Book Description
On the 150th anniversary of its publication, a new edition of the nature classicFirst 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."[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 ... Read more

Book Description
Henry David Thoreau wrote four full-length works, collected here for the first time in a single volume. Subtly interweaving natural observation, personal experience, and historical lore, they reveal his brilliance not only as a writer, but as a naturalist, scholar, historian, poet, and philosopher. "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" is based on a boat trip taken with his brother from Concord, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire. "Walden," one of America's great books, is at once a personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, manual of self-reliance, and masterpiece of style. "The Maine Woods" and "Cape Cod" portray landscapes changing irreversibly even as he wrote. The first combines close observation of the unexplored Maine wilderness with a far-sighted plea for conservation; the second is a brilliant and unsentimental account of survival on a barren peninsula in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Influential writings whose beauty you will see differently at different stages in life
While every artist is tied to their time and place, this is especially true of Henry David Thoreau.To me, Thoreau has always seemed like a beautiful and tender plant that could only exist in a specific time and place.His world was rich enough to allow him to enjoy nature rather than see it as something to tame.Yet it was also rural enough to leave him natural space to enjoy as if it were wild.

It also seems to me that Thoreau's writing is more beautiful and observant than penetrating and intelligent.It is more about the senses than analysis.I think this is why it appeals so much to young people of so many generations and why he became such a symbol for the Back-to-Nature portion of the Boomer generation.

This volume contains his most influential works (the essays and poems are collected in a companion volume also from the wonderful Library of America): A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, The Main Woods, and Cape Cod.So much has been written about these works that I can't think of anything specific to add except to encourage their being read.However, I would encourage adults who remember reading them in their youth with such enthusiasm to read them again from the vantage point of mid-life.I think they will find somewhat less to be enamored of in the content, but they will appreciate his sheer power of writing more.

The total collection is more than a 1,000 pages and includes a chronology of Thoreau's life, notes on the text, relevant maps of the areas covered in the book, more notes, and an index.

The Library of America's Thoreau
While reading the four books of Henry David Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) included in this volume, I was reminded of the piano sonata no. 2, the "Concord" sonata by the American composer Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) and decided to listen to it again to complement my reading.The Concord is a monumental work in which Ives tried to capture the "spirit of transcendentalism" associated with Concord, Massachusetts.Its four large movements bear the names of Emerson, Hawthorne, Bronson Alcott, and Thoreau.The "Thoreau" movement of the Concord captured in music for me what I had been reading in Thoreau's texts, with its reflective arpeggios, long hymnlike introspective passages, distant sounds of bells, and quiet close.Ives wrote the movement, he said, to reveal the "vibration of the universal lyre"to which Thoreau had alluded in the chapter of Walden titled "Sounds".Those who love Thoreau or the American Transcendentalists should explore Ives's great musical tribute to them and their thought.

This volume is the first of two in the Library of America devoted to Thoreau, with the second book consisting of essays and poems.It includes the two books published during his lifetime, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" and "Walden" together with two books published shortly after his death, "The Maine Woods" and "Cape Cod".The former two books are philosophical and introspective in tone, even though they include much of the descriptive writing about nature for which Thoreau is famous.They are the writings of Thoreau the Transcendentalist, the Thoreau of Ives's Concord Sonata.The second two books are describes Thoreau's travels.They originated the American practice of writing about nature.

Thoreau's most famous book, "Walden" describes the two years he spent living at Walden Pond, near Concord, from 1845 -- 1847 on a tract owned by Emerson. Walden is deservedly an American classic, as Thoreau reflects upon and attempts to simplify his life, to appreciate it for itself and for the everyday, without the strains of commerce or the pursuit of wealth.It is an eloquent study of learning to be alone with and content with oneself.

Thoreau wrote the first draft of "Walden" while he resided there and also wrote "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" which in 1849 became his first published book, enjoying little success at the time. This book describes a trip Thoreau took with his brother and there are many detailed observations of people, places, and plants and animals.But the book is full of detailed digressions on literature, philosophy, the Greek Classics, friendship, and Thoreau's religious beliefs.This book shows the large influence of Eastern thought on Thoreau.It is filled with allusions and quotations from poetry on virtually every page.It is a joy to read.

There is little overt philosophising in Thoreau's latter two books.But both these books made me want to leave, at least for a short time, my life in the city and to run and visit the wild places Thoreau described.In "The Maine Woods" Thoreau describes three trips he took to Nortwest Maine -- its forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains, in 1843, 1853, and 1857. It includes detailed descriptions of rugged camping, in the rain and sun, on water and on land.The higlight for me was Thoreau's discussion in the first essay of the book of his climb on Mount Ktaadn, with Thoreau's description replete with both actual description and ancient Greek and American Indian symbolism.

Thoreau's final book, "Cape Cod" describes three visits in 1849, 1850, and 1853 (A fourth, later visit to the Cape is not included in the book.)This is Thoreau's only book which features the ocean and the seashore.It describes a rugged place, but the tone is leisurely and humorous in many places as Thoreau takes his reader on a thirty-mile "ramble" over the Cape.Thoreau introduces a memorable character in his chapter "The Wellsfleet Oysterman" and draws a picture of a lighthouse, no longer standing, on the Cape, "The Highland Light."Reading this book made me want to walk the sands and dunes that Thoreau walked and described over 150 years ago.

As with all volumes in the LOA series, this volume is lightly annotated but includes a valuable chronology of Thoreau's life which helps in approaching the texts.Transcendentalism and naturalism both have played critical roles in the development of American thought and you will find them both here.And if you enjoy Thoreau, I encourage you again to approach Ives's masterpiece, the "Concord Sonata" and meet Thoreau realized in sound.

Robin Friedman

A Fine Collection of Great Works
Henry David Thoreau is one of America's greatest literary treasures, and this Library of America compilation of his four complete, full-length books is an excellent purchase for any Thoreau fan.It includes possibly Thoreau's most famous work, Walden, as well as lesser-known (but still immensely inspired and entertaining)works.I would highly recommend this purchase to any interested Thoreau reader, as I am yet to find a comparable compilation for nearly as good a deal as this.

