melissa/missy's review
Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)
by Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau was going through a deep clinical depression when he moved to the pond. Living at the pond, and the lifestyle associated with it, helped him to recover. One wonders if some of his attitudes through some of the book reflect his illness at the time.
Overall I had the same reaction to his style as you did, but the essence of the book overrides the style.
Walking around the pond is quieter than the beach itself. I really enjoyed doing that.
Abrazos,
Maria
melissa/missy's review
Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) by Henry David Thoreau
melissa/missy's review
rating:
PART 1: Sorry...I know it's supposed to be a classic but I can't get past Thoreau's self-righteous writing style. I like his ideas, but he didn't seem to live any of them thoroughly enough to legitimize his penchant for calling everyone ELSE out as vulgar, stupid, unclean farmers. Frankly, I find this book generally quite irritating, with a few brilliant patches when he sets his ranting aside and just describes the beautiful scenery. (Those of you who read my blog, I'm working on a post about WALDEN, since I just visited Walden Pond last weekend.) As far as the book is concerned, though...I love the message, but can't really stand the messenger. PART 2: I just read the conclusion, and found it beautiful enough to bump up my overall rating to a 3. Listening to him talk about what he learned at Walden, and how he changed, made me forgive him for so much of what I found irritating about him before. He was only human, after all...and gives good advice in the end.
Thoreau was going through a deep clinical depression when he moved to the pond. Living at the pond, and the lifestyle associated with it, helped him to recover. One wonders if some of his attitudes through some of the book reflect his illness at the time.
Overall I had the same reaction to his style as you did, but the essence of the book overrides the style.
Walking around the pond is quieter than the beach itself. I really enjoyed doing that.
Abrazos,
Maria
