Rating: 
Summary: The Transcendentalist Savage
Review: Scorning the mass slavery of modern industrial society, Thoreau conducted his most famous experiment in life: to live in solitude in a shack he builds himself on the edge of Walden Pond, on the land of Emerson, with whom he lived as a handyman and pupil. Thoreau, clearly, was no less radical than his mentor, Emerson, though he differs at least in the fact that he was not merely content with preaching, but actually strove to put his ideals into practice. The book is a profound statement of Transcendentalist individualism and self-reliance and a hymn to nature, contentment and joy. He recounts, at one point, the episode in 1845, during which he was imprisoned for one night for defying the local government and not paying his poll-tax. He mentions, in passing, how he allowed a runaway black slave to have safe passage through the region. His retreat into solitude was partly impelled by his disgust with the war with Mexico, and partly because he could not accept that he could live under a governemnt that was also a slave's government. Thoreau, a neo-Cynic, a modern stoic, emphasises a return to the basic, uncomplicated life, free from the cares and fetters of what he calls "odd-fellow society" and celebrates, above all, simplicity, magnanimity and trust. Glorying in the animal vitality of his body (though he was singularly unable to appreciate women) his ruminations encompass the most prosaic details of life in the woods, such as the migrations of birds, fishing, his own bean-farm, along with powerful insights into self-improvement, learning, generosity and other topics, interspersed with allusions to his favourite literature, the "Iliad" of Homer and the texts of ancient Hindu philosophy and religion. A refreshing and inspiring encounter with a fascinating individual in the history of letters.
Rating: 
Summary: Isolate, Nonconformist
Review: Thoreau lived for two years and two months at Walden Pond. He said the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Henry Thoreau asked hard questions. He related that when the Masschusetts Bay Colony was founded, earthen houses were built. They were convenient and suitable and they had the advantage of putting everyone in a position of equality and not making the poorer inhabitants feel discouraged. It distressed Thoreau that a good deal of the money spent for shelter and dress was for show, uneconomical. He farmed organically because he was only a squatter. He found that by working for about six weeks he could meet all of the annual expenses of living. He claimed that memorable events transpired in the morning. Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately. The sounds of the railroad penetrated the woods. Visitors were frequent during three seasons. In the wintertime basically he had only himself for company and some of the animals. In any season, the woods were surprisingly dark at night. Because he had no helpers or animals to assist him in cultivating the fields he felt that he ws more intimate with the beans in his beanfield. Songs have suggested that husbandry is a sacred art. The scenery of Walden was on a humble scale. The first ice was especially interesting. He reported seeing fox, jays, chickadees, and red squirrels in the the winter. In CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE he asserts that in a government that imprisons unjustly, the place of a just man is in prison. Thoreau underwent an overnight jail stay when he failed to pay a poll tax.
Rating:
Summary: Isolate, Nonconformist
Review: Thoreau lived for two years and two months at Walden Pond. He said the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Henry Thoreau asked hard questions. He related that when the Masschusetts Bay Colony was founded, earthen houses were built. They were convenient and suitable and they had the advantage of putting everyone in a position of equality and not making the poorer inhabitants feel discouraged. It distressed Thoreau that a good deal of the money spent for shelter and dress was for show, uneconomical. He farmed organically because he was only a squatter. He found that by working for about six weeks he could meet all of the annual expenses of living. He claimed that memorable events transpired in the morning. Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately. The sounds of the railroad penetrated the woods. Visitors were frequent during three seasons. In the wintertime basically he had only himself for company and some of the animals. In any season, the woods were surprisingly dark at night. Because he had no helpers or animals to assist him in cultivating the fields he felt that he ws more intimate with the beans in his beanfield. Songs have suggested that husbandry is a sacred art. The scenery of Walden was on a humble scale. The first ice was especially interesting. He reported seeing fox, jays, chickadees, and red squirrels in the the winter. In CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE he asserts that in a government that imprisons unjustly, the place of a just man is in prison. Thoreau underwent an overnight jail stay when he failed to pay a poll tax.
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