I respect no one more than I do Henry David Thoreau
It was Thoreau who made me understand that writing had everything to do with one's sum total and worth as a human being, and everything to do with one's passion and sense of purpose in life. It was while reading from an anthology of his work that I first made contact with a superior being. I recognized a mind that I could be intimate with, a mind and soul of someone with whom I could spend endless hours and never cease to learn from.


Thoreau's style is cumbersome. He can be terribly dry, and his paragraphs run way too long. But who cares when passages ignite the page with brilliance, flame from the black and white of paper into the depths of one's being. 'Walden' has more profound and relevant quotes than any other book I've read. They're the purest gems to be found in the rough of a larger work. A work that I wouldn't dare to diminish, but forewarn the reader so that they have the patience and perseverance to continue.


I would like to mention a superb biography written on the life and mind of Thoreau, a biography that exceeds and exceeds in going deeper into the life and mind of this great and humane and very misunderstood man, it is called: 'Henry Thoreau --A Life Of The Mind,' by Robert D. Richardson Jr. Mr. Richardson not only wrote a biography, he was on a mission, for he knew and believed in what his subject was about. As comprehensive, insightful and exhilerating as any biography can or should be.


The price and quality of this anthology can't be beat. Beautiful to read and beautiful to see on my book shelf. Buy it! Get to know this man of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I would like to publicly thank Henry David Thoreau
I would like to publicly thank Henry David Thoreau for teaching me this:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -Henry David Thoreau

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated ... Read more

Book Description
America's greatest nature writer and a political thinker of worldwide impact, Henry David Thoreau's remarkable essays reflect his speculative and probing cast of mind. In his poems, he gave voice to his private sentiments and spiritual aspirations in the plain style of New England speech. Now, The Library of America brings together these indispensable works in one authoritative volume.

Spanning his entire career, the 27 essays gathered here vary in style from the ambling rhythm of "Natural History of Massachusetts" and "A Winter Walk"to the concentrated moral outrage of "Slavery in Massachusetts" and "A Plea for Captain John Brown." Included are "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau's great exploration of the conflict between individual conscience and state power that continues to influence political thinkers and activists; "Walking," a meditation on wildness and civilization; and "Life Without Principle,"a passionate critique of American materialism and conformity. Also here are literary essays, including pieces on Homer, Chaucer, and Carlyle; the travel essay "A Yankee in Canada"; the three speeches in defense of John Brown; and essays such as "Autumnal Tints," "Wild Fruits," and "Huckleberries" that explore natural phenomena around Concord.

Seven poems are published here for the first time, and others are presented in new, previously unpublished versions based on Thoreau's manuscripts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A treasure.
Henry David Thoreau, born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817, was one of the co-founders and most influential representatives of the philosophical school known as "Transcendentalism."(Others include fellow Concord residents Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott, reformist teacher and father of Louisa May Alcott.)Thoreau's life centered around his home town; yet, as his writings reflect, he was very familiar with all major philosophical schools of his time, not only those developing in America but also the writings of Kant, Goethe, Schiller and Hegel - indeed, the very term "transcendentalist" derives, as Emerson explained, from Kant, who had first recognized intuitive thought as a kind of thought in its own right, holding "that there was a very important class of ideas ... which did not come by experience, but through which experience was acquired ... [and which] were intuitions of the mind itself."These were the ideas which Kant had called "transcendental forms."(Or, as Thoreau himself once put it in his Journal:"I should have told them at once that I was a transcendentalist. That would have been the shortest way of telling them that they would not understand my explanations.")

To this day, transcendentalist philosophy, and Thoreau's work in particular, has proven enormously influential - on the program of the British Labour Party as much as on people as diverse as spiritual leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. on the one hand and rock star Don Henley on the other hand.Henley in the 1990s even went so far as to found the Walden Woods Project, teaming up with the Thoreau Society to preserve as much as possible of Walden Woods and the land around Concord, and foster education about Thoreau.Yet, during his life time only few of his many works, now considered so influential, were published, and even those did not find wide distribution."I have now a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself," he commented on the poor sales of his "Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers."

This collection, one of two Library of America volumes dedicated to Thoreau's works and edited by renowned Thoreau scholar Elizabeth Hall Witherell, presents the majority of his essays and poems, from well-known works such as "Civil Disobedience," "Life Without Principle" and "Walking" to a large body of lesser known (but just as quotable!) writings and loving observations of nature ("Autumnal Tints," "Wild Apples," "Huckleberries").A companion volume, edited by Robert F. Sayre, contains Thoreau's four longest publications ("A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers," "The Maine Woods," "Cape Cod" and, of course, "Walden") - thus omitting from the Library of America series only his extensive journals and the posthumously published "Faith in a Seed," a collection of four manuscripts left partially unfinished at Thoreau's death in 1862 and published for the first time in the late 1990s, to much fanfare among Thoreauvians the world over.

Introspective to a fault, the man who once built a cabin on Walden Pond and for over two years lived the life of a hermit, was also a keen observer; of nature as much as of the world surrounding him.The shallowness and greed he saw in so-called "civil" society filled him with skepticism ("intellectual and moral suicide," he scoffed in "Life Without Principle") - and with the tireless need to encourage free thinking and personal independence."I wish to speak a word for Nature," he thus opened his essay on "Walking," and explained that he sought to make a point in favor of "absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil, - to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society."And he went on to mourn the fact that few people were truly able to walk and travel freely, to leave behind the social bounds that tied them down, and to open up to nature's beauty.This, of course, echoed his famous statements in "Walden" that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation;" that however, as he had learned by his "experiment" on Walden Pond, "if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."And this was the same spirit who, staunchly opposed to both slavery and to the Mexican War, would rather spend a night in jail than pay his taxes, and who summed up his posture in "Civil Disobedience" by saying that "I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right" - a statement echoed roughly a hundred years later when Mahatma Gandhi told an English court that he believed that "non-cooperation with evil is a duty and British rule of India is evil," and also resonating through the publications of many an American civil rights leader, first and foremost Martin Luther King Jr.

While I had read much of Thoreau's work already before I discovered the Library of America collections, I am extremely pleased to see the majority of his body of work reunited in two volumes in this dignified series.For one thing, while there are innumerable compilations containing "Walden" and some of his other better-known works, it is still difficult to get a hold of Thoreau's lesser known essays and poems.Moreover, though, and more importantly, reading his works in the context provided by this collection makes for much greater insight into the man's personality, and his philosophy as a whole.While a biography certainly adds perspective, nothing surpasses the experience of reading Thoreau's works in context - and in the context of the works of other Transcendentalists, first and foremost Emerson.This is a true literary treasure: to behold, cherish and read again and again.

