Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:A WALK TO WACHUSETT[ 1843 ]The needles of the pine All to the west incline. Concord, July 19, 1842.SUMMER and winter our eyes had rested on the dim outline of the mountains in our horizon, to which distance and indistinctness lent a grandeur not their own, so that they served equally to interpret all the allusions of poets and travellers; whether with Homer, on a spring morning, we sat down on the many- peaked Olympus, or, with Virgil and his compeers, roamed the Etrurian and Thessalian hills, or with Humboldt measured the more modern Andes and Teneriffe. Thus we spoke our mind to them, standing on the Concord cliffs:—With frontier strength ye stand your ground, With grand content ye circle round, Tumultuous silence for all sound, Ye distant nursery of rills, Monadnock, and the Peterboro hills; Like some vast fleet, Sailing through rain and sleet, Through winter's cold and summer's heat; Still holding on, upon your high emprise, Until ye find a shore amid the skies; TO Not skulking close to land,With cargo contraband,For they who sent a venture out by yeHave set the sun to seeTheir honesty.Ships of the line, each one,Ye to the westward run,Always before the gale,Under a press of sail,With weight of metal all untold.I seem to feel ye, in my firm seat here,Immeasurable depth of hold,And breadth of beam, and length of running gear.Methinks ye take luxurious pleasureIn your novel western leisure;So cool your brows, and freshly blue,As Time had nought for ye to do;For ye lie at your length,An unappropriated strength,Unhewn primeval timber,For knees so stiff, for masts so limber;The stock of which new earths are made,One day to be our western trade,Fit for the stanchions o... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

For Thoreau fans
This is not a book for the first-time or even second-time reader of Thoreau, but for Thoreau fans, especially those familiar with the Princeton University Press edition of the Writings of Henry David Thoreau, the publication of this book is an event. The Princeton series, for those not familiar with it, is the definitive edition of the writings, with exhaustively researched texts and detailed textual introductions and notes, in this case for each of the essays included in this volume. "Excursions" is a welcome addition to the series. There are relatively few notes identifying named individuals and quotations in the text, and for that kind of annotation I would recommend the Library of America edition of the Essays and Poems, another excellent volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Civil Disobedience written by legendary author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau is widely considered to be one of the top essays of all time. This great classic which argues that people should not permit governments to overrule will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Civil Disobedience is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this text by Henry David Thoreau is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books America and beautifully produced, Civil Disobedience would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Individual VS The State
Thoreau holds a strong conviction that we ought not to submit to unjust laws or Government, regardless of the threat to life or property through disobedience. This book is a superb tome on the right to dissent from being governed.

I am sure those with an interest in political philosophy will enjoy this quick and thought provoking read.

Thoreau would be shocked by today's government
It seems to be a great truth that the most profound points are made in very short works.This is a very influential work by Thoreau that is the foundation of civil disobedience.Gandhi and Martin Luther King were greatly influenced by this work.

A famous quote from this work is "That government is best which governs least".Today's bloated government would literally drive him mad.I've also read "Walden" and it expresses similar sentiments.

This short pamphlet should be read by everyone.I would personally love to see less government and agree that civil disobedience is a very good way to encourage change.It sounds like politicians back then were similar to what we have today.Some things never change.

These kindle freebies have given me a great and easy way to review several items I have wanted to read for years.

Essential World Masterpiece
Henry David Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" - or "Civil Disobedience," as it became known - is an essential part of American literature, culture, and history. Even more remarkably, it is undeniable proof that great literature can have a real effect on the world even long after it is written and ignored. The essay is world famous as the founding text of civil disobedience, i.e., non-violent protest, and its effect on such luminaries as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King was profound, thus sealing its immortality. This alone makes it essential for all.

However, it is easy to forget that the essay is a masterpiece in itself. Essentially Thoreau's highly individual expression of his mentor Emerson's self-reliance doctrine applied to government, it has a wealth of depth and nuance despite its brevity. The words are few but the implications endless; it has enough food for proverbial thought to last a lifetime. The gist is very clear, but the implications have spoken very differently to many different people. The work's nature - and Thoreau's generally - is such that it and he are championed by everyone from neocons to libertarians to liberals, and the truly notable thing is that all are justified. This underscores the importance of reading the essay for ourselves.

Its main query is "What does the individual owe the state?," the answer being a resounding "Nothing." Thoreau takes the maxim that the government that governs least governs best to its logical conclusion by wishing for one that governs not at all - a brave wish very few have seriously dared to make or even conceive. He makes a highly principled stand for individual rights and autonomy, arguing very persuasively that people should be able to go about their business without interference. This of course sounds very much like current libertarians, and their position has indeed hardly ever been better argued. Many related and implied issues - protests against taxation, conscription, etc. - also seem to support them. However, it is important to remember that the essay's crux and most famous section - Thoreau's account of a night spent in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because he did not want to support war or slavery - was and is immensely liberal. Few issues can be more central to current liberalism than an anti-war stance, and slavery was the era's great liberal cause. All this must be kept firmly in mind amid the many attempts to reduce Thoreau to a current party platform. He was at once too simple and too complex for this and would not have suffered himself to be thus reduced; nor does the essay justify it.

Integral as all this is, the work's core point is arguably a new self-reliance argument above and beyond immediate practical considerations. Thoreau certainly had a practical, political streak, especially compared to relative idealists like Emerson, but he thought individuality more sacred than anything. He articulated this more fully elsewhere, but it is very present here. His work is thus in many ways the best kind of self-help material - and, unlike the mass of current self-help tripe littering bookshelves, is intellectually and even aesthetically pleasing. Thoreau was the most thoroughly local writer that can be imagined, but his willingness to look deep inside himself for the eternal truths present in all people has made him an inspiration to millions and millions of people from across the political spectrum and indeed the world. This essay is a major part of his legacy and thus one of the very few works that literally everyone should read. Few can be the same afterward, and it will change many lives; it is nothing less than one of the most important documents ever written, and its value simply cannot be exaggerated. It is an excellent primer for those new to Thoreau, and those who have not already done so should open their minds to him immediately - and once done, they will never be closed again.

When the State is Unjust
Civil Disobedience (Original Title: Resistance to Civil Government) by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

This essay was written at a time when slavery was still legal and the United States military had invaded Mexico, serving as a catalyst for Thoreau's dissent against an unjust government. His focus is on the primacy of the individual - and he disagrees that the individual should "serve" the State, especially when the state is unjust.
Some of his memorable quotes include:
-- The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies.
-- (The state) is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength.I was not born to be forced.
-- When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should I be in haste to give it my money?

Ironic as it seems, what was written by Thoreau about the Congress in 1849 is still true today:

"Our legislators have not yet learned the comparative value of free trade and of freed, of union, and of rectitude, to a nation. They have no genius or talent for comparatively humble questions of taxation and finance, commerce and manufactures and agriculture. If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations."

