Customer Reviews

Walden and Civil Disobedience (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (B&N Classics)

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Compared to books such as "Voluntary Simplicity" by Duane Elgin and similar books, one realises that many of these ideas are nothing new when one reads Walden by Thoreau. In fact, what strikes me is that we as a Western society have not overcome many of the issues pointed out by Thoreau 150 years ago. Thoreau left Concord MA "disdainful of America's growing commercialism and industrialism", the slavish materialism of that society then. One wonders what he'll say if he would see the extend today - in the post Coca-Cola society. But then Thoreau was a man who clearly stepped to his own drum. Becuase of slavery, he refused to support the state on moral grounds. How would his views have been tolerated today?

I am not luddite, but my favourite quote from the book is this: "We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate". Does this say something about the Internet, newsmedia and our contemporary information overload, or what?

I liked the introduction and footnotes of Meyer. Just enough to provide context and explanation, but never intrusive. This book is as relevant today as it was during Thoreau's lifetime. Highly recommended.

Anyone who prefers Emerson above Thoreau surely does so with a view to increasing his own popularity. Thoreau is too outspoken to be liked by everyone--indeed, to identify more with him is a kind of social suicide. But then, Thoreau was ever convinced that he was not here to please anybody, but rather to be authentically what he was.

To find a modern western man who so thoroughly embodies the wisdom of antiquity is as rare as "the tooth of a dragon, or the hair of a phoenix." Henry David Thoreau is such a man. More than a mere combination of past, present and future, he joins together the most mundane, prosaic and ordinary considerations of daily life with the loftiest and noble thoughts of mankind. Furthermore, he perceives the spiritual aspirations and practices of east and west as one coherent whole. He was well acquainted with the classics of both hemispheres--The Tao de Ching, The Bhagavad-gita, Vedic writings, The Iliad and more--and here, distilled for us common folk, is that wisdom as seen from the his viewpoint. Bertrand Russell has given what would seem the crown laurel to Thoreau calling him "a pure romantic"-in contrast to the weak romanticism of Victor Hugo, or the rather soft variety found in Emerson.

During his lifetime, 700 or so of the 1,000 copies he had printed of "Walden" wound up in his parents' attic, ostensibly making him a failure as a writer. Since then he has become a literary god, and without doubt one of the most influential writers of the past 200 years. It was Thoreau's tract entitled Civil Disobedience, written because of his objection to paying tax to the American government--a so-called democracy involved in slave trade, westward expansion, displacement of indigenous population and imperialistic annexation of Mexico--that gave fuel to human rights movements in the 20th Century. Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. based their efforts on this small but amazingly powerful essay, which only goes to show that Confucius--one of Thoreau's favorite sage authors--was right; the thought of an intelligent man sitting in his room can kill a king and destroy his country. And so it was that slavery was abolished in the United States, India attained home rule and racial integration in the U.S. progressed.

Since the industrial revolution in the 18th Century, the central goal of western technological society has been economic growth. And to achieve an economic growth that is endless, corporations in the latter half of the 20th century have encouraged consumption that is mindless. But by the dawn of the 21st century, this central project has proven to be obsolete, for nature cannot sustain endless economic growth, and neither can the people in general. Nature has rebelled by refusing to absorb the transgressions against her dignity (pollution), and humanity has expressed insurgence through psychological and physical disease. Dr. Willis Harman has discussed the matter in detail in his book, "Global Mind Change" but, though more than a decade has passed since its publication, the important and timely points that it makes have yet to be assimilated by the public. Thoreau, however, was already tuned in to this problem way back in the 1840's. Astrologers attribute an overlap of a little more than 200 years between astrological ages, and this puts Thoreau in with the new Aquarians.

His observations--on economy, simplicity, learning, human nature, participation mystique when close to nature and the close proximity of God--are unpresuming, candid and at times downright hilarious. I say Henry David Thoreau is a philosopher sage amongst the American transcendentalists, and a man who was not unconcerned about his less educated or enlightened fellows. He took tremendous pains to share himself with us through his writings, and there are many innovations of his that are already being practiced by posterity. Not the least of these is the growing awareness that ADULT EDUCATION for men and women can be a lifelong pursuit. I agree with Dr. Harman that this is on its way to becoming the new central project of western society, known as it is presently by the name, The Personal Growth Movement.

