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The Journal, 1837-1861

Henry David Thoreau,

Damion Searls (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

John R. Stilgoe (Introduction)

4.33 · Rating details · 293 ratings · 29 reviews

Henry David Thoreau’s Journal was his life’s work: the daily practice of writing that accompanied his daily walks, the workshop where he developed his books and essays, and a project in its own right—one of the most intensive explorations ever made of the everyday environment, the revolving seasons, and the changing self. It is a treasure trove of some of the finest prose ...more

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Paperback, 700 pages

Published October 18th 2011 by NYRB Classics (first published June 1960)

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Apr 12, 2010 Graychin rated it it was amazing

It can only be the massive bulk of the thing in unexpurgated form that keeps the Journal from its rightful place on the top shelf of American literature. NYRB's abbreviated edition may do something to help more readers find it. Thoreau in the Journal (especially by his mid-thirties, when he’d grown up a bit) is better than he is anywhere else: fresher, less naive and less preachy, more reflective and self-questioning. Whatever he turns his eyes to, his powers of observation astonish. So does his ...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Kathy rated it it was amazing

Okay, this is cheating on my part, but it is good some version of the Journal is out there (so go get it, dear ones). What I have, and have had since purchase in the early 1970's, is the Dover two volume complete journals of Thoreau, every little observed gnat or weed, every small exclamation of awe or beauty, every depressed rumination over friendship. It was in his journals that our Henry worked out what would become his essays and his books; where he polishes phrases and notes the bloom time ...more

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Oct 03, 2014 Tara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Like a rough draft of Walden with lots more weather and plant observations. He recorded on July 6, 1845: “I wish to meet the facts of life—the vital facts, which are the phenomena or actuality the gods meant to show us—face to face, and so I came down here.” Also reveals more of his ornery character: “Most New England biographies and journals—John Adams’s not excepted—affect me like the opening of tombs.” Good for a few pages a day, as a companion to contemplation.

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Nov 03, 2017 Louis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned

It's really bizarre how perceptions can catapult you back in time. I remember sniffing a bottle of perfume I forgot about and finding myself 17 again, on the dance floor of some random party, surrounded by childhood friends. The same feeling comes when seeing this book. Not that it's been a long time since I've read it - couple of months - but it has strong sensations clinging to it.

It's no surprise to my friends I have a tough time finding work that fits me as a person. I don't know why - I app It's really bizarre how perceptions can catapult you back in time. I remember sniffing a bottle of perfume I forgot about and finding myself 17 again, on the dance floor of some random party, surrounded by childhood friends. The same feeling comes when seeing this book. Not that it's been a long time since I've read it - couple of months - but it has strong sensations clinging to it.

It's no surprise to my friends I have a tough time finding work that fits me as a person. I don't know why - I apply widely (though focused) and diligently, but somehow or other I found myself in a temp job again at the end of last year. The sentiment of uselessness (feeling expendable) and pointlessness (dead-end street) haunted me wherever I go (as it still does). When I went walking around noon during lunch break, I consistently took this book with me to fill my mind with musings, to break the mind-killing monotony of my work and to feel hopeful again, to feel like I have a bright future ahead of me. This might sound like a romanticized view (and I wish it were) but it's the truth.

This is an abbreviated version of Thoreau's journal (although I didn't know that till later) and it is my intention of reading it in its entirety one day. Although a large chunk of it is filled with descriptions of natural phenomena and animal/plant life, it is Thoreau's detours into philosophy and his child-like wonder at the world surrounding him that dug into me and touched my soul. Thoreau was a loner, thinker and visionary, and that didn't score him many points with his acquaintances, but his marvellous, spirited reviews of all things - even the most mundane - make this a life-affirming read for me. Some examples of why I hold him in such high regard:

“When I consider that the nobler animal have been exterminated here - the cougar, the panther, lynx, wolverine, wolf, bear, moose, dear, the beaver, the turkey and so forth and so forth, I cannot but feel as if I lived in a tamed and, as it were, emasculated country... Is it not a maimed and imperfect nature I am conversing with? As if I were to study a tribe of Indians that had lost all it's warriors...I take infinite pains to know all the phenomena of the spring, for instance, thinking that I have here the entire poem, and then, to my chagrin, I hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages, and mutilated it in many places. I should not like to think that some demigod had come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to know an entire heaven and an entire earth.”