Thoreau concludes that "there will never be a free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly."

This could serve as a primer for the Tea Party Movement!

Dr. B Leland Baker, author of Tea Party Revival, The Conscience of a Conservative Reborn

Tea Party Revival - The Conscience of a Conservative Reborn: The Tea Party Revolt Against Unconstrained Spending and Growth of the Federal Government

A testament to American Individualism
This is a thoroughly American view on political theory given the emphasis on the individual coupled with the call for civil disobedience. Definitely not for the faint hearted, go into this with a grasp of the events of the day and a willingness to read the entire essay at least twice to fully appreciate Thoreau's points. ... Read more

Product Description
Walking is an essay which was presented in a lecture in 1861, and published posthumously. It is the source of the quote: " In wildness is the preservation of the world. " ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

This book is a "must read" classic.
This charming little book catches the essence of Thoreau.This is a new publication of an well-worn and inspiring little book.If you think you just dont't "get" Thoreau, just try this book.

Great essay but...
This is one of Thoreau's best essays. But you can find it free in about fifty places on the internet.

A true classic on your kindle
I've always loved Walden and Thoreau's other books. The Kindle makes it easy to take it with you. When you are out walking you can have Thoreau's classic words with you.

The book is great, no noticed typos in the book.

Wisdom you cannot afford to overlook.
Thoreau is always amazing regardless of which work I read.Walking is a great short read with numerous valuable ideas which aid in one's thinking.Whether you agree or disagree with Thoreau, you will be conditioned to think for yourself and decide what is best for you, making life all that much better.I highly recommend this book to any "Outdoor Philosopher".

Josh

Walking
It took a little longer than expected for the book to arrive, but it was in excellent condition. ... Read more

Product Description
A Plea for Captain John Brown: Read to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts on Sunday evening, October thirtieth, eighteen fifty-nine is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Henry David Thoreau is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Henry David Thoreau then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
So much for the more civilized apple-trees (urbaniores, as Pliny calls them). I love better to go through the old orchards of ungrafted apple-trees, at whatever season of the year,--so irregularly planted: sometimes two trees standing close together; and the rows so devious that you would think that they not only had grown while the owner was sleeping, but had been set out by him in a somnambulic state. The rows of grafted fruit will never tempt me to wander amid them like these. But I now, alas, speak rather from memory than from any recent experience, such ravages have been made! ... Read more

Product 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 (4)

Enjoyable Anytime
I've visited many of the places Thoreau writes about and when I read his works it's like being there.

This volume contains both prose and poetry.I'm enjoying the poetry as much as the prose.

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.

Also recommended:
Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden; Or, Life in the Woods / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (Library of America)
Essays and Lectures: Nature: Addresses and Lectures / Essays: First and Second Series / Representative Men / English Traits / The Conduct of Life (Library of America)

...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

Product Description
On the 150th anniversary of its publication, a new edition of the nature classic

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.

"[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

Customer Reviews (5)

A classic.
What a beautiful book about simplicity.
Read it! Especially if you're looking to figure out how to have a more simple life. It's relaxing and encouraging and just a fantastic read.

5 stars for Henry David Thoreau, 0 for Bill McKibben
This book would be a good presentation of the classic Walden if you tore out the introduction by Bill Kibben.While the annotations are helpful, the introduction is over the top, making out Thoreau as an environmentalist and climate change advocate.Totally self-serving on the part of McKibben.Thoreau was certainly a thinker outside the box, but an environmentalist he was not.To suppose that in this day he would be an advocate of climate change is laughable.Look for a true copy of Walden without the garbage added.

"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."

Paragraph one sets the scene: Thoreau says that when he wrote "the bulk" of the book, he "lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor...on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusettes..." for a period of "two years and two months." In this first chapter, entitled Economy, he talks a lot about how much stuff cost to build and grow, and describes his living conditions. Early on, he shares his philosophy on what it is (p 12) "[t]o be a philosopher." It is "...to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust."

Although I'm glad that I can now check the "I read Walden," box, doing so involved more drudgery than delight. For one thing, Thoreau seems to ramble a lot. For another, he's a paradoxical guy. He disdainfully emphasizes a lack of intelligence in others, as when he refers to some of his visitors as (p 142) "half-witted men," and one specifically as "an inoffensive, simple-minded pauper;" seemingly rudely directs those stopping by his place for a cup of water to the pond, "I told them that I drank at the pond, and pointed thither, offering to lend them a dipper;" claims of certain unfortunates he offered assistance that they (p 67) "preferred to remain poor;" and admits that charity isn't his thing, (p 67) "As for Doing-good...I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution;" but later philosophizes, (p 205) "Goodness is the only investment that never fails." He repeatedly uses the racist term (p 27, etc.) "savages" to refer to Native Americans, yet states that he aided a runaway slave (p 144) "I helped to forward toward the north star." He seems sort of straight-laced, but also funny, as when he mocks the men that built the Pyramids (p 53) "there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs." And even his logic can be illogical, as in his support of the statement (p 48) "the swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot." The example is that traveling 30 miles is better done on foot due to the hassle and cost ("almost a day's wages") of taking the train. By my calculation, at three miles an hour, a 30-mile journey would take 10 hours, more for a man like Thoreau who was afflicted with tuberculosis.

Although Thoreau's story contains noteworthy quotes throughout, the last chapter is filled with pearls, like this inspiring (and quite famous) one, (p 303) "...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," which proves to be an enjoyable end to an uneasy read. It was only afterwards, during my book club's discussion session, that I first heard Thoreau's self-proclaimed life of solitude was not as solitary as one might think. This led me to pick up (but only skim) The Thoreau You Don't Know by Robert Sullivan, a good choice for those that feel compelled to learn more about the supposed recluse. Worst of the book was annotator Bill McKibben's occasional opinion-laced footnote, including the one on page 252, in which he feels compelled to share that Louisa May Alcott's father was a "fruitcake." My advice, skip this version in favor of any other. Those that enjoyed Walden may also like: The Thoreau You Don't Know by Robert Sullivan, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

Walden by Thoreau
Very good price and fast service, I would definitely use this book dealer again. The book came in excellent condition and was something I have always wanted to have a copy of my own.

Still the ne plus ultra of nature writing
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. ... Read more

Product Description
Thoreau's major essays annotated and introduced by one of our most vital intellectuals.

With The Essays of Henry D. Thoreau, Lewis Hyde gathers thirteen of Thoreau's finest short prose works and, for the first time in 150 years, presents them fully annotated and arranged in the order of their composition. This definitive edition includes Thoreau's most famous essays, "Civil Disobedience" and "Walking," along with lesser-known masterpieces such as "Wild Apples," "The Last Days of John Brown," and an account of his 1846 journey into the Maine wilderness to climb Mount Katahdin, an essay that ends on a unique note of sublimity and terror.

