Rating: 
Summary: The best edition of a classic
Review: The physicality of this edition feels as though Thoreau himself has put it together by hand - from the unusual scrap-book inspired approach to the cover to the reproductions of drawings and notations Thoreau had made in his own copy, it is a complete experience.
Rating:
Summary: The better part of a man will be soon ploughed beneath the s
Review: Thoreau is great. Even if you don't agree with him, even if you see his contradictory nature towards his teachings, even if you can't understand him, you can't deny that he is an amazing thinker and an influential character of American history. Thoreau's quiet voice of solitude and non conformity provides refreshing alternatives of perception and observation which strengthens inner freedom and personal growth. I have read numerous essays by Thoreau and I have to say this could be the most enlightening. His ideas of progressing back to nature is beautiful inspiration to reevaluate our contemporary life.I recommend everyone read this book...Actually I take that back...I recommend everyone Henry David Thoreau and all of his beautiful work.
Rating:
Summary: The better part of a man will be soon ploughed beneath the s
Review: Thoreau is great. Even if you don't agree with him, even if you see his contradictory nature towards his teachings, even if you can't understand him, you can't deny that he is an amazing thinker and an influential character of American history. Thoreau's quiet voice of solitude and non conformity provides refreshing alternatives of perception and observation which strengthens inner freedom and personal growth. I have read numerous essays by Thoreau and I have to say this could be the most enlightening. His ideas of progressing back to nature is beautiful inspiration to reevaluate our contemporary life. I recommend everyone read this book...Actually I take that back...I recommend everyone Henry David Thoreau and all of his beautiful work.
Rating:
Summary: The best edition of walden I had ever seen
Review: Undoutedly <<walden>>is a great book for every nature lover .In this eligent edition you will surprised in such considerations that pulisher had made,the lovely dark green hard cover and gorgeous essays by Thoreau were fit author's initial intents of his writting.I read <<walden>>for more than three times,this special book could popular for hundred year because of its humanity remedied most of people's madness and negetive thoughts.<<Walden>> surely is not a personal expirence,mostly reflected the goodness among the nature ,human and poetry.
Rating:
Summary: The best edition of walden I had ever seen
Review: Undoutedly <>is a great book for every nature lover .In this eligent edition you will surprised in such considerations that pulisher had made,the lovely dark green hard cover and gorgeous essays by Thoreau were fit author's initial intents of his writting.I read <>for more than three times,this special book could popular for hundred year because of its humanity remedied most of people's madness and negetive thoughts.<> surely is not a personal expirence,mostly reflected the goodness among the nature ,human and poetry.
Rating: 
Summary: Tied for second place among the annotated Waldens
Review: WALDEN has rarely been out-of-print since its first publication in 1854. Copies come in all sizes, shapes and price ranges. Today's Thoreauvians have three ANNOTATED versions of WALDEN to choose from. Each one provides same-page explanatory notes that help the reader interpret the sometimes esoteric references in Henry David Thoreau's original text. The three books are "The Annotated Walden" (edited by Philip Van Doren Stern, 1970), "Walden: An Annotated Edition" (edited by Walter Harding, 1995), and "Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition" (edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer, 2004). Each one has at least one map of Concord and/or Walden Pond. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Each one has appeal for a devoted audience.
"Walden: An Annotated Edition" by Walter Harding was released in 1995, a year before the editor's death. Harding was a founding member of the Thoreau Society and devoted his entire life to the man and his writings. He is still regarded as *the* HDT expert of the 20th century. In addition to the text of WALDEN, this volume includes a few "extras": a four-page forward that contains a biographical summary; a bibliography; journal entries and original HDT sketches scattered throughout the book's margins (a favorite Harding technique); and a special appendix regarding the story about "a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle-dove." The explanatory notes -- the essence of an annotated edition -- define a number of references both in word and phrase. Harding didn't copy anything from Van Doren Stern's previous work, and he also didn't include as many stylistic comments as his predecessor. He offered more frequent explanations and backed them up with a variety of source materials. He also throws in his own opinion every once in a while. The occasional ink doodlings from the journals serve well to break up the text. But lack of an index is a major failing. This is a handsome volume that improves upon Van Doren Stern's previous WALDEN analysis.
Lining up the three versions side by side is an interesting experiment, best conducted on a rainy summer day when no other work has appeal. Let's use two well-known and oft-debated passages for an initial sample interpretive comparison.
