriously, he's not telling you that you have to go out and live in the woods by yourself in order to have a fulfilled life. He's opening up some possibilities on how to have a fulfilled life. So maybe I have romantic notions about solitude and nature and things of that sort, but there is a lot in this book that makes sense and can work even if one has a mortgage and would rather stay in a hotel than a cottage in the woods.

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“Then to my morning work. First I take an axe and pail and go in search of water, if that be not a dream. After a cold and snowy night it needed a divining-rod to find it. Every winter the liquid and trembling surface of the pond, which was so sensitive to every breath, and reflected every light and shadow, becomes solid to the depth of a foot or a foot and a half, so that it will support the heaviest teams, and perchance the snow covers it to an equal depth, and it is not to be distinguished from any level field. Like the marmots in the surrounding hills, it closes its eyelids and becomes dormant for three months or more. Standing on the snow-covered plain, as if in a pasture amid the hills, I cut my way first through a foot of snow, and then a foot of ice, and open a window under my feet, where, kneeling to drink, I look down into the quiet parlor of the fishes, pervaded by a softened light as through a window of ground glass, with its bright sanded floor the same as in summer; there a perennial waveless serenity reigns as in the amber twilight sky, corresponding to the cool and even temperament of the inhabitants. Heaven is under our feet is well as over our heads.”(less)

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Mar 29, 2008 Mister Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Mature, open minded readers

The very first time I read Walden my immediate response was to begin torching its pages one by one and sacrificing each page as literary cow paddies written by a pompous celibate pretentious boob who masqueraded as self-appointed demigogue for the collective conscience of the gods; and of course, when read this way it certainly fits at times Thoreau's rhetoric.

Many years later, I took my paperback copy off my shelf and was ready to pack it up to be dropped off at the nearest thrift shop, but the...more

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Oct 05, 2007 Janet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone interested in ecology and/or personal growth

I've read Walden many times now since that first time in high school. I will always love this book, and it reveals itself anew with each reading.

When I first encountered Thoreau in high school, his words rang in my soul like a prophet's manifesto. I admired what seemed to be his unique courage and absolute integrity. He inspired me to want to "live deliberately," but I knew that a solitary life in a cabin was beyond my abilities. His will seemed so much more resolute than anything I could ever...more I've read Walden many times now since that first time in high school. I will always love this book, and it reveals itself anew with each reading.

When I first encountered Thoreau in high school, his words rang in my soul like a prophet's manifesto. I admired what seemed to be his unique courage and absolute integrity. He inspired me to want to "live deliberately," but I knew that a solitary life in a cabin was beyond my abilities. His will seemed so much more resolute than anything I could ever be capable of.

That was a couple of decades ago. What struck on this latest recent reading is just how much this is a young man's book. The voice is that of an idealist, a passionate and lonely misfit who longs for a better way to live and for more authentic relationships with others as well as with himself. I know now that Thoreau lived more like an energetic slacker than a true renunciate. He was too principled to work as a schoolmaster (he refused to beat his charges), and there wasn't much he cared to do apart from reading, writing, and observing nature closely. He didn't have a family to take care of, and his parents were indulgent of his wishes.

His life at Walden was bracing, but it wasn't filled with hardships. His cabin was just a short walk from Concord, and Thoreau went home for Sunday dinners and stayed at the Emersons' place when it got too cold. His folks took care of his laundry. His life of simplicity was strictly voluntary, and he had numerous safety nets. While these facts make Henry David a bit less intimidating, they also make him more recognizable as a human being.

I like this young man, with his snobbery and his idealism, but I know that as a flesh-and-blood person he would have been hard to get to know, and even harder to love. He was probably afraid of intimacy, and even more afraid of failing to live up to his exacting standards. Thoreau was fascinated with purity. His disgust for "brute" appetites is something that we now think we understand as related to a fear of sexuality. He was deeply interested in Hindu dietary laws, and had an aversion to all forms of consumption. For him, the ideal was to become so pure that a few drops of nectar would be sufficient sustenance. Like Thoreau, I'm an ethical vegetarian, so I understand somewhat that urge toward purity. But my appetites are huge, and my life is in many ways a big, sloppy, comfortable mess. In contrast, Thoreau wanted to be free of all social constraints, free of the taint of commerce, free to be "wild." But his vision of wildness was of a clean, solitary life. He didn't want to merge or mingle with anything or anyone.