Hyde diverges from the long-standing and dubious editorial custom of separating Thoreau's politics from his interest in nature, a division that has always obscured the ways in which the two are constantly entwined. "Natural History of Massachusetts" begins not with fish and birds but with a dismissal of the political world, and "Slavery in Massachusetts" ends with a meditation on the water lilies blooming on the Concord River.

Thoreau's ideal reader was expected to be well versed in Greek and Latin, poetry and travel narrative, and politically engaged in current affairs. Hyde's detailed annotations clarify many of Thoreau's references and re-create the contemporary context wherein the nation's westward expansion was bringing to a head the racial tensions that would result in the Civil War.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Awesome,One of his Best Works
I have enjoyed this book to it's fullest degree. I have always been a Thoreau fan, and frequently come back to this book. I am never alone when reading it. I transpose myself into nature on the coldest of days. When I wrote, " Above His Shoulders" I use many metaphors in nature to proceed through my depression and find hope.

Thoreau's work has always inspired me. With the popularity on Into the Wild, thank God we saw an increase in his works. I will forever continue to seek for truth, and find solace in nature. It helped me get through my sexual abuse and treatment.

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 ) Regained," in which Thoreau reviews the 1842 book, "The Paradise within the Reach of all Men, without Labor, by Powers of Nature and Machinery. An Address to all Intelligent Men" by J.A. Etzler.Talk about FUNNY!Mr. Etzler evidently proposed to use the energy produced by the wind, the tide, the waves, and sunshine in order to power all the machinery needs of mankind.And Henry shoots him down at every turn!One wonders what either man would think of our current solar energy efforts and those proposals to put wind farms on Cape Cod. Of additional interest here are the annotations to the text, in which Hyde lets us in on many of Thoreau's inside jokes and references -- the kinds of remarks that would have been obvious to his contemporaries and to anyone with reading knowledge of classical literature.

Even the cover art was well-chosen for this volume.It's "Water Lily," a painting done by American John La Farge in the early 1860s.The inspiration was obviously taken from "Slavery in Massachusetts," when Thoreau stops in the midst of railing against the injustices of the Fugitive Slave Law to talk about the scent of a water lily:

"It bursts up so pure and fair to the eye, and so sweet to the scent, as if to show us what purity and sweetness reside in, and can be extracted from, the slime and muck of earth.... It reminds me that Nature has been partner to no Missouri Compromise. ... The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and courage which are immortal." (p. 193)

Even in his political essays, Thoreau couldn't avoid making analogies with the natural world.That's one of the points Lewis Hyde makes with this volume:you can't separate the natural from the political when you're dealing with Thoreau's writings.It's impossible to focus on just one or
the other.

The best reading copy of Thoreau's short prose
Astonishing that so many pages of such great writing (and such wonderful, interesting annotations) can be purchased for so little money.We have needed an inexpensive annotated edition of Thoreau's best short prose for a very long time, and this clearly fits the bill.Teachers and students, in particular, will find this book extraordinarily useful.The Thoreau material and annotations alone are extraordinarily valuable, but Hyde's excellent introduction on Thoreau's "Prophetic Excursions" make this the best deal available for a Thoreau book.Buy it; you'll be glad you did! ... Read more

Product Description
Henry David Thoreau’s Journal was his life’s work: the daily practice of writing that accompanied his daily walks, the workshop where he developed his books and essays, and a project in its own right—one of the most intensive explorations ever made of the everyday environment, the revolving seasons, and the changing self. It is a treasure trove of some of the finest prose in English and, for those acquainted with it, its prismatic pages exercise a hypnotic fascination. Yet at roughly seven thousand pages, or two million words, it remains Thoreau’s least-known work.

This reader’s edition, the largest one-volume edition of Thoreau’s Journal ever published, is the first to capture the scope, rhythms, and variety of the work as a whole. Ranging freely over the world at large, the Journal is no less devoted to the life within. As Thoreau says, “It is in vain to write on the seasons unless you have the seasons in you.” ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Thoreau's journals, simplified
While I agree you can question the editing until you're blue in the face, this is a fine, affordable way to enjoy Thoreau's journals, plus a LOT easier to use than his hardcover versions, which, by the way are difficult to find. My only wish is that it was also available in Kindle version, as it is a book that lends itself very well to "dipping into" almost at random.. I keep it near my reading chair and, even with only a few minutes, am constantly blown away by Mr. HDT's brilliance, wit, and grasp of both the natural and human state of the world.

Consider The Turtle
Proust, after reading excerpts of a French translation of Thoreau's Walden, said that, "It is as though one were reading them inside oneself, so much do they arise from the depths of our intimate experience." Indeed, quibble with editor, Damion Searls', selections for this nearly 700 page one volume edition of the Thoreau's Journal -one-tenth the original size - if you see fit, but he seems to me to have caught the heart of Thoreau.Proust might well admire him; at times, one rather thinks one might be reading a translation of Proust:

"Dreams are real, as is the light of stars and moon, and theirs is said to be a dreamy light.Such early morning thoughts as I speak of occupy a debatable ground between dreams and waking thoughts.They are a sort of permanent dream in my mind.At least, until we have for some time changed our position from prostrate to erect, and commenced or faced some of the duties of the day, we cannot tell what we have dreamed from what we have actually experienced."

The best parts of these "intimate experiences" recorded here are the words of a liminal being, seeing through to some other world by seeing into the world around him so meticulously and yet so profoundly:

"Certain localities only a few rods square in the fields and on the hills, sometimes the other side of a wall, attract me as if they had been the scene of pleasure in another existence."

"As I climbed the Cliff, I paused in the sun and sat on a dry rock, dreaming.I thought of those summery hours when time is tinged with eternity - runs into it and becomes one stuff with it."

The overall effect of the volume is something like drifting down a river in Thoreau's boat (described herein) through mysterious and bewitching purlieus, where mindscape fuses with landscape.One comes away reminded of Thoreau's contemplation of the turtle:

"Be not in haste; mind your private affairs.Consider the turtle.Perchance you have worried yourself, despaired of the world, meditated the end of life, and all things seemed rushing to destruction; but nature has steadily and serenely advanced with a turtle's pace."

This has been my experience of reading these extracts of a man who said that, "I do not know how to distinguish between our waking life and a dream."He - I along with him - was often gripped by the striking eeriness of simply being alive: "I am living this 27th of June, 1840, a dull, cloudy day and no sun shining.The clink of the smith's hammer sounds feebly over the roofs, and the wind is sighing gently, as if dreaming of cheerfuler days."

One Man's Version of Thoreau's Journal
By length alone, despite a questionable editing choice, this new book becomes one of the best choices for the average reader interested in Thoreau's journal. No one, including the editor, pretends this is the equal of the full journal which is roughly ten times longer. Unfortunately, the older two-volume (relatively) complete journal is in a large unwieldy format, and the complete journal currently being published by Princeton is too academic and too expensive for the average reader.

