What do you think?
Rate this book
Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind
The two years Thoreau spent at Walden Pond and the night he spent in the Concord jail are among the most familiar features of the American intellectual landscape. In this new biography, based on a reexamination of Thoreau's manuscripts and on a retracing of his trips, Robert Richardson offers a view of Thoreau's life and achievement in their full nineteenth century context.
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
36 people are currently reading
1970 people want to read
About the author
Robert D. Richardson Jr.
20 books55 followersThe son of a Unitarian minister, Robert Dale Richardson III grew up in Massachusetts and earned his bachelor's and doctorate degrees in English at Harvard University. Richardson taught at a number of colleges, including the University of Denver and Wesleyan University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 26, 2023
Thoreau appears constantly in Emerson's journals. To the end of his life, Emerson regarded Thoreau as his best friend. Even when Alzheimer's disease had set in and memory disintegrated before wit (unable to call up the word "umbrella," he would say "the thing visitors carry away"), affection too outlived memory. "What was the name of my best friend?" he once had to ask. Emerson also wrote what is still the best single short piece ever done on Thoreau, but Thoreau was never able to do the same thing for Emerson. Perhaps he felt that Emerson, unlike Channing and Alcott, didn't need his good opinion. When Emerson's mother died in November of 1853, Thoreau helped in a major way with the funeral arrangements, and in a journal note a few days later, there is this admission: "If there is any one with whom we have a quarrel, it is most likely [with] that one [who] makes some just demand on us which we disappoint." In his current draft of Walden, after the glowing testimonials to Channing and Alcott, Thoreau writes, "There is one other with whom I had 'solid seasons,' long to be remembered, at his house in the village and who looked in upon me from time to time." It is the saddest sentence in the book, because of what it does not, will not say. Perhaps it is merely the ultrasimple truth of Cordelia, but the most important friendship of Thoreau's life is buried in that flat sentence with no further attempt at a public marker.
Just as sad - no simpler word exists - is the fact that however esteemed and even loved Thoreau was, he was often severely misunderstood by those closest to him. Emerson came to be so out of touch with Thoreau's reading and writing as to think that the man who wanted to create new Vedas lacked ambition. Sophia was so far from understanding what he was after in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers that she could be reported as having found "parts of it that sounded to me very much like blasphemy," and Channing once admitted that "I have never been able to understand what he meant by his life."
(pp. 299-300)
Just as sad - no simpler word exists - is the fact that however esteemed and even loved Thoreau was, he was often severely misunderstood by those closest to him. Emerson came to be so out of touch with Thoreau's reading and writing as to think that the man who wanted to create new Vedas lacked ambition. Sophia was so far from understanding what he was after in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers that she could be reported as having found "parts of it that sounded to me very much like blasphemy," and Channing once admitted that "I have never been able to understand what he meant by his life."
(pp. 299-300)
December 23, 2018
Detalladísima biografía sobre la búsqueda de Thoureau, sobre su manera de construirse, en cada tema que le interesó, en sus lecturas. Me tomó mucho tiempo leerlo, pero me encantó. Yo sabia que era un personaje excepcional, pero no tenía idea como se había desarrollado su manera de pensar, su enfoque, y los temas que abarcó y le interesaron durante su vida. Tardó 9 años corrigiendo su obra más conocida, Walden, me parece alucinante como nunca dejó de investigar en todo momento de su vida, siempre siguió aprendiendo, hasta el final, que se volvió mas naturalista, con sus lecturas de Darwin. En el fondo siempre giraba sobre los mismos intereses, y eso me pareció hermoso, porque cuando lees su vida entera, y lees Walden, estás viendo algo que se construyó lentamente, su manera particular de pensar y de ver el mundo.
December 15, 2025
"The Sun Is But A Morning Star"
In the concluding chapter of "Walden", Henry David Thoreau offers a parable of a great artist in the city of Kouroo "who was disposed to strive for perfection." In Thoreau's story, the artist spends eons working to carve the perfect staff. By the time the artist was satisfied, his friends had died, Kouroo was no more, the dynasty of the Candhars had ended, the polestar had changed, and "Brahma had awakened and slumbered many times". Yet, the artist saw that "for him and his work, the former lapse of time had been an illusion, and that no more time had elapsed than is required for a single scintillation from the brain of Brahma to fall on and inflame the tinder of a mortal brain. The material was pure, and his art was pure: how could the result be other than wonderful?"
This parable of the nature of the self, freedom, and high purpose, told in the language of Eastern thought, is one of many aspects of Thoreau that Robert Richardson illuminated for me in his biography, "Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind." (1986) Richardson's biography of Thoreau is the first of what has become an outstanding trilogy of studies of American thinkers. Its companions are "Emerson: A Mind on Fire" and, most recently, "William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism." These three biographies cast great light on intellectual and spiritual life and their continuing influence in the United States. Richardson was a professor at the University of Denver when he wrote "Thoreau". He is now an independent scholar.
Richardson's biography of Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) does not begin until its subject reaches the age of 20 and returns from Harvard to Concord, Massachusetts to teach school. Thoreau becomes friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson who encourages the younger man to keep a journal, a habit that will remain with him throughout life and which will constitue the best evidence we have of Thoreau's inner life. Richardson's study draws heavily on the Thoreau's Journal, which when completed ran about 2,000,000 words and which was the source, with Thoreau's other notebooks, for much of his published work.
