Walden; Or, Life in the Woods

By Henry David Thoreau and illustrated by Ethelbert White: Henry David Thoreau

Book Overview

2016 Reprint of 1854 Edition. This is perhaps Thoreau's most famous transcendentalist work. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau used this time to write his first book, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers." The experience later inspired "Walden", in which Thoreau compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and self-sufficiency were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, a central theme of the American Romantic Period.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1684220319
• ISBN13: 9781684220311
• Release Date: October 2016
• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The Map Back to Eden

After I crashed and burned in a college intro to philosophy course, I wanted to see if I could find a work by someone who was both a thinker and a writer.Thoreau, in his book Walden, proves himself to be it.Walden is the narrative of the author's two year stay at the aforementioned pond. He has decided to live life simply, and in a collection of loosely connected essays, he describes the people, animals, and the pond that make up his new home. If you haven't spent real time out in nature, you might think this book is ridiculous. But go into the woods, and stay there until boredom and longing for the city stops. Just then you'll realize the awe he felt when examining the ice bubbles and listening to vagabond squirells. Thoreau has rediscovered the patches of Eden that still exist in the world. And if we are open-minded enough to listen to his instructions, we can find our way back to them.Even if his insights into the idyllic perfection in nature fail to sway you to live more lightly in the world, Thoreau will open your eyes to the benefits of philosophy. He understands the man who marches to the beat of a different drummer, and shows through his clear, crisp text the results that thought and contemplation can hold for anyone.