The book's introductory material mentions five previous and much shorter books of journal selections. Several of these are still available--I own four of them and a couple others which aren't mentioned. Because there is so much original material to choose from and some of the books have a specific focus, there isn't that much duplication among them. If you enjoy one, you'll enjoy them all. Given the current options, I've preferred accumulating a collection of these books to an unsatisfactory version of the complete journal.

The introduction also explains how this book's content was chosen. The primary objective was to have it read as a representative version of the full journal rather than as a collection of excerpts. The editor therefore tried to balance material among the seasons and months, including keeping one of each month relatively unabridged. Another goal was to make it readable, so there is very little in the way of notes. Entries were chosen by personal preference, not historical importance. As you read, the date appears on the left page and Thoreau's age on the right so you always know where you are both in time and in his life.

An introductory example shows some of what was cut from one day's entry and made me wish again there was a better edition of the full journal. I'm not really comfortable with such heavy editing of Thoreau's words, especially since the text gives no indication of where the cuts are, even when done within a sentence. Does this material still deserve to be called Thoreau's journal? I greatly appreciate the quantity of material presented, but have reservations about its quality. It's not that it reads poorly--if the editor hadn't explained his method in the introduction, few people would even know cuts had been made. It just feels to me that Thoreau's been misquoted.

There is no index which would have been a very useful addition. There are however several of Thoreau's drawings included in the text, including an infamous morel which had been censored from the old edition of the journal.

Five stars for Thoreau's words, but I have to take away at least one for the editing. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of three great works by the naturalist, writer, philosopher, and leading thinker of the American Transcendentalist movement includes Walden, The Maine Woods, and Cape Cod. ... 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

Product 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 (4)

Meditations of Henry Dadid Thoreau
'Giveme liberity or give me death', the world needs more men or women with a sense of purpose, coviction and insperation to express themselfs and their visions where by the connection to the Devine is found in every sentence .This book is full of 'Meditations of Thoreau and quotes from others thatcorrepond to his focus,I love the format ,give us more!!!!!!!

~A great book to take with you camping or hiking~
I have bought the other books in this series with Emerson, Whitman and Muir and this one by far is the best! I am not sure if I connected so much with Thoreau's writing style or if his thoughts just were more impactful to the soul but I loved this book. Each meditation is to be read and really pondered over to get its fully impact, this isn't just a book to read to kill time but to really reflect on the deaper issues under the surface of this thing we call life.Buy it and enjoy it!

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

Product Description
A solid copy of this classic work with b&w illustrations by Henry Bugbee Kane. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (43)

Very Hard to Read - Poorly organized
This book is very hard to read as publisher has put in very small fonts and squeezed way too much text into pages. Feels like book from 19th century when they just invented printing presses.
Therefore, the book is hard to read and navigate - don't buy the book from this publisher. Find another book where publisher wasn't so cheap with paper and space.

A Matter of Taste
I prefer to lead a life of quiet desperation, in a city, surrounded by people who enjoy making money, and who pay taxes to support unjust wars.

Easy to do on someone else's dime.
His buddy, Emerson, owned the land around Walden... the land where, without having to worry about paying rent, mortgage, lease, or any other "bothersome peculiarities of the modern world" he, good 'ol Dave, could pen a work of personal independence - a "spiritual journey and manual for self reliance"(and be high minded about it to boot, those poor saps who might really lose their homes if they don't work) Really, is there really any thought that Emerson would give him the boot if he didn't tend his beans or keep his house tidy? How do you get that job? How can a work be touted as a "manual for self reliance" if the guy writing it is doing so one someone else's dime. Paaaauhlease! If you want a spiritual journey read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". At least Thompson's account isn't founded on a false pretext - he at least was straightforward about his intention to not pay for the room. Terrible . . . just terrible. Isn't there a negative star rating? A Death Star icon? A supernova . . . how about a black hole.

Thoreau is my Homeboy
Walden changed my look on life, it changed the way i live my life.
Thoreau is my homeboy.
The text is dense and rich, take your time digesting it and enjoy it.

Great Price, Excelllent Condition, Arrived very Fast
This book arrived in a matter of approx 2-3 days although I did not ask for express shipping. The condition of the book is excellent.. and the price outstanding... ... Read more

Product 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 (10)

Cure for the mind-rot...
This review is for the Library of America edition of Henry David Thoreau's four full-length works, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden, The Maine Woods, and Cape Cod.

So far I have only read Walden so my review will limit itself to that book. As I make my way through the rest of the books I will add to my review.

WALDEN

I.

Walden is an extremely rich book. It is rich in beauty, in description, in wisdom, in humor and in wit. It would be impossible, therefore, to encapsulate this book in a single review. Everyone reading this book is going to have different experiences, and take away different things. Someone whose primary interest is in philosophy, or economics, or political philosophy is necessarily going to have a different experience reading this book than the "literary critic" or "the naturalist". Thoreau offers something to all these people, but he offers somewhat different things to each (though there is certainly a unity of message).

My review is necessarily going to have as much to do with my own personal preoccupations as it will have with Thoreau's book. It is only one possible perspective on this book, and certainly by no means "the best".

I personally tend to read Thoreau as one of a long line of writers, beginning probably in the late eighteenth-century and moving all the way to modern times, who attempts to address the "spiritual" problems raised by a growing capitalist society (And I do not mean to imply any ontological dualism between matter and spirit with the term 'spiritual'). Thoreau, in Walden at least, is attempting to confront the very real despair he sees afflicting this modern form of society. Thoreau writes, "I have travelled a good deal in Concord; and every where, in shops, and offices, and fields, the inhabitants have appeared to me to be doing penance in a thousand remarkable ways. What I have heard of Brahmins sitting exposed to four fires and looking in the face of the sun; or hanging suspended, with their heads downward, over flames...even these forms of conscious penance are hardly more incredible and astonishing than the scenes which I daily witness" (pg. 326). And later, "A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind" (pg. 329).

What is the reason for this despair? What can be done about it? Underneath all the complexities of society, and our seemingly endless array of desires, what is it that we really want? These are the questions that motivate Thoreau, even when he is at his most "metaphysical". It does not seem to me that Thoreau is interested in "metaphysical" speculations simply for their own sake but only to the degree that they arise out of the very real problems of life. In this respect I see a real similarity between Thoreau and Plato, the "founder" of Western philosophy. Thoreau is in many ways more faithful to the tradition of philosophy begun by Plato than many professional philosophers today who concern themselves with far more abstract and esoteric problems without any obvious connection to life (and this should not necessarily be taken as a criticism since to some degree I count myself among the number of such philosophers who concern themselves with abstract and esoteric problems). Plato's question, "what is justice?" may seem abstract to us today, but it was a very urgent question to the Athenians at the time he was writing, especially among the youth, which I think any close reading of The Republic will make clear.