Richardson aptly characterizes Thoreau as leading a "life of the mind" and his study focuses on Thoreau's intellectual development and on the books which he read. Richardson uncovers and elucidates Thoreau's broad reading over the course of his adult life. Thoreau read broadly in the ancient Greek and Roman classics, and he was greatly influenced by German writers, especially Goethe. His transcendental philosophy was heavily German in origin, as mediated by English writers such as Coleridge. Thoreau read copiously on the history of New England and Canada and on the Indians. He was a careful observer of nature, as is well known, and was influenced by Aristotle's writings on biology, as well as by the classification work of Linneaus, and Agassiz. After the publication of the "Origin of the Species", Thoreau was won over to the developmental theory of Darwin.
I was particularly struck with the influence of Hindu and Indian thought upon Thoreau. This influence is shown in the parable of Kouroo, discussed above, and throughout "Walden" and "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers". Richardson also made connections between Thoreau and writers and friends on an individual level. For example, Richardson discusses Melville's "Typee" and the influence this book had upon Thoreau in its depiction of human nature, and allegedly primitive peoples. Melville's influence appears lasting upon Thoreau. Richardson discusses Thoreau's friendship with the former Unitarian minister, Harrison Gray Otis Blake, and the letters the two men exchanged. (These letters have been compiled in a volume titled "Letters to a Spiritual Seeker.") As a final example, Richardson also discusses Thoreau's meeting, late in his life, with Whitman and how these two writers came to view each other.
Richardson's book brings home Thoreau's conviction that human nature is basically the same everywhere and throughout time. Thus, for Thoreau, persons in his time or our own, are capable of leading a life of freedom and meaning upon the making of effort. Even though Thoreau was fascinated with the Greek, Roman, and Indian past, these sources taught him that people retained the potentiality of living for themselves. Richardson emphasizes the love of wildness in Thoreau, in man, animals, and nature, just below the surface of what he regarded as some of the superficialities of civilization. In addition to Thoreau's self-sufficiency and love of freedom, Richardson emphasizes Thoreau's love of good companionship. Richardson also argues that following the publication of Walden in 1854, Thoreau's interests turned from the self-sufficiency and freedom, to a recognition of the interconnectedness of all things in nature.
The strongest effect on me of Richardson's book was in making me revisit and rethink the inspiring conclusion of "Walden". After a paragraph devoted to life and the ever-present possibility of regeneration, Thoreau concludes Walden as follows:
"I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Richardson's book inspired me and it encouraged me to want to read and reread Thoreau. Those readers who are also moved to rediscover Thoreau may want to explore the two large volumes of his works available in the Library of America.
Robin Friedman
In the concluding chapter of "Walden", Henry David Thoreau offers a parable of a great artist in the city of Kouroo "who was disposed to strive for perfection." In Thoreau's story, the artist spends eons working to carve the perfect staff. By the time the artist was satisfied, his friends had died, Kouroo was no more, the dynasty of the Candhars had ended, the polestar had changed, and "Brahma had awakened and slumbered many times". Yet, the artist saw that "for him and his work, the former lapse of time had been an illusion, and that no more time had elapsed than is required for a single scintillation from the brain of Brahma to fall on and inflame the tinder of a mortal brain. The material was pure, and his art was pure: how could the result be other than wonderful?"
This parable of the nature of the self, freedom, and high purpose, told in the language of Eastern thought, is one of many aspects of Thoreau that Robert Richardson illuminated for me in his biography, "Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind." (1986) Richardson's biography of Thoreau is the first of what has become an outstanding trilogy of studies of American thinkers. Its companions are "Emerson: A Mind on Fire" and, most recently, "William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism." These three biographies cast great light on intellectual and spiritual life and their continuing influence in the United States. Richardson was a professor at the University of Denver when he wrote "Thoreau". He is now an independent scholar.
Richardson's biography of Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) does not begin until its subject reaches the age of 20 and returns from Harvard to Concord, Massachusetts to teach school. Thoreau becomes friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson who encourages the younger man to keep a journal, a habit that will remain with him throughout life and which will constitue the best evidence we have of Thoreau's inner life. Richardson's study draws heavily on the Thoreau's Journal, which when completed ran about 2,000,000 words and which was the source, with Thoreau's other notebooks, for much of his published work.
Richardson aptly characterizes Thoreau as leading a "life of the mind" and his study focuses on Thoreau's intellectual development and on the books which he read. Richardson uncovers and elucidates Thoreau's broad reading over the course of his adult life. Thoreau read broadly in the ancient Greek and Roman classics, and he was greatly influenced by German writers, especially Goethe. His transcendental philosophy was heavily German in origin, as mediated by English writers such as Coleridge. Thoreau read copiously on the history of New England and Canada and on the Indians. He was a careful observer of nature, as is well known, and was influenced by Aristotle's writings on biology, as well as by the classification work of Linneaus, and Agassiz. After the publication of the "Origin of the Species", Thoreau was won over to the developmental theory of Darwin.
I was particularly struck with the influence of Hindu and Indian thought upon Thoreau. This influence is shown in the parable of Kouroo, discussed above, and throughout "Walden" and "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers". Richardson also made connections between Thoreau and writers and friends on an individual level. For example, Richardson discusses Melville's "Typee" and the influence this book had upon Thoreau in its depiction of human nature, and allegedly primitive peoples. Melville's influence appears lasting upon Thoreau. Richardson discusses Thoreau's friendship with the former Unitarian minister, Harrison Gray Otis Blake, and the letters the two men exchanged. (These letters have been compiled in a volume titled "Letters to a Spiritual Seeker.") As a final example, Richardson also discusses Thoreau's meeting, late in his life, with Whitman and how these two writers came to view each other.