In Walden the seeker will find lucid clues as to what the Aquarian Age is all about, its characteristics and even the means of cultivating the new consciousness. But this is not a book for people who like easy reading. Henry would demand of you that you read it with the same diligence and deliberation as it was written. It took him five years of refinement before he was satisfied with the manuscript. Walden will provide you and your descendants with many more years of pleasure and enlightenment than that.

H.D. Thoreau is the first and most important figure in U.S. Radicalism. This collection provides the essential background for the latent radicalism inherent in American politics, especially as it was vocalized in the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements of the 1960's.

Disobedience is the shorter of the texts, but probably more important. It is an attempt to justify moral anarchism and a call to act on individual judgements about justice.

Walden can be interpreted as an important treatise against consumerism and the dangers of specialization, as well as an appreciation of the natural environment. Those interested in anti-globalization/anti-free trade movements would do well to read Walden to gain an understanding of where anti-consumerism came from and an examination of its ethical implications. However, it also pays to remember that Walden is a failed experiment and, in the end, Thoreau returns to Cambridge.

Thoreau, as political philosophy, has certain problems. Moral anarchy and denial of the social contract is difficult to replace in civil society--Thoreau makes no more than the most vague references as to what could replace it, seeming to rely on the fact that his personal sense of justice is universal.

Nevertheless, Thoreau's conscience has resonance and is as relevant today as ever. His rejection of consumerism as the basis for society and its stratification also teaches important lessons.

Thoreau represents that first step in understanding the other part of American political thought--extremely different from that of the Constitution and Federalist Papers--but with profound connections to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Scorning the mass slavery of modern industrial society, Thoreau conducted his most famous experiment in life: to live in solitude in a shack he builds himself on the edge of Walden Pond, on the land of Emerson, with whom he lived as a handyman and pupil. Thoreau, clearly, was no less radical than his mentor, Emerson, though he differs at least in the fact that he was not merely content with preaching, but actually strove to put his ideals into practice. The book is a profound statement of Transcendentalist individualism and self-reliance and a hymn to nature, contentment and joy. He recounts, at one point, the episode in 1845, during which he was imprisoned for one night for defying the local government and not paying his poll-tax. He mentions, in passing, how he allowed a runaway black slave to have safe passage through the region. His retreat into solitude was partly impelled by his disgust with the war with Mexico, and partly because he could not accept that he could live under a governemnt that was also a slave's government. Thoreau, a neo-Cynic, a modern stoic, emphasises a return to the basic, uncomplicated life, free from the cares and fetters of what he calls "odd-fellow society" and celebrates, above all, simplicity, magnanimity and trust. Glorying in the animal vitality of his body (though he was singularly unable to appreciate women) his ruminations encompass the most prosaic details of life in the woods, such as the migrations of birds, fishing, his own bean-farm, along with powerful insights into self-improvement, learning, generosity and other topics, interspersed with allusions to his favourite literature, the "Iliad" of Homer and the texts of ancient Hindu philosophy and religion. A refreshing and inspiring encounter with a fascinating individual in the history of letters.

Thoreau died, aged 44, in 1862. Walden: or, Life in the Woods, based on his experiment in subsistence living between 1845 and 1847, was one of only two books published in his lifetime. Neither was a commercial success. His 'time' came later, and could plausibly be said to be still continuing. By the end of the nineteenth century a vast amount of his writing was in print, including much taken from the 39 notebooks of daily jottings that constituted his Journal. Each generation since has warmed to one or another facet of his writing - his philosophy, observation of nature, simple living, and refusal to pay taxes to a government that supported slavery and waged the Mexican-American War.

For purists, it is all too easy to pick holes. Thoreau's philosophy was far from rigorous in an academic sense; many of his observations from nature were not scientifically robust; building his log cabin only one and a half miles from his parents' home and continuing to buy essentials in Concord (he was on his way to the shoe-menders when arrested for non-payment of taxes), he cannot credibly be said to have cut himself off from society; and for his refusal to pay taxes he spent only one night in the local lock-up before an aunt paid his debt. But to pick holes would be to risk missing several important points. First and foremost, he did succeed in sustaining himself at a basic level for fully two years. His diet was essentially, though not exclusively, vegetarian; he drank only water; kept no pets or other livestock; and seems never to have even thought of acquiring and maintaining a family. In so doing, he successfully demonstrated that living in such a way demands only a very small cash income, so that it is not necessary to work anything like "full-time", thus releasing much time for walking, reading, contemplation and writing. He derived great personal satisfaction from that lifestyle and took particular pleasure in his cabin, built by his own hands.

