86 reviews for:

Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau

Ben Shattuck

3.85 AVERAGE

colkeen's review

3.0

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

colonel2sheds's review against another edition

4.25

inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

theyellowbrickreader's review

4.0

reflective fast-paced

thewintersings's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

ajs2268's review

5.0

inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

ephofmann's review

2.0

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I wanted to like this more than I did. Parts were interesting; I appreciated reflections on certain moments the author writes about ("'I've never seen a porky-pine'", for example) and generalizations/tie-ins with some of his interpretations of Thoreau's writing. However, I could not get over the fact that this book drips with the author's (and Thoreau's) privilege. The few times you think any notable reflection on that privilege, either the author's or Thoreau's, give way to... pretty much nothing; there is little reflection or recognition of this from the author. He just wanders out, mostly unprepared, strikes good fortune at most turns, and then makes some connections to lines selectively cut from Thoreau's writing. Two brief moments--one early on (reflecting on how he, as a white man, can go for ambling walks without issue) and one later (on Thoreau's misanthropic/racist recollections of his Penobscot guide Joe Polis)--both opened doors for this kind of reflection, and the author promptly failed to walk through them. Add in the moments spent on UFO abductions, reflecting on Thoreau's sexuality, and stuff like that, and the book felt jumbled, out of place.

I was hoping for a stronger sense of connection to the writing (the author's) and nature (as viewed by the author and Thoreau), but seen through a more modern lens of self-reflection and recognition. Instead, I finished the book disappointed.

cbalaschak's review

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

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"Will this all be ruined so slowly that I won't recognize it as ruin, only change?"

"Writing is willing permanence."

"Friendship is the fruit which the year should bear" HDT

"There is more divinity in the dark woods."

notallbooks_mp's review

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

paigeathena's review

4.0

reflective slow-paced

eegekay's review

4.75

adventurous informative inspiring reflective medium-paced