...could be worth it
This is a very fine collection of Essays and Poems but a bit pricey.I have to think that Thoreau would not have approved.Go to the library and paw through some of the essays
to see if you want the ones that you cannot get through another
collection.Frequently "Walking" or "Civil Disobedience" or
"Life Without Principle" are added to small volumes of Walden.
I, of course, shelled out the cash and bought it, but I
sometimes have second thoughts.The paper is quite thin and
I have doubts about it's durablity.If you intend to read this
work several times while underlining and making notes, I would look aroung before buying this specific volume.If you merely want a presentable copy to sit on the shelves and only occasionally consulted, but otherwise dormant-than this is for you.
As a side note, Thoreau demonstrates that some mediums are
better for others.Although a master prose essay writer( I see
"Walden" a a collection of discrete, connected essays) his
poetry isn't so great.This is not uncommon, although a great
prose-poet, Nietzsche's straight poetry is very weak.
Essentially, the material inside this volume is worth your
money.This volume itself may not satisfy your needs though.
Go to a university library, read through the essays, and decide
how important ownership is for you.Thoreau would have approved
of such an investigation.

An American Original
....When beginning to read this anthology, I was already familiar with most of his essays but had had only limited exposure to his poems which comprise about a third of this volume’s contents. Thoreau was a man of great intellectual courage while possessing at the same time an uncommon sensitivity to the natural world in which he seemed to be most comfortable. Within the context of American society during the mid-19th century, it is interesting to observe his development of concepts such as civil disobedience which later had such a profound influence on the thinking of public leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. I have always admired the rigor of Thoreau’s intellect which is evident in abundance throughout his published works. While proceeding through this single volume in which most of his essays and his poems are arranged in sequence, I developed a much greater appreciation of (for lack of a better term) his “humanity.” Those who desire a wider and deeper context for consideration of these works are urged to read Walter Harding's The Days of Henry Thoreau as well as Robert D. Richardson’s two biographies, Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind and Emerson: The Mind on Fire. ... Read more

Book Description
Walking, although by appearance a little book, is almost guaranteed to open your eyes to the world that surrounds you. Author Henry David Thoreau takes the readers of Walking on a journey, showing them importance of experiencing nature and preserving the wilderness.Walking is highly recommended for those who enjoy the writings of Henry David Thoreau and also for individuals who love all things related to nature and the great outdoors.Download Description
I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil - to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school committee and every one of you will take care of that.I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks - who had a genius, so to speak, for SAUNTERING, which word is beautifully derived "from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la Sainte Terre," to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, "There goes a Sainte-Terrer," a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea. But I prefer the first, which, indeed, is the most probable derivation. For every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Still Relevant
The words of Thoreau are familiar to all those who have experienced life in the woods.His philosophies and observations are just as relevant today as they were when he first wrote them.In more eloquent words Thoreau explains how In the woods and wild places we find fuel for the soul.Without them we become stagnant in physicality and mentality.I recommend this book to anyone interested in conservation.

Walking
Required reading for freshmen entering SUNY Geneseo in preparation for an Adirondack Adventure. Bought this version after inadvertantly getting an abridged Walking.

In defense of wilderness
More than any book, this argues for experiencing nature and preserving wilderness.Thoreau himself saw that fewer passenger pigeons were visiting and even then was aware of threats. Though first spoken in lectures on 1851, and 1856-1857, and published in June 1862 Atlantic Monthly, a month after his death, it still speak to us in the 21st century. For example ".. what would become of us, if we walked only in a garden or a mall?", ."In wilderness is the preservation of the world." ,"To preserve wild animals implies generally the creation of a forest for them to dwell in or resort to.So it is with man". So lace up your shoes, grab your binoculars, and go for a walk and join the tribe of squirrels!

It Takes You To Another Place
I bought this book after reading about Henry David Thoreau in my high school literature book.He writes about his love of nature and tries to show others how to enjoy it.This book brings out the beauty of all the surroundings that many people pass by every day.It also encouraged me to get out and live up my ocasional stroll around the neighborhood. I took this book to school and it even helped relieve me a little stress.I recommend this book to all nature lovers.

It helped to open my eyes to the world around me!
It is a perfect little book to carry with you for inspiration. It makes me want to take a walk... and the beautiful thing about this book is that it allows me to take a walk in my mind without ever leaving my office or room.I have and will continue to read it over and over. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1845 Thoreau leased some land owned by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson on Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, and lived in a cabin on it for two years, two months, and two days. The experience gave Thoreau the chance to make keen observations on the world around him. The result became an American classic: Walden explores not only the soul of the searching Thoreau, but defines what it means to be a truly free person, and distills the essence of our relationship of Nature.

Customer Reviews (90)

The Hobo Philosopher
My first copy of this book was indubitably from some other publisher. So I'm not commenting on this particular volume but the content of the work itself.
I have always loved this book but it wasn't until recent years that I realized what a controversial book this was. Thoreau published this book at his own expense and he sold very few copies. Later on he stored most of his unsold copies in an attic. He once claimed to have the largest collection of book published by Henry David Thoreau than anyone alive - and I'm sure he did.
But why didn't people buy this book? Well, for one thing it was critical of "the neighborhood". For another thing it was critical of "the values of his neighbors". For another thing it was critical of the values of his countrymen; it was critical of Capitalism; it was critical of modern life; it was critical of the "consumer mentality"; it was critical of the work ethic; it was critical of buying things; it was critical of "getting ahead" and "accumulating; it was critical of working for a living; it was critical of achieving; it was a critique on the civilization of the day - and it was not positive.
So why did it make me feel good to read it then and why does it have the same effect on me today?
I don't know but whenever I get lonely to go have a talk with an old friend I go to the book shelf and pick up Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

Pertinent and well written
Strangely surprising how pertinent many of Thoreau's perceptions, opinions and insights on habits and values are to modern day society and culture. And impressive how vehemently he professes these views in some sections. No sugar coating here. This is raw stuff, presented with language and skill we've lost over the years.

