Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Autore di Walden ovvero vita nei boschi
Sull'Autore
In September 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne noted this social encounter in his journal: "Mr. Thorow dined with us yesterday. He is a singular character---a young man with much of wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is mostra altro as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and somewhat rustic, although courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty. On the whole, I find him a healthy and wholesome man to know." Most responses to Thoreau are as ambiguously respectful as was Hawthorne's. Thoreau was neither an easy person to like nor an easy writer to read. Thoreau described himself as a mystic, a Transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher. He is a writer of essays about nature---not of facts about it but of his ideals and emotions in its presence. His wish to understand nature led him to Walden Pond, where he lived from 1845 to 1847 in a cabin that he built. Though he was an educated man with a Harvard degree, fluent in ancient and modern German, he preferred to study nature by living "a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust." Knowing this, we should beware of misreading the book that best reflected this great experience in Thoreau's life: Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). It is not a handbook of the simple life. Though there are elements in the book of a "whole-earth catalogue" mentality, to focus on the radical "economic" aspects of Thoreau's work is to miss much in the book. Nor is it an autobiography. The right way to read Walden is as a "transcendental" narrative prose poem, whose hero is a man named Henry, a modern Odysseus in search of a "true America." Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1846, exactly two years, two months, and two days after he had settled there. As he explained in the pages of Walden: "I left the woods for as good a reason as I went to live there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one." Growth, change, and development were essential to his character. One should not overlook the significance of his selecting July 4 as the day for taking possession of his residence at Walden Pond, a day that celebrates the establishment of a new government whose highest ideal is individual freedom. In terms of Thoreau's redefinition of the nation-idea, "the only true America" is that place where one may grow wild according to one's nature, where one may "enjoy the land, but own it not." Thoreau believed that each person should live according to individual conscience, willing to oppose the majority if necessary. An early proponent of nonviolent resistance, he was jailed briefly for refusing to pay his poll tax to support the Mexican War and the slave system that had promoted that war. His essay "On Civil Disobedience" (1849), which came from this period of passive resistance, was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi (who read it in a South African jail) as the basis for his campaign to free India. Martin Luther King, Jr. later attributed to Thoreau and Gandhi the inspiration for his leadership in the civil rights movement in the United States. Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. His health declined over three years with brief periods of remission, until he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly The Maine Woods and Excursions, and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of A Week and Walden. He died on May 6, 1862 at age 44. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno
Opere di Henry David Thoreau
Walden / The Maine Woods / A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Civil Disobedience (1996) 47 copie
The Concord and the Merrimack; excerpts from A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1954) 41 copie
Citizen Thoreau: Walden, Civil disobedience, Life without principle, Slavery in Massachusetts, A plea for Captain John… (1996) 33 copie
Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life Without Principle (Literary Classics (Prometheus Books)) (2011) 24 copie
Henry David Thoreau, The Poet's Delay: A Collection of Poetry by America's Greatest Observer of Nature (1992) 23 copie
Henry David Thoreau: Walden, The Maine Woods, Collected Essays and Poems: A Library of America College Edition (Library… (2007) — Autore — 21 copie
The Higher Law: Thoreau on Civil Disobedience and Reform (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2004) 21 copie
The wind that blows is all that anybody knows;: The thoughts of Henry David Thoreau (A Stanyan book, 5) (1970) 20 copie
A Yearning Toward Wildness: Environmental Quotations from the Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1991) 18 copie
Early Spring in Massachusetts (The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: with Bibliographical Introductions and Full… (1893) 17 copie
The Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau: Canoeing in the Wilderness, Walden, Walking, Civil Disobedience and More (2012) 15 copie
