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"Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they are written”.
Ironically, I find this quote both incredibly relevant and irrelevant to Walden. I read the first chapter, Economy, so deliberately, fully engrossed and used up my highlighter (a first). His questioning of conventional systems that I’ve never questioned - shelter, husbandry, work, philanthropy, technology - was thought provoking and still relevant 150 years later, maybe even more now.
As someone who values simplicity and self-reliance, I cheered as Walden pushed me to take my beliefs beyond the safety net of conventionality, an example of how “books let us learn, people have before us wondered and thought about and answered (in their own ways) all the questions we are thinking”. However, as I learned more about his time in the wood, I found it a bit indulgent and arrogant. It is tempting to run away from reality (e.g trends like #vanlife and #wanderlust) but escapism doesn't feel like a solution. (In Civil Disobedience, he writes of going to jail for not paying taxes, a fitting reality check.)
Actions aside, Thoreau’s uncompromising rejection of society is refreshing and a much-needed counterexample to the easier pre-defined blueprints of success. His philosophies feel clean and earnest; I had fallen in love with the quote "Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity” while abroad, and loved discovering it in context. His actions serve as an example that “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” He finds beauty from simplicity and adversity, and urges readers to pursue their own values (he is careful to say “I”, even saying “sorry I will say I” in efforts to not impose his specific ideologies on others). “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Okay - now to help you get through the book:
1. Economy: read it, this feels like the crux of his philosophies
2. What I lived for: read if cabin life is your thing
3. Reading: if you like reading (I'm assuming you do), this feels like a pat on the back which we all could use more of (though it may shame you into reading more classics like it did me)
4. Sounds: read if you want a naturalist’s observations of sounds heard in the woods... I didn’t get anything from this.
5. Solitude: read if you want someone to tell you solitude isn’t so scary
6. Visitors: surprise - he isn’t actually that alone, he still has a social life (would skip)
7. Bean-field: loved this deep dive into husbandry and agriculture where Thoreau questions the domestication and commercialization of food
8. Village: his idealistic view on how society should be. It sounds nice in theory...
9. The pond: I like ponds and water, but don’t need a chapter about them. Similar vibes to 4.
10. Baker Farm: an extension of 7, Thoreau laments how much time a family wastes working their farm when they could be enjoying nature’s richness
11. Higher laws: an extension of 1, Thoreau explores what rules we could live by instead. Loved the quote, "Our life is startingly moral, there is never an instants truce between virtue and vice”.
12. Housewarming: interesting deep dive into society’s approach to shelter/housing
13. Then I really lost steam. Sorry.
Ironically, I find this quote both incredibly relevant and irrelevant to Walden. I read the first chapter, Economy, so deliberately, fully engrossed and used up my highlighter (a first). His questioning of conventional systems that I’ve never questioned - shelter, husbandry, work, philanthropy, technology - was thought provoking and still relevant 150 years later, maybe even more now.
As someone who values simplicity and self-reliance, I cheered as Walden pushed me to take my beliefs beyond the safety net of conventionality, an example of how “books let us learn, people have before us wondered and thought about and answered (in their own ways) all the questions we are thinking”. However, as I learned more about his time in the wood, I found it a bit indulgent and arrogant. It is tempting to run away from reality (e.g trends like #vanlife and #wanderlust) but escapism doesn't feel like a solution. (In Civil Disobedience, he writes of going to jail for not paying taxes, a fitting reality check.)
Actions aside, Thoreau’s uncompromising rejection of society is refreshing and a much-needed counterexample to the easier pre-defined blueprints of success. His philosophies feel clean and earnest; I had fallen in love with the quote "Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity” while abroad, and loved discovering it in context. His actions serve as an example that “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” He finds beauty from simplicity and adversity, and urges readers to pursue their own values (he is careful to say “I”, even saying “sorry I will say I” in efforts to not impose his specific ideologies on others). “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Okay - now to help you get through the book:
1. Economy: read it, this feels like the crux of his philosophies
2. What I lived for: read if cabin life is your thing
3. Reading: if you like reading (I'm assuming you do), this feels like a pat on the back which we all could use more of (though it may shame you into reading more classics like it did me)
4. Sounds: read if you want a naturalist’s observations of sounds heard in the woods... I didn’t get anything from this.
5. Solitude: read if you want someone to tell you solitude isn’t so scary
6. Visitors: surprise - he isn’t actually that alone, he still has a social life (would skip)
7. Bean-field: loved this deep dive into husbandry and agriculture where Thoreau questions the domestication and commercialization of food
8. Village: his idealistic view on how society should be. It sounds nice in theory...
9. The pond: I like ponds and water, but don’t need a chapter about them. Similar vibes to 4.
10. Baker Farm: an extension of 7, Thoreau laments how much time a family wastes working their farm when they could be enjoying nature’s richness
11. Higher laws: an extension of 1, Thoreau explores what rules we could live by instead. Loved the quote, "Our life is startingly moral, there is never an instants truce between virtue and vice”.
12. Housewarming: interesting deep dive into society’s approach to shelter/housing
13. Then I really lost steam. Sorry.