Thoreau, like Plato before him, and like Marx, and Heidegger after, attempted to address the very real problems effecting his time; and, to the degree that Thoreau attempted to address the pressing problems of his own time, as opposed to getting lost in some eternal or timeless realm of absolute truth, I consider him a philosopher in the very best sense of the word. Thoreau will be much more palatable to many Americans than either Marx or Heidegger because unlike Marx he did not advocate full-scale social or political revolution, and unlike Heidegger he remained a committed democrat. Thoreau's solutions to the problems effecting the modern age were unique and well worth studying. It is probably not possible for most of us to follow Thoreau into the woods. I probably would not last a day; but the solutions Thoreau offers in Walden do not require that of us; they are more universal than that.

II.

So what is the sickness afflicting modern society that has caused life to become despair for so many? Thoreau attempts to diagnose this sickness quite early. Thoreau writes, "How many a poor immortal soul have I met well nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables never cleansed, and one hundred acres of land, tillage, mowing, pasture, and wood-lot!" (pg. 326-327). "Why," he asks, "should they eat their sixty acres, when man is condemned to eat only his peck of dirt?" (pg. 396).

Much later in the book Thoreau is even more explicit in diagnosing the problem, "I respect not his labors...who would carry the landscape, who would carry his God, to market, if he could get any thing for him; who goes to market for his god as it is...whose fields bear no crops, whose meadows no flowers, whose trees no fruits, but dollars....whose fruits are not ripe for him till they are turned to dollars. Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth" (pg. 479).

Clearly Thoreau believes something is wrong with our values. We have loaded ourselves with more than we can possibly carry, and more than we could ever need, and we have come to value nature, and the world, only in terms of its monetary value. This is where the committed Marxist would begin to complain of the "fetishization of commodities" under capitalism, and begin to yearn for a new form of society in which means and ends are not inverted in this perverse way (and I do not want to sound critical of Marx, or Marxists, who I personally admire). But Thoreau goes a different route from Marx.

The difference, I believe, is largely a result of their different views on the relation between society and the individuals who compose it. Marx sees the individual as being shaped by society. Thoreau, on the other hand, though I'm not sure he ever makes this view explicit, would probably reverse this and see society as a reflection of the individuals who create it. If we live in a society where values are inverted, where money is treated as an end rather than as a means, and where possessions are valued more than the actual living of life, or the development of our own inherent capabilities, it is because our minds and our souls are sick.

III.

Towards the end of the book Thoreau writes, "Why level downward to our dullest perception always, and praise that as common sense?...While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?" (pg. 581).

It is this `brain-rot' which is responsible for our current despair. Our minds and our senses are dull. Thoreau's goal in writing Walden (or at least one of them) is to try to cure us of this brain-rot. While Marx seeks a fundamental transformation of society, Thoreau is attempting to cure us one person at a time.

Thoreau is attempting to awaken us to reality, which is what, he believes, we really crave. Thoreau writes, "Be it life or death, we crave only reality. If we are really dying, let us hear the rattle in our throats and feel cold in the extremities; if we are alive, let us go about our business" (pg. 400). We should begin to feel the `spring of springs' in our life which would of necessity raise us "to a higher and more ethereal life" (pg. 355).

Thoreau has an entire theology built around this view of life. Thoreau writes, "God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages. And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality which surrounds us" (pg. 399). And later, "There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness" (pg. 586).

This view has a great deal in common with the philosopher Heidegger (another philosopher I admire). According to Heidegger we are universally in the habit of focusing on beings instead of Being (the very process of coming to presence). We get caught up in our everyday concerns, we treat objects as tools, we analyze their objective properties, but we miss the Event of Being which is happening every moment. This, I believe, is the "perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality which surrounds us" that Thoreau is describing.

IV.

So in conclusion I would simply say that I would recommend Walden to anyone interested in philosophy or the great questions of life. It is a book full of beautiful description, insight, and wisdom.

-Brian

Very good condition
Great book, came in very good condition and earlier than expected. Exactly what I was looking for!

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. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Volume: 2; Original Published by: Houghton, Mifflin and company in 1896 in 225 pages; Subjects: Cape Cod (Mass.); Drama / American; Literary Criticism / American / General; Nature / General; Travel / Essays & Travelogues; Travel / United States / General; Travel / United States / Northeast / New England; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE CORRECT EDITION
This is a comment about the edition rather than the book:

I bought this edition based on the review about the very helpful index.Please be careful about what edition you are actually buying.Many of these reviews are about different editions.I bought the BiblioLife paperback book with a picture of the green bicycle on the cover. I just received it and there is NO INDEX.

It looks like the original text from an original printing (with smaller physical dimensions) was photocopied page by page and put into this paperback book.This will do the trick but I am a little disappointed and wish I had bought a different edition.

It is confusing on amazon because when you click "look inside" it shows an index, with a tiny note saying the "look inside" refers to a different edition.

Our History, in a very readable format
Cape Cod, by Henry David Thoreau, a book review

Reading Cape Cod is like visiting with a distant relative or a fond acquaintance.Thoreau, who we have all heard about for most of our lives, rarely lectures or preaches on these pages.The chapters ramble through a Cape Cod of yesteryear and are comprised of articles and journal entries from Thoreau's walking holidays in 1849, 1850, 1855, and 1857.He describes the countryside, the tame and wild vegetation (complete with botanical names), architecture, people, food, farms, ships, fishing, economic activity, and everything else that presents itself to his view.

While Thoreau waxes poetic, and even philosophical, from time to time, this reads like a casual travel log, albeit from a very learned and intelligent scholar.The text includes quotes in a variety of languages, including Latin, Greek, and French, which are notall translated.Those looking for uncommon quotes are sure to find a few juicy tidbits.If you are looking for encouragement for reading the Christian Bible, exhortations against organized religion, or beautiful thoughts on nature and solitude, you will definitely find them here.

What I found most fascinating, is the ecological destruction that had already occurred in the area.Some native shellfish had been nearly wiped out, and "seed stock" was being imported from other areas.Trees no longer reached the height that they had originally grown, crop land was no longer as productive, and erosion was enough of a problem that the government had stepped in with programs and regulations.Thoreau documents that the people blamed "Providence"--meaning the Creator--when their crops or natural resources failed them.It seems it never occurred to them that their own actions might be detrimental to their environment.

Thoreau also documents the thinking about the ocean and its resources back in those days.Even he sees the ocean as nearly infinite and unlimited.This thinking is reflected in the fisheries and especially in the take on what they called "blackfish." The "blackfish" is a small whale, or perhaps a dolphin, with a blunt shaped head.Schools of these creatures are chased aground by men and boys in small boats.They are then murdered for their blubber and left to rot.Thoreau asks one of the "fishermen" if the meat is good to eat, and the fishermen replies that he prefers it to beef--when it is fresh.Thoreau's only comment on this waste is that the poor soil needs the nutrients that this "manure" supplies.

