Walden

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Walden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Author Henry David Thoreau
Publication date 1854

Central topics
Civil Disobedience
Herald of Freedom
Life Without Principle
The Last Days of John Brown
Paradise (to be) Regained
Walden (also known as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American. Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's life for two years, two months, and two days in second growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond, on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, not far from his friends and family in Concord, Massachusetts. Walden was written so that the stay appears to be a year, with expressed seasonal divisions. Thoreau called it an experiment in simple living. Thoreau lived in close geographical proximity to the town of Concord: "living a mile from any neighbor," should be taken literally; he lived about a mile from his neighbors. He did not go into the woods to become a hermit, but to isolate himself from civil society in order to gain a more objective understanding of it.

Themes
Walden is neither a novel nor a true autobiography, but a social critique of much of the contemporary Western World, with its consumerist attitudes and its distance from and destruction of nature. Along with his critique of the civilized world, Thoreau examines other issues afflicting man in society, ranging from economy (the first chapter of the book) and reading to solitude and "higher laws". That the book is not simply a criticism of society, but also an attempt to engage creatively with the better aspects of contemporary culture is suggested both by his explicitly-stated proximity to Concord society but also other matters: Thoreau hardly wished to turn away from great works of literature or the writings of natural historians. There are signs of ambiguity, or an attempt to see an alternative side of something common- the sound of a passing locomotive, for example, is compared to natural sounds.

Thoreau also takes time to talk about the experience at Walden Pond itself, commenting on the animals and the way people treated him for living there, using those experiences to bring out his philosophical positions. This extended commentary on nature has often been interpreted as a strong statement to the natural religion that transcendentalists such as Thoreau and Emerson were preaching.

Legacy A reproduction of Thoreau's cabin with a statue of ThoreauMore than a century later, Walden remains a touchstone for Americans seeking to "get in touch with Nature" and is a major cultural icon. It has been parodied in the Doonesbury comic strip and emulated in Walden Two by B.F. Skinner. Walden Three, a non-profit educational foundation that promotes sustainable societies, takes its name from the book.

The pond itself is a tourist attraction, as well as a center of controversy over nearby development, thus demonstrating the very tension between natural and man-made pleasures that Thoreau explored in his book. For example, Thoreau considered material possessions and fame to be man-made pleasures, but preferred natural pleasures, including wandering through the woods and observing the pond through the seasons.

Perhaps the book's most strongly resonating passage is its last paragraph: "I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." Another famous quote comes from earlier on in the conclusion: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears the beat of a different drummer."


Walden
by Henry David Thoreau - 1854
Thoreau Reader: Home
"I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up." - from the title page of Walden's first edition, and "Where I Lived, & What I Lived for"
"Thoreau pitched his Walden in this key; he claps his wings and gives forth a clear, saucy, cheery, triumphant note ... the book is certainly the most delicious piece of brag in literature. There is nothing else like it; nothing so good, certainly. It is a challenge and a triumph, and has a morning freshness and élan..." - John Burroughs

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