Walden: Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben (Concord Library) [Paperback]

Henry David Thoreau (Author), Bill McKibben (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Concord Library | Publication Date: July 15, 2004

First published in 1854, Henry David Thoreau's groundbreaking book has influenced generations of readers and continues to inspire and inform anyone with an open mind and a love of nature. With Bill McKibben providing a newly revised Introduction and helpful annotations that place Thoreau firmly in his role as cultural and spiritual seer, this beautiful edition of Walden for the new millennium is more accessible and relevant than ever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bill McKibben gives us Thoreau's Walden as the gospel of the present moment. --Robert D. Richardson, Jr., author of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind

'[Thoreau] says so many pithy and brilliant things, and offers so many piquant, and, we may add, so many just, comments on society as it is, that this book is well worth the reading, both for its actual contents and its suggestive capacity.' --A. P. Peabody, North American Review, 1854

'[Walden] still seems to me the best youth's companion yet written by an American, for it carries a solemn warning against the loss of one's valuables, it advances a good argument for traveling light and trying new adventures, it rings with the power of powerful adoration, it contains religious feeling without religious images, and it steadfastly refuses to record bad news.' --E. B. White, Yale Review, 1954

'Bill McKibben gives us Thoreau's Walden as the gospel of the present moment.' -Robert D. Richardson, Jr., author of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind

About the Author

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a writer and philosopher as well as a naturalist. Walden is considered his masterpiece.

Bill McKibben is the author of Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age as well as The End of Nature and The Age of Missing Information. He lives with his family in the Adirondack Mountains.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (July 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807014257
• ISBN-13: 978-0807014257
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the ne plus ultra of nature writing, May 28, 2009

By 

K. Swanson (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Walden: Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben (Concord Library) (Paperback)

I've read Walden at least a dozen times and it just keeps getting better.

Thanks to the truly inspirational thoughts in this book, I have learned to be alone in the woods and high wilderness and feel nothing but joy and awe. Fear doesn't enter into it. It's only people and "civilization" that bring me angst. Thoreau taught me how to use my mind to see beyond the surface of nature into its glorious inner workings, and few gifts have ever been so precious in my life.

There is so much wisdom here it's impossible to digest it all even in a dozen readings. Lines from this book come to me over and over as life rolls along. One of my favorites states that HDT would be happy to live in a pine box, three feet by six feet, as long as he could wake up every morning in the middle of nature. I know exactly what he means, and I have patterned my life along that vein of simplicity and sustainability.

For that and so many other thoughts here, I love Thoreau like a real brother. He's always there when I need him. It's okay that Walden was closer to town than most think; the real point here is letting wild nature enter into you until you become part of it and no longer part of the illusory world of homo sap. That can be done even in a city park if one learns how.

This book, along with the best of HDT's journals, constitute some of the most useful of all American literature to my mind, and to millions of others over the last century-plus.

Thanks to Hank for understanding what really matters, and for waking up an entire nation to how precious our natural heritage is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for a thinker / a romantic, December 19, 2010

By 

CoryJamaul - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walden: Introduction and Annotations by Bill McKibben (Concord Library) (Paperback)

I read this book when I was 16. I found myself fascinated with Thoreau's simplistic living, and overall, his philosophical awareness. He was sure of his purpose in life and meant to live by the expectations only he held dear. I believe he wanted us, the readers, to realize that a man with so much potential and ability doesn't always have the desire to use it. Life is too short to waste on anything less than what makes us pleased with ourselves. We all know deep down what's right from wrong, how we really feel towards life and everyone who lives in it. A good life is the ability to live with total assurance that what we do is worth our struggle maintaining it.

It changed the way I think, whether it be his intention to do so or not. It was the reminder for me that I am human, and in no way insignificant.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "May the forest be with you"., August 2, 2011

By 

H3@+h "Over 1500 reviews!" (thanks for the helpful review votes) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walden (Paperback)

Not sure why it took me 39 years to read this book, but glad I just did. It's one of the most honest and inspiring books I've ever read, and I've finished a dozen books just the past few months. It could have been called "How man should live". If you are in touch with nature in any way, this book is for you.

You'd not expect a person to talk of woods and animals for 200+ pages, but he easily does. Deep in the woods. But it's not just a camping manual. This is a philosophy and perspective on life, of living simply, and letting others live. It's about taking twenty minutes to watch a chipmunk gather nuts, or a bird retrieve the makings of a nest. It's slowing life down, and appreciating the many miracles that happen around us outdoors many times a day.

This book has been published countless times through the years, and it will continue to connect with people for generations. It makes you realize that minus technology, little has changed in 150 years. Many books are called a classic, this one is.