Backwoods and Along the Seashore

by Henry David Thoreau

The craft and insight that have made Walden one of the best-loved classics of American literature are also found in Henry David Thoreau's other writings. Here, in selections from two of his lesser-known gems, The Maine Woods & Cape Cod , are some of Thoreau's most inspired reflections on the natural world and our relationship to it. Included is Thoreau's record of his climb up Mount Katahdin, his arduous journey by canoe down the Allegash River, the deadly shipwreck he encountered on his first trip to Cape Cod—which was then a wild and sparsely populated place—and his wonderfully colorful and humorous portrait of a Wellfleet oysterman.

264 pages, paper

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

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.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."

Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.

More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...

http://thoreau.eserver.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...

http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....

http://www.biography.com/people/henry...

Reviews

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry David Thoreau is often the topic of literary and political conversations. His true avocation, however, was that of naturalist. Backwoods & along the Seashore: Selections from The Maine Woods and Cape Cod is a book from the Shambala Pocket Classic Series. The Maine Woods is Thoreau's account of his trips to the unexplored (except by aboriginal people) wilderness of Maine. He climbed Mount Katahdin. He paddled a canoe down the Allegash River and the East Branch with his unnamed companion and their Penobscot guide Joe Pollis Along the way he describes the flora, and fauna, (often with Latin names) the geography, the geology, the rivers, the lakes, the mountains and the stars. He also tells of nights sitting by the campfire and shares tales of lumberjacks and indigenous people. In The Maine Woods, Thoreau captures a wilder side of America and reveals his own adventurous spirit.
In Cape Cod, tells about his travels with friend Ellery Channing. He describes in detail the deadly shipwreck of the Brig St. John where 145 lives were lost at Cohasset. He describes the long treks on the beaches, the views from the stage-coach, the sea and the desert . Along the way they stayed in lighthouses, in fishing huts, and on isolated farms. Particularly enjoyable is his amusing and colorful description of the Wellfleet oysterman.

[Donna Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great piece of history, as you get to see a first hand account of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts through the eyes of a beautiful writer all the way back in 1845.
Even more entertaining, listening to him describing goofing off and complaining about bug bites and just generally how humans have always been the same across time, being silly and making mistakes and just living their lives. Worth the read!

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Maine Woods by Henry David Thoreau
1961 Book is broken up into different parts of Maine and then by category of trees, flowers and Indian words, etc.
I was fortunate to visit his cabin at Walden Pond in Concord, MA where you can walk and see how he lived there and survived on the land.
Loved the tips the Indian gave him on direction and how to use nature to tell you where you are and how to figure out where you needed to go to.
Really enjoyed the adventures and the things they saw together and at the very end is the index of trees and whether they are common or not and
other little tips during the trips stating what kind of tree to use for the fire to cook certain animals they had killed and why that particular tree.
So much to learn!
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was inspired to read this one after recently traveling to Moosehead Lake in Maine, which is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Thoreau's last expedition in that area. A bit dry, but I really enjoyed the caricature of the Cape Cod oysterman, not so much the part about skinning a moose after hunting one down with his Native American guide. :-(

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love any kind of non-fiction travel writing or logging. At some points you could find yourself drifting if you're in the wrong mindset to read this book--but if you're not, it's an exciting diary of his travels around that part of the country. Also with some highlightable areas to read again later. I'm in the midst of the end of this book and I'd say read it! It's a shorty.

[Dominic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoreau is Awesome.