My favorite quote: "One generation abandons the enterprises of another like stranded vessels"

Thoreau is inspired and inspiring.

A lesson for us all
Imagine a man, living in the present time, who is fed up with life in our ever-changing electronic world. So, he goes to live in a hut he's re-built out by a gentle pond, reasonably away from civilization. He throws away his cell phone, computer, TV, radio, etc. and lives simply and quietly, observing naature with his eyes and a microscope. He's not a hermit, because he visits and is visited by, friends and neighbors. He examines his life in solitude and writes about the sights and sounds of the woods and the pond.
For two years living alone this way, he comes to know nature and himself intimately and when he returns to civilization, he is refreshed, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

Now, imagine all this as done 160 years ago when technology consisted of things like the newly invented telegraph (which he disdained), railway system, and others. Thoreau, like many of us today, longed to live simply and in harmony with Nature. The inspiration for hundreds of hippies, eco-freaks, Luddites and anti-technologists, he showed us that we sometimes need to get back to simple and clean living with no one and nothing to intrude on our thoughts.

And by the time you've finished this little gem of a book, the weekend will be over, and it will be time to go back to the ugly, long commute to a place where technology and stress seemingly go hand in hand.

Great classic/ but too expensive here
I brought this book because I had a class that required it. I got it within 2 weeks so that wasn't bad but I hadn't realized that I paid more for the book here then I would have had I gone to a local store! The back of the book says it's only $2.50. The lowest price I could find on Amazon was $4. I guess that's why people don't have to pay for shipping when they purchase items that exceed $25! (The free mailing gets paid for (at least in this case), with higher book prices.
BTW I found out that this book is a free e-book via the web. Next time I'll make sure to check that avenue first.

Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden
It looks like I rated it 4 stars. I can't seem to change that.I really meant to rate it a 3.

Fortunately, I read The Annotated Walden, annotated by Phillip Van Doren Stern.Thank goodness I chose it.Without Mr. Van Doren Stern's introduction, side bars, pictures and comments, I think I would have been thoroughly lost.

I have to agree with a few of the reviewers who stated how pompous Thoreau sounds; he does.He tries to act superior,only to have the side bar notations state something different; something that a friend mentioned.For example, he says he "could easily do without the post-office,"yet a contemporary, Sanborne, is quoted off to the side of the annotated version as having said about this quote: "Few residents of Concord frequented the Post Office more punctually or read the newspapers more eagerly than Thoreau."

He contradicts himself constantly.He mocks people who don't read, and then says he barely read a few pages of one book in the two years he was at Walden pond.He could be vindictive; lashing out at Flint's Pond (and Mr. Flint) because Flint would not let him build a cabin on his pond.He comes off as a snob, saying most men learn to read only as a necessity; for work, to add up their profits. But *true* readers are hard to come by."I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this Concord soil has produced.."

Yet, he also has some really great words of wisdom. He questions the wisdom in working so hard during the best part of your life (youth) only to spend the fruits of your labor "during the least valuable part of it."Enjoy life while you are young. Why work so hard when the endgame is death?He comments on things that are still true to this day; fashion and our obsession with appearance.Work to provide for yourself, not to overburden yourself and keep yourself in debt.

Someone reviewing this book on Amazon wrote that it was a failed experiment; that he meant to live in the woods as a hermit of sorts and failed miserably to do so.That was never the extent of his experiment.He never says he's going to lead a solitary life.He states he visited the village every day or two."As I walked in the woods to see birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see men and boys."

I find myself having mixed feelings regarding this book.He is so contradictory, but then, so am I.He can be judgemental and then he can be spot-on.It was a difficult book to get through,Again, had I not had the annotated version, I would have been truly lost.He frustrated me at times.I was not reading literature.I was reading someone's diary that often went off-tangent (like this review). Is it Top 100 book worthy?My opinion: no.It was good at times, painful at others.I took 2 months to trudge through it, all the while reading 5 other books just to keep me going. I am glad I read it.I won't do it again though.Sorry, Mr. Thoroeau ... Read more

Book Description
When Henry David Thoreau died at the age of forty-four in 1862, he had written a forest of articles and essays that eventually earned him a reputation as a first-rate naturalist, conservationist, and social critic. His gravesite in Concord, Massachusetts, is a pilgrimage site for readers who still turn to Walden, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Maine Woods, "Civil Disobedience," and "Walking" for inspiration. Thoreau was a supreme articulator of America's conscience when the country was industrializing, facing battle over slavery, and developing its public education system. His thoughts are brook-clear and strangely prescient today.

Chris Highland has chosen 60 thoughtful Thoreau quotations and placed them alongside the wisdom words of writers, philosophers, and teachers from around the world. Bound in a lovely and compact format, the book totes easily along in your pocket, backpack, or picnic basket. Solitude never felt so cozy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Enjoy!
This a wonderful book. It certainly can be read very quickly, but why would you want to? Take your time and enjoy the words on the pages. See and feel the beauty in all things the way Thoreau did. After reading a selection from the book, I always came away with good feelings, very serene. I will likely read it again and again. I've just recently moved to Oregon where it is lush and beatiful. My change of scenery may have given me a somewhat, Thoreau, perspective, but then, that's the idea, isn't it? Judge for yourself.

A Must Read for Nature Lovers
This simple yet lovely small book is easy to pick up and read, whether before beginning the day or retiring at night.Everyone who delights in the outdoors and enjoys reading nature writers needs a copy of this book.And the price is right!Be immersed again in the wise words of Thoreau and other thoughtful spiritual teachers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fair introduction to HDT
As part of the Gateway Biography series issued by Millbrook Press in the early 1990s, this book provides a fairly decent overall view of Henry David Thoreau's life, philosophies, and writings. Young students will learn much more here than they'll find in an encyclopedia entry, and the text is written in an easy reading style. Much emphasis focuses on the love of the natural world, which is perfect for a book on this topic. The concept of transcendentalism is even approached: "By being close to nature, we can get a hint of the spirit that *transcends* (is above) material things. All we have to do is get away from useless, routine activities, go outdoors, and listen to nature as it speaks to us." Some scholarly descriptions don't make as much sense as those two sentences do.

