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adorkablesmile 's review for:
Walden and Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau, Jonathan Levin
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Thoreau's musings on life and philosophy of asceticism are reflected in his obsession with Walden Pond and the surrounding lands in Massachusetts. Whilst there are times where he seems to go on at length in a stream-of-consciousness ramble (especially early on - the first chapter is some 64 pages!) much of what he says still holds true to this day.
After the halfway point Walden holds a great deal more interest, as he lets go of issues of money and retreat from society and talks at length about the nature, the seasons, the people and animals he meets, and muses more on society and what we can live without, versus what is required to live. His style never shifts from its rambling nature, but as his focus shifts from the industry of living alone in the woods to documenting Walden itself and his preoccupation with the pond, I feel a marked change in his attitude. At times he can come off as arrogant with his attitudes toward other people, but broadly Walden is a humble and enticing ramble through Walden's history and geography.
Civil Disobedience, while only occupying 25 pages, is still a sharp and timely treatise on government resistance. It reminds us of what we've lost - we can no longer rebel by refusing to pay taxes in our modern, digital age - but also of the battles we've won and the ways we have to resist impositions of the state.
After the halfway point Walden holds a great deal more interest, as he lets go of issues of money and retreat from society and talks at length about the nature, the seasons, the people and animals he meets, and muses more on society and what we can live without, versus what is required to live. His style never shifts from its rambling nature, but as his focus shifts from the industry of living alone in the woods to documenting Walden itself and his preoccupation with the pond, I feel a marked change in his attitude. At times he can come off as arrogant with his attitudes toward other people, but broadly Walden is a humble and enticing ramble through Walden's history and geography.
Civil Disobedience, while only occupying 25 pages, is still a sharp and timely treatise on government resistance. It reminds us of what we've lost - we can no longer rebel by refusing to pay taxes in our modern, digital age - but also of the battles we've won and the ways we have to resist impositions of the state.