The book is not an easy read and a measure of sympathy with the undertaking will be required to get most readers beyond the opening chapters. Even, then, all but the most enthusiastic would have to concede that the book is patchy. However, some of the best patches serve to make the whole worthwhile. Such a passage is a description of a hawk in flight found on page 210 of this edition ("On the 29th of April, as I was fishing from the bank near the Nine-Acre-Corner bridge..."). Incidentally, to get the absolute most out this passage, and the whole book, readers will need to know the length of a perch (as in rod, pole and perch, 40 to a furlong). It is sixteen and a half feet, or 5.08 metres.

Thoreau is more than simply a writer who produced a great American classic. He exemplified the idea which perhaps as much as any other has come to be at the heart of the American creed. "If a man does not keep pace to his companion, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

Throreau when he went into the woods of Walden Pond on July 4, 1845 , a journey in solitude which would last just two years and two months, was the archetypal American individualist. He was the man 'doing his own thing' living in accordance with what only he could know was right for himself. This idea of 'radical individualism' has become part of the American common faith. Its abuses are legion and may be disastrous, but it also has brought about not simply 'better mousetraps' but a whole vast world of innovations and innovators, the like of which Mankind has never known before.

Thoreau as he writes in his introduction went to the woods to explore not simply the natural world, the outdoors he so much loved. He went to the woods to truly go more deeply into and know himself. As he says in his introduction:

" I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience. Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me."

Thoreau in that enigmatic, epigrammatic aphoristic style, he shared with his great mentor and fellow pioneering poet- philosopher, Emerson connects the world within with the world without , connects the Concord woods with the Cosmos . He creates a work in 'Walden' of singular beauty and of its own special economy and principles in thought.

Thoreau was too an abolitionist, an opponent of the Mexican war, a civil disobedient who refused to pay the poll tax-, a pioneer
whose followers would include Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

But in his close looking at the world of nature and the world of himself he was first a great explorer of life and reality going out alone in his own way- however geographically close he may have been to home.

His words and his wisdom waken us even today to the hope of new and better worlds i.e. he also embodied the spirit of a great American optimism.

The great individual teaches us even in dark hours to find new worlds in ourselves outside our own darknesses. " There are new worlds yet to be born" he writes, " The sun is but a morning star"

I bought this book after much searching for it in local bookshops. This volume, when it arrived, was beautiful to look at. Bound in a classic and impressive cover, it has 2 photos of Thoreau for fans of his works (such as me). But, it is his words which give one pause. Which make the idea of living in the woods, completely self-sufficiently, not as far-fetched as it may first seem. I enjoy this book each time i read it. It's a classic, full of great quotes for those who ruminate on the nature of man, and the beauty of living simply.

This collection has Henry David Thoreau's two most famous works: Walden and "Civil Disobedience." Both are immortal literary works that should be read by all; anyone who does not have them would do well to get them here.

Walden is one of the great classics of American letters. It has been somewhat unfortunately tainted by its reputation as the "treehugger's Bible," but this misses the point. Thoreau obviously loved nature and was one of the nation's first environmentalists - indeed, modern day environmentalism can be traced directly to him -, but the core of the book is not a simple stating of nature's virtues. Thoreau lays down nothing less than a philosophy of life. Like "Civil Disobedience," Walden preaches the virtues of individual liberty and the importance of Man over State. Thoreau raises some staggeringly deep existential questions: If a man does not depend on the State but still resides within its boundaries, need he pledge allegiance? Need he pay taxes? Thoreau tells us how to get the most out of life by living simply. Indeed, much like Rousseau, he seemed to basically believe that the true essence and spirit of man resides in the state of nature. He assures us that, if all lived as simply as he did at Walden, there would be very little theft, crime, violence, envy, or jealousy. He urges us all to live our own lives as we see fit, neither depending on or heeding others, and to avoid merely becoming another mindless drone in conformist society.

