Mister Jones's review

Mister Jones's review

Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)
by Henry David Thoreau

688091 Mister Jones's review
rating: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
recommended 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 then as I sat on my floor with my fat old textbooks and other worn clothing ready for donation. I begin reading Walden again, and there's just something about it that resonates from another time, another place, and another writer.

Thoreau's conceit can certainly be provocative, but I think he wants that to be exactly the case for his readers; he's mourning the interaction of souls as modernity encroaches upon both the physical landscape and the landscape of the mind.

Living in the woods...more

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message 1: by Cliff
05/06/2008 12:26PM

1080397 Well put! I have similarly conflicted feelings about this work, although as I watch many of my "artistic" friends and family age, I am more sympathetic to Thoreaus's mooching, hypocrisy, and fundamental idealism. Perhaps not practical for most of us, but Walden is at least a beautiful escape from the world of 4-dollar gas and global warming.

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