The descriptions of Walden and the surrounding landscapes are sublime. They will never get stale, and I enjoy them even more now that I live a few miles from Concord and have visited the pond in different seasons.

I look forward to reading this beautiful book again in a few years. I wonder what I'll notice next time?

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Oct 15, 2007 Donald rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Who doesn't admire Henry David Thoreau? A social outcast who invented the tactic of civil disobedience that inspired Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Thoreau is best remembered today for his book "Walden." Unlike most literary classics, this book is not a work of fiction, and it really has no characters outside of himself. Thoreau's writing ability was never more evident than here, when he takes the seemingly boring subject of a man going back to nature and makes it something special...more

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Mar 05, 2009 Whitney Archibald rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I read this in high school, college, and am skimming it now for book club. I have a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in this book, partly because I have the same copy I first read and by now have lots of highlighted sections and notes in the margins. I learn something new each time I read it. Mostly, it reminds me that I am a nature girl at heart and that after living almost exclusively outdoors during my childhood (hiking, fishing, rock climbing, swimming in the river, etc.), I now spend waaay to mu...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Vincent Chough rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thoreau's observations are incredibly relevant today. He was an environmentalist, but not because he was so worried about the planet -- but rather because it made sense to him. We just don't need so much stuff. It's a waste of our time, energy and spirit. He went to the woods to prove this and to prove himself. What would Henry say to us now in this age of disposable cell phones and multiple mortgages hanging over our heads?

Walden is just good writing. It's insightful and witty. It's even quirky...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Jacqueline Valencia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"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."

In the 1840s, Thoreau went to jail for not paying his taxes. He refused to. Friends paid his tax bill and during this time he wrote "Civil Disobedience." Walden struggled with trying to be an individual in society and from that he experienced and created Walden.

His dry wit and cynicism is at its best at the beginning of the book where he ba...more "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."

In the 1840s, Thoreau went to jail for not paying his taxes. He refused to. Friends paid his tax bill and during this time he wrote "Civil Disobedience." Walden struggled with trying to be an individual in society and from that he experienced and created Walden.

His dry wit and cynicism is at its best at the beginning of the book where he basically lays out his manifesto:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”"

He didn't believe people (and by people, he says "men"), had to work for a living. They should own land, cultivate it, and live each for their own world, to truly discover what was good within themselves.

Thoreau lived for years by Walden pond. Yet he did all this: the seeding, the cultivating, the work on his house...all with the help of the outside world which included his mother and Ralph Waldo Emerson who lived nearby.

I picked up Walden after watching Upstream Color, which features the novel as an ephemeral skeleton. As a fan of Nietzsche's Uberman concept, the idea of transcendentalism is appealing. However, knowing several survival and hermiting stories, I've yet to read someone or know of someone that came out of the woods completely attuned to nature and to the world around them. Sooner or later, something clicks or isn't quite right. Are we meant to be "not right"? Perhaps in my old age when no one depends on me I might challenge myself to it. It's nice to think about, and overwhelming to even start.

It's best to understand that as I read it, I rode the subways, paid for my meals via debit, listened to my tv play on the demand shows, and spent time on my big couch with all of the cares in my little world in swimming in my head. There's something to be said about living apart from everything and it's romantic to think of it. I just don't know how long I'd survive being actually alone even though I know in some corporeal sense that I will always be so. Relationships matter, yo.

I loved his style though and would like to work with Walden at some point in my scribing career.

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Mar 18, 2012 Phillip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, favorites-among-favorites, french-language, my-visionaries

I think I had to read this 6 times before I came to love it. I believe I have read it around 11 times.

