Customer Reviews

Cape Cod

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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.

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.

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.

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. After Thoreau's death, the essays were gathered together and published as "Cape Cod" in 1865.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is different in tone in theme from his earlier books. The tone is leisurely and light. Instead of solitude or the wild woods, the picture that remains with me from this book is that of a long walk, or, as Thoreau puts it, a "ramble" through the sand and dunes of Cape Cod. The book is picturesque, full of humor and wry observation. Thoreau unforgettably describes the ocean, in its storms, vicissitudes, and moments of peace, the fish and the fishermen, the sands, birds, plants and lighthouses of Cape Cod, and the people. I have visited portions of the Masachusetts coast, but I have never been to Cape Cod. Thoreau took me there in his book.

The book is arranged into ten chapters. It opens with a description of the shipwreck of the St John on a rock off the Cape. Thoreau then describes a ride by coach across the Cape. But the heart of the book lies in the following chapters in which Thoreau with a companion walks the 30 mile beach from Nauset Harbor to Provincetown with many stops and diversions along the way. I felt the salt air and saw the fishermen and the sandy beach as I walked with Thoreau.

The most vivid characterization in the book is in the chapter "The Wellfleet Oysterman", as Thoreau describes a grizzled, taciturn, and ancient native of Cape Cod and his family who offer him hospitality for the night. Another memorable chapter involves the description of the Highland Lighthouse, no longer standing, and its keeper. The stops with the Oysterman and the Lighthouse punctuate Thoreau's long walks through the day over the beach and his meditiations about and descriptions of what he finds there.

Thoreaus walk ended at Provincetown, on the northernmost portion of Cape Cod, with its wood walkway, shanty houses, and ever-present scenes of fishermen, boats, and drying fish. Thoreau offers what I found an affectionate portrait of these hardy fishermen and their families. Following a description of what he found at Provincetown, Thoreau offers a great deal of historical background on the exploration of the Cape, from the Pilgrims reaching back to earlier French, Icelandic, and English explorers.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a worthy companion to his books describing his experiences inland, on Walden Pond and on the rivers and woods of New England and Maine. It is beautifuly written with unforgettable descriptive passages. It made me want to get up and go from my life in the city, and over 150 years after Thoreau wrote, wander and walk for myself along the dunes and sands of Cape Cod.

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 material that he uses in the book came from various visits to the Cape, and to the ocean in general. He starts with a description of a shipwreck at Cohasset, then a stagecoach ride from Plymouth, then a walking trip with a companion along the outer shore to Provincetown. Along the way, he describes not only the plants and animals he encountered, but also the people who he met. The book finishes with a lengthy academic historical account of the discovery and mapping of the Cape.

I found this to be the most humorous of all Thoreau's work. The character sketches he provides in this book, sharpened with his trained eye for observation of natural phenomena, are legendary. The cultural description of the Cape and its environment is quite fascinating for those interested in the history of daily life in 19th century Massachusetts. As Thoreau describes the desolate, treeless desert that made up the far reaches of the Cape, one begins to comprehend what it meant for an economy to be based on wood and whale oil for fuels. Thoreau stresses how valued driftwood was for residents of the Cape, as one of their main sources of heating and cooking fuel. Doubtless, he would not recognize the Cape today with its lush new forests. Or its Wal-Marts--switching to an oil economy has brought mixed blessings for the Cape. For those who think Thoreau to be a humorless didactic philosopher, this book shows a very different aspect of Thoreau as a writer.

This is a comment about the edition rather than the book:

I bought this edition based on the review about the very helpful index. Please be careful about what edition you are actually buying. Many of these reviews are about different editions. I bought the BiblioLife paperback book with a picture of the green bicycle on the cover. I just received it and there is NO INDEX.

It looks like the original text from an original printing (with smaller physical dimensions) was photocopied page by page and put into this paperback book. This will do the trick but I am a little disappointed and wish I had bought a different edition.

It is confusing on amazon because when you click "look inside" it shows an index, with a tiny note saying the "look inside" refers to a different edition.

(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 "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.

Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.

Cape Cod, by Henry David Thoreau, a book review

Reading Cape Cod is like visiting with a distant relative or a fond acquaintance. Thoreau, who we have all heard about for most of our lives, rarely lectures or preaches on these pages. The chapters ramble through a Cape Cod of yesteryear and are comprised of articles and journal entries from Thoreau's walking holidays in 1849, 1850, 1855, and 1857. He describes the countryside, the tame and wild vegetation (complete with botanical names), architecture, people, food, farms, ships, fishing, economic activity, and everything else that presents itself to his view.

