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    Walden
    Walden
    Walden
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Walden

    Written by Henry David Thoreau

    Narrated by William Hope

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    About this audiobook

    In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the town for the country. Beside the lake of Walden, he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect – while surviving on eight dollars a year. From this experience emerged one of the great classics of American literature, a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that he saw as the main impulses of mid-nineteenth-century America.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateNov 1, 2001
    ISBN9789629547448
    Author

    Henry David Thoreau

    Henry Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817, and attended Concord Academy and Harvard. After a short time spent as a teacher, he worked as a surveyor and a handyman, sometimes employed by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Between 1845 and 1847 Thoreau lived in a house he had made himself on Emerson's property near to Walden Pond. During this period he completed A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and wrote the first draft of Walden, the book that is generally judged to be his masterpiece. He died of tuberculosis in 1862, and much of his writing was published posthumously.

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    Reviews for Walden

    4/5

    109 ratings75 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A classic and inspiring book about living a simple life.
    • 2/5
      Admittedly, I pretty much gave up on this after the first (very lengthy) chapter. I stopped focusing on it and eventually just skipped to the last chapter. It was an audiobook version, and I think part of the problem was the reader (slow, too many annoying and un-needed pauses, almost breathy - just bad to listen to). But, I've read about the book and the importance of the book many times, so I decided that I knew enough and that it was ok to call it quits.
    • 2/5
      The first chapter, Economy, is mildly interesting and I enjoyed it in a haze of self-congratulatory glee. From then onwards, Thoreau's urge to preach via forced metaphors becomes increasingly tiresome. Half way through I gave up and skipped to Conclusion.
    • 2/5
      I'm probably a horrible person who will never be able to fully embrace simple living because I can't get through Walden. I know Thoreau has some gems in there, but they're just hidden in the middle of so many words. I found it mind-numbingly boring.

      I first started reading it to get a sense for New England when I discovered that we were moving here. I did the same thing with Wallace Stegner's The Gathering of Zion when we moved to Utah and Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona when we lived in California, both times with great results. With Walden, however, I didn't have such a great experience.

      After a few months trying to trudge through, I decided to keep reading it because everyone says that you have to read Walden if you're going to embrace the principles of voluntary simplicity. I disagree. I think something like Duane Elgin's Voluntary Simplicity might be a better choice for someone hoping to get inspired towards simple living in the 21st century.

      In the end, I decided to simplify my life by removing this book from my currently-reading list so it could no longer taunt me there. If you're reading this review and have recommendations for books that will give an overall sense of the culture and history of New England (the stuff in the nearly 400 years since the Mayflower), please leave a comment.
    • 2/5
      I didn’t know what I was getting into with this one. I expected an easygoing, Walt Whitman-y kind of vibe. I didn't realize Thoreau was going to be such a boring, priggish braggart. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have a conversation with the man and be lectured and scolded all evening.

      The book is at its best when Thoreau is describing his observations of the natural world, and at its very worst when he's philosophizing and prescribing.