"Walden" was required reading in 12th grade American Lit. when I was in high school. We only had to read the chapter on 'Economy', but it was described in terms of dread and horror by my fellow students before my section even got to the classroom. I don't remember what the assignment was, but I do remember that a long period was set aside to get through it and that a lot of people struggled to...more I think I had to read this 6 times before I came to love it. I believe I have read it around 11 times.

"Walden" was required reading in 12th grade American Lit. when I was in high school. We only had to read the chapter on 'Economy', but it was described in terms of dread and horror by my fellow students before my section even got to the classroom. I don't remember what the assignment was, but I do remember that a long period was set aside to get through it and that a lot of people struggled to complete it at all. I believe now, that I was so psyched out by what I heard that I didn't understand what I was reading, not because I didn't understand it, but because I thought I must be missing whatever it was that was so difficult and grueling. I remember turning in the assignment and being dazed and needing to be assured that I did in fact do what was required.

I talked with the teacher, described what was in the chapter and, sure enough, it was about a man who wanted to live simply by building a cabin in the woods. Then I was puzzled, because I thought the idea of the book was cool. It was about nature. What could be wrong with that? There was something about it that compelled me to return to it even though it was hard and it took a long time to understand what it was really about.

It helped not to have to read it once the assignment was over in class. I picked up an annotated paperback version in a used bookstore and read and reread that book until it fell apart. I still have it in a bag. The annotations kept referring to an edition of the book from the 1940s that had photographs in it. Once I had reached the point where I really loved "Walden" I remember wondering what was in the pictures that was so wonderful. I never expected to find out.

I would have been happy just to have looked at a copy. But one day I was walking by the sale books in the public library and the photographic edition from the 1940s was there for $1.00. I couldn't believe my eyes. I brought it to one of the head librarians and I explained what the book was and asked if they were sure they wanted to sell it. I was assured that yes, one dollar would do. What a prize.

Things I like in Henry David Thoreau's "Walden". I like the descriptions of nature and his philosophic, and poetic, and humorous voice in which he asks questions like "Do you own your farm or does your farm own you?" I loved the chapter where he describes being out on a boat and a loon plays hide and seek with him. I liked his description of making necessary trips into town and of his long walks across other people's property and of his description of the loud boom sound that the ice on the pond made when it broke in the Spring. His description of life lived deliberately provided much for him to discuss about life for all of us in a commercial society.

I once saw an Amazon review that said it was, "The worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read." Well, I get it, it is a hard book, but then at some point you see his gentle sense of humor, his love of nature and his human view of life that asks that nature be respected and that we don't work the joy out of life in pursuit of possessions. "Walden" is almost poetry, but not quite. It is almost philosophy, but not quite. It is almost nature writing, but not quite. But in the end it is a great piece of literature that defies being pigeon-holed as it gives the reader ideas for how to avoid being trapped into a life lived in quiet desperation.(less)

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Jan 09, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, high-school-reading, nonfiction, read-in-high-school

Oh dear god, this man is both boring and infuriating (is that even possible?). Perhaps he should have heeded his own advice, to "suck out all the marrow of" his book and "reduce it to its lowest terms." But no, he instead drags on and on about the most inane details, throwing in obscure literary allusions left and right. Now, let me ask, if the book is addressed to "poor students," what are the chances that they will understand any of these references? Which leads to the question, then why does...more Oh dear god, this man is both boring and infuriating (is that even possible?). Perhaps he should have heeded his own advice, to "suck out all the marrow of" his book and "reduce it to its lowest terms." But no, he instead drags on and on about the most inane details, throwing in obscure literary allusions left and right. Now, let me ask, if the book is addressed to "poor students," what are the chances that they will understand any of these references? Which leads to the question, then why does Thoreau use them? To show that he is intelligent, of course, which leads me to my next point - that he is infuriating.

He is infuriating in his preachiness and pretentiousness. He makes sweeping judgments about the millennia of man's existence, and I can't help but wonder why we should listen to him. If he has "never met a man who was quite awake" (even though I'm sure his good friend Emerson was just as intellectually able as our little genius here), then how are we to believe that he just so happens to be the one exception?

