Henry David Thoreau

Walden and Civil Disobedience

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Henry David Thoreau's 1854 Walden is an indisputable masterpiece of American literature. The book is an intensely influential philosophical work exploring Thoreau's decision to expand his understanding of society through personal introspection from a small cabin at the edge of Concord Massachusetts. Rather than devolving into Luddite or antiquarian escapism, Thoreau takes this reprise from daily life to engage in philosophical explorations of man, nature and those things which mediate between the two. These explorations are the central reason why Walden endures within the cannon of American philosophical thought and would go on to confer the moniker, "the father of environmentalism" upon Thoreau. Thoreau's decision to move into the woodlands near Walden Pond initiates an exploration of a central theme; the exploration of barriers between man and nature (ultimately the divine). Imminently quotable and often paraphrased, Walden offers the reader a number starting points for examining our environment and the nature of our relationship with the aforesaid. Walden stands the test of time because the concepts explored within this work are perennial in nature. "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us", quoted from the book could easily question our 21st century relationship with digital technology. Moreover, the American belief in self-reliance is expanded in Walden into the concept of spiritual self-reliance. The adjoining work, Civil Disobedience is equally influential having informed the non-violent resistance movements of Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Well Read Edition
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Februar 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 203mm x 133mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 385g
• ISBN-13: 9781944556068
• ISBN-10: 1944556060
• Artikelnr.: 44522885

Autorenporträt

Naturalist, writer, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau was an American who lived from July 12, 1817, to May 6, 1862. His most well-known work, Walden, is a meditation on simple life in the natural world. He was a forerunner of ecological theory and environmental history, two major influences on contemporary environmentalism. In Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau was born into a humble family. Between 1833 and 1837, he attended Harvard College for his studies. He worked as a land surveyor and continued to keep a two million-word notebook for 24 years, recording ever-more-detailed observations on the natural history of the town, which covered an area of 26 square miles (67 square kilometers). Thoreau never got married and never had kids. He proposed to Ellen Sewall, then 18 years old, when he was 23 years old, but she declined on the advice of her father. On May 6, 1862, Henry David Thoreau passed away. He was 44. After contracting TB in 1835, he intermittently experienced its effects. His final words, spoken while he was still conscious, were "Now comes good sailing," followed by the words "moose" and "Indian." In Concord, Massachusetts' Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, he was laid to rest.