Walden
-
- £2.49
-
- £2.49
Publisher Description
In 1845, Thoreau embarked on a sort of social experiment to live separate from civilization without the traditional luxuries of culture. He was a renowned transcendentalist who believed that simplicity and living within nature could lead him to achieve true happiness and spiritual peace. He constructed a small cabin in the woods on the shore of Walden Pond just outside of Concord, Mass. Ralph Waldo Emerson, his friend, mentor and owner of the property, allowed Thoreau to stay as long as he would do some work on the land. Over the course of about two years, Thoreau recorded his activities, observations and meetings with visitors. He published his writings in an 1854 work titled “Walden.” The book was relatively successful but did not achieve its widespread influence and notoriety until after Thoreau’s death. Today, it is considered to be a masterpiece of American literature and philosophy and is indispensable in the study of Thoreau and transcendentalism.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shrinking Walden into picture book size is somewhat like trying to fit Moby Dick into an aquarium. Still, Lowe's selections from Thoreau's iconoclastic work will give children a brief taste of this classic. Using only quotations from the original work, Lowe tells the story of Thoreau's year in the woods, emphasizing his descriptions of nature,stet comma and action rather than his philosophical musings. Readers see the young Thoreau putting shingles on his roof, hoeing beans, welcoming a stranger; they can revel in the natural wonders he describes--the ``whip-poor-wills,'' in summer, the drifting snow in winter, the ice breaking in the pond in spring. Sabuda's superb linoleum-cut prints lend a hard-edged brilliance to the dark woods--where sunlight is filtered through etched leaves, and moonlight shimmers on the waters of the pond made famous by a young man's experiment with life. All ages.