How I feel about philosophy (and most things in life): why would you want to read second-hand books when you can get right down to the origins? So many people write books on books on books of philosophers, why not just get to the core and read the original and decide for yourself what to think? We are already told daily what to think by the media, politics, 'experts', and it's time we decided for ourselves what's the truth. So yes, just like Thoreau, I try to suck the marrow out of life, to dig deeply, to feel intensely, to explore widely, as I feel is the only right way to live my life. And this quote holds so much more! Important historical facts culled out of history books (I am thinking slavery and discrimination for instance, or the real founding of America, on the backs of the murdered indigenous population), selective truths (or downright lies) spread by politics... Thoreau was onto something here.

“The stars are God's dreams, thoughts remembered in the silence of his night.”

Such beauty in one line. The night for me, when everything and everyone falls quiet, is the only time when you can truly come to your senses and let the silence hold up a mirror.

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Feb 04, 2017 Estep Nagy rated it it was amazing

Great though Walden is, for me Thoreau's journals are better. When you compare his writing in these to that in Walden you see that he had, in small but important ways, in Walden edited himself for publication, a gesture that doesn't make Walden worse but it does limit one's angle of vision on the man himself. And while Thoreau the writer is wonderful, canonical, etc, nevertheless for me Thoreau the man is absolutely electric. Following him through the seasons, settling into his rhythm of observa ...more

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Dec 26, 2020 Helen added it · review of another edition

Technically did not read every entry, as I have been following along with the seasons (and intend to continue), but man WOW do I crave nature.

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Jun 07, 2013 Francisca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

CLibrosuesta creer y asimilar cómo alguien puede amar tanto la naturaleza, tanto que se adentra en ella y la hace suya, propia, casi digna de la vida de un animal silvestre que crece, se entremezcla y se diluye con ella. Así es la vida que Henry David Thoreau nos relata en sus diarios, los cuales abarcan desde el 22 de Octubre de 1837 hasta el 2 Septiembre de 1861. En ellos, Thoreau nos habla de los bosques, lagos, riachuelos, árboles y animales. Nos los describe, y como él mismo dice: “¿No podr CLibrosuesta creer y asimilar cómo alguien puede amar tanto la naturaleza, tanto que se adentra en ella y la hace suya, propia, casi digna de la vida de un animal silvestre que crece, se entremezcla y se diluye con ella. Así es la vida que Henry David Thoreau nos relata en sus diarios, los cuales abarcan desde el 22 de Octubre de 1837 hasta el 2 Septiembre de 1861. En ellos, Thoreau nos habla de los bosques, lagos, riachuelos, árboles y animales. Nos los describe, y como él mismo dice: “¿No podría llamarse mi Diario «Cuaderno de campo»?”. Sus diarios se convierten en una enciclopedia llena de colores, de formas naturales, de atardeceres y amaneceres, de sabores frutales, de cantos y clases de pájaros, de sensaciones térmicas, de anécdotas propias de un hombre y gente rural.

Para él se convierte en esencial que el hombre (se) busque, que investigue, que se apasione por lo que le es más cercano, que se deje llevar por lo que hace vibrar a nuestra imaginación; por lo que, en esencia, nos adentra en otro mundo que hallamos fuera pero en el que nos ubicamos dentro. Para él lo más importante es que el hombre busque en la experiencia y que encuentre significado en lo que tiene alrededor. Que aprecie lo poético de lo que nos viene y sucede. Que aprenda que la vida es un ciclo, pues viene la primavera y para llegar a la próxima tiene que desprenderse y dejar caer lo que ya no tiene vida al sol ni color chillón. Es todo eso lo que nos hace existir, el aprender de cada circunstancia, cada cosa que vemos y observamos, o cada discurso u opinión de las personas con las que tratamos.

Si desde fuera podía tenérsele por un hombre de carácter frío, aquí se le aprecia como a una persona preocupada. Donde las personas tienen miedo, se sienten solas y abandonadas, él halla poesía, vida, energía y calor. Thoreau se preocupa por el valor de lo que es natural, de lo bello, de la interioridad del hombre y de sus pasiones. Nos habla de ello de una manera espontánea y franca, sin rodeos, permitiendo que las palabras resuenen en nuestra percepción.

En estas páginas, Thoreau es cálido con la vida, pues nos la enseña como algo inimitable y que no puede encontrarse en las palabras, sino en un sonido, una forma, una sensación o un tinte de color. Sin embargo, y a pesar de ello, él nos la describe detallada y poéticamente, nos hace imaginarnos en plena naturaleza y sentirnos partícipes de ella. El hombre, como las plantas, va creciendo, educándose con cada etapa que vive, creando vida, hasta que al final, como una flor, se marchita y deja que la naturaleza siga con su cometido.