While Thoreau waxes poetic, and even philosophical, from time to time, this reads like a casual travel log, albeit from a very learned and intelligent scholar. The text includes quotes in a variety of languages, including Latin, Greek, and French, which are not all translated. Those looking for uncommon quotes are sure to find a few juicy tidbits. If you are looking for encouragement for reading the Christian Bible, exhortations against organized religion, or beautiful thoughts on nature and solitude, you will definitely find them here.

What I found most fascinating, is the ecological destruction that had already occurred in the area. Some native shellfish had been nearly wiped out, and "seed stock" was being imported from other areas. Trees no longer reached the height that they had originally grown, crop land was no longer as productive, and erosion was enough of a problem that the government had stepped in with programs and regulations. Thoreau documents that the people blamed "Providence"--meaning the Creator--when their crops or natural resources failed them. It seems it never occurred to them that their own actions might be detrimental to their environment.

Thoreau also documents the thinking about the ocean and its resources back in those days. Even he sees the ocean as nearly infinite and unlimited. This thinking is reflected in the fisheries and especially in the take on what they called "blackfish." The "blackfish" is a small whale, or perhaps a dolphin, with a blunt shaped head. Schools of these creatures are chased aground by men and boys in small boats. They are then murdered for their blubber and left to rot. Thoreau asks one of the "fishermen" if the meat is good to eat, and the fishermen replies that he prefers it to beef--when it is fresh. Thoreau's only comment on this waste is that the poor soil needs the nutrients that this "manure" supplies.

The edition that I read, which was arranged with notes by Dudley C. Lunt and was published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1951, contains a history of Cape Code in the appendix. This history, written by Thoreau, is rambling and disjointed, but worth reading. We all know that we have been sold a bill of goods in regards to Plymouth and the Pilgrims. A close reading of this history emphasizes just what a good sales job it was. The first thing that really grabbed me is the fact that three prior successful, permanent, European settlements had been established in North America (before Plymouth); one in Florida,--one I believe he said--in New Mexico, and one in Nova Scotia. (The one in Florida I have read something about before. When doing some research on the first Thanksgiving I ran across an article about a Florida town that claims it was celebrating Thanksgiving before the Pilgrims even thought of coming to the "New World.") Thoreau also documents early Viking and French visits to the area, and quotes texts that claim European people had been fishing in or near Cape Cod for many hundreds of years before "America" was "discovered."

Anyone researching the history of the East Coast, New England, or early contact between the two continents will find this a rewarding read. Thoreau sites the documents he quotes and others that may contain valuable information. However, you don't have to be a scholar or a student with a project to enjoy this book. Anyone with an interest in sustainability, history, botany, or the writing of Thoreau will be enriched by the time spent between these pages.

I'm not sure why Amazon identifies Josep Moldenhauer as the author of this book which is in fact written by Henry David Thoreau.

Cape Cod is made up of his rambling observations he ambled about the Cape with an unidentified "companion" during the 1850's.

I was looking forward to an evocative description of the unspoiled Cape which, even today in its over commercialized state, is redolent with romance, timelessness, and above all with the sea. Instead, the reader is exposed to dithering minutiae, delivered in a style that often borders on the unreadable.

Here, for instance, is what must be one of the longest sentences ever written in the English language. It deals with the act of looking into a house on the beach through a knot-hole in the door. Hold on - you're not going to believe this.

Here goes...

However, as we wished to get an idea of a Humane house, and we hoped that we would never have a better opportunity, we put our eyes, by turns, to a knot-hole in the door, and after long looking, without seeing, into the dark, - not knowing how many shipwrecked men's bones we might see at last, looking with the eye of faith, knowing that, though to him that knocketh it may not always be opened, yet to him that looketh long enough through a knot hole the inside shall be visible, - for we had had some practice of looking inward, - by steadily keeping our other ball covered from the light meanwhile, putting the outward world behind us, ocean and land, and the beach, - till the pupil became enlarged and collected the rays of light that were wandering in that dark (for the pupil shall be enlarged by looking; there was never so dark a night that a faithful and patient eye, however small, might at last prevail over it), - after all this, I say, things began to take shape in our vision, - if we may use this expression where there was nothing but emptiness, - and we obtained the long-wished-for insight.

Can you believe it?

This monster sentence says that they looked into a house through a knot-hole, and since it was dark it took some time for their eyes to adjust, but eventually they were able to dimly make out the interior. That's it! And yet it contains not less that 207 words, twenty-four commas, seven dashes, and one semi colon.

Anyway, apart from this sketchy style, Cape Cod is eminently forgettable.

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 (then) difficult place. The book really is a paean to the Sea...Thoreau is awed by its power and beauty. Much of the work tends to be descriptions of the sea or its influence on the land. More than once he mentions that one is never far from the noise of the breakers or the winds. He also discusses man's influence on the land (usually negative), yet how mankind is still dwarfed by the power of the sea. Even if you are not a Thoreau fan, read this. It makes for a good read on a cold winter's night.