In the Woods and Fields of Concord: Selections from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (1982) 14 copie
The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau: Volume 1: 1834 - 1848 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2013) 14 copie
Thoreau: Walden / The Maine Woods / A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Civil Disobedience (1997) 14 copie
Resistance to Civil Government and Other Writings (Books That Changed the World Series) (2005) 13 copie
Of Woodland Pools, Spring-Holes and Ditches: Excerpts from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau (2010) 12 copie
Résister: à la tentation du laissez-faire, au réformisme et à l'esprit commercial des… (2011) 11 copie
Civil Disobedience; Walden (selections); The Death of Ivan Ilych (Great Books Foundation First Year Course, VIII) (1955) 11 copie
Grolier Classics: Robinson Crusoe, Walden, Mediations of Marcus Aurelius, Oedipus the King (1956) 10 copie
WALDEN - and Other Writings: Civil Disobedience; Slavery in Massachusetts; A Plea for Captain John Brown; Life Without… (2000) 10 copie
The Thoreau Log: A Documentary Life of Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 (American Authors Log) (1992) 9 copie
To Live Deliberately: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For (Obvious State Classics Collection) (2019) 9 copie
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Volume 8: 1854. (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2002) 7 copie
Transcendentalism Collection: Thoreau’s Walden, Walking & Civil Disobedience, Emerson’s Self-Reliance,… (2020) 7 copie
Vom Wandern: [Was bedeutet das alles?] (Reclams Universal-Bibliothek) (German Edition) (2013) 6 copie
The Essential Henry David Thoreau Collection: 4 Books in 1 | Walden | Civil Disobedience | A Week on the Concord and… (2021) 6 copie
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, Volume 7: 1853-1854 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2009) 5 copie
The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau: Volume 2: 1849-1856 (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) (2018) 4 copie
Thoreau's complete works 4 copie
Denken mit Henry David Thoreau: Von Natur und Zivilisation, Einsamkeit und Freundschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik (2008) 4 copie
The Dream of the Toad 3 copie
Simplify: Selected Writings from Henry David Thoreau; Walden, Civil Disobedience, Life Without Principle, Reform and… (2010) 3 copie
The Library a Wilderness 3 copie
Poems of Nature 3 copie
The transmigration of the seven Brahmans; a translation from the Harivansa of Langlois (1932) 3 copie
L'esprit commercial des temps modernes et son influence sur le caractère politique, moral et littéraire d'une nation (2007) 2 copie
Vita di uno scrittore 2 copie
A Desobediência Civil Seguido de Walden. Rebeldes e Malditos. Convencional (Em Portuguese do Brasil) (2016) 2 copie
The First And Last Journeys Of Thoreau: Lately Discovered Among His Unpublished Journals And Manuscripts (2007) 2 copie
Selections from Thoreau 2 copie
Cape Cod : volume II 2 copie
Pensoj el Valdeno 2 copie
La d©♭sob©♭issance civile ; suivi de Visiteurs : propos sur un b© cheron canadien-fran©ʹais (1982) 2 copie
Walden (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) 150th Anniversary e edition by Thoreau, Henry David (2004) Paperback (2004) 2 copie
The New Walden 2 copie
Primavera 2 copie
Cape Cod, vol. 1 1 copia
Walden, sau viața în pădure 1 copia
ROBINSON CRUSOE Franklin Library 1 copia
A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-slavery and reform papers. By Henry D. Thoreau. 1866 [Leather Bound] 1 copia
Жизнь вне условий 1 copia
Les forêts du Maine : Suivi de Une excursion au Wachusett et La succession des arbres en forêt (2018) 1 copia
Уолден или Жизнь в лесу 1 copia
Shoe-strings 1 copia
A desobediência civil 1 copia
The Angle of Dazzle 1 copia
On the study of disobedience 1 copia
Opere scelte 1 copia
L'esclavage au Massachusetts : Le journal Heald of Freedom ; Wensell Philips au lycéum de Concord (2018) 1 copia
Journal (volumes 2–12 & 14) 1 copia
Walden ; Sartor Resartus 1 copia
コッド岬 浜辺の散策 1 copia
Mosbindja Civile 1 copia
ソロー 博物誌 1 copia
ヘンリー・ソロー全日記 1851年 1 copia
Sobre la desobediencia civil. Walden y la vida en los bosques. Los últimos días de John Brown. Profesión de fe (2014) 1 copia
La vida en los bosques 1 copia
Nature Walking 1 copia
Spring 1 copia
The Works of Henry David Thoreau 1 copia
POETICAS DEL CAMINAR 1 copia
Camping in the Maine woods 1 copia
The Illustrated modern library 1 copia
Succession of forest trees 1 copia
Week of the Concord 1 copia
DESOBEDIÊNCIA CIVIL (P10L37) 1 copia
The Maine Woods and Walden 1 copia
Walden and Civil Disobedience (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) [WALDEN & CIVIL DISOBEDIENC -OS] 1 copia
American writers series 1 copia
THOREAU - Four Writings 1 copia
Days of Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau's Essay on the Duty of Civil Disobedience with Photographs of… (1970) 1 copia
Days of Civil Disobedience DESK CALENDAR 1970 / 2015 (with photos of civil disobedience) (1970) 1 copia
Some unpublished letters of Henry D. and Sophia E. Thoreau; a chapter in the history of a still-born book .. (2007) 1 copia