"Resistance to Civil Government" - or "Civil Disobedience," as it became known - is an essential part of American literature, culture, and history. Even more remarkably, it is undeniable proof that great literature can have a real effect on the world even long after it is written and ignored. The essay is world famous as the founding text of civil disobedience, i.e., non-violent protest, and its effect on such luminaries as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King was profound, thus sealing its immortality. This alone makes it essential for all.

However, it is easy to forget that the essay is a masterpiece in itself. Essentially Thoreau's highly individual expression of his mentor Emerson's self-reliance doctrine applied to government, it has a wealth of depth and nuance despite its brevity. The words are few but the implications endless; it has enough food for proverbial thought to last a lifetime. The gist is very clear, but the implications have spoken very differently to many different people. The work's nature - and Thoreau's generally - is such that it and he are championed by everyone from neocons to libertarians to liberals, and the truly notable thing is that all are justified. This underscores the importance of reading the essay for ourselves.

Its main query is "What does the individual owe the state?," the answer being a resounding "Nothing." Thoreau takes the maxim that the government that governs least governs best to its logical conclusion by wishing for one that governs not at all - a brave wish very few have seriously dared to make or even conceive. He makes a highly principled stand for individual rights and autonomy, arguing very persuasively that people should be able to go about their business without interference. This of course sounds very much like current libertarians, and their position has indeed hardly ever been better argued. Many related and implied issues - protests against taxation, conscription, etc. - also seem to support them. However, it is important to remember that the essay's crux and most famous section - Thoreau's account of a night spent in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because he did not want to support war or slavery - was and is immensely liberal. Few issues can be more central to current liberalism than an anti-war stance, and slavery was the era's great liberal cause. All this must be kept firmly in mind amid the many attempts to reduce Thoreau to a current party platform. He was at once too simple and too complex for this and would not have suffered himself to be thus reduced; nor does the essay justify it.

Integral as all this is, the work's core point is arguably a new self-reliance argument above and beyond immediate practical considerations. Thoreau certainly had a practical, political streak, especially compared to relative idealists like Emerson, but he thought individuality more sacred than anything. He articulated this more fully elsewhere, but it is very present here. His work is thus in many ways the best kind of self-help material - and, unlike the mass of current self-help tripe littering bookshelves, is intellectually and even aesthetically pleasing. Thoreau was the most thoroughly local writer that can be imagined, but his willingness to look deep inside himself for the eternal truths present in all people has made him an inspiration to millions and millions of people from across the political spectrum and indeed the world. This essay is a major part of his legacy and thus one of the very few works that literally everyone should read. Few can be the same afterward, and it will change many lives; it is nothing less than one of the most important documents ever written, and its value simply cannot be exaggerated.

This collection is an excellent primer for those new to Thoreau, and those who have not already done so should open their minds to him immediately - and once done, they will never be closed again.

Well Walden and Civil Dis. are both amazing essays and in that matter books. The fact that they have said so much and the genius that Thoreau remains to be is absolute. As E. B. White said if anyone attempted to recapture the way that Thoreau writes it would be impossible, the book would be torn and burned. His truth on simplicity is something that I myself and all should take into concept especially in these troubled times. I have read both works many times and continue to learn something new every single time. Absolute praise to Walden especially. I have personally learned that schools actually have it required to read "Where I lived and What I lived for." However difficult the message is for anyone the fact that it is taught in schools puts it up on the scale for anyone. To put up an argument against this book is tough because it will be rebuked again and again unless you write an entire book trying to show these things wrong ( Moby-Dick ). Well anyway this is a must, I have read absolute tons of books and I have still found Walden still of my absolute favorites. So get this, it's amazing.

I read most of Walden while backpacking the wilderness coast of Washington State alone. This was appropriate as the book is the author's account of two years spent largely by himself in a hand-made cottage on the edge of a pond. In it he details not only the minutiae of his solitary project, but opens into one of the heights of transcendental philosophy. I anticipated Thoreau's seminal work was powerful, but actually reading it was electrifying. No, I didn't agree with all of his positions. At times he turns tricks of hollow rhetoric though his arguments are nevertheless beautifully constructed. Over all, though, I came away changed and recharged to live a life more essentially meaningful; to simplify my day to achieve goals that last while experiencing as much as possible in every moment. My love of God and Creation were renewed. Classic.