Free Downloads Walden; Or, Life In The Woods (Dover Thrift Editions)
Nature was a form of religion for naturalist, essayist, and early environmentalist Henry David Thoreau (1817–62). In communing with the natural world, he wished to "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and … learn what it had to teach." Toward that end Thoreau built a cabin in the spring of 1845 on the shores of Walden Pond — on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson — outside Concord, Massachusetts. There he observed nature, farmed, built fences, surveyed, and wrote in his journal.One product of his two-year sojourn was this book — a great classic of American letters. Interwoven with accounts of Thoreau's daily life (he received visitors and almost daily walked into Concord) are mediations on human existence, society, government, and other topics, expressed with wisdom and beauty of style.Walden offers abundant evidence of Thoreau's ability to begin with observations on a mundane incident or the minutiae of nature and then develop these observations into profound ruminations on the most fundamental human concerns. Credited with influencing Tolstoy, Gandhi, and other thinkers, the volume remains a masterpiece of philosophical reflection.A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Series: Dover Thrift Editions
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (April 12, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486284956
ISBN-13: 978-0486284958
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.2 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (799 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #10,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Anthologies #19 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Ecology #21 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Nature Writing & Essays
This is one of the most influential books in American history. I picked it up for the first time in thirty years only to realize that Throreau's philosophy had long ago permeated my being. I remember being blown away by my first reading more than half a century ago, but with each immersion new depths are achieved.Thoreau sought both authenticity and simplicity in his life. He never abandoned Concord and the real world but merely sought refuge at Walden to plumb the depths of his being. Serious introspection and brilliant writing show each of us the the way to our own core. Can we stand the examination? That is for each of us to determine.The Transcendentalists may never have been able to define their philosphy, but what remains of it more than a century after the movement's passing can be summed up in Thoreau's always upbeat outlook of "...if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet success unexpected in common hours."One cannot read Walden without gaining confidence in one's ability to change direction in life and optimism about the future. We do not have to live lives of conformity and quiet desparation. "In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high."There has never been a book that better expresses American optimism, and there is no reason for us to lose confidence now. Simplify and be as close to authentic as you can be and all will turn out well. Oh, and while you're at it question authority.If there could be a six star book, this would be my candidate.
Walden, what is it? Is it a book on nature, a book on ecology, a book on human nature, a prescient description of the struggle between modern civilization and the land that nurtured it, a critique of mankind, a string of quotable gems, an account of a mind, or, like Star Wars, a way of slipping a deep and human spirituality into someone else's mind without their recognizing it? It depends on who is doing the reading and when. Read it for any of these purposes, and it will not disappoint. If you've never read it, read it. If you read it for class years ago and hated it, read it again. This may be the most subtle, multi-layered and carefully worked piece of literature you'll ever find. By keeping the down-to-earth tone (no doubt in reaction to the high-flying prose of his friend, R.W. Emerson) Thoreau pulls a Columbo, and fools us into thinking he's writing simply about observing nature, living in a cabin, or sounding a pond. Somehow by the end of Walden, however, you may find it is your self he has sounded. People have accused Thoreau of despising mankind, but read deeper and you will discover he loved people well enough to chide us, show us our faults (admitting he's as bad as the worst of us), and give to all of us this wonderful gift, a book you could base your life on. There is more day to dawn, he reminds us at the end: the sun is but a morning star.
As a professor of philosophy, I at one time regularly took classes of first year college students to Concord for a week-long intensive seminar on Emerson and Thoreau. I eventually abandoned the seminar, because I discovered that each class was progressively more hostile to what these two wonderful persons stood for. The ..... reviews written by young people of this edition of _Walden_ are, then, disconcertingly familiar to me. I obviously disagree with their evaluations of the book and of Thoreau's character. But what's interesting is why they have such a negative reaction to a book written, as Thoreau says, for young people who haven't yet been corrupted by society. What is it about the culture in which we live that encourages such hostility to his eloquent plea for simplicity? It's too facile to suggest that the backlash is motivated only by resentful pique at what's seen as Thoreau's condemnation of contemporary lifestyles, although I suspect this is part of the explanation. I'd be interested in reading the thoughts here of other readers who are likewise puzzled and disturbed by "Generation Y's" negative response to Thoreau.
Walden; Or, Life in the Woods (Dover Thrift Editions) Walden: Life in the Woods The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (Dover Thrift Editions) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions) Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions) The Story of My Life (Dover Thrift Editions) Poetics (Dover Thrift Editions) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Dover Thrift Editions) A Christmas Carol (Dover Thrift Editions) The Canterbury Tales (Dover Thrift Editions) The Inferno (Dover Thrift Editions) Dark Night of the Soul (Dover Thrift Editions) Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (Dover Thrift Editions) The Federalist Papers (Dover Thrift Editions) Self-Reliance and Other Essays (Dover Thrift Editions) Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey (Dover Thrift Editions) History's Greatest Speeches (Dover Thrift Editions) Great Speeches of the 20th Century (Dover Thrift Editions) Great Speeches by Native Americans (Dover Thrift Editions) Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches (Dover Thrift Editions)