Desobeir 1 copia
Thoreau's Journals — Autore — 1 copia
Życie bez zasad : eseje 1 copia
An Ideal 1 copia
The Chronicles of the Cid 1 copia
A Walk to Land's End 1 copia
The Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau (9 Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau Including Cape Cod, Excursions, On… (2015) 1 copia
Friendship, Love & Marriage By Henry D. Thoreau and a Little Journey to Henry D. (1923) — Collaboratore — 1 copia
Nessun titolo 1 copia
Selected writings 1 copia
Ktaadn and the Maine Woods in Sartain's union magazine of literature and art, July-Dec. 1848 1 copia
Henry David Thoreau on Education 1 copia
The Poems of Henry David Thoreau 1 copia
The writings of Henry David Thoreau ; with bibliographical introductions and full indexes Volume 10 1 copia
Henry David Thoreau Collection: Walden, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,… (2021) 1 copia
Coratge cívic 1 copia
The Maine Woods (1864) 1 copia
Thoreau’s Journals 1 copia
The Walk to Land's End 1 copia
Woodshed 1 copia
Summer (misfiled) 1 copia
Two fragments from the Journals 1 copia
“Sic Vita” 1 copia
Kring Bellman 1 copia
Collected Works of Henry David Thoreau (Illustrated): Philosophical and Autobiographical Books, Essays, Poetry,… (2017) 1 copia
Still Deep & Sweet 1 copia
Survey of a Swamp 1 copia
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers: The Writings of Henry David Thoreau with Bibliographical Introductions and… (1906) 1 copia
Henry David Thoreau Collection: Walden, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Walking, and Cape Cod (2020) 1 copia
On Water 1 copia
Περπατώντας 1 copia
A wood fire from Walden 1 copia
نافرمانی مدنی 1 copia
A Tribute to John Brown 1 copia
Reform and the Reformers 1 copia
Thomas Carlyle and His Works 1 copia
On Land 1 copia
A Vida nos Bosques 1 copia
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Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome legale
- Thoreau, David Henry
- Data di nascita
- 1817-07-12
- Data di morte
- 1862-05-06
- Luogo di sepoltura
- Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- USA
- Luogo di nascita
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Luogo di morte
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- Luogo di residenza
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York, USA - Istruzione
- Harvard College (AB|1837)
- Attività lavorative
- teacher
writer
essayist
poet
philosopher
inventor (mostra tutto 7)
pencil maker - Relazioni
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo (friend)
Alcott, Louisa May (student)
Fuller, Margaret (friend)
Jackson, Lidian (friend) - Organizzazioni
- Underground Railroad
Huckleberry Party
Transcendentalism - Breve biografia
- Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.
He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an anarchist. Though "Civil Disobedience" seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government—"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government"—the direction of this improvement contrarily points toward anarchism: "'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."
Utenti
Discussioni
Walden by Henry David Thoreau – STEEL 2022 in Fine Press Forum (Settembre 2023)
Walden in Book talk (Novembre 2017)
1001 Group Read, June, 2012: Walden in 1001 Books to read before you die (Luglio 2014)
Recensioni
Liste
Five star books (1)
Sonlight Books (1)
Must-Read Maine (1)
Walking (1)
Trees (1)
Elegant Prose (1)
1970s (1)
Victorian Period (1)
Winter Books (1)
Folio Society (1)
Nature Writing (2)
Unread books (3)
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Statistiche
- Opere
- 532
- Opere correlate
- 63
- Utenti
- 42,726
- Popolarità
- #402
- Voto
- 3.9
- Recensioni
- 444
- ISBN
- 1,935
- Lingue
- 27
- Preferito da
- 188
Prendiamo uno degli esempi che fa Thourea nel libro: i vestiti, che lungi dall’essere semplicemente un modo per proteggersi dal freddo e coprire le pudenda, sono diventati un modo per rimarcare le differenze di classe e per pavoneggiarsi in società. Quindi propone di mettersi addosso solo vestiti utili e funzionali.
Ora, non è che Thoreau dica qualcosa di sbagliato, ma è molto semplicistica: i vestiti hanno anche una dimensione culturale e sociale. Sono uno dei modi che usiamo per presentarci al mondo, per dire che siamo in un certo modo, o abbiamo un certo ruolo; ci sono luoghi dove si deve andare vestitə in maniera rispettosa (pensiamo ai luoghi di culto), oppure altri dove si può dare libero sfogo alla creatività.
Ovviamente, tutto questo può cambiare ed evolvere, ma dire che tutto questo è solo vanità mi sembra molto riduttivo ed è stato un po’ il leitmotiv del libro. Thoreau dice molto cose interessanti, ma con troppe semplificazioni, oppure affermando a parole che tuttə sono liberə di fare come meglio credono, ma nei fatti lui ha fatto la scelta più giusta.
Se volete leggerlo, armatevi di pazienza: Thoreau farà affermazioni che ve lo faranno sentire molto vicino, per poi irritarvi a morte un momento dopo con qualche uscita da bacchettone della peggior specie. Tenete duro e pensare che per essere del 1854 non è poi così male...… (altro)