Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (Spirit of Thoreau

by Steve Grant

How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book, wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden. Today that book continues to provoke, inspire, and change lives all over the world, and each rereading is fresh and challenging. Yet as Thoreau's countless admirers know, there is more to the man than Walden. An engineer, poet, teacher, naturalist, lecturer, and political activist, he truly had multiple lives to lead, and each one speaks forcefully to us today.Sponsored by the Thoreau Society, the brief, handsomely presented books in this series offer the thoughts of a great writer on a variety of topics, some that we readily associate with him, some that may be surprising. Each volume includes selections from his familiar published works as well as from less well known lectures, letters, and journal entries. The books include original engravings by renowned illustrator and book artist Barry Moser.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2005

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Reviews

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this was going to be daily observations of nature, but it ended up being more daily musings of Thoreau. I love sustainable living and books about nature. this was neither of those things. it's not even chronological. The days are, there is one for every day of the year, but the years are all over the place; so, it's hard to get a good grasp of what's going on in any particular year during that season. I agree with a lot of what he "preaches" but I wasn't looking to be preached at when I bought this book.

There are times when he makes a statement, only to go back on it in the next entry. He seems very changeable in that way, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, it's not what I was hoping it would be. it had enough of the natural observations that I gave it 3 stars.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daily entries by calendar date. I read each to match the day, more or less, and starting late. I expected a couple of the entries to mark the holiday, such as Christmas or even Independence day, but that wasn't the case. Some entries seemed like an odd choice.

Overall an enjoyable experience to have throughout the year.