Customer Reviews

Walden (Courage Classics)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Walden, what is it? Is it a book on nature, a book on ecology, a book on human nature, a prescient description of the struggle between modern civilization and the land that nurtured it, a critique of mankind, a string of quotable gems, an account of a mind, or, like Star Wars, a way of slipping a deep and human spirituality into someone else's mind without their recognizing it? It depends on who is doing the reading and when. Read it for any of these purposes, and it will not disappoint. If you've never read it, read it. If you read it for class years ago and hated it, read it again. This may be the most subtle, multi-layered and carefully worked piece of literature you'll ever find. By keeping the down-to-earth tone (no doubt in reaction to the high-flying prose of his friend, R.W. Emerson) Thoreau pulls a Columbo, and fools us into thinking he's writing simply about observing nature, living in a cabin, or sounding a pond. Somehow by the end of Walden, however, you may find it is your self he has sounded. People have accused Thoreau of despising mankind, but read deeper and you will discover he loved people well enough to chide us, show us our faults (admitting he's as bad as the worst of us), and give to all of us this wonderful gift, a book you could base your life on. There is more day to dawn, he reminds us at the end: the sun is but a morning star.

This book screams simplicity!

In this book, Henry David Thoreau takes an extended look beyond human nature and human habit. He brings forth a new and exciting view point on life and teaches how to live in happiness without the confusion of mechanical materials. I had to read this book for a 9th grade Language Arts assignment, and I had never heard of Walden or Thoreau before this project was assigned. When I completed this book, I felt very refreshed. It encouraged me to take a second look at my own life, and simply discard of the things which were causing complications or confusion. This book stretched past the limits and capacity of my mind as a 9th grade student. It forced me to think. Judging by the majority of my peers, I am convinced that anything that would force them to THINK harder, deserves 5 shining stars.

I buy books in hardcover when I want them to last, when I know we will be life-long friends. "Walden" is one of those books, and this edition published by Castle Books is truly lovely.

Henry David Thoreau is, of course, quite famous for his Walden experiment and his name immediately invokes that of a lonely hermit living in a hut on the outskirts of society. This myth, however, is far from accurate. For one thing, Thoreau never intended to become a recluse, but he did desire to put into action--to literally prove--how living in nature could bring us closer to our higher selves.

Philosopher Erick Erickson, in saying that "Every person should have a Walden," testifies to the metaphorical nature of Thoreau's experiment. For Thoreau, the two years spent living at Walden Pond represented an inner journey in which he spiritually connected with nature and created a place--a personal Walden--inside of his soul.

Thoreau's metaphysical journey began with his recognition of the interrelatedness of all life. It was not enough that he engross himself in nature; he had to see himself as a vital part of it. Thus, in "Walden" he writes, "Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself?"

Even more importantly, internalizing a place like Walden Pond meant seeing the connectedness of even the "negative" aspects of nature. For example, when he imagines the seeds he planted in the ground rotting because of too much rain he says, "it would still be good for the grass on the uplands, and, being good for the grass, it would be good for me." In this way, Thoreau is able to recreate any negativity he finds at Walden and turn it into something positive by focusing on the unity of all nature and seeing everything as a symbol of the self.

This is easier said then done and Thoreau willingly recognizes the difficulty of finding connections in the natural world, even at a site of pastoral beauty such as Walden Pond. But in spite of the difficulties, he stresses solitude and self-discovery because he believes that only by actively exploring our inner lives can we become aware enough to see the bonds which link all things.

In his conclusion to "Walden" he asks us, "What does Africa--what does the West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart?" How, he implores us, can we ever hope to see the connections between things if we have yet to investigate our own souls?

"Nay," he commands, "be a Columbus to whole new worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought." Thus, Thoreau urges us to embark on a voyage of self-discovery that will help us truly participate in nature by seeing ourselves as "part and parcel" of it. "Explore [yourselves]" he urges us, and uncover "the perennial source of life" through nature.

It is not an easy path to follow, but luckily Thoreau does not recommend that we follow his path exactly. We don't need to purchase a secluded cabin and turn our backs on civilization (although that sounds nice at times!); we just need to get off the "beaten track" and to immerse ourselves in our own special, wild places.

Re-reading "Walden" this last week I was reminded of the need to do so every couple of years. I'm looking forward to having this forest green volume around for a long time.

