About this title: Thoreau's classic account of the solitary life, describing his attempts to simplify his life and sort out his priorities by living alone in a cabin beside Walden Pond for nearly two years, is one of the most influential books ever written. The bible of the environmental movement, WALDEN vividly portrays Thoreau's reverence for nature, and his ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Signet, USA
Date Published: 1960
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Signed by previous owner. Cover has small crease. Otherwise in great condition. Ships same day or next. p255 with afterwords by Perry Miller Twenty Second Printing. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781593080266ISBN:1593080263
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Some damage to the cover but integrity still intact, binding slightly damaged but integrity still intact, possible writing in margins, possible underlining and highlighting of text. read more
"This book definitely rocked my world in college: The idea of civil disobedience, which of course Thoreau wasn't the first to come up with, was an astounding idea for me. Taking personal responsibility for all your actions - that you agreed to a lot of things you may intellectually disagree with just by NOT taking action against it. I now look at this book as one that started me thinking about change and resistance on an individual and daily basis. Even though I now believe change can be more than an individual movement, but this book really allowed me to think differently. It is also such a definitive American book, that was important understand a lot of American philosophy."
"Walden and I have a love-hate relationship. Until the very last chapter, I hated this book. I felt that Thoreau was being extremely arrogant and rather condescending towards the reader from the beginning. However, in "Conclusion", he jumps off of his pedestal of eminent knowledge and sits down with the reader, quietly imparting valuable pieces of wisdom. That chapter changes my opinion of this book and makes me love it.
While I have read Civil Disobedience, honestly, I don't remember much about it..."
"Thoreau said, "A written word is the choicest of relics." As someone who loves to read, I agree completely.
There were some real gems in this book - the sections on 'Sound' and 'Solitude' may end up being my favorite part of the book, since I also love watching & listening to nature. And he spent a very interesting 4 pages describing a war between red ants & black ants! But then he followed that up with a long, boring description of Walden Pond, how its shoreline is made of a belt of smooth, rounded white stones, how it rises & falls, etc. I guess I couldn't understand how he could make one so interesting and the other so boring - well, maybe I can; he couldn't seem to resist pontificating and judging. According to Thoreau, age does not bring wisdom; he's 30 & has not heard anything valuable from his seniors - sounds like a very strong ego in play, and it came thru at unfortunate times for this reader.
Am I sorry I read this? No. Will I ever read it again? No."
"This is perhaps one of my favorite nonfic books and a great piece of literature. Then again, this may be personal bias because I feel a strong cameraderie with Thoreau. His aphorisms and insights ring true with me, and who doesn't want to live in a self-built cabin on a lake in the high country, really? Well, a lot of people, I'm sure. Hell, even I'd have trouble without my morning mochas from Starbucks. lol But I truly like Thoreau's ideals of self-reliance, independence, and appreciation of the natural instead of the artifice of cities and "modern society". Civil Disobedience is a wonderful short essay on the joys of Minimalist Government. Thoreau best summises his argument with his opening statement: "That government is best which governs least." Of course Thoreau's main "beef" with the government at the time was his imprisonment over tax evasion, because he refused to pay a tax for a war he didn't support... ironic given that less than a hundred years prior the Colonies had separated from Britain under basically the same pretense (yes, I'm aware there was more to it than that, but that was the "publicized beef"). My, how quickly history is forgotten and unlearnt."
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