Walden Pond

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Boston, Ticknor and Fields: 1854.

The book in question, Walden was consistantly referenced in a movie I recently attended. The main character was known as a compelling and compassionate young man who wanted a simple life in exile, and was inspired by this book. I was curious as to why he chose to do what he did based on this book, and purchased it after somebody told me about its influence. The book is an autobiographical account of Thoreau's stay in the cabin he built on the shore of Walden Pond. The entire book takes place on the shore of the pond and the woods around the pond, barring a few flashbacks recounted. The book takes place during the middle of the Nineteenth century. The only factor that the time period plays into the book is the language, which is more similiar to Shakespearian than it is to modern English.

Thoreau starts the book by recalling how he built the house on the shore of Walden Pond, and its respective costs, whilst explaining that he wanted to live in solitude to process his philosophies and the nature around him. He wonders if the posession of items is merely a status symbol or if they really represent anything. He moves on to wonder the intentions of man, when watching workers around the lake. At the end of the book, Thoreau leaves Walden Pond, for the same reason he started living there. He originally wanted a new surrounding, and Walden Pond became a redundant concept, and wishing to start anew, Thoreau leaves the cabin, in order for others to use it.

The only important character in the book is Thoreau. The man had more resolve than any other of the time, and he constantly shows his devotion to his "experiment" of Walden Pond. He took polarized approaches to writing this book, constantly bouncing in between autobiographical events, peciliur philsophies that are approachable, and tedious, redundant details of everything that he felt like writing about. It was interesting to see Thoreau take an engaging idea, especially one that still applied to modern day life, and trail off with unneccesary and repetitive detail.

As for his philosophies, they are applicable and interesting. Thoreau questions the use of items and possessions, and extends to meanings of life. Thoreau makes solid points, which are agreeable, yet wears them out with constant examples of each situation.

This book was hit and miss. The novel was extremely enjoyable for half of the reading, usually when discussing the building of the house or the introduction of his thoughts on life. It was entertaining to read these different points of view, and was very informative, but the book became exhausting. It became harder and harder to read situations and examples of his ideas. Thoreau uses an extensive knowledge of books from around the world, including Confuscious' teachings, Indian philosophy, ancient Greek literature and religious texts. His points are confirmed with poems and translated works, and exposed me to many books I have never heard of, but it made the reading more dense and exhuastive.

Another book Thoreau wrote was Civil Disobedience. The book was based on an encounter Thoreau had when writing Walden Pond. It is of a cyncial and ascerbic style in comparison to Walden Pond. It is based on the point of the book where Thoreau is unjustifiably thrown into prison for not paying an unreasonable tax, whilst walking through Concord. He wrote the book, in dismay due to slavery and the Mexican-American War, and argues that people should not permit their government to overrule their citizens. I do not plan to read this book, due to Thoreau's dense writing style, and my disinterest with any more of his ideas.