However, readers should be warned that some details here are not quite accurate. For example, you cannot see the foundation stones of Henry's Walden Pond hut, as the author states. Granite markers outline its original perimeter, but they were installed in the 20th century. The most blatant error occurs on pages 12 and 13, where a photo of the North Bridge appears. The text claims that Henry and his brother John often walked across that bridge. Wrong! When they were alive, no bridge spanned the river at that site. The one the Minutemen used in 1775 was gone and had not yet been replaced. The current wooden bridge wasn't built until the 20th century. The Concord of today is not a carbon copy of the Concord of the mid-1800s.

Yet the basic information presented here is good. School libraries will want more options than just this one on their biography shelves. Families should supplement this book with others on the market to give children an accurate portrayal of our first American environmentalist. ... Read more

Book Description
Thoreau's political writing is intensely personal and direct. Both his life and work focus uncompromisingly on the question "how should I live?". This edition of Thoreau's political essays includes "Civil Disobedience", selections from Walden, and the anti-slavery addresses. In her introduction, Nancy L. Rosenblum places the essays in the context of Thoreau's life of self-examination, and analyzes the themes of citizenship and resistance that have made Thoreau an enduring influence in political philosophy and practice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best collection of Thoreau's political writings
I bought three collections of Thoreau's works in addition to this one when I was writing a term paper for my English class. I consider _Political_Writings_ the best one of the four. It contains selections from _Walden_, "Resistance to Civil Government" (better known as "Civil Disobedience"), "Slavery in Massachusetts," "Life without Principle," and a series of speeches in defense of an abolitionist by the name of John Brown. Thoreau's writings are preceded by a well-written and informative introduction that discusses Thoreau's life and political thought.

I consider Thoreau to be one of the best writers of his time. Reading this collection of his works made me question some aspects of my life. It reassured me that society will become more cooperative rather than coercive if individuals such as myself fight for what they believe in.

This edition is excellent - the paper is white, smooth, and well bound. I am planning on buying more books in this series (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Works).

Best collection of Thoreau's political writings
I bought three collections of Thoreau's works in addition to this one when I was writing a term paper for my English class. I consider _Political_Writings_ the best one of the four. It contains selections from _Walden_, "Resistance to Civil Government" (better known as "Civil Disobedience"), "Slavery in Massachusetts," "Life without Principle," and a series of speeches in defense of an abolitionist by the name of John Brown. Thoreau's writings are preceded by a well-written and informative introduction that discusses Thoreau's life and political thought.

I consider Thoreau to be one of the best writers of his time. Reading this collection of his works made me question some aspects of my life. It reassured me that society will become more cooperative rather than coercive if individuals such as myself fight for what they believe in.

This edition is excellent - the paper is white, smooth, and well bound. I am planning on buying more books in this series (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Works). ... Read more

Book Description
It's July 4, 1845. A soft-spoken young man named Henry David Thoreau has carefully constructed a small, simple cabin in the woods overlooking Walden Pond. For the next two years, his closest companions will be the chickadees, the woodchucks, and the quiet pines of the Walden Woods. Henry is twenty-eight years old, and his life has not been easy. His brother John—his closest friend and companion—has died. The only woman he ever loved has rejected him. On this day he has come to Walden in search of truth—not the truth taught in schools or in church, but the truth he can feel dwelling deep within him. Henry opens his journal and begins to write:     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. Follow Henry into the woods and out again—through a courageous American life that has changed our world for the better.

For ages 12 and up. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Spirit of America
There is no other single person who represents the spirit of America's environmental and creative consciousness movement as does Henry David Thoreau. The Hausma's have done a considerable service of introducing the great man to children and young people and in an accessable manner. Let us all be reminded of the importance of nature.

A reminder to slow down
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (08/06)

"A Mind With Wings" is a book for young readers about the life of Henry David Thoreau.It takes us from birth to death and includes all of the major events in between.We learn how Henry grew up in a family of free thinkers.We meet influential people in his life such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Brown.We learn of his setbacks and achievements such as getting thrown in jail, but turning it around into a lecture series.Using information from biographies on Henry David Thoreau as well as notes from his journal, the book gives readers an intimate peak into the life of this great American thinker.Henry David Thoreau was a son, a brother, a pencil-maker, a thinker, a writer, a naturalist, and so much more.

Any young reader asked to do a report or research paper on Thoreau should pick up this book.The authors know their audience.A timeline and glossary are included in the back for reference and the book is just long enough for the intended age group.

I was excited to read this book, because I have never been able to dive into "Walden", yet I wanted to get a sense of this man.After reading "A Mind With Wings", I have a better understanding of where he was coming from and feel better prepared to try reading "Walden".However, it goes beyond that.This book teaches lessons that all of us should practice.It reminds me that I need to slow down, take more walks in the woods, and get to know nature better.Henry also teaches us to follow our hearts and personal morals.If something seems wrong to you, don't do it.Stand up for what you believe in.Henry did all of these things, lived a full life, and died a peaceful man.

Reintroducing a Great Man
I read some of A Mind with Wings every night for a week to stretch it out. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thoreau has so much life to him in this book. The Hausmans chose just the right places to meet him and just the right tone for him to speak to us, grown ups and kids alike. And I learned a heck of a lot. I never knew so many of the things that were in the book; things it gave me pleasure to learn. I always loved HDT, but he seemed kind of old and dead in my mind. In this story he was young and lively and friendly. I hope this book introduces this man, who started nonviolent revolution and was a fearless abolitionist, to today's younger students. As a middle school teacher, I will bring this book into my class so my children can meet HDT in a way that they will think of him as a friend.

Lively fiction and thorough research reveals Thoreau's life and personality
The portrait of Henry David Thoreau written in "A Mind With Wings" is so good that I wanted to read Walden Pond again.The authors have done a great job of researching each detail and made this reclusive author turn into a real, warm-bodied human being whose writing is ever more accessible to me. I hope a great many others will also enjoy this new perspective of a great author.

FICTION, not biography
The Hausmans have reincarnated a technique popularized by YA biographies written in the mid-20th century -- that of presenting historical facts in the context of reconstructed conversation.It is hoped that the reader can differentiate between the two.In the old days, that kind of text was pulled off as gospel truth.Here the authors explain their craft in an opening note, maintaining that the dialogue in this book comes from Thoreau's own writings.Sure enough, it does.But even so, one has to wonder how close this presentation comes to reality.Gestures and actions are attached to the words that may not have been there to begin with.No one can provide a genuine transcript of his everyday life.

