Walden and Civil Disobedience

The te xt is a ref lec tion upon the aut hor's sim ple liv ing in natu ral sur roun dings.

I first read "Walden" in a freshmen seminar course in American Lit, and it was quite daunting reading at the time. Thoreau seemed an over-rated author: he darts from topic to topic with little to no transition, he quotes obscure passages, he sermonizes. And perhaps most frustrating of all, he wants his writing to be ambiguous (see for instance, Chapter 18), and for an assiduous college student eager to absorb and analyze, this can be quite an overwhelming experience. So, I got very little of Thoreau at the time.Ten year's later, I decide that I would pick "Walden" up again. I told myself that I would stop whenever the reading became too discursive or abstract... And I did not stop until I reached the end!As any student of early American lit. knows, Thoreau built a small house for himself in the woods of Walden Pond in Concord, MA, where he lived for two years (1845-1847), documenting his experiences living there in "Walden." He hoed beans for a living, lived a mile from his nearest neighbor and survived on the absolute minimum that he could. In his downtime, he would swim, fish, read and take in his surroundings, describing every sight and sound with the utmost care. Thoreau creates for his reader an unforgettable Nature-observing experience with such richness of detail that we feel we are right there with him. We hear the owl's cry, we witness the loon diving into the pond and the two ants going head-to-head in battle, we see the blue of Walden Pond. He is a student of Nature of the highest order and extracts from each of these experiences a parable about humanity: what we lack and how we can be free. For Thoreau, Walden Pond is a place of purity, an oasis, an Eastern paradise on earth, a Ganges.An ardent non-conformist, Thoreau also uses this book as a sounding board for his "radical" views and practices. He detests the railroad and its encroachment upon his land (and more generally, that of technology on human and animal life). He refuses to pay taxes to a government that supports slavery and the Mexican War (for which he is briefly imprisoned during one of his sallies to the village). He prefers Eastern spirituality and meditation to Western religiosity. He spurns the high life and abstains from drinking and eating meat. He believes that man is in a dormant intellectual state, from which he can one day rise and embrace the dawn. And the list continues...Thoreau's prose is also rather unique. What one must remember is that he is faithful student of Emerson and like Emerson, his paragraphs often contain non sequiturs, digressions and sometimes outright contradictions. It was perhaps this lack of logical linearity that initially kept from enjoying his work as a college student. We must be indulgent with Thoreau: his wit, his aphorisms, his acumen are well worth the sometimes uncomfortable task of deciphering his prose. I am very glad that at nearly the same age as Thoreau, I took a journey to Walden Pond with him.

A classic book that has not aged as well as it might have. Thoreau made living in a self built shed a mile or so from where his mother did his laundry for him sound like a grand adventure. While his descriptions of nature can border on the poetic and certainly heartfelt, his protestations against the modernity of his time ring a bit hollow. Yes, work can be a burden and our culture's materialism exceeds common sense; however, he conveniently ignores the work done by others on his behalf and overstates his perception that government is useless and social order unnecessary. Much of it is the same simplistic wishful thinking heard from conservative voices that simply refuse to acknowledge society has moved on without them. I appreciated that this edition also contained Civil Disobedience.

Microsope works great, I use it to look at circuits for bad solders and also plants and bugs (just for fun). I have an older mac and the camera didn't seem to work with any of the stock software. The seller responded immediately to my email and emailed me back the viewing software within hours. The product does ship with software on a mini CD but since I have a slot type CD drive I wasn't able to use it. Once I installed the software everything worked perfectly. As noted by other reviewers the stand can feel a bit flimsy but it does its job and you can't expect anything too heavy duty for this price. Really good overall value,

I am not a person that reads everyday but I definetly recommend this book, and it deserves a place on your desk or your bookshelf. I had a Chinese version of this book when i was in high school, but this English one is with a very lovely and vintage cover, small and easy to carry. Walden is a book takes you to a peaceful and still real world that you can never be disappionted with if you have the patience to complete reading the first one or two chapters. And I will also recommend the Narrative of John Smith, by Conan Doyle in 1883, not a book about detective but it's very easy to read with profond feelings to life, even for now.

The book arrived on time and intact. The book is a great read. My kid was supposed to read it for the summer before senior year. I actually read it before he started. I enjoyed it and he is enjoying it too.

As a matter of fact, I've ended up using Walden as an example to emulate in my own life. Well, I'm sure Thoreau would be turning over in his grave if he saw the "simple life" I've come up with. Though my cabin is only 300 square feet, I have a Bose sound system connected to my powerful computer. I can watch my cable TV while working on the computer. I enjoy using an electric refrigerator, electric stove, hot water, a color printer, slide scanner, a "free phone" (Ooma), and two cats (Tweets a black Bombay, and Macoco an actual Egyptian Mau), and so on. Thoreau would probably faint on the spot if he entered my door. But when he got the hang of it, he'd order a dozen priceless books from Amazon.com at a very reasonable price!

The book is great but the delivery is terrible. The book came with a dirty cover and the pages are folded.

Ainda não tive a oportunidade de ler completamente, porém o autor é impecável em seus pensamentos, inclusive possuo outras obras dele. Quanto a qualidade do livro, as folhas possuem gramatura mais leve, parecendo de jornal, o que é meio que característico em livros em inglês. Mas veio bem embalado e sem nenhum defeito.

It's arrived on time and it's good quality.Thanks

good

I haven’t even read the book yet…. But whoever thought it was a good idea to put minimal spacing between words and lines…. My hats off to you for being so confident in assuming that people weren’t actually going to read the book. Buy a different copy…

Purchased this book to be sent over to Australia. I was on a very tight timescale as my daughter was home for a holiday and was taking book back as a gift.Needless to say book arrived the next day .We were both delighted and I know the recipient was delighted too.