When some people think of WALDEN, they think of a man living deep in a primeval forest, far away from civilization, learning how to become one with nature. Rather, WALDEN is about a man living only a few miles from a well-established village (Concord) attempting to learn about himself, especially in relation to the nature around him. He believes men live lives of "quiet desperation," always in a hurry, missing the best that life has to offer. To discover life's greatest offerings, which for Thoreau can only be found inside a person, never "out there," he builds a hut on the shore of Walden Pond and lives there for two years.

"I went to the wood because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach," he writes. It is an "experiment" in living (as republican democracy is the "experiment" upon which the country was founded), an empirical one based on observation. He describes in loving detail the woods, the fields, the birds he hears, the pond itself ("the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature"), even village life (he goes to Concord every few days to pick up on the latest gossip). He describes the seasons as they progress and how they touch upon his inner search for meaning. Zen-like he finds inner purity and the necessity to free himself from the social and political ties that restrict his "freedom." He feels "the divine being established" inside of him every day. Finally it's time to leave (he is a man of the world after all). But he's learned that "if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success." One must be true to one's own nature - that is the key message of WALDEN.

WALDEN is an American classic that combines the mystical with the practical. For those who have ever felt that "life" is some force outside of us, controlling us always, tearing apart our true natures (and who hasn't felt that at one point or another?), WALDEN is just the book to remind us that we don't have to be "a slave to material desires." Excellent in every way.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." I grew up in New England near Walden Pond and first read Thoreau's Walden in college. It has had a profound influence upon my life over the thirty years since then. One of the great tragedies of life in our time is that many people spend their lives working like slaves to accumulate wealth which is spent on things they don't need. And in the course of this pursuit of wealth, vast tracts of time are lost at great expense. Why? Some people may never have the epiphany that the pursuit of material wealth and the search for meaning are entirely separate and wealth doesn't guarantee that you live your life well or nobly or meaningfully. Thoreau knew this. He considered the townspeople of Concord to be slaves to their farms and herds and fields and houses. In the woods Thoreau became totally immersed in the process of living each day: he watched red and black ants fight an epic battle, which he described as having great depths of Homeric valor. He observed the color of the pickerel in Walden and the color of the ice in winter. And listened with disdain to the sound of the Fitchburg railroad as it whistled in the distance. He was a purely self-reliant human being having built his own cabin by hand and planting his own fields. This great American naturalist could look at a stand of trees and tell by observation the forces of nature it had experienced. Thoreau is profoundly wise and if you read Walden earnestly, it will change your life. I know that after I had read it, I was never the same person. Give it a chance to do the same for you. You may become transcendental, if you read it sincerely. And understand the importance of marching to the tune of a different drummer.

I guess I'm not surprised, scrolling through the many reviews of this book, to see that quite a few find it to be a tedious waste of time. This is, after all, America, where thinking critically is in critically short supply. If you are a literalist, if you've been weaned on airport novels and other pseudo-literary junk, if you are unable to relate to a multi-faceted jewel that sparkles on every imaginable level, then by all means stay away from this book.

The tone of several reviews reminded me of the student in my Latin class who said one day, as we were reading a selection from Ovid's Metamorphoses, "This is stupid!" "No," I responded tranquilly, "You're stupid." Some people apparently expect an encounter with a great author to be a cheap turn on, like a video game or a shot of Jack Daniels. Not surprisingly, when the engagement requires the use of one's brain or at least a modicum of intellectual effort, many have to throw in the towel. The irony, of course, is that these are exactly the sort of people Thoreau was railing against in Walden.

Walden, boring? You might as well say the Iliad, Hamlet, or the Canterbury Tales are boring. Walden is quite easily a work that ranks with these world-class masterpieces. Thoreau's magnum opus grows in stature with each passing year, and he ranks at the top of American prose stylists.

Walden is a heroic epic, a farmer's almanac, a poem, a pastoral, a fire and brimstone sermon, an autobiography, a philosophical treatise, a journal, an annual report by a man who was the sole stockholder in his own extraordinary enterprise. It is a vicious critique of the unexamined life and a brilliant paean to the richer and more rewarding existence which is open to anyone who wishes to discover it.

Like a stone tossed into a pond, Walden's influence will ripple through all of the ages to the very edge of eternity. If there ever was a book that could dramatically alter one's perception of the world, Walden is that book.

This book is a description of Thoreau's experiment with living deliberately. From 1845-47, Thoreau lived in a small cabin that he built himself on the edge of Walden Pond, on the outskirts of Massachusetts. His brother had recently died of tetanus, and as a memorial, Thoreau wished to write an account of a week-long trip they had taken together on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, some 7 years earlier. Living in simple surroundings on the pond allowed Thoreau the time to undertake this project, which resulted in the book "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers." But in Walden, which was written several years after the events took place, Thoreau doesn't discuss his work on the Concord and Merrimack book at all. Instead, he lays out his philosophy of his approach to life and nature, juxtaposed with many observations of local flora, fauna, and characters.