      There are plenty of good lines, but I think most of the best are widely circulated, so you don't need to read the book to hear them. One that was new to me: "I love the wild not less than the good."
    • 5/5
      Walden is an essential book for all readers. It is a guide book, a manual and a working document. It teaches us to examine the way we live, the way we perceive our own means of living. It raises questions of nature, beauty, society, God and the universe.These are the essential facts surrounding Walden;-One day Henry David Thoreau borrowed his neighbours axe and walked out into the woods. -Once there we made himself a home and planted himself some crops. -He spent his days working and his night times reading or walking. -He largely lived in solitude. He paid no taxes.-During and after his time their he composed 'Walden'This book is a powerful narrative on life which should be read by one and all. It is the most revolutionary book of its time and opens up the philosophies of Emerson and his contemporaries. Thoreau dares to do what others only think or dream of.
    • 3/5
      Thoreau set aside all worldly things and spent time in a small self-made home along the large pond known as Walden. Here he wrote down his musings on the natural world and everything else after spending so much time in near solitude.This book is a classic and one of the titles on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list, so it was only a matter of time before I finally got around to it. I had been looking forward to it as well, and perhaps that was my downfall. Quickly I learned that this wasn't really the book for me. Thoreau does make some excellent points about living a simpler life and being more concerned about a person's character than their clothing (and other worldly trappings). However, he goes a great deal further than I think most of us would agree with -- for instance, he seems to think furniture and coffee are among the needless luxuries we all indulge in far too much. True, these aren't strictly necessities, but I don't think many of us really want to part with them unless we absolutely had to do so. In a similar vein, he sneers at the education provided by colleges and pretty much dismisses them as useless; while I agree that practical skills are needed as well, I don't think we need to get rid of education all together!In fact, it was too difficult for me to not get frustrated by Thoreau's perceived superiority in doing this little experiment. He struck me as someone who would fit in perfectly today as the stereotypical hipster mansplaining why his lifestyle is the best and only way. Not everyone is able to just squat on another's land without getting shot by the police; not everyone is physically able to build their own home or live in relative isolation away from access to doctors among other things; and while Thoreau claims he could be left alone with just his thoughts forever (a point which I highly doubt or he would never have returned to society), there are few people who could get by without other human interaction. At one point, Thoreau essentially mocks the builders of the pyramids for being slaves who obeyed their masters rather than revolted -- as if things were as simply cut and dry as all that.The audio version of the book I had was read by Mel Foster who did an adequate job -- nothing to write home about, but not bad either.
    • 1/5
      I got 100 pages in and wanted to stick my head in a vat of boiling water. I HATED this book. I really hated it. How can one man talk so much shite about absolutely nothing? It honestly made me want to set things on fire. Who cares?! Who care about anything this man has to say? He doesn't care what anyone else has to say, so why listen to him? ARGH.
    • 4/5
      Walden turned out to be everything I expected. It was both an advocat for nature and environmentalism before such ever really existed in our minds. It was also a plead for simpleness and thought on behalf of the 19th-century people. He could see that people were changing and things were far too removed from what the original human condition used to be.This book is very applicable today, and I might even venture to say moreso than even at the time it was written. In the book Thoreau complains about how trains are making life too fast. What would he think of people who cannot even go to the grocery store without wearing a Bluetooth? What would he even think of a giant grocery store?Thoreau mentioned many of his colleagues whom came to his cottage or who he met during his walks. Although many of them weren't rich or worldly he still admired many for their straightforward approach to life. He was very critical of the modern cosmopolitan.The author gives a very plain look to doing things well. Almost too plain in my eyes since in the book nowhere does he mention what I believe is a very important aspect to life: responsibility to others. Be that as it may, his advice is still sound and pleasing to hear.My favorite portions of the book were related to his thoughts about lifestyle and reading. The concluding chapter is excellent as a summary of his beliefs in case one doesn't want to read through some of the tedious details in his later chapters (ie: size of ponds and how thick ice freezes in certain areas). I would happy recommend this book but it not so much an easy read anymore since the style is quite old-fashioned and I believe one could get almost as much out of reading half the book as the whole thing. If one is interested in reading a book that stands the test of time in the topics of simple and rewarding living this would be a great choice.
    • 5/5
      I had never read Walden prior to receiving this edition- though I have frequently used quotes from it that showed up in online searches! I can't compare this edition to previous ones, though as a novice reader, I can hardly imagine a better one. Bill McKibben's introduction and footnotes, are a wonderful bridge between the ideas and practicalities of 1854 and those of 2017. Walden is basically a series of essays, Henry David Thoreau's contemplations on the time he spent in seclusion, living off the land, while writing a novel. It is a beautiful meditation on simplicity and mindfulness. I am struck by the problems that seem timeless - Thoreau thought people in his time were overly materialistic! I read it rather quickly, so I could complete this review; now I plan to keep it at my bedside, and study a page each day in more depth.
    • 5/5
      This certainly is an amazing book. It follows a bit over two years in the life of Henry Thoreau, July 4, 1845 to September 6, 1847. It is during this time period he makes the decision to move to the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.

      The book follow his journey of essentially self discovery, and his observations of life during this period - including building himself a cabin, farming and reading/books amongst other things.

      It really is quite an interesting glimpse into not only the past, but also one mans views of the world. I don't agree with all his positions (like meat not being worth the effort to hunt/obtain), but I certainly do agree that a simpler life can be a more rewarding life. I certainly also would go build myself a cabin on the shores of a lake and live a simple life if such a thing were possible in this day and age but alas, even if buys such a piece of land you still can't build such a cabin thanks to local government rules - how the world has changed in a mere 200 years!

