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Today marks the 195th birthday of writer Henry David Thoreau. Whether you’ve read his most notable work, Walden, or if you just happen to spend a lot of time browsing quote websites around the Internet, Thoreau will most likely strike a chord. I started as the latter – Walden is still on my list of books I’m determined to read, and one that I feel connected to despite having never read it in full.
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Thoreau was a notable supporter of the Transcendentalist movement through which he met Ralph Waldo Emerson, and some would say this is how Walden came to be, since it was on Emerson’s land that Thoreau built a small cabin off the shores of Walden Pond. In the cabin Thoreau conducted what he would forever describe as an experiment: he lived in the cabin for two years in an attempt to live away from what he considered to be an over-civilized world, and to exist – more than exist – independently. What resulted was Walden, which explores the concept of achieving natural harmony through simple living and separates the superfluous from the necessary in a man’s quest to obtain happiness.
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What strikes me as the most fascinating thing about the concept of Walden – and this is just an interpretation from the snippets I know; I’ll be sure to write something to accompany this post once I’ve finally read it – is how comfortably Thoreau approaches the idea of living a different life. This is part of the Transcendentalist movement, I’m sure, and maybe it wasn’t so extreme in its day, but now the concept of living simply, separating oneself from the unnecessary chaos of the every day seems almost unfathomable. I remember when Bon Iver‘s debut album came out years ago and it was such a big topic of mention that Justin Vernon had “locked himself away” in a cabin in Wisconsin for three months to write the songs. Of course in reality, Thoreau’s study wasn’t one of reclusive living – he was near town and only walking distance from his family home. But even so, one of the most acknowledged elements of the book is that he changed his life – uprooted himself a bit – in order to write it. I just find that, and society’s reaction to it, enthralling.
I know that some people say one does not read Walden, but rather “suffers through” it. I’m curious if I’ll still be as enchanted with the idea of it once I do read it. If anyone else has experience the book – either of the reading or suffering-through camp – I’d love to know your thoughts!
I’m a blogger of eight years, a self-taught graphic designer and a voracious reader since my very first mastering of The Foot Book. I live in New England where I can be found up to my eyebrows in books, with Dean Martin on the stereo and a glass of wine in hand.
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Like you, I have only experience Thoreau via mentions or quotes. Your post has taught me so much more! I imagine that some people (or many?) ‘suffer’ through “Walden” because it requires self-examination, and it is one of those books that require the reader to be completely ‘naked’ (in a metaphoric sense, of course!) in front of the work. I think the best writing is the one that transforms both writer and reader, and I have a feeling that Thoreau succeeded in this.
It’s odd that, for the past two or three decades, many people who write self-help books or do any sort of work involving self-improvement, are really recycling a subject Thoreau had already explored in length. Writing that deals with experience, rather than with ‘events’ or characters, has a smaller, more select audience. I’m a romantic at heart (in the sense of Goethe, Shelley, Beethoven and all that incredible group of geniuses), but the trascendentalist movement seems to have taken the passion of the romantics and added a lot of reason and analysis, which makes it so appealing to me, and I’m sure to many others (like you!).
I find his words inspiring and I have a hunch that once I read it, it will become my bible.
Thanks for writing this Casee, I can’t get enough!
xx B.
I find Thoreau and the Transcendentalists SO interesting. I haven’t read all of Walden, though I did read a part of it, and I thought it was really well-written! I didn’t do all of the start to finish, though, so who knows, maybe I would’ve suffered
. I also quite enjoy Emerson – I’ve read a little more of him than Thoreau, he writes beautifully!
I didn’t know that about Bon Iver, even I seriously love their music. Now that I know that, though, it totally makes sense to me – a lot of their songs have a very…nature-y sound to them. (Yes, I made that up, haha.)
Have you seen the movie Into the Wild? It’s about a university graduate who essentially does the same thing as Thoreau but to a much grander scale, and is very much inspired by the Transcendentalists. It’s really interesting, you should watch it! It’s not a documentary, but it’s based on real events.
- Laura