Otherwise:the chapters are short and follow titles like "The Name," "The Rebellion," "The Woods," and "The Pond."The main events of Thoreau's life unfold during his exchanges with friends and family members.The reading is easy and goes quickly.Appendices include a chronology, a glossary, and a bibliography to help novices better understand Thoreau and the time and place he lived in.I like the cover graphic quite a bit.And the title is based on a few lines from "To W.T. Scott," a poem by John Ciardi that devotes several stanzas to Thoreau.The Hausmans include those lines on an opening page (but not the full poem or even the title, which I had to find on my own).

My concern is that a young person will pick up this book and assume it to be a literal account of Thoreau's life.Busy librarians and bookstore clerks may even classify it as a biography in spite of the cataloging guidelines on the title page verso.Taken in the spirit of being fiction, it's OK, especially if it leads readers to more substantial works, like Harding's or Richardson's biographies or Thoreau's own essays and books. [This review is based on an advance reading copy.] ... Read more

Product Description
"The first comprehensive, single-volume edition of the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Edited, and with a biographical introduction, by Brooks Atkinson." ... Read more

Book Description
HENRY DAVID THOREAU had a decidely modern mind, and many of his writings prove startlingly applicable to today's world. An environmentalist, a nature lover, and a strong individualist, he spoke his mind without concern for controversy or common beliefs. Here, compiled by Tim Homan, is A Yearning Toward Wildness, the best of Henry David Thoreau on a variety of topics still important to us today, including conservation and preservation, hunting and trapping, and vegetarianism, as well as the bittersweet category of "wish it wer still here." Many of his quotations will stir familiar memories as well as strong feelings about the world we live in, a world Henry knew was coming. A Yearning Toward Wildness will provide inspiration and insight for our hectic lives.Individualism: "If a man does not keep pace with 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."Trapping: "What a pitiful business is the fur trade... that you may rob some little fellow-creature of its coat to adorn or thicken your own...."Conservation: "Thank God, men cannot as yet fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth."Courage: "Shall a man go and hang himself because he belongs to the race of pigmies, and not be the biggest pigmy that he can?" ... Read more

Book Description
Civil Disobedience and Other Essays is a collection of some of Henry David Thoreau's most important essays. Contained in this volume are the following essays: Civil Disobedience, Natural History of Massachusetts, A Walk to Wachusett, The Landlord, A Winter Walk, The Succession of Forest Trees, Walking, Autumnal Tints, Wild Apples, Night and Moonlight, Aulus Persius Flaccus, Herald of Freedom, Life Without Principle, Paradise (to be) Regained, A Plea for John Brown, The Last Days of John Brown, After the Death of John Brown, The Service, Slavery in Massachusetts, and Wendell Phillips Before Concord Lyceum. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Duty is the essential element
It's great to see this edition, a small, affordable and easily carried book for a day outing.One thing that is disappointing is that the title of the essay 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience' has been shortened.A vital point is that it is a citizens DUTY to disobey when government diverges from what is right.And to leave this off of the title, in some sort of 'fast food, fast literature' shorthand, is to diminish it in the minds of Americans.
Great to read with Emerson's Divinity School Address (for which he was banned from returning to Harvard) and Self-Reliance.

The Hobo Philosopher
There is one interesting fact about Thoreau that most of the reviewers here and elsewhere seem to always overlook. Everyone knows that Thoreau went to jail (overnight) for refusing to pay a poll tax. But no one ever seems to mention why Mr. Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax.
Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax in protest of this country's war against Mexico. Thoreau was a "war protester". The poll tax had been passed to raise money to support that war. Thoreau believed that the war with Mexico was an unjust war of greed and expansion on the part of the American government.
Mark Twain was another "war protester". He was the head of the Anti-Imperialist League and vigorously protested America's "rescue" of the Philippines.

The Persistance Of The Philosophers ...
"Because they could not seize my thoughts, they decided, to punish my body...": this sentence was the first,which remaind in my memory, consolidated in my soul, reason enough, to explore more about this Henry David Thoreau (12.7.1817-2.5.1862). He moved in the same circles of society-critical network as Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), in the middle of the 19th century at the American east coast. Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" has left behind world-wide effects: Gandhi carried it during his frequent prison stays in his pocket (later India attained home rule and racial integration), Hermann Hesse (Siddharta) was influenced, the resistance against Hitler-Germany used it for backbone-stabilization, Martin Luther King Jr. or Joan Baez were inspired by him, Bertrand Russell, Nelson Mandela or the philosopher Herbert Marcuse (19.7.1898-29.7.1979) took possession of Thoreau's patterns of thinking. Thoreau was ever convinced that he was not on earth to please anybody, but rather to be authentically. Of course Thoreau's rugged individualism is not the very first in the history of philosophy. Forerunner structures can be found in the "Antigone" of Sophokles (translated in earlier years by Thoreau himself) or in the thoughts of Confucius (well known to Thoreau) or in the essay of Boetie, a friend of the french philosopher Montaigne: Boetie wrote about "discours sur la servitude volontaire". As a guidance to nowadays political actions Thoreau's spectrum of opinions probably is no longer suitable. One should reflect on the more and more complicated administrative systems, the clever governments and political leaders, their artfulness of subterfuge, their underhand stratagems, the many snares layed out by laws and remissions, injunctions and decrees; don't forget the sometimes dull executive. They made themselves fitter than ever to overcome all sorts of social resistance. Instead of paying a poll tax Thoreau once upon a time spent a night in jail. Inspired from this classic treatise on passive, nonviolent resistance you may decide to make a sit-down-strike against crusaders and reverse-crusaders or an action, refusing to pay money for the electricity, because you like to restrain the atomic age: be sure: you will not change the direction of the politicians passing by. They will think you are a little bit farcical. To retreat obstinately into the wood living in a block hut alike Thoreau: I don't advise this method to the broad of the population in the present days, at least take a look at the medical supply situation thus worsened. Linguistically however could start a new era of Thoreau's effectiveness, if there were increasingly sensitive readers. A futile hope? Think about the sentence "I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn." What sort of consequences and changing the rules of behaviour are TODAY necessary to realize such a direction of sef-reliance? Let's finish with another quotation of a sentence, which this extraordinary American philosopher wrote - and I never can forget these words like the one in the beginning of my review. He noted in his laconic style: "The lawyer's truth is consequence." Means: Without action following a decision, supporting something is useless. It inspired me to write a book concerning "The Persistance of the Philosophers" - and to take a daily walk down by the riverside ...

