Based on several trips to the Cape and originally published as a series of articles, Henry David Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a remarkable work that depicts the natural beauty of Cape Cod and the nature that surrounds it. Thoreau, a consummate lover of the outdoors and nature is right at home in the Cape and he details his excitement of the area with naturalist portraits of the indigenous species and animals. Any lover of nature or of Cape Cod in general will delight in this captivating depiction of the area in the early to mid 1800s.
Cape Cod
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Cape Cod is Thoreau's sunniest, happiest book. It bubbles over with jokes, puns, tall tales, and genial good humor. . . . Unquestionably the best book that has ever been written about Cape Cod, and it is the model to which all new books about the Cape are still compared. -- Walter Harding, The Days of Henry Thoreau
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Robert Pinsky is Professor of English at Boston University and an editor of the weekly online magazine "Slate". He is the author of many books of poetry and literary criticism. He served two terms as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1997-2000.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Each year, in preparation for a week's retreat to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I go in search of a book that would be perfect for a sojourn on a desert island. Of course, the Outer Banks are hardly deserted--the locals have printed up Wege's infamous photograph of a packed stretch of Coney Island with the caption "Nags Head, circa 2000 A.D."--but there we are on an island for seven days, my husband experiencing near death in the waves while I read. Sometimes we stop these pursuits and prowl the beach. Mostly we live as if we're the last two people on earth (which is easier in the off-peak season).
I've learned that not every book is right for this way of life. The perfect desert island book has to celebrate the place you are in, not transport you. It should offer a tinge of society, because, after all, a human is a social animal, but it should not make you yearn achingly for what has been left behind nor should you be so repelled by it that you will never fit in again when you leave the island (you always leave the island). It should have some narrative sweep to withstand the competition of the seascape. It should make you think, at least a little: you want the stress to wash out to sea, not the little grey cells.
Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau is the benchmark by which I've chosen beach material for several years. it is the quintessential celebration of littoral life. If you are on the beach, you appreciate it all the more; if you are not, well, at least you know vividly what you are missing. There is drama, as in the specter of villagers racing to the shore at the news of a shipwreck. There is information, as in what part of the clam not to eat, how the Indians trapped gulls for food, how a lighthouse really works. There is Thoreau's contagious respect for solitude, his occasional crankiness, and that magic trick of his that can suck in high school sophomores and get them through his books without so much as a whimper.
There is one flaw to Cape Cod: brevity. It lasts about a day and a half on the Robinson Crusoe plan. This is not to say that it does not withstand re-reading, it does, but at some point after you have committed it to memory, you may wish for the collected works of Shakespeare and move onto the Bard's beach play, The Tempest.
I've learned that not every book is right for this way of life. The perfect desert island book has to celebrate the place you are in, not transport you. It should offer a tinge of society, because, after all, a human is a social animal, but it should not make you yearn achingly for what has been left behind nor should you be so repelled by it that you will never fit in again when you leave the island (you always leave the island). It should have some narrative sweep to withstand the competition of the seascape. It should make you think, at least a little: you want the stress to wash out to sea, not the little grey cells.
Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau is the benchmark by which I've chosen beach material for several years. it is the quintessential celebration of littoral life. If you are on the beach, you appreciate it all the more; if you are not, well, at least you know vividly what you are missing. There is drama, as in the specter of villagers racing to the shore at the news of a shipwreck. There is information, as in what part of the clam not to eat, how the Indians trapped gulls for food, how a lighthouse really works. There is Thoreau's contagious respect for solitude, his occasional crankiness, and that magic trick of his that can suck in high school sophomores and get them through his books without so much as a whimper.
There is one flaw to Cape Cod: brevity. It lasts about a day and a half on the Robinson Crusoe plan. This is not to say that it does not withstand re-reading, it does, but at some point after you have committed it to memory, you may wish for the collected works of Shakespeare and move onto the Bard's beach play, The Tempest.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:
1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.
2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.
3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.
1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.
2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.
3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Rambling and Ambling
I'm not sure why Amazon identifies Josep Moldenhauer as the author of this book which is in fact written by Henry David Thoreau. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lightman
MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE CORRECT EDITION
This is a comment about the edition rather than the book:
I bought this edition based on the review about the very helpful index. Read more
I bought this edition based on the review about the very helpful index. Read more
Published on July 20, 2009 by Jocelyn L.
Our History, in a very readable format
Cape Cod, by Henry David Thoreau, a book review
Reading Cape Cod is like visiting with a distant relative or a fond acquaintance. Read more
Reading Cape Cod is like visiting with a distant relative or a fond acquaintance. Read more
Published on March 22, 2009 by Harvest McCampbell
A Beautiful Book
I have the Princeton Classic edition (1988; 2004), but the text is essentially the same. Thoreau is at his best here in his descriptions of nature and the people inhabiting this... Read more
Published on March 8, 2009 by dizzy dean
Travel to the cape with Thoreau
(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).
While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as... Read more
While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as... Read more
Published on December 20, 2007 by Howard
A Cape Cod Walk with Thoreau
Thoreau visited Cape Cod in 1849, 1850, and 1853. These trips formed the basis for a series of essays, several of which Thoreau published in magazines. Read more
Published on August 5, 2006 by Robin Friedman
Great Humor
This book details the flora, fauna and people that Thoreau found in Cape Cod in the 1850s. Thoreau organizes the book around a single trip to Provincetown, although much of the... Read more
Published on July 18, 2006 by Erika Mitchell
Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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humane house, mackerel fleet, text excluded, dozen rods Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Cape Cod, New England, Highland Light, Port Royal, Nauset Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, Provincetown Harbor, Race Point, New France, New World, United States, North America, Nauset Lights, Cape Ann, Pamet River, Mourt's Relation, Long Wharf, New York, Nova Scotia, Clay Pounds, Atlantic Ocean, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Barnstable County, Clark's Island, John Smith Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
humane house, mackerel fleet, text excluded, dozen rods Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Cape Cod, New England, Highland Light, Port Royal, Nauset Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, Provincetown Harbor, Race Point, New France, New World, United States, North America, Nauset Lights, Cape Ann, Pamet River, Mourt's Relation, Long Wharf, New York, Nova Scotia, Clay Pounds, Atlantic Ocean, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, Barnstable County, Clark's Island, John Smith Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod by David Gessner on 14 pages
- Cape Cod Voyage: A Journey Through Cape Cod's History and Lore by Jack Sheedy on 12 pages
- Wild Fruits: Thoreau's Rediscovered Last Manuscript by Henry D. Thoreau on 9 pages
- The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt on 9 pages
- A Wider View of the Universe: Henry Thoreau's Study of Nature (Environment Human Condition) by Robert McGregor on 9 pages
See all 100 books citing this book
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