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annegirl's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
tricky_clown02's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
pt_barnum's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
This is a book I am extremely conflicted on, as you may have deduced from the odd star count. On the one hand, Walden works incredibly well as a philosophy book. Henry David Thoreau is one in a million, as he was an incredibly intelligent individual who seems keenly invested in and knowledgeable of his surroundings, to the point where I have to look up the natural vocabulary he uses every minute or two. He was an extraordinarily wise philosopher, spouting quotes about the nature of wealth, class, society, and tradition that all have immense value. Lastly, he was a seasoned outdoorsman, able to live on his own terms in the middle of the woods, perfectly balancing independence with responsibility. Any of these things are admirable on their own, but together they are remarkable. This means that when Thoreau is talking about philosophy, the nature of humanity, society, economics, whatever, it all comes off as really profound and important. It's very satisfying to read, especially as someone who really cares about philosophy.
However, that's not the whole book.
The first half of the book is great, as a lot of it is an explanation of Thoreauvian philosophies and the way he looks at life in a world transitioning towards industrialization. The final chapter is superb as it perfectly wraps up his thoughts in a way that prods the reader to question themselves and their role in society like nothing else could. The rest of the book, however, is a slog. A lot of it is about the habits of the animals around his cabin throughout the seasons, he talks about Walden Pond in excruciating detail, even at one point spending multiple pages simply talking about his measurements of the depth of the pond during the winter. If you wanted to learn about the nature around Walden Pond and New England, this would be a great resource, but considering I just wanted to read about his philosophies, and that I found Thoreau's writing style to be clunky and hard to read (even by 19th century standards), I didn't care for it. I didn't care for the over 100 pages of it, truthfully.
However, that's not the whole book.
The first half of the book is great, as a lot of it is an explanation of Thoreauvian philosophies and the way he looks at life in a world transitioning towards industrialization. The final chapter is superb as it perfectly wraps up his thoughts in a way that prods the reader to question themselves and their role in society like nothing else could. The rest of the book, however, is a slog. A lot of it is about the habits of the animals around his cabin throughout the seasons, he talks about Walden Pond in excruciating detail, even at one point spending multiple pages simply talking about his measurements of the depth of the pond during the winter. If you wanted to learn about the nature around Walden Pond and New England, this would be a great resource, but considering I just wanted to read about his philosophies, and that I found Thoreau's writing style to be clunky and hard to read (even by 19th century standards), I didn't care for it. I didn't care for the over 100 pages of it, truthfully.
junyan's review against another edition
1.0
额 才知道梭罗在湖边住的几年都是他妈妈在洗衣做饭照顾他。。。他在标榜什么solo life in the woods啊？？