Richardson's book brings home Thoreau's conviction that human nature is basically the same everywhere and throughout time. Thus, for Thoreau, persons in his time or our own, are capable of leading a life of freedom and meaning upon the making of effort. Even though Thoreau was fascinated with the Greek, Roman, and Indian past, these sources taught him that people retained the potentiality of living for themselves. Richardson emphasizes the love of wildness in Thoreau, in man, animals, and nature, just below the surface of what he regarded as some of the superficialities of civilization. In addition to Thoreau's self-sufficiency and love of freedom, Richardson emphasizes Thoreau's love of good companionship. Richardson also argues that following the publication of Walden in 1854, Thoreau's interests turned from the self-sufficiency and freedom, to a recognition of the interconnectedness of all things in nature.
The strongest effect on me of Richardson's book was in making me revisit and rethink the inspiring conclusion of "Walden". After a paragraph devoted to life and the ever-present possibility of regeneration, Thoreau concludes Walden as follows:
"I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Richardson's book inspired me and it encouraged me to want to read and reread Thoreau. Those readers who are also moved to rediscover Thoreau may want to explore the two large volumes of his works available in the Library of America.
Robin Friedman
July 7, 2008
How does one begin to reclaim Thoreau from the two-dimensional image of an early hippie hanging out at Walden, communing with nature? Richardson's approach is to present the man through the books he read. The first, and perhaps most important, benefit is that it reveals T. as an autodidact of impressive scope. T. was no naif strolling dewy meadows sniffing flowers. Whereas Emerson, if early intellectual mentor, articulated the idea of "self-reliance," T. truly lived it, in body and spirit. Richardson does a masterful job of combining T's intellectual passions in rigorous detail with a vivid sense of such a "physical" life. You come away with a newfound respect for just how damn hard T. worked at everything -- writing especially -- and his uncompromising commitment to his pursuits. Though it's easy to criticize T. for the overly idealistic quality of his ideas, R. shows that he was also, on another level, a clear-eyed and rigorous observer of the world. I had never realized what a devoted natural scientist T. was. His ideas are grounded in pain-staking study of the natural world. R. lends T's developing "life of the mind" a dramatic flavor similar to that of a novel. For all the erudition on display in this bio -- by both T. and R. -- the author presents this material in a very accessible fashion but without sacrificing depth. That is a testament to R's own skill as a writer. Like his subject, he is capable of lyrical moments that rise out of patient compilation of empirical detail. His account of T's death is as moving as any I've read in a novel. This bio not only makes you want to read more Thoreau but also to read the books T. read.
This book is great resource for teachers -- I consulted it often in preparing classes on Walden and several of T's essays -- but it is also intended for a general audience interested in exploring some of the timeless ideas that formed the foundation of American thought.
This book is great resource for teachers -- I consulted it often in preparing classes on Walden and several of T's essays -- but it is also intended for a general audience interested in exploring some of the timeless ideas that formed the foundation of American thought.
June 11, 2013
There is a scene in Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose in which the narrator, a retired college history professor, is berating his hippy caretaker for venerating Henry David Thoreau so much, derisively telling her how “Wild Man” Thoreau ended up surveying lots for a housing development. I, too, have venerated Thoreau, so Stegner’s story served as a corrective to my hero worship. Time to escort Henry off his pedestal, I thought, but to be fair I knew I needed to get the other side of the story. So I read Henry Thoreau: a Life of the Mind, reputedly the best biography of Thoreau out there, and I learned a lot. Yes, Thoreau surveyed house lots after he left Walden Pond. Yes, he helped his father with the manufacture of pencils. But in no way did Thoreau let himself, as Stegner’s narrator implies, be absorbed by the system. He stayed “wild” and never stopped sucking the marrow out of life, engaging in extensive ethnographic and botanical projects, writing up the notes from his field studies and revising Walden again and again, taking lengthy hikes and trips, and always reading, always studying. “Follow your genius closely enough,” wrote Thoreau, “and it will not fail to show you a fresh prospect every hour.” Long after Walden, Thoreau continued to follow his genius, so much so that his mind was on the same trajectory as Darwin, and if circumstances had been different, Thoreau may have been the one to break the news to the world about natural selection. Mostly, though, what I learned is that Stegner’s narrator is full of crap, and so Thoreau remains on his pedestal.
July 10, 2022
An intellectual biography of Thoreau's development that serves as satisfying an experience as a full biography.
In reality, the book simply jettisons childhood and begins with Harvard. Over 100 chapters (3-4 pages each on average), Richardson charts the course of Thoreau's experimentation and evolution. While most readers come to Thoreau from Walden (rightfully), he was much more than that. Walden doesn't receive short shrift here, with a fair amount of time exploring those critical two years as well as the multiple revisions of the manuscript over the following years. While I was familiar with the Emerson relationship, it was refreshing to see it accounted for again as well as lines of delineation into their divergences. Nor does Emerson dominate the proceedings. Other personages make their appearances when their thoughts intersect with Thoreau's own. Thoreau is placed firmly within his Concord milieu, and I was pleasantly surprised by the post-Walden chapters when he compiles a monumental amount of geological and biological data for a book that would never be written: a natural history of the Concord area. What a landmark book that would have been! He argues with Agassiz, particularly as he had arrived fundamentally at the same conclusion as Darwin: that nature is cyclical and self-generative and self-corrective, interdependent on cause and effect to continue to develop, while also respectful of the natural laws that the world obeys if we can just observe them over time.
