Walden Paperback – September 28, 2012

And `Tis a shame that I cannot claim this is a re-read after 40 years or so. I can only cite the very well-worn cliché: Better late than never.Walden is a pond, just outside Concord, Massachusetts, and for two years in the mid-1840's Henry David Thoreau lived a largely solitary existence there, in a simple wooden cabin which he constructed. This book is a collection of his mediations on the natural world, and a person's place in it. Thoreau also ruminates on an individual's place in society and certainly demurs about the hurly-burly existence led by so many, or, in an expression that I had always attributed to T. S. Eliot, but was first coined by him: "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."The first third of the book is on "economy," and the house that he built near Walden. He describes his labor, and provides a table indicating the total cost, and compares that with the annual rental cost of housing. Similarly, he covers his food, clothing and fuel expenses (the "essentials"), and the underlying theme remains the subject verse, taken from a Shaker song, "Simple Gifts," written about the same time: if you simplify your life, and rid yourself of the bondage of so much self-imposed clutter, you really are much freer, and that includes having the opportunity to take a ramble in the woods, which was a major aspect of his two years at Walden. As Thoreau phrased it: "Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them." Or in another passage: "I also have in my mind that seemingly wealthy, but most terribly impoverished class of all, who have accumulated dross, but know not how to use it, or get rid of it, and thus have forged their own golden or silver fetters." Contrast that with the constant exhortations of our consumer society to "buy, buy, buy" and if we can only get the American consumer spending again, our "economy" will be OK. The beauty of Thoreau is an independent mind writing against the grain of conventional thought.Much of the latter portion of the book features his observation and outlook on the natural world around him. These observations range from the scientific to the poetic, with an emphasis on the latter, but he does not hesitate to make controlled measurements, like determining the true depth of the pond, which had previously been the subject of speculation. He describes how ice is harvested from the pond, and shipped to Boston for summer use, and is continually intrigued by the color of both the ice and the water in the pond. For those who are overwhelmed with "light pollution" and do not know what the phase of the moon is, Thoreau provides a suitable admonition: "It would be well, perhaps, if we were to spend more of our days and nights without any obstruction between us and the celestial bodies, if the poet did not speak so much from under a roof, or the saint dwell there so long. Birds do not sing in caves, nor do doves cherish their innocence in dovecots."There is much else as well. He describes the life of poverty of his nearest neighbor, an Irish family who are recent immigrants. He also observes a battle between red and black ants, and plays "hide and go seek" with a loon on the lake. He leans towards vegetarianism, but praises hunting, and considers it a vital rite of passage for any boy (and yes, it was so long ago, the other half were not even considered).Walden is not an easy read. In part it is due to the turgidity of Thoreau's prose style. There is also the aspect that portions of the book resemble the Desiderata poem that was plastered to so many bedroom walls in the 60's: a string of exhortation on the proper way to conduct one's life. The meaning of some of these aphorisms are quite understandable, for example: "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"? But it would take some true assumptions and extrapolations, and they could be quite divergent, to squeeze the meaning from: "The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement. Their truth is instantly translated; its literal monument alone remains. The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures." I'd welcome reader comments as to what that really means.Walden was hardly a "commercial success" in Thoreau's lifetime, but its impact on numerous historical figures was significant. He was admired by the naturalists John Muir, Joseph Wood Krutch, Loren Eiseley, and David Brower. His companion volume, (On Civil Disobedience) influenced Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, as well as many others.It is a book to be read slowly, with some tolerance for his style, and the occasional still quirky observations. Walden remains a 5-star read, and is an essential book for everyone to read, at least once in their life, even if it is in the latter phases.Finally, proving that once again there are those unlikely connections that add the zest to life: each day I look 70 miles to the west, and enjoy the view of the mountain most commonly called Mt. Taylor, named after Zachary Taylor, the President of the United States who started the Mexican-American War, and is the reason this piece of earth that I inhabit is part of the USA. Henry David Thoreau practiced civil disobedience, and was briefly jailed for his failure to pay his taxes as a protest against that war.

First things first: if you are reading this review, it is probably because you are considering not just Walden, but Walden on audio. Does it work in that medium?Have no fear: not only does Walden not LOSE something by being read, it probably gains something from Mel Foster's excellent performance. My first experience with his reading was the production of William Bernstein's A Splendid Exchange, and it was disappointing -- flat and lifeless. But he did a fine job with James Kugel's How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, and this is terrific, too; I'll assume the mediocre job with the Bernstein was the producer's fault.Now, to the book. So much has been written about it, both on Amazon and elsewhere, that there is little more to say. But I will say this: if you read it in college, or if, like me, you merely PRETENDED to read it in college, pick it up again later in life. It is worth reading, and studying, and savoring.Walden is thought of as the urtext of nature writing, particularly American nature writing, but that really understates the matter -- thus, my assessment of it as an "underrated" classic. It is really so much more: an essay on the nature and purpose of human existence, an exploration of human nature itself, and an example of how we can see the sacred in the mundane. Indeed, one could argue that Thoreau was not so much writing about nature, but using nature as a way of seeing the supernatural -- looking THROUGH nature to grasp the reality of the unseen.And forget any notion you may have had about Thoreau, the dreamer: this is actually a very practical man, who strives hard to show that what he is doing can be a model for what all people should do. Not that they should go live in a cabin, but rather that they can and should seek their own unique path of existence. (Thus, the different drummer). It is no accident that the first and longest chapter is entitled "Economy": Thoreau wants to demonstrate that following a different IS possible if we prepare ourselves. If he is not fully convincing that anyone can do anything they want and make it stick, he is, in my view, unanswerable in his assertion that we cannot and must not be satisfied with what we are given, or what tradition or even our own habits tell us what we "should" do. If for nothing else, Walden is must-reading for anyone, young or old, religious or atheist, American or citizen of any nation. Or even no nation.

Thoreau’s Walden is a timeless masterpiece—thoughtful and filled with wisdom about self-sufficiency and the beauty of nature. However, this edition comes with a challenge: the font is tiny. So tiny, in fact, that I often found myself getting lost mid-paragraph. If you’re planning to enjoy this classic, do yourself a favor—grab a magnifying glass (or prepare for some serious eye strain). Five stars for the content, but minus one for the microscopic text!

Walden: or a life in the woods is something you need to find on your journey to yourself/the better you. this book is all about self reliance. A man reflects more when he travels alone. Ive known for 15 years I needed to isolate for 2+ Weeks , and work on me. WIth Walden Im finally doing it, and paralleling my experience with Thorough's wisdom/experience makes the difficult (BUT VERY NECESSARY JOURNEY) to be a better man, much more illuminated and guided than doing it alone.I ugre you to read this book in solidarity to get the true value of it.