The moral obligation to resist
Henry David Thoreau did not just think, he acted.In order to see which luxuries of life he could live without, he lived in a secluded area for two years near Walden pond.Instead of paying a poll tax he thought unjust, he spent a night in jail.Thoreau backed his thoughts with action, and this gives validity to many of his writings.

Perhaps no work of Thoreau has been more influential than his essay "Civil Disobedience."Many world leaders, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., drew inspiration from this classic treatise on passive, nonviolent resistance.Simply put, Thoreau did not believe in allowing government to take more of his personal liberty than he, Thoreau, was willing to surrender.He also believed that, as citizens under a government, people have the moral obligation to break any law they think unjust (provided it does not injure another).This is the basic premise of "Civil Disobedience," that "I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn."

All of the essays in this collection are important, but none has the tremendous power of "Civil Disobedience," one of the classics in American thought.

Arise, Ye Overworked Americans!
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, poet, and naturalist who moved in the same intellectual and social circles as Ralph Waldo Emerson. This Dover Thrift edition contains several important Thoreau tracts: Civil Disobedience, Slavery in Massachusetts, A Plea for Captain John Brown, Walking, and Life Without Principle. Thoreau also wrote the famous "Walden," and several other influential pieces shaped by his sense of environment and his unwavering belief in the power of the individual.

In "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau discusses the role of the individual in society and government. Starting off with his famous statement, "That government is best which governs not at all," Thoreau waxes philosophic about the role of the United States government in the Mexican War and slavery. Thoreau argues that majorities in a democracy decide what the laws are because they are the strongest element in society. According to Thoreau, what is law is not necessarily right, and just because the majority decides an issue doesn't automatically make that issue palatable to a man's conscience. Individuals can, and sometimes should, oppose the majority, and they can be right even if they are in the minority. Ultimately, if laws are not reliable beacons of truth, one should appeal to one's conscience to decide what is right and wrong. However, merely deciding something is wrong is not enough if that decision is not followed by concrete action. Thoreau criticizes the voting process in this context, since anybody can vote for something. Without action following a decision, voting or supporting something is useless. This essay also contains Thoreau's account of his stay in jail for failure to pay a tax.

"A Plea for Captain John Brown" probably caused considerable controversy at the time of its writing. John Brown was the fire-breathing abolitionist who made the famous raid on Harper's Ferry in the 1850's. Brown eventually went to the gallows for his crimes while American citizens debated his actions. Most thought Brown a wacko, an extremely dangerous radical who threatened the social fabric of the country. Thoreau defends Brown in an essay both eloquent and naïve. This is really a panegyric to an unrealistic man who used questionable methods to attain his goal. When Thoreau refers to Brown as "an angel of light," it is necessary for the reader to remember Brown killed many people in cold blood.

"Walking" is the centerpiece of this collection of essays. Thoreau starts his discussion by musing on the wonders of walking in the country (sans terre, or "sauntering"), and ends up discussing nature, the movements of mankind, work, and freedom. Thoreau feels we gave up something very special when we locked ourselves in our shops and devoted our days to long hours of work. Get out! Enjoy life! Admire the trees, a sunset, and the birds! Don't give up your freedom for a wage and dull toil! These are the things Thoreau urges upon us in this essay, and he certainly has a point. This is an amazing piece of writing because it is probably more relevant today than in Thoreau's time. At least in those days vast expanses of nature still existed. Today, we must climb into our little boxes with wheels and drive for miles before we see a small forest or some mountains, while elbowing our way through all the others doing the same thing. "Walking" is a beautiful testament to a bucolic life.

I find Thoreau's writings vastly superior to anything Emerson wrote. Thoreau is more accessible, cares more about concrete issues, and seems like a nicer person. Thoreau comes across as the type of guy you could shoot the breeze with for an hour or so, whereas Emerson seems aloof and esoteric. Thoreau as a person is from an era long dead, but his words continue to resonate deeply in our souls. I think I'll go take a walk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The beauty, power and subtlety of solitary living
Illustrated by Peter Fiore and edited by Steven Schnur, Henry David's House introduces young readers ages 5 to 9 to the life, thought and writings of Henry David Thoreau. Text and illustration collaborate to showcase the beauty, power and subtlety of solitary living withing the context of a nature-oriented retreat as represented by Thoreau's tiny house in the woods and on the shore of Walden Pond. Henry David's House is an enthusiastically recommended addition to school and community picturebook collections.

Living the Simple Life.....
"Near the end of March I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond and began to cut down some tall white pines for timber..."Author, Steven Schnur has chosen several wonderfully engaging passages from Henry David Thoreau's Walden, in this elegant picture book, and young readers will really get a vivid sense of the hard, yet rewarding work of building his house, the few possessions needed to live comfortably, the beauty of the changing seasons, and living the simple life in harmony with nature."Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time."Peter Fiore's lush and exquisite watercolor illustrations bring the splendor of Thoreau's existence at Walden Pond to life on the page, and together word and art evoke feelings of peace, quiet, and contentment.Perfect for readers 8-12, this book works well as a real aloud with D.B. Johnson's Henry Builds a Cabin, for younger children.With an editor's note at the end to fill in further biographical details about Thoreau and his time at Walden, Henry David's House is an evocative treasure to read, share, and most of all discuss."We can never have enough of Nature."

A great introduction to Thoreau for young readers.
Henry David's House is a picturebook adaptation by Steven Schnur of a part of Henry David Thoreau's classic nature book "Walden", told with only a limited amount of editing. Beautiful, slightly abstract yet full-color illustrations by Peter Fiore bring this classic thinker's words to vibrant life for young readers. Henry David's House is a superb introduction to a literary masterpiece for young readers, and its final message, "We can never have enough of Nature," reverberates in the hearts of all ages. Highly recommended for family, school, and community library picturebook collections.

Gorgeous illustrations set to Thoreau's words
Henry David Thoreau describes his cabin, how he built it, and a little bit of his life in it, in these selected excerpts from _Walden_. Peter Fiore's exquisite paintings provide vibrant accompaniment to each quotation. The result is a beautiful "picture book" any Thoreau fan would be proud to own.

