Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Walden  By  cover art

Walden

By: Henry David Thoreau
Narrated by: Jack Shelly
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $3.90

Buy for $3.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

"Walden" (1854) is a work by Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." - Henry David Thoreau

©2019 Audioliterature (P)2019 Audioliterature

What listeners say about Walden

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    36
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable happy read

This is great for hiking, biking or the beach. get outside and you will enjoy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poor performance; poor audio quality

Jack Shelley, the narrator, mispronounced several words within the first ten minutes from inside what sounds like a tin can. “Concord.” “Catechism.” “Radii.” Another reviewer suggested these pronunciations might be Canadian, but between the poor audio quality and my mind wandering down the rabbit trial of the possible regional dialects of English, I couldn’t finish this recording. I exchanged it for the version read by Pete Simonelli, which has priven to be superior in every way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Dated, but good

little preachy, but not bad. lots of weird bird sounds, lol. I enjoyed it at least.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The archetypical mind of a squatter!

The poet, philosopher and scientists musings of natural law at a pond in the 1800s.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Meh,

Well I waited 40 years to read this. Was ok. That’s about it. Sometimes so boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Classic marred by the wrong reader

I'm not sure why a Canadian reader was chosen for this book which is pure Americana? His pronunciation of "about" and all similar words was very distracting as was his mispronunciation of "Concord" the city (then village) in which the book takes place. Oy. If it wasn't for the high quality of the content, I would have trashed the book. There are several versions of Walden available as audiobooks online; I would not recommend this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

same as always

a classic. very contemplative. Worth a once in a lifetime listen. Good to knit to. enjoy .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Perfect Remedy for Insomnia

Such a disappointing boring snooze fest. This book was excruciatingly painful to finish. I fail to understand why this is a classic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Judge of the world

Thoreau is a holier than thou snob. THIS is what passes for great classic literature? Food for beatnicks, hippies and hipsters. Changing the world by putting everything else down.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

embarrassingly bad narration.

Audibles standards should be much higher than this........ q q q q q q q

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!