Walden and Other Writings

Rating:
Summary: Dumb!
Review: I have to make this short, sincee I will be going out with my boyfriend for a 4:00 date at McDonald's. Anyway, before my boyfriend drags me out of here, I will just say I hated this book entirely!!!! We should start an anti-Thoreau campaign for teh students, who are, unfortunately, being forced to read this thing for the finals. Ok, i gotta go, continue the struggle.

Rating:
Summary: The seductiveness of simplicity
Review: I read this book about every five years or so in
order to take inventory of my personal life. Soon
I find myself forgetting about DVD players and software
applications and begin to focus upon bringing
my life much more in tune with the harmonics of
nature. Thoreau has the ability to cut through the
messages of nonstop consummerism and force the reader to
evaluate the cutural norms of greed and individualism.
Why is it so hard to accept that man is of this planet
and we must learn how to balance our species goals and
desires with those of the other species of life which
inhabit this biosphere?

Rating:
Summary: Walden
Review: I truly enjoyed this read. It may help to listen to the audio cassette beforehand. I find Thoreau inspirational. Many times you step back and realize how beautiful all of life's intricacies are, how wonderful life truly is & how lucky we are. Thoreau has embraced every minute detail of natural life, as it was meant to be & has successfully captured it in print. I love the fact that each line is a "novel" in itself. I loved the book and listen to the audio cassette often. Buy it, buy it, buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely A Thinking Person's Book!
Review: I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could. I probably should give the book 5 stars, but I won't. If you aren't a conformist, you will really enjoy this book. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it! Thoreau's thoughts really delve into spiritual issues (subtlely most times) and how culture forms peoples' beliefs (whether they make any sense or not). There is infinite wisdom to be found in this book and I imagine the same questions will appeal to thinkers (if any are left by then) anytime in the future. It truly is sad that some of the reviewers didn't like this book at all, but to each his/her own. Some commented that anyone liking this book had been brainwashed, but I would argue the opposite. Today's youth (and adults) are brainwashed by advertising and the media as to what a "successful" life really entails. We've been programmed to buy, buy, buy without thinking one iota! Materialism is running rampant and it scares me to think that it is what our whole economy is run on (for the most part). Seems everyone these days is so busy with projecting an image to everyone that they ignore their souls--the blind leading the blind. We become so concerned about what others are thinking when essentially what does it matter? Debt is taking over peoples' lives while the rich get richer. We don't take the time to nurture our families, feed our souls, etc. b/c we're too busy trying to get ahead or too tired from trying. Thoreau's plea for simplicity is a message we all could use. Our lives have been decorated up greatly over the years, but the human condition remains essentially the same. Although Thoreau wasn't a professed religious man (not that you have to go to church to believe) I think his ideas are essentially spiritual in nature. It seems he did believe in a God. I think Christ's words accurately wrap up Thoreau's sentiment (poorly paraphrased) -- What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, if he forfeits his soul? As Thoreau's experience tells us, it's not just eternal life that we gain by finding perspective. We gain our life! Sorry to use this review as a preaching opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely A Thinking Person's Book!
Review: I would give this book 4.5 stars if I could. I probably should give the book 5 stars, but I won't. If you aren't a conformist, you will really enjoy this book. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it! Thoreau's thoughts really delve into spiritual issues (subtlely most times) and how culture forms peoples' beliefs (whether they make any sense or not). There is infinite wisdom to be found in this book and I imagine the same questions will appeal to thinkers (if any are left by then) anytime in the future. It truly is sad that some of the reviewers didn't like this book at all, but to each his/her own. Some commented that anyone liking this book had been brainwashed, but I would argue the opposite. Today's youth (and adults) are brainwashed by advertising and the media as to what a "successful" life really entails. We've been programmed to buy, buy, buy without thinking one iota! Materialism is running rampant and it scares me to think that it is what our whole economy is run on (for the most part). Seems everyone these days is so busy with projecting an image to everyone that they ignore their souls--the blind leading the blind. We become so concerned about what others are thinking when essentially what does it matter? Debt is taking over peoples' lives while the rich get richer. We don't take the time to nurture our families, feed our souls, etc. b/c we're too busy trying to get ahead or too tired from trying. Thoreau's plea for simplicity is a message we all could use. Our lives have been decorated up greatly over the years, but the human condition remains essentially the same. Although Thoreau wasn't a professed religious man (not that you have to go to church to believe) I think his ideas are essentially spiritual in nature. It seems he did believe in a God. I think Christ's words accurately wrap up Thoreau's sentiment (poorly paraphrased) -- What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, if he forfeits his soul? As Thoreau's experience tells us, it's not just eternal life that we gain by finding perspective. We gain our life! Sorry to use this review as a preaching opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: The positive reviews here say much about their authors...
Review: Lets cut to the chase, shall we? Academics and intellectuals like things written by other academics and intellectuals. They like "classics". Truth be told, this little tome is nothing but elitist, precious, fuzzy-minded rambling. Thoreau's poetic and mystical insights into "living off the land" are laughably naive and out of touch to anyone who has truly worked the land or lived in poverty. Its one more example of an intellectual "slumming" as some sort of lifestyle experiment...then writing about it in a gratingly self-congratulatory way. Wow, look at me, I lived here for TWO years! Did I mention that I built the cabin myself? Did I mention how cheaply I built everything? Did I mention how I sat for hours on end doing absolutely NOTHING? Did I mention how I walked into town everyday for supplies? Sure, Thoreau helped his family in their pencil making business, and thus wasn't materially rich, but why do his books only really appeal to well-off white folks? Because truly poor people know the reality of poverty. When all the poetry is stripped away, pretty though it may be, one is left with a self-indulgent fantasy about Thoreau's high concept and relatively low risk vacation.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible piece of literary junk
Review: Of all writings I have read to this date, never have I came across a more horribly written literary piece. The concepts of voluntary solitude which this author seem to advocate is badly presented through his more than mundane experience as a hermit, a spiritual, or what you will. The writings of other cultures, particularly that of the Eastern tradition, has been consistently poorly presented. In short, it is all a bunch of bs

Rating:
Summary: Horrible piece of literary junk
Review: Of all writings I have read to this date, never have I came across a more horribly written literary piece. The concepts of voluntary solitude which this author seem to advocate is badly presented through his more than mundane experience as a hermit, a spiritual, or what you will. The writings of other cultures, particularly that of the Eastern tradition, has been consistently poorly presented. In short, it is all a bunch of bs

Rating:
Summary: The American Classic
Review: Reading Walden some years ago was a euphoric experience. It has remained one of my favorite books. Perhaps the difference between my experience and those of the many students reviewing it here is that I read it not by assignment, but out of curiosity. It ended up being one of the reasons I decided to pursue a bachelors degree in English. It was long, but in the best sense of that word: a long, leisure stroll through the woods with a true philosopher as my companion. If you are "forced" to read it, why not choose to slow down and enjoy the scenery?

Rating:
Summary: Obsolete Editions
Review: Teachers and Thoreau fans beware: this anthology contains heavily redacted versions of Thoreau's works and is not a reliable textual source. The version of _A Week_ is missing huge chunks of vital material, though the editor claims that he has included a complete version. Many titles and smaller details are wrong as well. The source editions for this anthology are pre-WWII. Much has changed for the better in the interim, and you cheat yourself by not ordering a more recent anthology--the Library of America one is excellent, textually impeccable.