The edition that I read, which was arranged with notes by Dudley C. Lunt and was published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1951, contains a history of Cape Code in the appendix.This history, written by Thoreau, is rambling and disjointed, but worth reading.We all know that we have been sold a bill of goods in regards to Plymouth and the Pilgrims.A close reading of this history emphasizes just what a good sales job it was.The first thing that really grabbed me is the fact that three prior successful, permanent, European settlements had been established in North America (before Plymouth);one in Florida,--one I believe he said--in New Mexico, and one in Nova Scotia.(The one in Florida I have read something about before.When doing some research on the first Thanksgiving I ran across an article about a Florida town that claims it was celebrating Thanksgiving before the Pilgrims even thought of coming to the "New World.")Thoreau also documents early Viking and French visits to the area, and quotes texts that claim European people had been fishing in or near Cape Cod for many hundredsof years before "America" was "discovered."

Anyone researching the history of the East Coast, New England, or early contact between the two continents will find this a rewarding read.Thoreau sites the documents he quotes and others that may contain valuable information.However, you don't have to be a scholar or a student with a project to enjoy this book.Anyone with an interest in sustainability, history, botany, or the writing of Thoreau will be enriched by the time spent between these pages.

A Beautiful Book
I have the Princeton Classic edition (1988; 2004), but the text is essentially the same.Thoreau is at his best here in his descriptions of nature and the people inhabiting this (then) difficult place.The book really is a paean to the Sea...Thoreau is awed by its power and beauty.Much of the work tends to be descriptions of the sea or its influence on the land.More than once he mentions that one is never far from the noise of the breakers or the winds.He also discusses man's influence on the land (usually negative), yet how mankind is still dwarfed by the power of the sea.Even if you are not a Thoreau fan, read this.It makes for a good read on a cold winter's night.

Travel to the cape with Thoreau
(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).

While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.

Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.

BEST EDITION AVAILABLE, BY FAR
This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:

1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.

2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.

3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general. ... Read more

Product Description
From 1837 to 1861, Thoreau kept a Journal that began as a conventional record of ideas, grew into a writer's notebook, and eventually became the principal imaginative work of his career. The source of much of his published writing, the Journal is also a record of his interior life and of his monumental studies of the natural history of his native Concord, Massachusetts. Unlike earlier editions, the Princeton edition reproduces the Journal in its original and complete form, in a reading text free of editorial interpolations but keyed to a comprehensive scholarly apparatus.

Journal 8: 1854 is edited from the 467-page notebook that Thoreau kept February 13-September 3, 1854. It reveals him as an increasingly confident taxonomist creating lists that distill his observations about plant leafing and seasonal birds. Two particularly significant public events took place in his life in the summer of 1854. On July 4, at an antislavery rally at Framingham, Massachusetts, Thoreau appeared for the first time in the company of prominent abolitionists, delivering as heated a statement against slavery as he had yet made. And on August 9, Ticknor and Fields published Walden, the book Thoreau had been working on since 1846. In Journal 8 Thoreau indicates that these public accomplishments, though satisfying, took a toll on his creative life and did not fully compensate him for the hours spent away from the woods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Be careful when you buy this particular item from Amazon
Hello all, I just wanted to say that you should definitely be careful when you purchase this version from amazon.com.I thought that it maybe was that they just did not have the actual picture of it up, but it is totally different.It is not like the other ones in the journal series with Thoreau's face on it and its kind of brown, this one is just a blueish-brown kind of color material and does not look like the others.

A day by day look at Thoreau
"Oct. 22nd, 1837. 'What are you doing now?' he asked, 'Do you keep a journal?'-- So I make my first entry today." Thus begins Thoreau's Journal, made up of more then two million words and covering about twenty-five years of his life.No other work of Thoreau's better exhibits his discipline as a writer and his devotion to the natural world.In the Journal can be found the fragmented foundations ofmasterpieces such as Walden, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, The Maine Woods, and Cape Cod.But what is perhaps more interesting to a reader of Thoreau's Journal are his thoughts and insights on topics such as friendship, love, religion, nature, bravery, heroism, war, slavery, the art of writing, and, most important to Thoreau, the art of living.Anyone with any interest in Thoreau will find his Journal to be an invaluable aid in understanding and following the life of one of America's most profound prose writers ... Read more

Product Description
This work describes Henry David Thoreau's experiment in living in the relative wilds by Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847. It is an examination of the ecology of his time, and is by turns a source of philosophical speculation, social protest, personal anecdote and the study of nature. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains Henry David Thoreau's most popular and enduring works, "Walden" and "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Good but clearly overrated
I got this book with much excitement. I expected Thoreau to write about discovering who he is in life and how society has found itself withering away from nature with all the advances in humanity.

Instead though, I found a book that quite literally is a journal of what he pretty much did there in the woods. In all honesty, this book should have been called "What I did in the woods" because for the most part, that is what this book entails. He talks about his daily ventures around the lake and whatnot. This may sound exciting and all, but anyone who has picked up this book probably has gone out and at least attempted to enjoy nature. I don't need someone else to write about something that I try to do on a regular basis.

There are some good moments in the book, like when he talks about meeting an individual who just works and works and for what? Moments like those was what I expected because it showed problems we Americans face every day. I did not expect however him talking about how deep Walden pond is or what the rabbits were doing around his cabin. Really Thoreau? What amazing revelation people find out of him talking of that stuff is beyond me.

Don't get me wrong this is a good book but I believe really overrated. Some of these reviews are hilarious though talking about how "deep" the book is. I can just as easily write about going out for a walk anyday and be glad if someone called that "deep." People writing those reviews makes me wonder when was the last time they went out for a nice walk in the woods.

Enjoyed "Civil Disobedience"
I enjoyed Civil Disobedience, but thought that Walden was a bit too generous with the words. I'm sure some people will enjoy it, but for me the noise to signal ratio was off-putting.

Really wish he would have gone into more depth on the topic of civil disobedience, but it was inspiring nonetheless.

Two Essential Masterpieces in One
This collection has Henry David Thoreau's two most famous works:Walden and "Civil Disobedience." Both are immortal literary works that should be read by all; anyone who does not have them would do well to get them here.

Walden is one of the great classics of American letters. It has been somewhat unfortunately tainted by its reputation as the "treehugger's Bible," but this misses the point. Thoreau obviously loved nature and was one of the nation's first environmentalists - indeed, modern day environmentalism can be traced directly to him -, but the core of the book is not a simple stating of nature's virtues. Thoreau lays down nothing less than a philosophy of life. Like "Civil Disobedience," Walden preaches the virtues of individual liberty and the importance of Man over State. Thoreau raises some staggeringly deep existential questions:If a man does not depend on the State but still resides within its boundaries, need he pledge allegiance? Need he pay taxes? Thoreau tells us how to get the most out of life by living simply. Indeed, much like Rousseau, he seemed to basically believe that the true essence and spirit of man resides in the state of nature. He assures us that, if all lived as simply as he did at Walden, there would be very little theft, crime, violence, envy, or jealousy. He urges us all to live our own lives as we see fit, neither depending on or heeding others, and to avoid merely becoming another mindless drone in conformist society.