I'm not sure that its target audience should be very young children. If kids pull this one off the shelf, the meaning of the words will be lost on them, and the artwork that goes along with the text won't build the story on its own. Though full of the Walden spirit, this book isn't as engaging to the youngest readers as D. B. Johnson's similar _Henry Builds a Cabin_ or _Henry Hikes to Fitchburg_. Perhaps its best use would be as a multigenerational preface to Thoreau's work, with teacher-student or parent-child combinations reading the book together. _Henry David's House_ could introduce middle school and high school students to the literary and scientific portions of _Walden_ and could serve as a first step in their acquaintance with the author. Teens and pre-teens may balk at being read to, but they're also visual learners who are at an age to appreciate the presentation here. And if it inspires them to pick up Thoreau's classic to read for themselves, so much the better. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sublime Excerpts
Mr Rothwell, hats off to you!You have made a fine-toothed culling of all that is most sublime in Thoreau's Journals and closest to the spirit of Walden.That is to say, you have spirited out the passages which capture Thoreau's Transcendental other-worldliness and (paradoxically) love of the natural world at the same time.-Thoreau was so enraptured with Time that I'm surprised that more comparisons with Proust have not been made.I suppose it's the difference between the men and their modes of expression.But for Thoreau, as for Proust, we live in a mysterious whirlwind transporting us from one "self" to another with the speed of a Concorde.We live, of course, in Time.-My favorite entry is "November Thoughts" in which Thoreau reflects upon travel: "It was as if I was promised the greatest novelty the world has ever seen or shall see, though the utmost possible novelty would be the difference between me and myself a year ago...And yet there is no more tempting novelty than this new November.No going to Europe or another world to be named with it....Think of the consumate folly of attempting to go away from here!When the constant endeavor should be to get nearer and nearer here."-We, in this ever so fleeting life, are transiting from self to self in the dimension of time at a speed that dwarfs anything available in the other dimensions and which, moreover, is more wondrous and even terrifying when we consider its implications. - Perhaps this is why we turn a blind eye to it and go gadding about all over.-Thoreau was especially attuned to this form of travel, as Emerson said at his elegy he had a "sixth sense" for such things.This selection is a MUST for all Thoreauvians.It is laced with such insights of which I have only been able to cover this one. ... Read more

Book Description
In his graceful philosophical account, Alfred I. Tauber shows why Thoreau still seems so relevant today--more relevant in many respects than he seemed to his contemporaries. Although Thoreau has been skillfully and thoroughly examined as a writer, naturalist, mystic, historian, social thinker, Transcendentalist, and lifelong student, we may find in Tauber's portrait of Thoreau the moralist a characterization that binds all these aspects of his career together.
Thoreau was caught at a critical turn in the history of science, between the ebb of Romanticism and the rising tide of positivism. He responded to the challenges posed by the new ideal of objectivity not by rejecting the scientific worldview, but by humanizing it for himself. Tauber portrays Thoreau as a man whose moral vision guided his life's work. Each of Thoreau's projects reflected a self-proclaimed "metaphysical ethics," an articulated program of self-discovery and self-knowing. By writing, by combining precision with poetry in his naturalistpursuits and simplicity with mystical fervor in his daily activity, Thoreau sought to live a life of virtue--one he would characterize as marked by deliberate choice. This unique vision of human agency and responsibility will still seem fresh and contemporary to readers at the start of the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thoreau's Response to Post- Modernism
This is a book for two kinds of readers. Those who are particularly drawn to Thoreau will find a provocative thesis on which to hang all of his various pursuits. Tauber approaches him as a historian and philosopher of science, and shows how Thoreau was reacting against a rising tide of positivism - a form of radical objectivity -- to preserve his individualistic perspective on the world. Whether he was doing natural history or cultural history, Thoreau collected facts and assembled them to uniquely construct his own view of nature or culture. But Thoreau is only a foil for Tauber's larger purposes. Tauber's major theme is that all knowledge is value-laden and we choose the values by which to know the world and live in it. The fact/value distinction, so important in much of philosophy of science, is brought together here. This thesis is of interest, not only to understand Thoreau, but for a very much wider set of concerns. Tauber is charting out a post-critical understanding of the nature of knowledge, building on two philosophies: Michael Polanyi's "tacit mode" of understanding and Emanuel Levinas's ethical metaphysics. The first argues that the conditions that make knowing possible are not "foundational" or can ever be made explicit, but rather are embedded in individual experience and common social life; from this source, explicit knowledge is created. The second thesis maintains that values determine how we encounter the world and ultimately know it. These themes are not novel to contemporary philosophy, but when posed in present debates about the nature of reality, the claims of relativism, and the problematic status of the self, Tauber's synthesis offers a way out of the maze of postmodernism to new assertions about the primacy of the person. Thoreau is used to demonstrate how the postmodern challenge has its origins in the romanticism and that the responses offered then, when understood in the light of 20th century developments, takes on new significance. This is an ambitious book: The Thoreau lover will find some of the philosophy challenging and the philosophically inclined will find the focus on Thoreau potentially distracting. But each will find their efforts well paid: the first will understand Thoreau in a new way, and the second will see a philosophy enacted in a rarely realized illustration. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A nice compilation for the casual Thoreau reader
When Professor Hyde set out to use selected Thoreau essays in his seminar at Kenyon College, he found no book that contained the writings he wanted. So he created one that did.The result is this handsome book, made up of 13 political and / or nature essays:Natural History of Massachusetts ~ A Winter Walk ~ Paradise (to be) Regained ~ Ktaadn ~ Civil Disobedience ~ Walking ~ Slavery in Massachusetts ~ Life Without Principle ~ Autumnal Tints ~ The Succession of Forest Trees ~ A Plea for Captain John Brown ~ The Last Days of John Brown ~ and Wild Apples.

Some of these titles are more familiar to us than others, because writings such as "Civil Disobedience" and "Walking" appear in dozens (if not hundreds) of compilation volumes. I found two gems in this book.The first is Hyde's own introductory essay, "Prophetic Excursions," which provides a personal and unique perspective for approaching the genre.The second is "Paradise (to be ) Reg