The guy had an incredible observational eye and he was simply ahead of his time, hence his reputation as a marginal figure that was easy to mock. This is a great companion book to Emerson: The Mind on Fire by the same author, who unfortunately passed away in 2020 after a long life and career. Both books are landmark, must reads about those two key Transcendentalists, and remarkably accessible. If you're reading this review due to interest in Thoreau, you know you have to read this book. I recommend the Emerson as well, the best book on RWE out there bar none. Another great book on Thoreau is Henry David Thoreau: A Life, a more recent "full biography" full of insights as well. Can't go wrong with either.
Perfectly landed ending to the book as well. Thoreau would have loved the final sentence.
In reality, the book simply jettisons childhood and begins with Harvard. Over 100 chapters (3-4 pages each on average), Richardson charts the course of Thoreau's experimentation and evolution. While most readers come to Thoreau from Walden (rightfully), he was much more than that. Walden doesn't receive short shrift here, with a fair amount of time exploring those critical two years as well as the multiple revisions of the manuscript over the following years. While I was familiar with the Emerson relationship, it was refreshing to see it accounted for again as well as lines of delineation into their divergences. Nor does Emerson dominate the proceedings. Other personages make their appearances when their thoughts intersect with Thoreau's own. Thoreau is placed firmly within his Concord milieu, and I was pleasantly surprised by the post-Walden chapters when he compiles a monumental amount of geological and biological data for a book that would never be written: a natural history of the Concord area. What a landmark book that would have been! He argues with Agassiz, particularly as he had arrived fundamentally at the same conclusion as Darwin: that nature is cyclical and self-generative and self-corrective, interdependent on cause and effect to continue to develop, while also respectful of the natural laws that the world obeys if we can just observe them over time.
The guy had an incredible observational eye and he was simply ahead of his time, hence his reputation as a marginal figure that was easy to mock. This is a great companion book to Emerson: The Mind on Fire by the same author, who unfortunately passed away in 2020 after a long life and career. Both books are landmark, must reads about those two key Transcendentalists, and remarkably accessible. If you're reading this review due to interest in Thoreau, you know you have to read this book. I recommend the Emerson as well, the best book on RWE out there bar none. Another great book on Thoreau is Henry David Thoreau: A Life, a more recent "full biography" full of insights as well. Can't go wrong with either.
Perfectly landed ending to the book as well. Thoreau would have loved the final sentence.
February 16, 2018
After reading this book, Henry Thoreau is even more a hero of mine than he ever was.
An incredible book on the life of an incredible man.
An incredible book on the life of an incredible man.
November 9, 2013
Great book for someone interested in Thoreau. It starts with his college years, so unfortunately nothing of his childhood is included. It is pretty long, took me a few months to get through it all. It does have the benefit of short chapters. However, if you aren't fully committed to the time needed to devour this one, I would recommend "Henry Thoreau As Remembered By A Young Friend" By Edward Waldo Emerson. Much shorter (maybe 50 pages total?), it gives a little bit of an overview of Thoreau's life and the significance it had/has. Ralph Waldo Emerson also wrote a 12 page essay about Thoreau that could be valuable.
There is a lot in this book about what he read and what he was interested in throughout the book. It's good because Thoreau was a big time reader. After reading this book I really want to follow up and read Goethe's "Italian Journey", The Laws of Manu, Thomas Carlyle's "On Heroes and Hero Worship", Edwin Arnold's "The Light of Asia", Melville's "Typee" and find out what about Kant influenced the transcendentalist movement.
Thoreau was certainly an intentional individual if there was one, another biographer gave the subtitle to his biography "the man who did what he wanted" and this was the case. He spent a good part of his life walking 4 hours a day, turned down a successful pencil making business, read in multiple languages. Of course he also lived almost self-sufficiently in the woods for two years. Because of his intentionality and disdain for the common society of his day he became quite the interesting self-developed individual.
I think this book redefined the idea of wildness for me. I have always wondered what about the ocean, or fire compels us to look at it. I think Thoreau would say it is the wildness of it. I think I have also seen this in my own travels, the further out, more natural a place is, the more I feel the mystery of it, the more I am compelled by it. I think it is that those places have stayed wild. It is not tamed.
Thoreau and most of the other transcendentalists also lived his life a bit in response to the Puritanical Calvinism of his day. Reading that and comparing it with my own experience gave me a lot of thoughts about the common trends throughout history. There was an openness to truth and to human nature that was pretty different from the people of his time. They were primarily interested in production, and choosing "repose" over "truth" as Emerson said. Thoreau wanted truth. He wanted to confront the essential facts of life so that when it came time for him to die he would not discover that he had not lived. Me too.
Thank you Robert Richardson for a well-written (and Barry Moser for the design!!) book. Thank you Thoreau for a life well-lived.
There is a lot in this book about what he read and what he was interested in throughout the book. It's good because Thoreau was a big time reader. After reading this book I really want to follow up and read Goethe's "Italian Journey", The Laws of Manu, Thomas Carlyle's "On Heroes and Hero Worship", Edwin Arnold's "The Light of Asia", Melville's "Typee" and find out what about Kant influenced the transcendentalist movement.
Thoreau was certainly an intentional individual if there was one, another biographer gave the subtitle to his biography "the man who did what he wanted" and this was the case. He spent a good part of his life walking 4 hours a day, turned down a successful pencil making business, read in multiple languages. Of course he also lived almost self-sufficiently in the woods for two years. Because of his intentionality and disdain for the common society of his day he became quite the interesting self-developed individual.
