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A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Classic of American literature not only vividly narrates a boat trip Thoreau took with his brother in 1839 but also contains thought-provoking observations on literature, philosophy, Native American and Puritan histories of New England, friends, and a diversity of other topics. "A book of wonderful merit."--Ralph Waldo Emerson
paper, 384 pages
Published
December 1st 1998
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1849)
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At times this work seems a leisurely pastoral, at times a zoological exploration. Of most interest to me, however, are the times when Thoreau uses his travels as a framework on which to construct philosophical musings only tangentially related to the trip itself; for example, he has a fascinating long discussion about religion, the church, and Christianity that sheds light on his own beliefs in the context of his times. I personally find Thoreau’s iconoclastic perspectives refreshing and his rej...more
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Apr 28, 2009
Joy Barr
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
college,
books-i-own
Some questions:
1. On pages 41-42, Thoreau hears dog barks while he is so far out in the middle of nowhere. He considers this "more impressive than any music," which is very surprising to me because this is certainly a marker of man. In the wilderness, Thoreau is interested in humans, not just nature. He finds the dogs barking is "evidence of nature’s health" but to me it is just a reminder of all the crap brought to the continent, along the lines of small pox, rats, and kudzu. Is Thoreau conside...more
1. On pages 41-42, Thoreau hears dog barks while he is so far out in the middle of nowhere. He considers this "more impressive than any music," which is very surprising to me because this is certainly a marker of man. In the wilderness, Thoreau is interested in humans, not just nature. He finds the dogs barking is "evidence of nature’s health" but to me it is just a reminder of all the crap brought to the continent, along the lines of small pox, rats, and kudzu. Is Thoreau conside...more
There’s a lot that’s good in this book, at least for Thoreau fans, but there’s also a lot of flabby digression randomly dispersed throughout. The story of the trip down the rivers with his brother is a real pleasure, as are his observations of natural (and human) phenomena (some items are particularly interesting for a fellow paddler). And more than a couple of his ruminations are inspired. But more than a couple aren’t, and they go on and on. Then there’s his poetry …. So if you like Thoreau, h...more
Less travel literature than an excuse for Thoreau to spout off about a bunch of other things that have been on his mind, from poetry to music to friendship to, well, you name it. The trip on the rivers is merely a structure on which to drape the weavings of his mind, interspersed with an impressive amount of poetry, almost all of which I skipped over completely. I prefered when he stuck to the more concrete elements of his story. I recommend reading a version that is either annotated or comes wi...more
Throeau's admirers laud him as a nature writer, and often describe this work as a "journal" recording a week's worth of river travel in Van Buren-era Massachusetts. This will not prepare you for the profound pilosophical and literary qualities found in this book. This is no journal. The seven days on the river are a framing device for Thoreau's extended thoughts on nature, religon, America, friendship, fish, and anything else that might cross his mind. Living as we do in an age of specialization...more
Rewarding, but a tougher read than Walden. Partly because Thoreau was an inexperienced writer--it was his first book, and he tried to shoehorn into it everything he felt he had worth saying. But probably also partly because we just don't know how to read it. Garber's "Thoreau's Fable of Inscribing" appears to unpack some of the layers of meaning, some of the structure. Having read Garber, at some point I'd like to go back and reread A Week.
With due respect, this book felt like a month! Some of the language us beautiful, both much if it was like a slog through a swamp! There is a reason why publishers require an editor's review. Thoreau was a brilliant sel-published writer who desperately needed a good editor. Word to the wise:-)
Thoreau’s first book ruminates on the rivers, traveling, and nature/Spiritual Nature (immortality). A condensed memorial recalling a trip Thoreau took with his late brother, there is a poignant allusion to “To a Waterfowl,” and passages that prefigure Thoreau’s “Autumnal Tints.” A central philosophical theme that runs throughout the books is Time vs. Nature. Thoreau is furthermore concerned with the plight of the Native Americans, which represent the extinction of wildness. He philosophizes abou...more
A much underrated work by Thoreau. It's just a leisurely (much like the trip itself) journey, easy to lose one's self in.
May 09, 2012
Aneece
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir-letters
Reads like a rehearsal for Walden, which, I suppose, it is. What a pain in the ass he must have been!
a wonderfully sloppier, more circular version of Walden
Truth to tell, I skimmed over the passages of Thoreau's own verse.
Another wordy tome, peppered with occasionally interesting (weird) things that people did in those days - like drinking rain water out of the puddles in holes made from horses hooves.... Hmmmmm.
This book drags in the middle when he laments for a certain kind of friend that he wished he had.
Nov 09, 2008
Kyle
marked it as to-read
My cover looks different but it has the same ISBN #
Love nature. Where does it go?
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Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau)was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.
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