      I will end this review with a paragraph from the end of the book: "However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man's abode."
    • 5/5
      The first American to translate philosophy from India (parts of the Lotus Sutra), Henry David (HD) Thoreau had read that ice was being shipped from America to India, and decided to retreat to a cabin in the woods by Walden Pond, "to live deliberately."

      Later, Gandhi had read and was influenced by Thoreau. Later still, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had read and was influenced by Gandhi. Still yet later, kdis in Tiananmen Square, 1989, were quoting Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. So this book is an important genome in the spiral DNA-helix, between east and west. A treasure.

    • 4/5
      Thoreau built a cabin in the woods on the shore of Walden Lake and there attempted an experiment - how simple could he make his life. He found he could be happy with very few things. This is the book that recounts his experience. He writes about his philosophy, about living with less. I found myself agreeing with him in so many ways, until he got to the part about not needing to eat much, just a potato and some water. I had to draw the line somewhere! He describes the sounds, the color of the lake, the passing of the seasons, and the animals. The ant battle was particularly interesting. He also described the actual building of his house and other endeavors, sort of like a manual.I don't agree with all of his philosophy, and some of his notions are clearly dated, but I agree with his overall concept - we have too much extraneous stuff in our lives, and these things only serve to complicate it. We should live "deliberately," to quote Thoreau. We need to live our life the way we want to, not let things happen to us, not to collect belongings without thinking about how they will affect our life.
    • 3/5
      Book received from Edelweiss.While this is the same Walden that has been in print forever, I really liked reading this re-print of it. The annotations in the book added to Thoreau's writing and helped me to understand some of the things he wrote about that have always slightly confused me.
    • 4/5
      To read this when one is a teenager is ideal. After that, it's pretty easy to start looking at the transcendentalists and saying "but if we all did that, what would get done?"
    • 4/5
      The whole book reads like a journal of Thoreau's life in the woods. At some points it becomes very detailed and specific on the topic which he's talking about (fish, topography, plants, etc...) but it is worth reading through just to get to some of the best of his insights.
    • 3/5
      For the purposes of this review, I want to review not Walden, but this particular edition (ed. by McKibben and published by Beacon in 2017), which I received through LibraryThing's "Early Reviewer" programme. The literary merits and influence of Thoreau more generally are already rather well acknowledged, hence (presumably) the reason this edition exists. First, the book itself is very attractive. The typeface is pleasant, the paper is good quality, and the margins are not crowded. I did not read the full text of body of Walden again, but the chapters I re-read were physically easy to read. Though paperback, the cover is a nice creamy matte in a medium card stock weight, pleasant to touch and hold. McKibben notes that there are three types of "annotations" in this volume: definitions and citations for Thoreau's language and literary allusions, and also McKibben's "own occasional passing comments." He explains that the first two types of annotations are largely taken from other, previous critical editions, and, indeed, I did not think these differed at all from any of the other texts of Walden I have read, including versions in anthologies (such as the Norton). McKibben's own reflections I will address later.McKibben's introduction is reflective and not scholarly: he does not refer to any prevailing criticism of Thoreau, and instead previews the book by explaining his own experiences with the natural world and Thoreau, and trying to explain why Thoreau is still relevant to the modern reader. He makes a lot of claims about people who live today (c.p. "We've been suckled since birth on an endless elaboration of consumer fantasies, so that it is nearly hopeless for us to figure out what is our and what is the enchanter's suggestion," p.xviii). As the quotation I've just included will show, McKibben very much enjoys his figurative language and metaphors; both the bulk of the introduction and his own footnotes reflect similar stylistic choices. The introduction feels like a defense of reading Walden in today's world, but it did not illuminate my own understanding of Thoreau's text. Similarly, the "annotations" [really footnotes] of McKibben's own point out passages that he found interesting, and thoughts that he had while reading the book, but did not substantially illuminate the text or contribute to my enjoyment thereof. For instance, McKibben footnotes a reference to the locomotive by noting that "It is a sign of how much the times have changed that the railroad whistle now sounds like a quaint echo of the past--like the chorus of a country-western song" (109f). Not only do I not find this to be particularly true, but it does not actually benefit me as a reader, and there are many such annotations. They are not bad or wrong; they just did not really benefit me