This is why I also don't like the film Into the Wild, which has a similar theme. Books/films like these are horribly preachy and pretentious. They try to make you feel bad about your way of life, even though they have no authority to do so, and they then somehow refute their point. For instance, the nature boy in Into the Wild dies from eating poisonous berries, while Thoreau conducted his experiment for only 2 years (not enough to preach that it is a way of life) and then got bucketloads of money from book sales.

And I find it funny that the very people who view this book as their bible are kind of missing the point of the book. Thoreau says somewhere in there that he wouldn't want anyone to live like himself, but then again ... why did he write this book ... who knows. And another thing - following another's words so religiously has got to be indicative of the herd instinct, which Thoreau advocates against. And yet another thing - he says that a scrap of newspaper serves the same purpose as [insert great literary author here]. Since in this day and age, we could very well put his name there, why don't we follow his own advice and throw Walden away?

P.S. I typed this whole thing on my phone. Thoreau is turning over in his grave...
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Jan 21, 2013 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my, what to say about my good friend Thoreau? Well, first of all, this book pretty much ruined my over-all idea of Thoreau for me. You see, I read Civil Disobedience before starting on this and I actually started to think, "Hey, not too shabby." But then I began this gem and I'm THIS close to banging my head against the wall.

Why does Thoreau keep suggesting that man should turn back to primitivism when that's the exact thing that man is trying to run away from? That is probably the biggest h...more

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Jul 23, 2008 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my gosh, I don't need to mention the good things I've learned reading Thoreau, but I MUST say that every passionate Thoreau fan I ever met in college was a COMPLETE DOUCHEBAG in a very eco-friendly, pseudo-hipster, sweetly male-centric way. Ugh one time when I was a sophomore I had to choose a topic for a group presentation in Eng 253 and I was like ooh, transcendentalist literature! And suddenly I found myself stuck in a group with two fucking PERFECT Thoreau-head douchebags, all scruffy wit...more

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Mar 01, 2009 John Wiswell rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Woefully overwritten to the point where most modern readers who might be moved by Thoreau’s transcendentalism will be put off by the prose alone. If that doesn’t get them, his elitist attitude probably will. Thoreau took Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideals of choosing for yourself and added, “but you’re an idiot if you don’t choose mine.” Too many of his asides are condescending views of society or normal people, evidencing that Thoreau was stuck on other people even if he claimed to be independent or...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Almeta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Almeta by: Grace A. Dow Memorial Library

Shelves: reviewed

Thoreau’s couple of years living alone at Walden Pond were idyllic, but it should not be assumed that he was isolated. He had numerous visitors and went into town frequently. This shattered my belief that he lived separate from everyone for a time.

His language sometimes seemed to slip into Shakespearean, an affectation that I found somehow out of place with the rest of his common folk narrative. He was obviously well read and familiar with several modes of philosophy.

I found his assumption, that...more

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Aug 26, 2007 Lindsay is currently reading it · review of another edition

I'm reading this right now on my travels around Illinios and Michigan. How many other books are you going to read that devote four entire pages to describing the way the ice on a pond in winter looks and feels? Thoreau is very disapproving of his fellow humans and society (in a very self-righteous punk sort of way) and it makes you feel like a) maybe you're not just a grumpy misanthrope for feeling that way and b)nostalgia for a better time is pretty stupid. After all, who really wants to live i...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Sandy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just don't get what all the fuss is about. There a few profound moments and some like able pages, but for the most part I found it boring.

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Mar 28, 2009 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel a bit pretentious putting this book on as my first review, but I've read it twice in the last two years (once independently and then for my book club), so I figured I'd put it on.