Nosotros, que vivimos en pueblos o en ciudades, vemos la naturaleza como algo salvaje, ajeno, algo que está ahí, que siempre ha estado ahí, a lo que nos acercamos de puntillas y mirándolo de refilón. Pese a ello, leemos a Thoreau, sus diarios, y nos hace meternos en ella sin que nos demos cuenta, embaucándonos de tal manera que nuestra imaginación se apodera de sus palabras y nos hace pisar hojas secas mientras escuchamos un riachuelo correr; quizás veamos a un colibrí coloreando nuestra mirada, invitándola a recorrer estas páginas con avidez, hasta que al final, nuestra mente deja de fantasear y nos hace reflexionar sobre la existencia del mundo rústico y agreste así como sobre nuestra propia y misma naturaleza. Así, nos hace sentir mucho más integrados con nuestro ser y con lo que somos, animales pero asimismo humanos.

Publicado en Détour ...more

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Jun 26, 2012 James Henderson rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: individualists, writers, iconoclasts

Recommended to James by: Ennyman's Territory (http://pioneerproductions.blogspot.co...)

Shelves: journal, individualism, philosophy, nyrb, autobiography

This is a book to read and reread, relishing the thoughts of Henry David Thoreau on life, nature and humanity. He was a complex but simple man, well-read but for all his reading his imagination was on fire with thoughts that were his own and seeds for the ages. He was a journalist in the original sense of the word as one who creates a journal, and his was based on the facts of his life as he lived mainly in Concord and briefly at Walden Pond.
"How simple is the natural connection of events. We co ...more

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Dec 31, 2019 Millie rated it really liked it

Shelves: nature-writing

I was determined to finish this in 2019 😂 Scraped in with 6 hours to go! You might say Thoreau was my partner throughout 2019, given that he lingered with me for so long. I much prefer his journals to his published works. He was an excellent journalist.

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Nov 22, 2014 Ty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Journal is huge. To be accessible to most, an abridgment is necessary. This abridgment, one of the most recent, succeeds in bringing the deep spirituality, keen observation and passionate but simple prose of Henry David Thoreau's private writing together in a still large but manageable volume.

To review the writing of Thoreau himself is a different affair than review a particular collection of same. Though at times the man does allow himself to be carried away by the smallest of details, ramb The Journal is huge. To be accessible to most, an abridgment is necessary. This abridgment, one of the most recent, succeeds in bringing the deep spirituality, keen observation and passionate but simple prose of Henry David Thoreau's private writing together in a still large but manageable volume.

To review the writing of Thoreau himself is a different affair than review a particular collection of same. Though at times the man does allow himself to be carried away by the smallest of details, rambling at times in such a way as to dull the reader's senses to an extent, we do not hold it against him, as we might many other writers. For with Thoreau, even passages that get away from themselves and sink a bit under their own detail are nonetheless indicative of the passion and sincerity of the man. Pomposity from Thoreau is virtually non-existent.

Thoreau's occasional thick passages, (that border at times on the clinical), are forgiven him because of the spirit with which they are composed, and because so many poetic, profound, relatable and useful passages abound with the denser ones. In short, to acquaint oneself with the man through his writings is very much worth it in several of his works. I'll not hold it against that he sometimes goes down the road, especially in his own journal.

To read Thoreau is to read nature itself, and to find within it a kinship with the man himself. More than once the Journal inspired me to go take a walk. I dare say I have become more observant of natural phenomenon since reading this than I was before. Thoreau preaches mostly by example, and to me that is the most effective way to spread a message and share a worldview...a world view that has comforted thousands of people since Thoreau himself left the earth, all too soon.

That being said, the editor of this edition does make some odd decisions. He admits in the preface material that any such abridgment will be subjective. The editor confesses a preference for passages about ice and snow over those about sunset. (There is in fact a clear "winter-heavy" nature to the overall abridgment I think.) I grant the editor his subjectivity, but there didn't seem to be a clear distinction between times he would cut off a passage by placing, "(etc. for 8 pages)" at the end of it, and the times he permits the text to roll on an on. There were a few passages that I thought could have withstood some more editing, and a few that were edited from which I would have liked to have read more. I have the option to go seek them out in other places, of course, but my criticism lies within the confines of this volume.