"I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle-dove, and am still on their trail." ("Economy") Do those three animals stand for actual individuals in Thoreau's life? Or does this passage simply refer to Life's losses? Philip Van Doren Stern devotes a page-length note to this paragraph. He mentions a few of the major interpretations and refers readers to the bibliography for more. His conclusion is: "Since there is no clear explanation, each reader will have to supply his own." Walter Harding offers three pages in a special appendix that covers all the major theories. At the end, he too suggests that "each reader is free to interpret them as he wishes." Jeffrey Cramer's paragraph cites two similiar excerpts found in other Thoreau pieces, and his explanation states that "no analysis has been generally accepted as valid." So the three men agree: we have to decide for ourselves what we think of the story.
"There was an artist in the city of Kouroo who was disposed to strive after perfection." ("Conclusion") Is the parable that follows that opening sentence based on some of the Eastern texts that Thoreau was fond of reading at the time? Or is it a thinly-disguised depiction of his own struggle to perfect the final WALDEN manuscript? Philip Van Doren Stern simply says that "no one has been able to find a source for the legend" and agrees with Arthur Christy that it is an allegory about Thoreau's own life. Walter Harding offers several possible origins of the legend but eventually cites and agrees with Christy's allegory statement. Jeffrey Cramer devotes just a two-sentence annotation, concluding with "It is generally agreed that the following fable is by Thoreau." In this instance, Cramer has the benefit of time over his colleagues. Most Thoreauvians have come to the same realization during the past decade after much gnashing of teeth.
Explanatory differences are more pronounced at other various junctures in the text. Each man obviously was intrigued by certain references more than others. I can say that overall, I found Jeffrey Cramer's annotations to be the most helpful of the three. Maybe someday someone will have the courage to tell all the makers of posters, bumper stickers, and t-shirts that "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in" is NOT about fishing at
all.
Every school and public library should own at least one of these annotated editions. Academic libraries will want at least two of the three versions. If you want a book that has a lot more HDT than just WALDEN, find a used copy of the Philip Van Doren Stern book. If you want to hear from expert Walter Harding, choose his. Individuals who want the most comprehensive interpretation should go with the newest volume by Jeffrey
Cramer. It's a worthy addition to the Thoreau legacy.
Rating:
Summary: A perenially lucid personal and political wake-up call
Review: Walden is a plea for self reliance and political understanding by a writer eager to get his reader to see that political and personal freedom in a democracy is gained through self knowledge and a recognition of what the individual owes to himself and the political state he finds himself in. Threau warns against the powers of media, money and government to run over the individual. He counsels self-knowledge and civil disobedience. He also writes with clarity and humour and the book is one that re-pays an alert reader with much to think about. This is not an autobiography or a nature essay but a meditation on how to be your own person in a mechanized world
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable for Walden readers
Review: Walter Harding was one of the greatest Thoreau scholars. His annotations include explanations of puns I hadn't understood, sources of quotes and references in the text, and information about Thoreau's time. I also learned that one of my favorite places in Concord was referred to by Thoreau as Fairyland Pond. The book also includes a map of the area in Thoreau's time, reproductions of HDT's manuscript pages, drawings and excerpts from his journal, and his map of Walden Pond with water depths he determined. I wouldn't say the book is perfect--there are still a few obscure references without notes, and some notes for points that are obvious--but it's as close as anyone is likely to come. Be sure to also read Harding's The Days of Henry Thoreau, a great biography.
Rating:
Summary: the most imspirational book ever.....
Review: When I first heard about this author in one of my classes, I felt that it was the most boring pices of information that I haveever heard. But, when I started to actually lusten to what he was actually saying it really got me thinking. I was the only onbe in my class that actually understood what he was saying in his stories. His writing has got me thinking different ways on everyday situation. I had never thought that I would start to think like this. His writing has got me to see things different than I ever thought that I would. What he did in his life is cool, going to live at a pond all by himself for about 2 years and find the essintials of life, is brilient. In resistance to civil government, I had never read better writing in my life. When he had to spend a night in jail and realized that it was not even a hard punishnment, for not paying his taxes. There are really no words that I can use that can explain my love for his writing, because it has just moved me to no end. I really wish that I could have been alive when he was so I could have gotten to know him better.
Rating:
Summary: the most imspirational book ever.....
Review: When I first heard about this author in one of my classes, I felt that it was the most boring pices of information that I haveever heard. But, when I started to actually lusten to what he was actually saying it really got me thinking. I was the only onbe in my class that actually understood what he was saying in his stories. His writing has got me thinking different ways on everyday situation. I had never thought that I would start to think like this. His writing has got me to see things different than I ever thought that I would. What he did in his life is cool, going to live at a pond all by himself for about 2 years and find the essintials of life, is brilient. In resistance to civil government, I had never read better writing in my life. When he had to spend a night in jail and realized that it was not even a hard punishnment, for not paying his taxes. There are really no words that I can use that can explain my love for his writing, because it has just moved me to no end. I really wish that I could have been alive when he was so I could have gotten to know him better.
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