This is a really good book. One of the things thats nice is that it's very hard to pigeonhole. It's not just an environmentalist screed, nor is it a practical survival manual or a scientific journal of nature; at any given moment it can appear to be any of these things, but it never stays there long. It's alterna...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Kevin Slater rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This will probably become the most profound book of my life. I felt a connection while reading what Thoreau said more than any book I've read in years. So much time I spent reading it I wanted to jump up and shout "YES!" I totally understand. I have spent my life in slowly developing a personal ideology of our connection with each other and the need for people to stop concerning themselves with wealth and the accumulation of things to "keep up with the joneses", to understand that the only thing...more

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May 22, 2013 Harshil Chahal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Walden – More than a Pond

Imagine living in complete isolation in the middle of the woods next to a pond. Perhaps that sounds lackluster, but Henry David Thoreau would say otherwise. In his nonfiction book, Walden, Thoreau engages the reader as he explores the true nature of life.

In March, 1845, Thoreau builds a small cabin next to Walden (a pond) and begins an experiment. The only goal in his experiment was to learn about humans and human nature with his time away from worldly desires and expect...more Walden – More than a Pond

Imagine living in complete isolation in the middle of the woods next to a pond. Perhaps that sounds lackluster, but Henry David Thoreau would say otherwise. In his nonfiction book, Walden, Thoreau engages the reader as he explores the true nature of life.

In March, 1845, Thoreau builds a small cabin next to Walden (a pond) and begins an experiment. The only goal in his experiment was to learn about humans and human nature with his time away from worldly desires and expectations. Throughout his experiment, he learns that we as humanity are bred to conform to society’s norms. After peacefully staying at Walden for two years, he realizes that our true potential can only be achieved by dismissing unnecessary expectations and fulfilling our dreams.

Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The theme is something I myself have pondered on throughout my high school career as I struggled to find my identity. Perhaps the strongest evidence of this theme lies in a quote in the chapter “Conclusion” when Thoreau says, “"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours…” (427). This quote directly translates into the theme I identified above. By living for what we, as individuals, wish to live for, society as a whole will benefit. In economics, the theory is explained via marginal utility, or the gained satisfaction/benefit of choosing a certain product over another. By following our dreams, we have the greatest amount of output to society, and we find the greatest amount of happiness in our lives. As such the marginal utility and marginal benefit to society is greatest. Furthermore, Thoreau also says, “"In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness…” (427). Here he stresses on the idea that only through simplification can we avoid the doldrums life casually throws at us. In our cosmopolitan world, we live convoluted lives that stutter our ability to achieve our desires and enhance society with our hidden talents.

Walden has candidly been one of the best books I have read. Albeit difficult with its generally archaic syntax, the lessons and stories it provides are unparalleled. The simple theme of nonconformity addresses a complex issue in society that is unique to each individual. I would recommend this book to any individual who is looking for a book that guides them an interesting revelation about life. However, before you dive in head first, keep in mind that this book is not easy by any stretch and will require a lot of patience; as the Indian proverb says, “the fruit of patience is sweet.”
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Mar 07, 2013 America Sanders rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Is it o.k. to say weird? I will need to learn more about the person to appreciate his writing and with just one example of his writing under my belt I'm sure I need to read something else to help me gain a clearer picture of where this guy was coming from.

I'm totally for a more simplified life. I think walking is great. I love nature and would love to spend the summer months in the woods each day. The reality is that I would go to the extremes of Mr. Thoreau.
Besides, I have some doubt as to how...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Issendai rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read it in high school, and was struck by, first, the hypocrisy--he talked about living the simple, self-sufficient life, but walked into town to have other people do his laundry--and second, the impracticality--if everyone did as he urged, who was going to do his laundry? If I read it now, I might like it better. Back then, it sounded like any well-off, well-educated guy with no family responsibilities and plenty of money to pay other people to do his drudgework for him, telling people how ev...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

Thoreau wrote this infamous book after deciding he was sick and tired of his busy city life in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1845 he left the city and moved to an isolated cabin on Walden Pond. He spent two years there, farming and living off the land. When he returned home he decided to write about his experience and this book is the results.

The book is a mixed bag of literary gems, pontification, wise advice and tedious daily chores. I kept stumbling across so many famous quotes that I didn’t re...more Thoreau wrote this infamous book after deciding he was sick and tired of his busy city life in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1845 he left the city and moved to an isolated cabin on Walden Pond. He spent two years there, farming and living off the land. When he returned home he decided to write about his experience and this book is the results.