However, aside from a few questionable omissions and some equally questionable decisions to leave other things in, the editor is true to the text, and manages to stay out of the reader's way. His stated goal to retain and present the character of both The Journal and its author by way of a broader abridgement I would say is in large part achieved. ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 thinkingape rated it it was amazing

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad ...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Maria rated it liked it

I am a huge fan of Thoreau and was delighted to see his journals collected in a book. He writes beautifully and his thoughts about life and society are often brilliant and thought-provoking, though there was a bit too much about nature for my taste (detailed descriptions of plants, animals, seasons, temperature, weather, ponds).

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May 28, 2008 Corky added it · review of another edition

A good guide for hiking, inspires better observation and description. Wonderful variety. Not plot bound, which I like.

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Dec 18, 2018 Tom rated it it was amazing

A long, mind-salving, soul-grabbing, read for these difficult times. A reminder to keep our eyes open and focused on the world that matters most.

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Aug 22, 2019 Roo O'brien rated it really liked it

To be dipped into, each visit like a meditation- often beautiful, not always easy, slowing the mind down to the pace of another world and Thoreau’s obsessions. Easier to read outside... Casually misogynistic in places and often rude - today, he would be diagnosed with Asperger’s - he was as we all are a product of his time and his support for abolition and intense love of nature easily redeems him.

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Feb 20, 2018 Robert Walkley rated it it was amazing

One of my favorite books. I like Thoreau's writing in the journals better than in his books. This book gives a great sample of what the journals are all about. Highly recommended. And you can set your own pace! ...more

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Feb 25, 2020 Doris Raines rated it really liked it

THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING BOOK.

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Jun 07, 2020 Bob rated it it was amazing

My Bible.

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Jul 12, 2017 Jeff Carpenter rated it liked it · review of another edition

I was researching his relationship to creeks and rivers and I couldn't really find what I was looking for. ...more

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Nov 17, 2015 Kiko rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: henry-david-thoreau, biografia, diario

Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1862) comenzó a escribir su diario cuando tenía veinte años. Desde ese momento y hasta su muerte completaría más de siete mil páginas que editarían por primera vez Bradford Torrey y Francis H. Allen en 1906. Esta primera publicación se repartía en catorce volúmenes. Luego llegarían nuevas reimpresiones y ediciones –las de Dover Books o Peregrine Smith Books- que irían completando el original tras el descubrimiento de nuevos textos.

En la edición que nos ocupa, El Diario (18 Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1862) comenzó a escribir su diario cuando tenía veinte años. Desde ese momento y hasta su muerte completaría más de siete mil páginas que editarían por primera vez Bradford Torrey y Francis H. Allen en 1906. Esta primera publicación se repartía en catorce volúmenes. Luego llegarían nuevas reimpresiones y ediciones –las de Dover Books o Peregrine Smith Books- que irían completando el original tras el descubrimiento de nuevos textos.

En la edición que nos ocupa, El Diario (1837-1861), publicado por Capitán Swing en 2013 y traducido por Ernesto Estrella, Damion Searls intenta condensar en 360 páginas el espíritu de un diario tan desbordante como el de Thoreau. “Hay libros –escribe Searls en el prólogo- a los que una versión abreviada les hace poca justicia y, sin duda, mucho de lo que es esencial en este, se pierde: su alcance, su magnitud, su cotidianeidad. No hay modo de perfilar o simplificar la experiencia de exponerse al hecho de que Thoreau escribió un ensayo bastante extenso sobre los acontecimientos del día, cuyo resultado mensual oscilaba entre las 80, 100 o 120 páginas”. Searls también explica la metodología que ha seguido para podar el diario, trabajo meticuloso y agotador que sólo podemos calificar de sobresaliente una vez terminada nuestra lectura.

Pero, ¿qué encontramos en los escritos de Thoreau? El diario se basa principalmente en las descripciones de sus paseos diarios por los alrededores de Concord (Massachusetts), comentando flora y fauna de la zona, así como sus distintas conversaciones con vecinos y compañeros de trabajo. No todo es andar: también hay tiempo para reflexiones vitales sentado frente al fuego del hogar. Su forma de encarar la vida le llevó a prisión en 1846 tras negarse a pagar impuestos en oposición a la esclavitud en Estados Unidos y a la guerra contra México, hecho que culminaría con la publicación de La desobediencia civil (1848), una de sus obras más conocidas. La otra sería Walden (1854), donde relata los dos años que vivió solo, de 1845 a 1847, en una cabaña del bosque de Walden Pond, aunque siempre cerca de familia y conocidos como Ralph Emerson, probablemente su mejor amigo.

Hay en este diario pasajes esclarecedores para intentar entender el pensamiento de Thoreau con cierta precisión. Desde numerosos párrafos dedicados a su particular filosofía de vida, a otros centrados en el hecho de escribir día tras día en el diario: “De todas las cosas inexplicables y extrañas, esta de llevar un diario es la más extraña. No se puede decir nada sobre ello. Si hago un esfuerzo enorme por sacar a la luz mis bienes más íntimos, el mostrador aparece abarrotado con materiales pobres y caseros. […] No tenemos aún el modo de expresar nuestros anhelos, pero si nos mantenemos firmes y obedientes, en un año tendremos a nuestra disposición el lenguaje de los anhelos del año anterior […] Puede que este diario sea un calendario de los flujos y reflujos del alma; y en estas páginas, como en una playa, quizá se acumulen perlas y algas”.

Otros días, Thoreau se dedica a enumerar sus descubrimientos o a intentar describir las sensaciones que le producen la contemplación del cielo y los pájaros. Textos como el dedicado a la primera marmota de la temporada, o la forma de narrar la jornada en que, accidentalmente, inició un incendio en el bosque, nos revela a un escritor de notable prosa, envidiable ritmo y cierto toque humorístico que, suponemos, el autor nunca buscó.

Actualmente se está publicando una edición definitiva del Diario: The writings of Henry D. Thoreau, de la Princeton University Press, consta de dieciséis tomos y cada volumen tiene un precio aproximado de ciento treinta euros. Hagan la cuenta. En cualquier caso, este Diario de Damion Searls funciona estupendamente como creación independiente, completando junto a La desobediencia civil y Walden el grueso de una obra a la que, al menos una vez en la vida, merece la pena hincar el diente. ...more

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Jun 23, 2017 Jack Castillo rated it it was amazing

Two years in the making and I finally finished it. I started reading Thoreau in 2015 after reading Maria Popova's blog "Brain Pickings." Popova is very much into Thoreau, if you haven't checked out Brain Pickings I would highly recommend it. I'm not sure I would recommend Thoreau to anyone, it really depends on where you are in your life on weather or not you will get anything out of him. There were no magical moments for me but at the same time I did learn to take more time in observing my surr ...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Saket Suryesh rated it it was amazing

Disarmingly honest, a great viewpoint and poetic in rendering. What a memoir, so well written, so good..must read. No pretence, no self-righteous high moral ground, no dirty linens being washed here..vow!

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Feb 19, 2016 Shashi rated it it was amazing

Every author should have this book on the bedside table. Not only because it has the day to day life etched on to the working table but also because it opens oneself to give importance to things that are common place but have a huge potential of becoming uncommon, only if we focus.

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Mar 09, 2014 Doubledf99.99 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, travel, spirituality

For one who enjoys the great outdoors, walking, and hiking, its a great companion, also helped me to get started into keeping a journal.
Its like a continual never ending read, always checking something in it..

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Feb 14, 2013 Carolyn Hoffman rated it it was amazing

I prefer the journals to most of the other writings . I love their immediacy and the writing is still amazing.I'm re-reading Thoreau's journals again. Sometimes I no sooner finish then I start again. ...more

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Mar 04, 2011 Bear rated it really liked it

I LOVED Thoreau's journals when I was younger. I think I read all 14 volumes. If not all, then I certainly came close. ...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Jason rated it it was amazing

Like poetry. Beautiful and brilliant and extremely applicable.

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Apr 22, 2007 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: superior

great collection. my copy is currently roaming the country on a great adventure.

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Sietse rated it really liked it
Oct 27, 2020

Rick Kennerly rated it really liked it
May 22, 2015

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About Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

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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.

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“When I consider that the nobler animal have been exterminated here - the cougar, the panther, lynx, wolverine, wolf, bear, moose, dear, the beaver, the turkey and so forth and so forth, I cannot but feel as if I lived in a tamed and, as it were, emasculated country... Is it not a maimed and imperfect nature I am conversing with? As if I were to study a tribe of Indians that had lost all it's warriors...I take infinite pains to know all the phenomena of the spring, for instance, thinking that I have here the entire poem, and then, to my chagrin, I hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages, and mutilated it in many places. I should not like to think that some demigod had come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to know an entire heaven and an entire earth.” — 73 likes

“Man is the artificer of his own happiness.” — 18 likes

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