Thoreau in the Mountains [Paperback]

Henry David Thoreau (Author), William Howarth (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (December 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374517614
• ISBN-13: 978-0374517618
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,980,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for those who love the beauty of the hills!!, April 29, 1999

By 

Dan Weemhoff ([e-mail]) (Marquette, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thoreau in the Mountains (Paperback)

This book gives you a spectacular, vivid, and unique look at the mountains of New England as only Thoreau could provide. This book is a compilation of peak-by-peak short stories which include Thoreaus' own journal writings along with commentary by the author. You join Thoreau as he explores many of New England's more famous mountains. Originally published in the 19th Century, Thoreau gives a glimpse of the mountains before roads, well-graded paths, or even maps gave the average tourist easy access to their beautiful heights. Thoreau explores such peaks as Katahdin in Maine, Lafayette, Monadnock, and Washington in New Hampshire, as well as Greylock and Wachusett in his home state of Massachusetts. The author gives modern day reference points as you follow Thoreau on his adventures across New England. Thoreau even teaches, unintentionaly, some important do's and don'ts for the modern day explorer. As you will discover Thoreau even learned a few lessons that can still be seen to this day! Overall, a very interesting read, especially for anyone at home in the mountains of New England. A book sure to bring out the adventurer in you.

5.0 out of 5 stars THOREAU IN THE MOUNTAINS., September 6, 2011

By 

William J., Bly "Buffalo Bill" (Tulsa, Ok) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thoreau in the mountains (Hardcover)

ANY BOOK WRITTEN BY SCHOLAR wILLIAM HOWARTH, OR WALTER HARDING, IS WORTH READING AND OWNING,AND THUS I HAVE BUILT A NICE THOREAU COLLECTION OVER THE SUMMER BY WAY OF AMAZON BOOKS.

4.0 out of 5 stars Climb every (major New England) mountain, August 27, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Thoreau in the mountains (Hardcover)

In this book, editor William Howarth compiled Henry David Thoreau's journal accounts of his lifetime excursions to the major mountains of New England. Through these extensive descriptions, we can accompany Thoreau to Wachusett and Greylock in Massachusetts; to Katahdin and Kineo in Maine; and to the Vermont and New Hampshire peaks of Wantastiquet, the Fall Mountains, the White Mountains (Washington, Tuckerman Ravine, Lafayette), and Monadnock. Howarth periodically added sidebars of contemporary geography to the naturalist's words and experiences so that the devoted reader could have directions to attempt to retrace the 19th-century naturalist's steps. Obviously Howarth did the hikes himself. But we discover through Howarth's notes that sometimes Thoreau wasn't even sure of his location. Sometimes he flat out misidentified landmarks or tree species. Therein lies part of the fun, of course: correcting historical documentation. We can also see how the New England landscape has changed over the past century and a half. We know that we have more woodland than Thoreau saw or encountered, and that our current views from mountain summits aren't the same as his were. Still, it's interesting to read about the way it was and to share in Thoreau's continual wonder at the natural world.

This volume has been updated by a newer edition called "Walking with Thoreau: A Literary Guide to the New England Mountains." Either book is especially recommended for hikers.