The book is a mixed bag of literary gems, pontification, wise advice and tedious daily chores. I kept stumbling across so many famous quotes that I didn’t realize originated in this text. I also grew tired of his exhausting catalogue of his daily labors.

Thoreau was around 30 when he wrote the book and there are bits that are insufferably cocky. I’m younger than he was then, but I can still understand that older generations have wisdom to offer us. At one point he goes on a rant about the fact that just because people have lived longer than him doesn’t make them expert in life and they shouldn’t be trying to give him advice. I wonder if Thoreau ever re-read those words when he was older and regretted his hubris.

Yet there were also lessons that resonated with me 150 years after they were originally written. The main one was the importance he placed on giving yourself time to reflect in solitude. We need to take breaks from society (especially from social media) to put our lives in perspective and make sure we have our priorities straight. That’s even more important today than it was then. Thoreau talks about us filling our lives to the brim and leaving no room for reflection; imagine what he would say if he heard about facebook and twitter and the nonstop stream of television that fills our every waking hour!

BOTTOM LINE: There are parts of this book I just loved to pieces, and those were absolutely 5 star sections for me. But there are also a lot of bits that talk in detail about what he did each day (fishing, gardening, etc.) and those parts really dragged. It’s definitely worth reading for all of the gems you stumble upon, but don’t expect a quick, light read.

“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.”

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”

“A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from all human lips; -- not be represented on canvas or in marble only, but be carved out of the breath of life itself.”

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”(less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Diogo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Quando fala-mos em Henry David Thoreau, é-nos imperativo falar de todo o trabalho que este multifacetado filósofo levou a cabo durante o séc. XIX contra a lei estatal norte-americana, em pontos tão sensíveis como a Escravatura e a Política Externa do país. Afinal de contas estamos a falar da vida e obra de um homem que influenciou pessoas que lutaram pelos direitos de etnias e povos, como Mahatma Gandhi ou Martin Luther King, ou até de outras figuras da história como Leo Tolstoy e o presidente n...more Quando fala-mos em Henry David Thoreau, é-nos imperativo falar de todo o trabalho que este multifacetado filósofo levou a cabo durante o séc. XIX contra a lei estatal norte-americana, em pontos tão sensíveis como a Escravatura e a Política Externa do país. Afinal de contas estamos a falar da vida e obra de um homem que influenciou pessoas que lutaram pelos direitos de etnias e povos, como Mahatma Gandhi ou Martin Luther King, ou até de outras figuras da história como Leo Tolstoy e o presidente norte-americano John F. Kennedy.

Em 1845, William Ellery Channing, escritor transcendentalista colega de Emerson e Thoreau aconselhou a um Thoreau “perdido”, de que deveria levar uma experiência de vida simplista (de forma a reencontrar o seu caminho) onde deveria, “…sobrepor-te a tudo, construindo uma cabana para ti próprio, e lá iniciar o grande processo de te devorares vivo. Não vejo outra alternativa, nenhuma outra esperança em ti.” Emerson financiou esta experiência com a doação dos terrenos onde Thoreau se poderia instalar, pois preferia ver o bosque cuidado pelo seu amigo, de que ver as suas árvores a morrerem através do abate da indústria madeireira de Concord.
Apesar de não ser tão influenciável como a sua grande obra, “Desobediência Civil”, “Walden ou A Vida nos Bosques” alcança um patamar diferente pois enquanto “Desobediência Civil” nos leva ao plano do Estado-Nação, em “Walden ou A Vida nos Bosques” pode-mos encontrar um pouco de uma análise da vida de um indivíduo inserido numa pequena comunidade.

