A beautiful piece, published originally after Thoreau's death. His writing paints the beauty of nature and the critical of wild spaces as the world becomes progressively less wild. This is even more true now than it was. I am a hiker and the need to recharge by unplugging in the woods speaks my experience. He wrote, "my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant." Lovely.

Thanks to Dover Publications for the reprint of this lecture, by Thoreau that was published posthumously. The image they added to the text perfectly represents the mood of the book. Thoreau writes in a time when land was still being dominated and tamed, and here is the one voice speaking out that the wild nature has value as well. Not only has value, but we need it, as Thoreau writes: “in Wildness is the preservation of the World.”

There are many good quotes to pull out of this small book. I will refrain from quoting too many, but I must include another, “Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest.”

Thoreau also states how his walking is like the wildness, to go without a purpose, to go without your head thinking of things you need to do. It is a walk to just be out in nature and walk.

The book is short enough to read in one sitting and perhaps it best when read in that manner. I did not have the fortune to do so, but did have some extended periods of time while reading, and broke away a little refreshed, with a new view, after each reading. Thoreau’s writing may not be fully accessible and easy, but once you dive in, you can see why his words are still relevant today, and will be for a long time to come.

I picked this little book up the other day with reason. Recently I read Gros' A Philosophy of Walking which associated walking with creative thinking and returning to nature. Living in the outskirts of Dallas I figured I should give it a try. I usually travel by bicycle, but recently had my doubts about of its value over my life and limb. Last month a car, which was behind me, ran a stop sign and ran over the rear end of my bike, with me on it. A few weeks later an angry driver ran a stop sign, almost hit me, then turned around and chased me. The police are not much help in matters. Their main job it appears is writing reports for insurance companies rather than law enforcement. Two close calls last night have convinced me that I need to do something else.

Last week I started walking to work. It is five miles each way and allows me to listen to audiobooks on the way. I can manage to make a good deal of the trip on green strips and small parks. Walking distance is quite a bit shorter than the riding distance but still take over twice as long. Like Thorough mentions walking does separate you from "civilization" and although I am not walking through meadows and forests I see where he is coming from. It is different, less rushed, less crowded. It is something that people have forgotten. I gotten the "Oh, my God you are walking to work... do you need a ride?" No, that would defeat the purpose. People consider walking today a punishment.

Thoreau captures the essence of the individual and nature:

Every sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go West a distant and as fair as that into which the sun goes down.

and the irony of especially today's need a gym crowd:

Think of a man's swinging dumbbells for his health, when springs are bubbling up in far-off pastures unsought by him.

and something I witness everyday

Nowadays almost all man's improvements, so called, as the building of houses and the cutting down of the forests and of all the large trees, simply deform the landscape, and male it more and more tame and cheap.

Thoreau through a variety of observations, and sometimes a little humor makes his point very clear. Today the message is even clearer. We need a connection to the outdoors, nature, and our own senses; yet, we at every turn do our best to isolate ourselves from the natural environment and force ourselves to adapt to an artificial environment where stimulation by nature has been replaced by consumerism and electronics. We want virtual reality and lifelike special effects, while ignoring, except to destroy, the nature around us.

Henry David Thoreau's classic essay, "Walking," was an ardent lecture unlike anything the world had ever heard in 1851. It was later published 11 years later in 1862 by The Atlantic Monthly. Yet despite being over 160 years since his rousing speech, its applicability might be even more relevant today than it was in the mid-1800s.

There are so many poignant points, ideas and thoughts expressed by Thoreau, the reader is made to rethink our home, planet earth, and its profound majesty and fragility in the same breath. This is a timeless classic that reminds the reader of our ecosystem's wonderful wild places to discover and explore and also implores the reader to keep the wild places wild and preserve our homes for our children and the generations to come.

After reading his stimulating prose, it caused me to seek out new opportunities to get outside and enjoy this lovely place we all call home.

I received this as an eBook from Dover Publications via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the title. I did not receive any compensation from either company. The opinions expressed herein are completely my own.

"Walking" Henry David Thoreau. Originally written by Thoreau as a lecture and published as an essay after his death in The Atlantic Monthly. It is a beautifully arranged little book. Do you understand the Art of walking? Perhaps when the reader is done they will understand the Art and their own connection with nature. To learn the Art of walking one must "saunter". The way one walks determines how one sees and hears their surroundings. This book, the message, is as relevant today as in the 1800's. It allows one to reflect.

”I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks—who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering: which word is beautifully derived “from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and I asked charity, under pretense of going à la Sainte Terre,” to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, ‘There goes a Sainte Terre,’ a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre, without land or home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere.”

Published posthumously as an essay in 1862 in the Atlantic Monthly magazine, this was originally part of a lecture given by Thoreau in 1851. A relatively slight 60 pages, this was a wonderful reminder to spend more time walking, enjoying the somewhat temporary milder weather, and appreciate the beauty around us.



Pub Date: 18 Sep 2019


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Dover Publications!