as a reader. I am an English teacher, and have taught Walden to students in both secondary school and at college/university. At $10.95 retail, I think this edition offers good value for money: it is readable, nicely formatted, and has a number of useful footnotes in addition to the discursive ones. However, I expect that it would break down under repeated use (I would not encourage my former high school, which re-issues texts to students from year to year, to buy it), and it does not include the depth of criticism that I would want as a university teacher. There are many good scholarly editions available under $20. However, this would probably be a nice gift for a friend who was unacquainted with Thoreau and enjoyed reading and/or the outdoors, especially as the tone of McKibben's footnotes is very discursive, friendly, and almost like a conversation ("what did you think? I was just pondering how . . .")In short, this isn't my favourite edition of Walden, but it has some very pleasant qualities.
    • 4/5
      More of a collection of essays than a unified narrative, Walden is a little like reading somebody's blog. In fact, I'm sure that Thoreau would have loved the internet and been an avid blogger. His rants are sometimes funny (the old have no useful advice for the young and thus should not give any) and sometimes tedious (the endless descriptions of the ice on the pond), but well worth the read.Incidentally, I had a college professor whose research was on good old Henry David. He insisted that Thoreau was pronounced "THOR-oh", not "thuh-ROE". The internet agrees, but I've never heard anyone actually say it that way.
    • 5/5
      One of my all-time favorites that I have revisited many, many times.
    • 4/5
      I don't think I can really review Thoreau; Walden is a pillar of the Western canon, worth not just reading but re-reading. The choice for the reader is really which edition, or why this edition? This paperback is printed on heavy, acid-free, creamy ecru paper stock and laid out in a crisp digital typeface. The introductory essay (23 pp) by Bill McKibben is thoughtful but I suspect most readers are more interested in Thoreau. His annotations are provided as footnotes and include a mix of cross references to sources of Thoreaus quotations and allusions plus un-sourced thoughts from McKibben. The cross references are brief and thankfully not terribly numerous; one could imagine an annotated version of Walden with annotations taking up more space than the text, as in some versions of scripture. The observations from McKibben, which center around desire to modernize the perspective of the text, are often less welcome. For example, when Thoreau addresses the reader, "I have no doubt that some of you who read this book ... come to spend borrowed time, robbing your creditors of an hour," McKibben notes, "The average American household now spends 14% of its income to pay off debts." What is the source for that statistic? And why, with an average of one note per 3-4 pages of Walden, does this aside merit a note? Ultimately, that is the conundrum with an annotated version: a fully annotated version would take up at least as much space as Walden itself and would get in the way of reading the text. There is certainly a place for such a version, next to a readable, unadorned copy of Walden, even if Thoreau himself would deride the idea. This edition is too sparsely annotated to be the former but too cluttered to be the later.
    • 4/5
      There's no doubt about it, Henry David Thoreau was a very interesting man. An artist, a philosopher, an intellectual. I mean, he went into the woods and lived in a cabin for two years. He built the cabin himself. He just said "screw you, society" and left for a while, then came back and wrote a beautiful tome about it.He goes into excruciating detail about nature many, many times. Sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it's just painful. He also goes into great detail about accounts and history and numbers and a bunch of stuff that I don't really care about, but he found important. He finds a lot of things very important, but he finds a lot of other things very unimportant. At times I would nod my head in agreement, but other times screw up my face in disbelief.Thoreau's a little full of it. But he's also pretty cool.
    • 4/5
      Devastatingly wonderful. I had read parts of this at uni, of course, but never the whole work. I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, or perhaps many, but it is the heart of a movement which I hold very dear.
    • 5/5
      Henry David Thoreau begins Walden with an explanation, this was a brief respite from his "civilized life" that had taken up two years at some time in the past. Now he is once again a "sojourner in civilized life." Using the word sojourner suggests the association of material with civilization and provides a contrast with the natural life that he had experienced at Walden Pond. But the presence of nature does not prevent Thoreau from quickly turning his narrative to a discourse on his personal life and internal thoughts leading to the comment about philosophers quoted above. His life at Walden Pond appeared to provide simplicity and independence, two of the criteria listed, but the emphasis in "Economy"--the first chapter of Walden--is on the practical aspects of the life of the philosopher.These aspects are laid out in an orderly manner that begins with several pages about the "when", "what", and "how" of his life at Walden Pond. His simple life was one that included only the "necessities", noting that , "the wisest have ever led a more simple and meager life that the poor. The ancient philosophers, Chinese, Hindoo, Persian, and Greek, were a class than which none has been poorer in outward riches, non so rich in inward." (p 14)While what he did, in addition to writing, included: "To anticipate, not the sunrise and the dawn merely, but, if possible, Nature herself!" . . . "trying to hear what was in the wind, to hear and carry it express!"