O livro maioritariamente é constituído por referências naturalistas que Thoreau retirou das suas observações da flora e da fauna do lago Walden, mas também de outros que circundavam a localidade de Concord (Massachusetts, Nova Inglaterra), bem como das suas experiências com forasteiros e mesmo com membros da comunidade de Concord.
Não deixa de incluir em grande parte, uma crítica à sociedade americana da altura, onde o caminho-de-ferro derrubava mais e mais fronteiras naturais em prol do desenvolvimento da nação para sítios cada vez mais remotos e onde um poder económico de uma burguesia industrializada ganhava cada vez mais espaço na sociedade. Ponto interessante de se ver nesta crítica, é a forma como Thoreau analisa a forma como a caridade é feita entre os mais pobres. Apesar de não rejeitar a existência de Deus como entidade divina, Thoreau fala em desconcordância com a actividade da Igreja e dos seus fiéis, pois este acredita piamente, que as acções de caridade tomada pela maioria do povo americano acabam por impor a pobreza forçada aos mais necessitados.
A sua forma de ver em como o sistema económico da altura, que se iria tornar no sistema económico com que regemos as nossas vidas nos dias de hoje, fracassará passado alguns anos é também deveras interessante. Thoreau achava que o homem comum estaria a endividar em muito a sua família através do aluguer/compra de propriedade, chegando mesmo a afirmar que a maioria dos nativos-americanos (ou índios, como preferirem) eram mais livres economicamente devido às suas casas móveis do que o comum cidadão americano que morria sem conseguir pagar a sua casa, passando a sua dívida para a geração seguinte.

Além de toda esta análise socioeconómica que o autor faz dos tempos em que viveu, não se pode descurar o facto que levou o mesmo a refugiar-se nos bosques. E é aqui que entra a visão Epicurista que Thoreau imprime no seu livro de forma tão perfeita que leva o leitor a considerar tudo aquilo que o autor descreve. A forma como é impressa em palavras, o sentido de que o trabalho por mais simples que seja, como plantar um hectare de feijão pode trazer prazer ao homem mais comum, leva-nos a pensar se a vida nos bosques não terá deixado Thoreau doido em considerar plantar feijões mais prazenteiro do que por exemplo um banho de água quente, ou se de facto é mesmo possível, tirar prazer dos pequenos actos da nossa vida.

Para o leitor menos “treinado”, de um certo ponto de vista, “Walden ou A Vida nos Bosques”, pode revelar-se um pouco uma obra com pretensão do autor em aclamar os resultados da sua experiência, adquirindo assim uma espécie de superioridade em relação aos seus concidadãos. Mas uma análise mais profunda a este texto pode de facto concluir exactamente o contrário, pois Thoreau não se quer sentir superior a ninguém, achando que através desta experiência, seja possível provar em como é possível a todo e a qualquer ser humano com parcos recursos, libertar-se das amarras daquilo que não são as nossas liberdades (como as preocupações que tantas vezes temos) e obter uma espécie de estatuto em que essas liberdades sejam dadas como adquiridas, sem necessidade de que tenhamos que ter alguém que zele pelos nossos direitos e obrigações.

Em suma, “Walden ou A Vida nos Bosques” para além de ser a descrição de um homem que decidiu mudar-se para os bosques para se encontrar a si mesmo, é um pouco também um manual passo-a-passo em como qualquer ser humano consegue perseguir os seus objectivos sem a necessidade de ter alguém que o necessite de proteger, pois a procura da protecção noutrem (neste caso o Estado), é a fragilização do espírito de vontade e de Liberdade do Homem. É através deste sentido que irá nascer mais tarde, “Desobediência Civil”, obra essa que conto iniciar a leitura futuramente.
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Jan 06, 2013 Dan Allosso rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I read Walden with my environmental history sections last week. Only a couple of them had ever read any Thoreau, although they all had a sense of who he was and what he stood for. It was interesting talking about Walden in a history class, rather than in English, which was where I first encountered Thoreau. I wonder if that led to a greater effort on my part to talk about context—or is that just me?