I think this book redefined the idea of wildness for me. I have always wondered what about the ocean, or fire compels us to look at it. I think Thoreau would say it is the wildness of it. I think I have also seen this in my own travels, the further out, more natural a place is, the more I feel the mystery of it, the more I am compelled by it. I think it is that those places have stayed wild. It is not tamed.
Thoreau and most of the other transcendentalists also lived his life a bit in response to the Puritanical Calvinism of his day. Reading that and comparing it with my own experience gave me a lot of thoughts about the common trends throughout history. There was an openness to truth and to human nature that was pretty different from the people of his time. They were primarily interested in production, and choosing "repose" over "truth" as Emerson said. Thoreau wanted truth. He wanted to confront the essential facts of life so that when it came time for him to die he would not discover that he had not lived. Me too.
Thank you Robert Richardson for a well-written (and Barry Moser for the design!!) book. Thank you Thoreau for a life well-lived.
August 24, 2023
Thoreau, biografía de un pensador salvaje, es uno de esos libros que te da pena terminar. Leer una biografía de alguien que admiras tiene dos caras. Por una parte profundizas muchísimo más sobre su vida, cómo está construida, de qué fuentes ha bebido, trazos de su personalidad que no se reflejan directamente en su obra, fortalezas y miserias de su personalidad, etc... Gracias a toda esta información, comprendes mucho mejor de dónde procede su obra. No es simplemente talento, ni iluminación, es fruto de una vida entregada a la lectura, el estudio y la escritura. Detrás de sus escritos hay mucho trabajo y dedicación. Cuando eres consciente de todo lo que ha leído este hombre, de todas sus influencias, sus amistades, sus intereses, comprendes la profundidad de su obra. Esta biografía contextualiza su trabajo, pero al mismo tiempo le quita algo de misterio al personaje. Es como el niño que abre un coche teledirigido para saber cómo funciona. Disfrutas viendo lo que hay en su interior, pero también le quita parte de la magia.
Si sientes interés por Thoreau y todo lo que rodea a su obra, este libro va a saciar con creces tu curiosidad. Quizá haya demasiadas referencias a sus lecturas, e indague poco en su vida más personal, pero es algo que demuestra lo bien documentado que está el libro. Es un libro que disfrutas si admiras al protagonista, pero puede ser algo árido como simple lectura recreacional. No es un libro para todo el mundo, pero es un buen libro y una buena biografía.
Si sientes interés por Thoreau y todo lo que rodea a su obra, este libro va a saciar con creces tu curiosidad. Quizá haya demasiadas referencias a sus lecturas, e indague poco en su vida más personal, pero es algo que demuestra lo bien documentado que está el libro. Es un libro que disfrutas si admiras al protagonista, pero puede ser algo árido como simple lectura recreacional. No es un libro para todo el mundo, pero es un buen libro y una buena biografía.
October 9, 2025
Reading this lengthy( 600 pages) biography of Thoreau made me realize that while Thoreau is mostly known for a single book, WALDEN, he wrote much more, over 20 volumes in all, made up of books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry. In a short life (he died in l862, age 44, of tuberculosis), his interests were broad but one commonality was that he always tried to gauge the personal impact of his work,.
WALDEN concludes that everyone, whether living in the woods or in the city, should have the courage to live a life that one has dreamed of. His two weeks of living in his cabin was not a retreat nor a withdrawal from life. As he wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see what it had to teach. . .” What it teaches is how much or how little material needs are necessary to live a life of integrity.
Thoreau was no detached dreamer, rather was always involved with the issues of his time; he was committed to the idea of the primacy of the individual conscience, and that led to his protest of the Mexican war and the annexation of Texas, and subsequently his profound opposition to slavery. If the government violated his individual conscience, then he was obliged to take a stand of civil disobedience, detailed in his l849 essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.”
Another aspect of Thoreau’s thought was that nature is wild, hostile, even indifferent to human life, much of this expressed in his central essay, “Walking.” In some ways this wildness made him want to participate n it. He talked about his occasional impulse to seize a woodchuck and devour it raw. It is not to say, though, that Thoreau advocated a life of savagery. Rather he saw wilderness as the source of energy that built civilizations, for example, fueling bravery and heroism. He concluded that “all good things are wild and free,” and that accessing this energy meant the creation of the myths of civilization. Thoreau’s influence in this a area was enormous, and a testament to it was the creation of national parks and wilderness areas.
Thoreau spent increasing time, as he aged, on careful observation and note taking in an attempt to systematize and categorize the infinite variety of plants. He was well-acquainted and sympathetic with Darwin’s ideas of evolutionary change.
Richardson points out four worlds of Thoreau. The first was the world of Concord, Thoreau’s immediate surroundings. Beyond that was the world of North America pf which he read voluminously. He was equally familiar with the world at large, with Darwin’s voyage having a huge impact on him. And finally, Thoreau traveled in the world of ideas, the world of the mind, all of which led him back to a voyage of inner discovery.
Among Thoreau’s last dying words were, “Now comes good sailing.” Appropriate, as he had sailed on many “voyages” during his life.
WALDEN concludes that everyone, whether living in the woods or in the city, should have the courage to live a life that one has dreamed of. His two weeks of living in his cabin was not a retreat nor a withdrawal from life. As he wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see what it had to teach. . .” What it teaches is how much or how little material needs are necessary to live a life of integrity.
Thoreau was no detached dreamer, rather was always involved with the issues of his time; he was committed to the idea of the primacy of the individual conscience, and that led to his protest of the Mexican war and the annexation of Texas, and subsequently his profound opposition to slavery. If the government violated his individual conscience, then he was obliged to take a stand of civil disobedience, detailed in his l849 essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.”