"Resistance to Civil Government" - or "Civil Disobedience," as it became known - is an essential part of American literature, culture, and history. Even more remarkably, it is undeniable proof that great literature can have a real effect on the world even long after it is written and ignored. The essay is world famous as the founding text of civil disobedience, i.e., non-violent protest, and its effect on such luminaries as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King was profound, thus sealing its immortality. This alone makes it essential for all.

However, it is easy to forget that the essay is a masterpiece in itself. Essentially Thoreau's highly individual expression of his mentor Emerson's self-reliance doctrine applied to government, it has a wealth of depth and nuance despite its brevity. The words are few but the implications endless; it has enough food for proverbial thought to last a lifetime. The gist is very clear, but the implications have spoken very differently to many different people. The work's nature - and Thoreau's generally - is such that it and he are championed by everyone from neocons to libertarians to liberals, and the truly notable thing is that all are justified. This underscores the importance of reading the essay for ourselves.

Its main query is "What does the individual owe the state?," the answer being a resounding "Nothing." Thoreau takes the maxim that the government that governs least governs best to its logical conclusion by wishing for one that governs not at all - a brave wish very few have seriously dared to make or even conceive. He makes a highly principled stand for individual rights and autonomy, arguing very persuasively that people should be able to go about their business without interference. This of course sounds very much like current libertarians, and their position has indeed hardly ever been better argued. Many related and implied issues - protests against taxation, conscription, etc. - also seem to support them. However, it is important to remember that the essay's crux and most famous section - Thoreau's account of a night spent in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because he did not want to support war or slavery - was and is immensely liberal. Few issues can be more central to current liberalism than an anti-war stance, and slavery was the era's great liberal cause. All this must be kept firmly in mind amid the many attempts to reduce Thoreau to a current party platform. He was at once too simple and too complex for this and would not have suffered himself to be thus reduced; nor does the essay justify it.

Integral as all this is, the work's core point is arguably a new self-reliance argument above and beyond immediate practical considerations. Thoreau certainly had a practical, political streak, especially compared to relative idealists like Emerson, but he thought individuality more sacred than anything. He articulated this more fully elsewhere, but it is very present here. His work is thus in many ways the best kind of self-help material - and, unlike the mass of current self-help tripe littering bookshelves, is intellectually and even aesthetically pleasing. Thoreau was the most thoroughly local writer that can be imagined, but his willingness to look deep inside himself for the eternal truths present in all people has made him an inspiration to millions and millions of people from across the political spectrum and indeed the world. This essay is a major part of his legacy and thus one of the very few works that literally everyone should read. Few can be the same afterward, and it will change many lives; it is nothing less than one of the most important documents ever written, and its value simply cannot be exaggerated.

This collection is an excellent primer for those new to Thoreau, and those who have not already done so should open their minds to him immediately - and once done, they will never be closed again.

Let us settle ourselves in freedom
Walden is H. D. Thoreau's return to `wildness', but with a rucksack.
It is a protest against the existing civilized world, where men are `serfs of the soil with no time to be anything but a machine.' They act as `slave-drivers of themselves'. Why don't they live `as simply as I then did' with plenty of leisure time for `a written word, the choiciest of relics?'
Walden is a retreat from status, appearance and jealousy. As Jonathan Levin states in his excellent introduction: `Walden is written in defense of the value of the individual in the social / economic machinery.'

But, Thoreau's return to `wildness' is in no way a return to nature: `Nature is hard to overcome, but she must be overcome.' `The animal in us perhaps cannot be wholly expelled. We are yet not pure.'
Thoreau's motto is: `A command over our passions and over the external senses of the body is declared by the Ved to be indispensable in the mind's approximation to God. Chastity is the flowering of men.' (!)
His dream of personal freedom and individual autarchy (`drink water from the pond') is in today's environment totally impossible. More, Thoreau contradicts himself by stating:' if we know all the laws of Nature, we should need only one fact, or the description of one actual phenomenon, to infer all the particular results at that point.' This is not less than plain determinism.

Civil Disobedience
This short pamphlet translates perfectly the US dream of uninhibited freedom: `that government is best which governs not at all'. But, Thoreau clearly understands that `no government' is not a possibility, only a `better government'.
His civil disobedience (not paying taxes) is a protest against a government whose policies are illegal and immoral: `to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico.'
More, it oppresses its own population: `There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived.'

Henry David Thoreau's impossible `wildness' dream with all its contradictions as well as his highly relevant `Civil Disobedience' message remain a classic in US and Western literature.
Not to be missed.

a guidence for life
this book is stunningly encouraging.It taught me how to organize my life.But I do think Thoreau wasovertly against modern utensils. In "Economics" he said it was no use to have phones,railroads and stuffs alike.He had some good reasons,but the disadvantages cannot surpass the advantages of modern livingstyles ... Read more

Product Description
With Abnaki guides, Thoreau climbed Mt. Katahdin and hiked deep into the Maine woods to places where one "might live and die and never hear of the United States." His accurate, evocative descriptions still reflect his belief that man himself is a part of the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Thoreau's Three Ambitious Adventures in Maine
"The Maine Woods" relates three separate trips Henry Thoreau made to the Mount Katahdin and Allagash Wilderness Waterway region of MaineAt 29 years old in 1846, at 36 years old in 1853, and at 40 years old in 1857.In each of the stories he travels with a friend by rail, steamboat, and coach to the starting point, hires a guide, and embarks on his adventure.Even for a reader familiar with the region, it is essential to keep a map handy to follow the author in his travels.In the first trip he hires a local outfitter as a guide, and poles up the West Branch of the Penobscot River, across lakes and up streams, as close to Mt. Katahdin as he can get, then climbs to the summit of what the Indians called Ktaadn, or "highest land," and now called Mt. Katahdin.His route up the mountain approximated what we now know as the Abol trail, though with no trail to follow, his experience was very different from today's Abol daypacker.He summited on a cloudy day, and missed out on the breathtaking views, though he did get infected with the spiritual bug, and he waxes philosophical as he makes his way back down.Thoreau's enduring memory of the region is "the continuousness of the forest."Thanks to the generous 209,501 acre gift of one of Maine's Governors, Percival Baxter, that memory of Thoreau's is also likely to be yours.