There were certainly things about Walden that surprised me, and that I had not picked up on when I...more I read Walden with my environmental history sections last week. Only a couple of them had ever read any Thoreau, although they all had a sense of who he was and what he stood for. It was interesting talking about Walden in a history class, rather than in English, which was where I first encountered Thoreau. I wonder if that led to a greater effort on my part to talk about context—or is that just me?

There were certainly things about Walden that surprised me, and that I had not picked up on when I read it as a teenager. One thing was, the way Thoreau seems to jump back and forth from the sublime to the ridiculous. On the same page where he says “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” Thoreau also says “It is hard to have a southern overseer; it is worse to have a northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave driver of yourself.” Stephen Fender, the editor of the Oxford World Classics edition, apologizes for this passage by saying Thoreau was one of the first critics of the northern factory system. Fender tries hard to put a “free labor” spin on what really amounts to a ridiculous, ignorant, insensitive statement. But I think it’s this middle-class, northern-white-guy ignorance and self-centeredness of Thoreau’s that makes Walden so rich and enduring.

Sure, there are enough literary and cultural references to keep classicists and concordance-writers happy. But is this why we still read Walden? And there are beautiful, graphic passages about nature, and about Thoreau’s experience of the woods and the pond. But I don’t think this accounts for his continuing popularity, either. I think it comes down to two things: Thoreau gives us a view of nineteenth-century America from a perspective way outside the frame; and he’s a white, middle-class, suburban intellectual, like most of us.

It’s very difficult to critique the system from within. By leaving and looking at his society from the outside, Thoreau helps us see things that ought to be obvious, but are not. He reminds us that “the principal object” of the new textile factories is “not that mankind may be well and honestly clad, but, unquestionably, that the corporations may be enriched.” Once we’re pulled out of the frame a bit by that thought, Thoreau continues, “In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.” Thoreau keeps reminding us that his perspective is personal and limited. “Often the poor man is not so cold and hungry as he is dirty and ragged and gross,” Thoreau says. “It is partly his taste, and not merely his misfortune.” But just when you want to hit him upside the head with a 2x4, he concludes the paragraph by saying “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

When he looks at Concord and sees “the village was literally a com-munity, a league for mutual defense,” it’s easy to see that culture of fear playing itself out in our own time. Thoreau is right: “if a man is alive, there is always danger that he may die, though the danger must be allowed to be less in proportion as he is dead-and-alive to begin with.” The wish to “live deliberately…and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” is as contemporary as it could possibly be. Thoreau’s critique only becomes stronger, as we move farther from simplicity. In the end, it may be the ahistorical nature of Walden that has made it so enduring. Marching to the beat of a different drummer and cultivating wildness (a fabulous oxymoron!) are timeless. As opposed to something like Bellamy’s Looking Backward, which was filled with specific recommendations that don’t wear nearly as well, a hundred years later.

But I’m reading Walden with my history class, and for all of that timeless wisdom, I question the historical reality of those “lives of quiet desperation,” even though the statement is intuitive and resonant. I suspect that it’s a projection, both when Thoreau originally said it, and when we read it and nod knowingly. But yeah, there’s something to it…Similarly, the idea that they built a telegraph from Maine to Texas, but Maine and Texas have nothing meaningful to say to each other is a sneering, elitist misrepresentation. There will be a lot of data and facts in my dissertation, but the real meat of the thing will come from thousands of letters that people wrote to family members. They clearly thought they had something meaningful to say to each other, even if it was only “I planted six acres of potatoes” and “How is Mother?” Thoreau doesn’t deign to consider that type of communication worth the penny postage—but that’s his problem. (less)

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Dec 29, 2012 William Oh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must be honest that I only read Walden because of school, however, once I got into it, the inherent messages it carried really related to me.

Thoreau's novel explores a myriad of themes ranging from work and society to nature itself [obviously :)]. A lot of my classmates read it as a novel, and if you read it that way, it is extremely boring. Instead see it as look into the personal life of Thoreau and that you are reading his daily journal, which it kind of is.

Although it is at times difficu...more

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Literature & ...: Why is SIMPLICITY so appealing?	2	7	Jun 07, 2013 12:34am

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Walden: Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben

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