Another aspect of Thoreau’s thought was that nature is wild, hostile, even indifferent to human life, much of this expressed in his central essay, “Walking.” In some ways this wildness made him want to participate n it. He talked about his occasional impulse to seize a woodchuck and devour it raw. It is not to say, though, that Thoreau advocated a life of savagery. Rather he saw wilderness as the source of energy that built civilizations, for example, fueling bravery and heroism. He concluded that “all good things are wild and free,” and that accessing this energy meant the creation of the myths of civilization. Thoreau’s influence in this a area was enormous, and a testament to it was the creation of national parks and wilderness areas.
Thoreau spent increasing time, as he aged, on careful observation and note taking in an attempt to systematize and categorize the infinite variety of plants. He was well-acquainted and sympathetic with Darwin’s ideas of evolutionary change.
Richardson points out four worlds of Thoreau. The first was the world of Concord, Thoreau’s immediate surroundings. Beyond that was the world of North America pf which he read voluminously. He was equally familiar with the world at large, with Darwin’s voyage having a huge impact on him. And finally, Thoreau traveled in the world of ideas, the world of the mind, all of which led him back to a voyage of inner discovery.
Among Thoreau’s last dying words were, “Now comes good sailing.” Appropriate, as he had sailed on many “voyages” during his life.
May 16, 2014
This is not a complete biography of Thoreau as the historical account begins with his graduation from Harvard College in 1837 and his return to his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. I found it interesting that he then transposed his first and middle name from David Henry to Henry David. As a resident of Concord in the 19th Century Thoreau enjoyed solitude and peace with nature. He was not considered lonely but he was a complex individual, often misunderstood because he was not accomplished at cultivating friendships. Even the relationship with his closest friend in town, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was often strained. His overall philosophy was to live each day to its fullest so that when death came one would not look back with regret.
Thoreau’s nature excursions took him from the Concord River to the Maine woods and the Cape Cod shore, but his primary escape was the natural setting at Walden Pond a little more than a mile from Concord center.
Personally I learned to swim at Walden becoming a junior lifesaver; I fished the pond for trout and walked the perimeter many times. Because Thoreau enjoyed the sounds of nature I often wondered why he built his cabin at the far end of the pond by the tracks of the Concord-Boston railroad completed in June 1844. In October of 44’ Thoreau purchased several clear acres with stumps and on the 4th of July 1845 he moved into the simple cabin he constructed.
Thoreau’s nature excursions took him from the Concord River to the Maine woods and the Cape Cod shore, but his primary escape was the natural setting at Walden Pond a little more than a mile from Concord center.
Personally I learned to swim at Walden becoming a junior lifesaver; I fished the pond for trout and walked the perimeter many times. Because Thoreau enjoyed the sounds of nature I often wondered why he built his cabin at the far end of the pond by the tracks of the Concord-Boston railroad completed in June 1844. In October of 44’ Thoreau purchased several clear acres with stumps and on the 4th of July 1845 he moved into the simple cabin he constructed.
May 11, 2020
Great intellectual biography, although Richardson's biography of Emerson Emerson: The Mind on Fire is both more enjoyable and better written. Love the structure, looking for a companion piece which explores Thoreau's philosophy more in-depth.
June 7, 2021
和我设想的样子出入颇大。因为这与其说是一本传记，还不如说是一篇关于梭罗的长篇论文。
身为一名普通读者，我对于作者的叙述脉络和组织素材的方式肯定是不满意的。于作者而言，梭罗更多地是一名被分析、被解读的对象，而不是一个活生生的人。在书中，每一卷的每一章节都有一个单独的小标题，它们各自独立成章，往往又前后互不关联。于是，梭罗就活脱脱成了一组标本切片的集合。
可另一方面，在梭罗与亚当·斯密的对比、日神精神的阐述、超验主义的解析、美国超验主义者和激进的社会改革者身份上的重叠、梭罗在自然史领域中令人惊叹的严谨与雄心，以及印象派绘画理论对于梭罗的影响等等方面，都有着旁征博引的精彩论述。
所以，总的来说，这的确是一部很难准确评价的作品。它一点也不好读，但依然值得一读。
身为一名普通读者，我对于作者的叙述脉络和组织素材的方式肯定是不满意的。于作者而言，梭罗更多地是一名被分析、被解读的对象，而不是一个活生生的人。在书中，每一卷的每一章节都有一个单独的小标题，它们各自独立成章，往往又前后互不关联。于是，梭罗就活脱脱成了一组标本切片的集合。
可另一方面，在梭罗与亚当·斯密的对比、日神精神的阐述、超验主义的解析、美国超验主义者和激进的社会改革者身份上的重叠、梭罗在自然史领域中令人惊叹的严谨与雄心，以及印象派绘画理论对于梭罗的影响等等方面，都有着旁征博引的精彩论述。
所以，总的来说，这的确是一部很难准确评价的作品。它一点也不好读，但依然值得一读。
November 11, 2012
Hands down, the best insight into Thoreau ever written. Robert Richardson has a knack – no, more of a driving urge – to get into the mind of his subject. That he chooses subjects like Thoreau and Emerson who were passionate yet complex people, people who often wrestle with their own beliefs, is not surprising. I credit Thoreau as changing my life in my late teens. I credit Richardson with providing many new insights into Thoreau and a new appreciation for the vast expanse of his intellect.