By contrast, the second story is less adventurous, being a canoe-camping trip on Chesuncook and surrounding lakes.Thoreau ends the story reflecting on man's vulnerability in the wilderness, and prays that man will not become "civilized off the face of the earth."I take this trip to be fundamentally a reconnaissance for the third and most ambitious of his trips, titled "The Allagash and East Branch."He went to Maine this time intending to make the standard Allagash Wilderness Waterway trip that many of us plan and few ever make.He lets himself get talked out of it and into a considerably more difficult trip.He starts as with the Chesuncook trip, but carries on northward into Chamberlain, Eagle, Telos, and Webster Lakes, and through Webster Stream to Second Lake and Great Lake Matagamon.From there it's flat water down the East Branch of the Penobscot.The Webster Stream segment was basically a ten mile portage.Fortunately he had hired a most remarkable Indian Guide, Joe Polis.Polis took his homemade birch bark canoe down through the Webster Stream rapids alone, and Thoreau and his companion (whom he unaccountably never names), fought their way through the thick underbrush and the jumble of trees along the riverbank.In summary, he takes the West Branch upstream as far as it goes, traverses the high elevation lakes over to the headwaters of the East Branch, and completely circles the Katahdin massif in the process.

Thoreau does not consistently delight the reader with is craft; his creative spirit is intermittent.But when inspired, he rises to the task:

Referring to the logs which get hung up along the shore, waiting for a freshet to carry them down to the sawmill, he writes, "Methinks that must be where all my property lies, cast up on the rocks along some distant and unexplored stream, and waiting for an unheard of freshet to fetch it down."

And about the noises he hears at night, "When camping in such a wilderness as this, you are prepared to hear sounds from some of its inhabitants which give voice to its wildness."

And his boatmen: "...so cool, so collected, so fertile in resources are they."

And anyone who has trod through the dark, damp woods between those lakes will recognize this: "It was impossible for us to discern the Indian's trail in the elastic moss, which like a thick carpet, covered every rock and fallen tree, as well as the earth.

And while experiencing one of the Allagash's classic thunderstorms: "I thought it must be a place where the thunder loved, where the lightning practiced to keep its hand in, and it would do no harm to shatter a few pines.

Helps understand why Maine's wildlife and forest is the way it is.
These trips taken before the Civil War, Thoreau makes the journey that people dream of today. He had to be one of the first conservationists, noting that killing animals indiscrimenatly andover-harvesting the forest was a bad thing. Yet even back then he recounts seeing these practices being done. It was fun to follow his trail on the Gazetteer, and find the names of the rivers and lakes that the Indians had given them.

North Country Meander
What a shame most people will never get beyond Walden...

This title is a joy and stands on its own. First up is a short piece about an early ascent of Ktaadn, followed by a longer one on the Allegash & East Branch. If you read nothing else, open it to the middle of pg 22 (& ends on 23). It will take 1 minute and enthrall you with observations and the call of the Wild Boreal North Woods as they were long before roads or even trails and certainly before the great northern paper companies cut their unending swaths through virgin lands. His reflections on the ponds and natives (the Brookies) are as intimate and priceless as the jewels themselves. His opine references to the Greeks are as relevant today as they were then or 4,000 years ago. I first came across a copy in the White House Library (at a dinner reception i could not resist seeing what comforted our leaders during long & troubled nights). It took me several years to track down a copy but it was worth the process.

Do not read this and compare it to Walden or as a some window into Thoreau, but for sheer joy of kicking off the canoe at Telos and the wonder of the north country.

Not just another travelogue
Published posthumously, this volume lacks some cohesiveness as it is divided into 3 separate trips. Thoreau is a master of blending materials from different experiences into one single cohesive and consistent volume -- he did that in Walden (which gives one the feel of one year even though he lived there for about two years) and Cape Code (which gives one the feel of one long walk, even though the material is from several trips), so it makes me wonder what he could have done had he been able to finish this book in his lifetime?

That being said, it is still a great book. Thoreau's observations of nature and of Native American people are vivid, his cry for conservation profound and still resonating. There are also sparks of the dry New England humor here and there, making it a very enjoyable read. One only wishes that he had lived longer and given us more -- what if he had been to the Rockies, the desert southwest? It gives me chills just thinking about it.

In a sense this is a travelogue, but I don't think we should be too critical in judging it -- not every book has to be Walden, and there can only be one Walden after all. It is a travelogue with authentic Thoreau flavor. I would gladly take 10 more travelogues like this one if only I could.

Live Like a Philosopher
This screed from Thoreau is obviously not as classic as his work on Walden, but here we may be seeing the beginning of the travelogue business. Thoreau is often misrepresented (by those who haven't read his works, or have read them too many times) as a hardcore back-to-nature hermit who lived off the land and rejected civilization. One read of his Walden story disproves that stereotype, and in this work about three trips to Maine's wild country, we can surely see Thoreau's social side all the more. At the time, the Maine Woods were surely a thrilling landscape ripe for exploration and adventure, and Thoreau gives us an enjoyable travelogue of his ramblings and recreations. A bonus is great coverage of the Indians of the area, especially Thoreau's longtime traveling colleague Joe Polis. The only problem here is that Thoreau's introspective naturalist philosophy is mostly missing at this stage of his career, and he pretty much accidentally invents descriptive travel writing instead. This is still a worthy exploration if you're interested in the Maine Woods either as they were then or if you wish to explore them today. But Thoreau's classic naturalism is better found in his other works. [~doomsdayer520~] ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Good, but parts of book are missing
This book is a classic.The free version for kindle is missing relatively insignificant parts.For instance, when he lists items out, such as building materials for his house, they are omitted from the Kindle version.I believe the message is intact.

Do not read.It is incomplete.
As a previous reviewer mentioned, passages are missing.This is one of the best books ever written and it is a shame someone messed it up so much.

Incomplete!
Just a few pages in, Thoreau puts in a few quotes from other authors, all of which are missing!This continues throughout the book, and was a deal-breaker for me.This book is about ideas, so critical elements cannot be ommitted.Walden without the quotes is like a car without wheels.

Missing quotes
Besides irritating formatting issues (as Mr. Wiggings mentioned in his review), I got over a quarter way through before realizing that the quotes are missing! I'd see many lines that just seemed to end with half a thought and a comma or double-dash, with nothing to punctuate his statement (price, poem, song, etc.). I just grabbed the MOBI version from Project Gutenberg ([...]) and everything seems to be in order. However be aware that THAT version has no table of contents (DOH!).

So ... it's free, yes, but you're missing out on key elements of the book if you download this.

Seems fine to me
I didn't have the problem reported by the previous reviewer, in that the margin size is not a problem on my Kindle. The right margin is about 1/4", and the left margin is larger, perhaps 1/2". Nothing runs over the edge. It isn't annoying to me at all.

I didn't give it five stars because you can't go from one chapter to the next by pushing the 5-way controller to the right or left. That is my only objection.

The price is right. :) ... Read more