The first chapter, Economy, is an extensive tract, didactic at times, arguing for frugality and simplicity. When one remembers that this was written in the 1850s, long before electric carving knives, mp3 players, video games, or even cars, it is remarkable how clear and relevant his message still is for today. Page after page of this chapter is filled with quotes worth pondering, writing on the refrigerator, or even committing to memory. Subsequent chapters are a mix of observations on the local environment (e.g. The Ponds, Winter Animals), or Thoreau's dealings with others (Visitors, Brute Neighbors). The last chapter, Conclusion, in which Thoreau sums up his experiences living at Walden, returns to a more philosophical bent.

This book speaks to all, generation after generation, and reading after reading. It frequently appears on syllabi as an assigned reading, which is too bad. While it provides much material for discussion, I'm not sure that Thoreau would have wanted anyone to be compelled to read it. As with any book, it's much more rewarding to work your way through it on your volition. Out of all of Thoreau's books, this is my favorite because of the balance it achieves between philosophy and observation, as well as for the ideas it describes.

Thoreau moved into the woods at Walden pond in Concord. However the book isnt about living in the woods. Its about stepping outside of "civilization" so that he could look at it objectively. From his perspective you see how much of the worlds misery is just stuff we bring on ourselves. like the following:
" I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of."
He goes on to explain how once we have the items we need to maintain them, improve them, and in the end we end up slaves to the things we own. He looks at how we spend every waking day storing up treasures to mold or rust in a treasure room.
He then goes on to look into what work is actually needed to sustain our lives. Once he has discovered this, he is amazed at the mountains of free time he has left. He uses that time to get to know the wolrd that we live in. Sort of in a "Song of Myself" sort of way.
In the end this book was an inspiration to me personaly, to leave the fast paced chase of the dollar for a more relaxed and less stressfull life style. Now I chase waves and try to help out in my community. I find that I have tons of free time, and I don't even feel guilty if I waste it lying on the beach.
Its not the sort of book that you get in the first read through, you will find yourself at the office or in a meeting and suddenly a passage from the book will pop into your head and suddenly it will make sense.
I know this review is a little touchy feely, but if you read this book, and understand its message. It is a key to a secret club where you realize that "Hand Scraped solid Manchurian Walnut Floors" are in the end just flooring. And the truth is that Artisan Tibetan vase that you bought for such a fortune will one day be sold at a garage sale for a couple of bucks.
Its a book that looks at the silliness that we take so seriously. I highly recommend this book to anybody, but especialy if you are doing well but still not happy. Buy this book.

This timeless classic from one of the great thinkers of the 19th century American transcedentalist school appeals to all idealists. This would include idealists from both the left and the right. Envronmentalists are attracted by the themes of living in harmony with nature. For example, Thoreau observes all around him in his two year two month stay in his simple house in the woods. He describes in great detail watching certain insects glide along the pond and the ripples made when they do so. He provides an engrossing description of two ant colonies, one black, the other red, at war with each other and gives a lurid, blow by blow account of the battle. Envrionmentalist also will be drawn toward his declarations against waste and using more than is necassary.

Leftists from an earlier generation, "hippies" for want of a better characterization, are drawn towards Thoreau's rejection of the material. At Walden Pond, Thoreau eschewed unnecessary comforts and lived for what may be more truly important; a life in which we get to know the world around us. He was able to sit for hours, but this was not a waste of time because he was thinking and observing. He sought higher values.

Idealists from the right are also attracted by Thoreau's observations since he was self reliant and lived off of his own labors without thinking that anyone else owed him a living. He may have rejected the material but, in so doing, he fended for himself and lived off of his hard work and ingenuity. Unfortunately, there are many today who cannot possibly appreciate this great book because they are more concerned with materialism, an easy life and pop culture. I hope that these young people will ultimately experience what Thoreau early in the first chapter calls the greatest miracle: "to look through each other's eyes for an instant." I hope that these young readers will look through this great thinker's eyes and truly try to understand what he has seen and experienced.

This is an incredible collection of writing yes but contrary to the seeming popular view it was not meant to be a good read. i do not imagine thoreau wrote this as an attempt to achieve the status of a clean writer. What he says is there not to entertain but to inspire. Not to provoke thought but to provoke action. Read this book but do it not as an attempt to seek entertainment.