November 15, 2024
This biography started out somewhat slow. Richardson gets into very specific detail about Thoreau's broad and extensive reading habits of authors like Goethe, the Greeks, and other classics about whom I personally had little grasp. Thoreau's immediate post college years were not compelling to me, but that is the fault of young men whose post college years are often tedious and self-indulgent...not the author.
I am glad that I stuck through it, however, because the book gets better as it progresses. The final few chapters, where Richardson neatly wraps up HDT's life both physically and in the context of his artistic, naturalistic, and uniquely American and civic legacy...are excellent. This biography will resonate deeply with anyone who has read Walden and appreciates it both as a cultural artifact and on its own terms. Richardson depicts Thoreau as clearly as perhaps possible with such an enigmatic figure.
The book was structured very well for those like me who find themselves apprehensive about weighty cerebral biographies. A perfect 100 chapters of very short length, some stretching only two or three pages. I read more quickly this way.
If you never read Walden or you did but it made no impression—this book is not for you. For the many who have, especially those motivated by a civic commitment to America, this is a pleasant read.
I am glad that I stuck through it, however, because the book gets better as it progresses. The final few chapters, where Richardson neatly wraps up HDT's life both physically and in the context of his artistic, naturalistic, and uniquely American and civic legacy...are excellent. This biography will resonate deeply with anyone who has read Walden and appreciates it both as a cultural artifact and on its own terms. Richardson depicts Thoreau as clearly as perhaps possible with such an enigmatic figure.
The book was structured very well for those like me who find themselves apprehensive about weighty cerebral biographies. A perfect 100 chapters of very short length, some stretching only two or three pages. I read more quickly this way.
If you never read Walden or you did but it made no impression—this book is not for you. For the many who have, especially those motivated by a civic commitment to America, this is a pleasant read.
January 11, 2020
This is a very interesting, surprisingly readable book. It is a biography of Thoreau, but one framed out by looking at his intellectual and literary influences--which makes it, in my view, a lot more interesting than I expected when I first picked it up. It did emphasize how little I actually know about American intellectual and literary history, but gave me a point from which to seek out more (for instance, while I am/was pretty aware of the impact of German idealism on Russian thought, I somehow hadn't realized its impact on American Transcendentalists).
It's a book I think is, for me, worth using as a starting point to do a little more reading on American intellectual history--and then, perhaps, to return to and see what I think of it and what else I pick up from it after broadening my understanding a little more.
It's a book I think is, for me, worth using as a starting point to do a little more reading on American intellectual history--and then, perhaps, to return to and see what I think of it and what else I pick up from it after broadening my understanding a little more.
December 16, 2021
Es una biografía más bien "literaria", la mayor parte del libro es sobre sus lecturas y sus pensamientos literarios. De su vida personal se describe poco, por ejemplo de su conocida estadía en la cárcel por no pagar impuestos solo se menciona un párrafo.
August 4, 2022
An interesting history of Thoreau, but a bit of a tough read in some spots...and a weirdly sized book too!
December 8, 2023
I've read this bio every five years or so, and it's always a delight to meet this wonderful mind.
October 14, 2015
Richardson's approach to biography is unique in that alongside a detailed account of historical events he delves into the evolution of his protagonist's reading material in an attempt to unearth the progression of their philosophy.
Having read both the Emerson and Thoreau retrospectives, I must conclude the Emerson volume a stronger book, with a deeper dive into the core of Emerson's thinking, and a more defined picture of Emerson's character. It's also a more daunting read, with more complicated philosophical theory, and not something to be picked up lightly, although Richardson's format of 100 short chapters in chronological order is easy to chew-on in bite sized chunks.
In the end, Thoreau becomes the more fascinating character, and his appearances in the Emerson book were enticing enough for me to pick up "A Life of Mind." Perhaps there is just less raw historical information about Thoreau, since he was not as popular as Emerson in their day, and so this book is less of a challenge, and a quicker read.
Both men were highly productive, writing thousands upon thousands of words, and perhaps the most helpful thing about these biographies is having someone like Richardson sift through this massive output to push you in the right direction for further exploration of their actual writing.
One day, I think I will have to read Richardson's portrayal of William James, just to complete his biographical trilogy of influential 19th century thinkers.
Having read both the Emerson and Thoreau retrospectives, I must conclude the Emerson volume a stronger book, with a deeper dive into the core of Emerson's thinking, and a more defined picture of Emerson's character. It's also a more daunting read, with more complicated philosophical theory, and not something to be picked up lightly, although Richardson's format of 100 short chapters in chronological order is easy to chew-on in bite sized chunks.
In the end, Thoreau becomes the more fascinating character, and his appearances in the Emerson book were enticing enough for me to pick up "A Life of Mind." Perhaps there is just less raw historical information about Thoreau, since he was not as popular as Emerson in their day, and so this book is less of a challenge, and a quicker read.
Both men were highly productive, writing thousands upon thousands of words, and perhaps the most helpful thing about these biographies is having someone like Richardson sift through this massive output to push you in the right direction for further exploration of their actual writing.
One day, I think I will have to read Richardson's portrayal of William James, just to complete his biographical trilogy of influential 19th century thinkers.
July 5, 2008
Richardson is known for his biographies of Thoreau, Emerson, and Wm James. I came upon the most recent (James) first and now have read them in reverse order, just finishing the Thoreau bio recently.
The James & Emerson bios were so rich, so crowded, that the Thoreau books seems diminished by comparison; but in so many ways Thoreau led such a small, parochial life compared to the other two giants of 19th century philosophy and letters. At times I felt that Richardson is having to stretch the Thoreau material, especially in the early years. But as the book draws to a close, the influence of Thoreau in today's moral and environmental philosophy becomes clearer and more central to the reader's interaction with the bio. I was much more satisfied when I came to the end of the book.
