Walden and Other Writings

Walden and Other Writings PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 0679642021
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 799

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Book Description
Henry David Thoreau's vision of personal freedom is indelibly etched on the American consciousness. 'We need the tonic of wildness,' Thoreau wrote in Walden, and by turning his back on town amenities to build a house on Walden Pond in 1845, he helped shape our notions of the individual, subsistence, and a moral relation to nature. Raising white beans and potatoes that he sold to his Concord neighbors, he stayed for two years; his book records both the philosophy he developed while living alone and the facts of his everyday life. Included here with the complete text of Walden are selections from Thoreau's first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; 'A Plea for Captain John Brown,' his eloquent defense of the American abolitionist's rebellion at Harper's Ferry, and such masterpieces as his famous essay 'Civil Disobedience,' in which he describes a night spent in prison for refusing to pay a poll tax to a government that condoned slavery.

Walden and Other Writings

Walden and Other Writings PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 0679642021
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 799

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Book Description
Henry David Thoreau's vision of personal freedom is indelibly etched on the American consciousness. 'We need the tonic of wildness,' Thoreau wrote in Walden, and by turning his back on town amenities to build a house on Walden Pond in 1845, he helped shape our notions of the individual, subsistence, and a moral relation to nature. Raising white beans and potatoes that he sold to his Concord neighbors, he stayed for two years; his book records both the philosophy he developed while living alone and the facts of his everyday life. Included here with the complete text of Walden are selections from Thoreau's first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; 'A Plea for Captain John Brown,' his eloquent defense of the American abolitionist's rebellion at Harper's Ferry, and such masterpieces as his famous essay 'Civil Disobedience,' in which he describes a night spent in prison for refusing to pay a poll tax to a government that condoned slavery.

Walden and Other Writings

Walden and Other Writings PDF Author: Brooks Atkinson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780594083382
Category : Authors, American
Languages : en
Pages :

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Walden

Walden PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400880793
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
One of the most influential and compelling books in American literature, Walden is a vivid account of the years that Henry D. Thoreau spent alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. This edition--introduced by noted American writer John Updike--celebrates the perennial importance of a classic work, originally published in 1854. Much of Walden's material is derived from Thoreau's journals and contains such engaging pieces from the lively "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" and "Brute Neighbors" to the serene "Reading" and "The Pond in the Winter." Other famous sections involve Thoreau's visits with a Canadian woodcutter and with an Irish family, a trip to Concord, and a description of his bean field. This is the complete and authoritative text of Walden--as close to Thoreau's original intention as all available evidence allows. This is the authoritative text of Walden and the ideal presentation of Thoreau's great document of social criticism and dissent.

Walden

Walden PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Walden; Or, Life in the Woods

Walden; Or, Life in the Woods PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Coffeetown Press
ISBN: 1603810072
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Walden details Thoreau's experiment with self-reliance living by a pond near Concord, MA in 1845-46. His intent is to explore the spiritual benefits of a simplified life. "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. When we consider what, to use the words of the catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields."

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau PDF Author: Laura Dassow Walls
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022634469X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 668

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Book Description
"[The author] traces the full arc of Thoreau’s life, from his early days in the intellectual hothouse of Concord, when the American experiment still felt fresh and precarious, and 'America was a family affair, earned by one generation and about to pass to the next.' By the time he died in 1862, at only forty-four years of age, Thoreau had witnessed the transformation of his world from a community of farmers and artisans into a bustling, interconnected commercial nation. What did that portend for the contemplative individual and abundant, wild nature that Thoreau celebrated? Drawing on Thoreau’s copious writings, published and unpublished, [the author] presents a Thoreau vigorously alive in all his quirks and contradictions: the young man shattered by the sudden death of his brother; the ambitious Harvard College student; the ecstatic visionary who closed Walden with an account of the regenerative power of the Cosmos. We meet the man whose belief in human freedom and the value of labor made him an uncompromising abolitionist; the solitary walker who found society in nature, but also found his own nature in the society of which he was a deeply interwoven part. And, running through it all, Thoreau the passionate naturalist, who, long before the age of environmentalism, saw tragedy for future generations in the human heedlessness around him."--

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Gramercy
ISBN:
Category : American essays
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description
Three complete books: The Maine Woods, Walden, Cape Cod.

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Concord River
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience

Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience PDF Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Aegitas
ISBN: 0369409574
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Henry David Thoreau's Walden is a philosophical treatise that documents the author's experiences living alone in the woods for two years, two months, and two days. Through his observations of nature, human society, and his own self, Thoreau explores themes of individualism, self-reliance, and the importance of simplicity. In Walden, Thoreau argues that people should simplify their lives and focus on the essentials. He believes that living in harmony with nature and minimizing one's material possessions can lead to a more fulfilling life. Thoreau also critiques societal norms and institutions, such as the government and the education system, which he believes stifle creativity and individual thought. Thoreau's writing style in Walden is poetic and reflective, often blurring the line between fact and fiction. He uses his experiences in the woods as a lens through which to examine deeper philosophical questions, such as the meaning of life and the role of the individual in society. In On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau argues that individuals have a moral obligation to resist unjust laws and government actions through nonviolent means. Thoreau's ideas about civil disobedience were influential in the movements for civil rights and social justice in the 20th century. Thoreau believes that individuals should not blindly obey the law, but instead use their own judgement to determine what is right and wrong. He argues that a person's conscience should take precedence over the law, and that disobedience can be a powerful tool for effecting change. Thoreau's essay is particularly critical of the United States government and its actions, including the Mexican-American War and the institution of slavery. He argues that individuals have a duty to resist these injustices, even if it means breaking the law. Despite his advocacy for civil disobedience, Thoreau emphasizes the importance of nonviolence. He argues that violence only begets more violence, and that peaceful resistance can be more effective in creating lasting change. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience is a powerful statement about the importance of individual conscience and the need to resist injustice. Thoreau's ideas about civil disobedience continue to inspire activists and advocates for social justice today.

Of Walden Pond

Of Walden Pond PDF Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN: 0823448584
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
From the award-winning author of Before She Was Harriet comes another work of lyrical beauty, the story of Henry David Thoreau and businessman Frederic Tudor—and a changing world. Thoreau and Tudor could not have been more different from each other. Yet both shared the bounties of Walden Pond and would change the course of history through their writings and innovations. This study in opposites contrasts the austere philosopher with the consummate capitalist (whose innovations would change commercial ice harvesting and home refrigerators) to show how two seemingly conflicting American legacies could be built side by side. Oddball/ tax dodger/ nature lover/ dreamer/ That’s what they called/ Thoreau. Bankrupt/ disgrace/ good for nothing/ dreamer/ That’s what they called/ Tudor. Celebrated author Lesa Cline-Ransome takes her magnificent talent for research and detail to plumb the depths of these two history-makers. The graceful text is paired with Ashley Benham-Yazdani’s period accurate watercolor and pencil artwork. In winter, readers see Tudor’s men sawing through the ice, the workhorses dragging the ice, and Thoreau observing it all; in spring, summer, and fall, the ice continues its journey across the globe with Thoreau and Tudor writing and reflecting in their respective diaries. An Author’s Note, which explores how Thoreau’s writings influenced such figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Frost, and Mohandas Gandhi, is included.