Henry David Thoreau

A Life

De: Laura Dassow Walls

Narrado por: Paul Boehmer

"Walden. Yesterday I came here to live." That entry from the journal of Henry David Thoreau, and the intellectual journey it began, would by themselves be enough to place Thoreau in the American pantheon. His attempt to "live deliberately" in a small woods at the edge of his hometown of Concord has been a touchstone for individualists and seekers since the publication of Walden in 1854.

But there was much more to Thoreau than his brief experiment in living at Walden Pond. A member of the vibrant intellectual circle centered on his neighbor Ralph Waldo Emerson, he was also an ardent naturalist, a manual laborer and inventor, a radical political activist, and more. Many books have taken up various aspects of Thoreau's character and achievements, but, as Laura Dassow Walls writes, "Thoreau has never been captured between covers; he was too quixotic, mischievous, many-sided."

Two hundred years after his birth, and two generations after the last full-scale biography, Walls restores Henry David Thoreau to us in all his profound, inspiring complexity.

©2017 The University of Chicago (P)2017 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The wonder is that, given her book's richness, Walls still leaves the reader eager to read Thoreau. Her scholarly blockbuster is an awesome achievement, a merger of comprehensiveness in content with pleasure in reading." ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

If you like Thoreau, you will LOVE this book.

The author must have spent untold hours on her research for this book. It is very good and thorough. And she presents the information in a superbly fascinating manner. It was not just a biography on Thoreau, it was a history of the United States back in that time. I highly recommend this selection.

very smart with basic common sense

loved that he applied to work at Perkins School for the blind also being a Harvard graduate and could fix and repair anything and write and the love of nature and animals

Don't wait... Listen Now!!!

I loved this book. I am a huge fan of Mr. Thoreau's. I learned things I did not know. Laughed, was challenged, and inspired. Such an amazing, beautiful, and conflicted life.

Both biography and history of his 19th century

I really enjoyed this biography. It is interesting that a female biographer’s book has a male narrator. Still it is wonderfully narrated. I love how Thoreau is fully placed in his times politically, religiously, artistically and ecologically. We also see Thoreau connection to the other writers from Concord. Well worth the listen,

Beautifully written and read!

I “Thoreauly” enjoyed this book and will listen to it again and again! Well written and well read.

Excellent study of Thoreau’s life and writings

Beautifully written book on Thoreau. Detailed information on his books, his relationships, the historical context of his writings and his lifelong quest to describe and understand the natural world. An outstanding book that immerses the reader in the Concord and America of Thoreau.

Excellent

A fresh look at the life and times of my favorite author from the perspective of a naturalist.

Fascinating account of a significant life

Accessible account of the complex life of H D Thoreau. His methodical approach to exploring his personal inquiry questions about natural history, philosophy, and social/political and racial justice are laid out through rich illustrations from his diaries, journals, correspondence, and publications. Brilliant depth. Captivating and entertaining!

the wonder of Thoreau

how exciting to be brought so close to Thoreau and all the famous people in his life. And remarkable to have all his accomplishments brought forth. inspiring

A Thoughtful Look at an American Original

This was a carefully researched and very understandable account of the life of a remarkable American in the 19th century.