Walden and Civil Disobedience (150th Anniversary) (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), W.S. Merwin (Introduction), Perry Miller (Afterword) "Thoreau's collected works in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (Boston, 1906) will eventually be superseded by The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau (Princeton, 1971-..." (more)
Key Phrases: stony shore, New England, Walden Pond, Brister's Hill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Henry David Thoreau's masterwork, Walden, is a collection of his reflections on life and society. His simple but profound musings-as well as "Civil Disobedience," his protest against the government's interference with civil liberty-have inspired many to embrace his philosophy of individualism and love of nature.

About the Author

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an essayist, poet, philosopher, and anti-slavery activist. Among his other notable books are A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Civil Disobedience. He died of tuberculosis and he is buried in his family's plot near the graves of his friends Hawthorne, Alcott, Emerson, and Channing on Author's Ridge in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451529456
• ISBN-13: 978-0451529459
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #422,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that started it all?, November 17, 2001

By	Christo "montxsuz" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walden and Civil Disobedience (Penguin American Library) (Paperback)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manifesto of U.S. Radicalism, June 1, 2001

By	Tim Hundsdorfer (Boulder, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walden and Civil Disobedience: Or, Life in the Woods (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awful introduction, January 4, 2006

By	Edvard Odessia (North America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walden and Civil Disobedience (Barnes & Noble Classics) (Paperback)

Walden itself is a book that will make you re-examine every aspect of your life. I recommend buying another version. The writer of the introduction to this version is clearly not a fan of Thoreau. He certainly did not experience the spiritual somersault that 80% of the population would experience with this masterpiece, and so is ill-suited to comment on it. The quotations from other authors at the end of the book seem to have been chosen to undermine Thoreau, and the review questions are at best patronizing and at worst insulting.

In addition the type and pages are too small. You will want a larger volume with room for underlining and note-taking when you read Walden.