(p 17)His paean to nature passes and he continues an orderly disquisition on building his house, its design, his income and outgo, and baking bread. He describes making his furniture, once again with emphasis on simplicity: "a bed, a table, a desk, three chairs". Later, in the "Visitors" chapter, he will explain that his three chairs include "one for solitude, two for friendship, and three for society." (p 140) Multiple visitors were invited to stand while they shared Thoreau's abode.The "Economy" section is by far the longest in the book and, while Thoreau discusses many more details of his life at the pond, he concludes with a meditation on philanthropy which he decides "that it does not agree with my constitution." The dismissal of philanthropy, at least for himself, seems curious for one who portrays himself as a philosopher. Philanthropy originates from the Latin "philanthropia", and originally from the Greek word "philanthropia", meaning "humanity, benevolence," from philanthropos (adj.) "loving mankind, useful to man," from phil- "loving" + anthropos "mankind". But perhaps Thoreau did not perceive the practice of philanthropy in Concord to coincide with this derivation. As he says "There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted." (p 74) He goes on to discuss the issue at length with a concluding and consistent (with his thought) riposte that seems apropos for the end of this first note on Walden."If, then, we would indeed restore mankind by truly Indian, botanic, magnetic, or natural means, let us first be as simple and well as nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world."( pp 78-79)This then seems to bring together the simplicity and practice of the philosopher to be "well as nature ourselves."
    • 5/5
      Makes me wanna go live in the woods like On the Road makes my feet get itchy to get movin'.
    • 3/5
      The beginning has a lot of deep thoughts all at once, and the rest of it has so much description. I liked parts of it, but I felt like other parts of it dragged on. At times though, I got the feeling that this was more of a problem with me than it is a problem with the book. In our society today, I don't think that many of us have the patience and attention spans needed to really appreciate a book of this type, especially considering that it's so focused on nature. Maybe that's a sign of something...I'm found a lot of the description to be nice (especially some of the descriptions of animals that made me smile), but I felt myself wanting to be there to see and experience for myself instead of reading Thoreau's often highly individualized descriptions.Some parts of this book really stood out to me, like the image of millions of ants battling to the death enveloping Thoreau's cottage. I might try to read this again someday, but in smaller bits, taking the time to appreciate each new idea and image. Maybe I'll like it better a few years from now.
    • 3/5
      Henry David Thoreau travels to Walden Pond and spends two years in a cabin in the woods, writing, visiting friends, and pondering what it means to truly live.It's the great American classic we all read in school, right? 2017 is the bicentennial of Thoreau's birth, so I reread it as part of a Massachusetts Statewide Read. This time it wasn't for school, and I was determined to give it a fair shake. I found his attitude really grating and, at times, boring. I think Thoreau was really trying to shake people up and get them to argue with him, which he does successfully. I definitely wanted to argue with him, so I was in a bad mood reading most of the time. But, it's an important piece of American literature historically and I'm glad I read it.
    • 4/5
      A classic work that still inspires. I shall enjoy reading this and passing it along to others.
    • 5/5
      Henry David Thoreau's story follows his simple life at Walden Pond and his musings on life and society.At a first glance, "Walden" may seem to be a problematic work to discuss in a high school classroom. It is definitely a very dense work, and more suited for avid readers. However, the discussion that can occur as a class after reading this work is extremely important. There are ample opportunities to examine writing style as well as space for an in-depth discussion of the role of society and the individual.
    • 4/5
      there were about 60 boring pages between 170 and 230, but before and after that, I just kept underlining like mad and saying to myself, "yes! yes!" because I resonated with almost everything Thoreau had to say. One of the few books without a plot that I was able to finish from beginning to end. Loved it.
    • 3/5
      Easy to see why this book is such an integral part of history and culture in the USA. A celebration of individualism and self-reliance. It's a pity that some Americans don't recognise that the world has changed since the book was written so it doesn't provide the guide to the good life that it once did.