Most interesting aspect of both Emerson and Thoreau, as portrayed in Richardson's books, is the degree to which they worked and reworked notebooks, journals, letters, and speeches into the half a dozen crucial books and essays they are known for today. Their accomplishments are as much a tribute to their editing and revising skills as to their native impulse to write.
To round out the set, Richardson now needs to take on Whitman.
The James & Emerson bios were so rich, so crowded, that the Thoreau books seems diminished by comparison; but in so many ways Thoreau led such a small, parochial life compared to the other two giants of 19th century philosophy and letters. At times I felt that Richardson is having to stretch the Thoreau material, especially in the early years. But as the book draws to a close, the influence of Thoreau in today's moral and environmental philosophy becomes clearer and more central to the reader's interaction with the bio. I was much more satisfied when I came to the end of the book.
Most interesting aspect of both Emerson and Thoreau, as portrayed in Richardson's books, is the degree to which they worked and reworked notebooks, journals, letters, and speeches into the half a dozen crucial books and essays they are known for today. Their accomplishments are as much a tribute to their editing and revising skills as to their native impulse to write.
To round out the set, Richardson now needs to take on Whitman.
March 19, 2013
Had no idea that Thoreau had died of TB at age 44, and marvel at all he was able to accomplish in the time he had. I savored this book, and it has made me hunger for more 'intellectual biographies.' Although some may think it is a 'heavy read', i didn't want it to end.
Living in New England myself (in Rhode Island), it gave me a historical sense of what's gone on around here, especially in the 'minds' of prior 'settlers'. Wish Thoreau had been able to publish what he'd been working on regarding the Native Americans he met and researched. Learned so much about earlier works on what 'America' was like when white colonists first came, like the 40 years of annual editions written by the Jesuits in the 1600's from Canada.
Will continue to reread Thoreau's essays now, with far greater appreciation for his struggles, and the staying power of his insights. He'd be absolutely appalled if he was to return to Walden today, to see what's become of his woods...and our country.
Living in New England myself (in Rhode Island), it gave me a historical sense of what's gone on around here, especially in the 'minds' of prior 'settlers'. Wish Thoreau had been able to publish what he'd been working on regarding the Native Americans he met and researched. Learned so much about earlier works on what 'America' was like when white colonists first came, like the 40 years of annual editions written by the Jesuits in the 1600's from Canada.
Will continue to reread Thoreau's essays now, with far greater appreciation for his struggles, and the staying power of his insights. He'd be absolutely appalled if he was to return to Walden today, to see what's become of his woods...and our country.
December 5, 2013
In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I know Bob Richardson and he has generously reviewed my books. That said, I think I would still find this book a model for biographers everywhere; clear, thorough (no pun intended), and insightful of the interplay between the man and his environment. Both the literary and natural environments in this case, since Thoreau straddled both. Drawing inspiration from his fellow Concordians--Emerson, Alcott, Fuller, etc.--Thoreau became an icon for both the environmental and civil disobedience movements, and in no small way changed the world. Richardson brings this accomplishment into full focus and helps us understand why Thoreau is still relevant today.
December 8, 2013
This was a methodical , detailed look at Thoreau from age 20 until his death. It was dense and took me much longer than I anticipated to get through it... Not so much technically dense as philosophically.. It was like reading Thoreau. The philosophical bent, frequent quoting and contextualizing of Thoreau's life with his writing made it a solid, memorable biography and added to my understanding of the time period, Emerson, and Transcendentalism. Overall, a good read... and my copy is no littered with marginalia, so something certainly worked.
May 17, 2017
While lacking in attention to Thoreau's formative years and family life, Richardson's biography of Thoreau is one of the very best yet written. It makes a wonderful companion to Walter Harding's more thoroughly detailed biography, bringing the interpretation and attention to Thoreau's intellectual life essential to Thoreau's existence that was absent from Harding's book. Thoreau's character has a living presence in this book. Though an intellectual biography, this book does not make for dense reading. Richardson writes with grace and clarity.
July 12, 2011
Fantastic. For the first time, I understood the difference between a biography, and an intellectual biography, the former being a frame for the latter, and little more, at least in this case, for an explorer of the mind in Nature, rather than a body in distant lands. This book has contributed greatly to my understanding of this puzzling character.
March 20, 2012
This is the first biography of Thoreau I've read. I chose it after reading Richardson's biography of Emerson.
I would have enjoyed mixing it up with Henry.
I'll soon reread "Walden" (I first read it 40 years ago. I'll read some of his other works, too.
It was a pleasure getting to meet him through the book.
I would have enjoyed mixing it up with Henry.
I'll soon reread "Walden" (I first read it 40 years ago. I'll read some of his other works, too.
It was a pleasure getting to meet him through the book.
August 27, 2010
Wonderfully readable account of Thoreau’s life of reading and walking, his encounter with books and nature, his investigation into Greek, Roman, Indian, and German thought, and the development of his own philosophy.
April 2, 2013
I just can't seem to get enough of Thoreau. This book added much to my appreciation and understanding of Thoreau. That said, if you are interested in gaining more insight into the how Thoreau viewed the world I recommend that you read his journals in combination with Richardson's book.
March 21, 2011
An intellectual biography tracing the evolution of Thoreau's thoughts, and - of course - his influences. Insightful. Important. A book I return to.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews