Autumnal Tints [Audio CD]

Henry David Thoreau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

From the purple grasses of August, to the yellow elms of October, to the scarlet oak leaves of November, Henry David Thoreau casts his eye on the brilliant colors of autumn and guides us on a journey through the season's bounty. In this classic essay, first published in 1862, Thoreau delights in fall's foliage and reveals both a practical and philosophical understanding of the changing environment.

Now available in audio for the first time, Thoreau's essay is the perfect travel companion for those out to discover one of America s natural wonders.

Unabridged on 1 CD/72 minutes
Narrated by Brett Barry

Editorial Reviews

Review

Library Journal EDITORS' PICK 2008 Brett Barry's crisp, well-paced reading free of theatrics allows the author's words to resonate. Listeners will get the sense of walking alongside Thoreau as he leads them half authoritative teacher, half marveling student on a tour of the evocative landscape. --Library Journal

About the Author

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is America's most revered chronicler of nature. His major work, Walden, is a much beloved classic about his years spent in a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond. But Thoreau wrote prolifically during his short life journal entries, poems, and travelogues, as well as numerous lectures and essays on natural history and social reform.

Autumnal Tints is one of Thoreau's best known essays. Written as a lecture, which he delivered in 1859, the text was first published in the October issue of The Atlantic Monthly, just months after his death in May, 1862.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Silver Hollow Audio; Unabridged edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979311527
• ISBN-13: 978-0979311529
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,439,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Outdoors & Nature > Nature Writing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An essay omitted from many anthologies, January 2, 2002

By 

Corinne H. Smith (Athol, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Autumnal Tints (Paperback)

Published in _Atlantic Monthly_ five months after his death, this essay describes the colors of the New England landscape as Henry David Thoreau saw them in the mid-1800s. His motivation for writing such words seems to have been his neighbors' apathy and indifference toward the natural world, for "A man sees only what concerns him." And so Thoreau speaks of the beauty of purple grasses and of maples, elms, and oaks. He doesn't mind the fallen willow leaves that land in his boat and doesn't clean them out -- he accepts them as extra cushioning for his seat. One wonders what Henry would think now, when tourists are apt to drive to New England on fall weekends, just to see the leaves. There's no earth-shattering revelations in this booklet. It's just an easy read for a crisp and bright October day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unforgotten nature, October 22, 2008

By 

Poly Meros (Anywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autumnal Tints (Paperback)

It is a beautiful text that revels in nature's exuberant expression and rescues her vital value to man. To witness Thoreau's love of nature is pure joy. There is no better teacher than he ... to learn Nature's lessons through his eyes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autumn Harvest, March 20, 2011

By 

Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autumnal Tints (Paperback)

"Autumnal Tints" is one of Henry David Thoreau's most underrated works. His writings on civil disobedience and Walden Pond are seminal works... yet his praise of the Massachusetts autumn is poetic. It is reverie in the glory of Nature. It is the writing of a Nature mystic, not unlike his Californian equivalent, John Muir (Journeys in the Wilderness) While Muir was in the relative seclusion of the redwoods, the wildness of Yosemite... Thoreau transcended the urbanity of New England in his forest solitude. A true Transcendentalist. He wasn't that far from the metropolis of Boston, or nearby Worcester... yet he found joy in the colors of the fall. Autumn is a time of harvest, contemplation, it is the softening of summer, the mild transition to the cold New England winter. "Autumnal Tints" is ecstatic in its praise of the Bay State. It is poetry transfigured into prose. A harvest of words.