I dont know if it says more about myself or our modern age societies, but I feel, at 29 years old, like a fraction of the man that Thoreau was at 28, when he went to Walden and, insubsequent years, wrote this book.
While I know many find Thoreau’s prose to be cumbersome, I’m still in awe of how beautifully he writes, and of such depth too! I could never hope to today write anything like Thoreau was capable of, nor do I feel complex enough in my musings to hold a candle next to his outlook, ideas, and ethics. He seems so worldly, so wise beyond his years; and this is a trend that I’ve noticed in other old literature. I find myself wondering if writers of old thought more deeply, more beautifully than us today.
I have no real question or anything, I just wanted to voice this feeling of inadequacy that I had after finishing this book!
by sarcoidal
4 Comments
There is a play called “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” that you might want to look at. My cunning teacher had us read it before we read Walden, and as a result we all liked Thoreau as a person and were really interested— it conveyed a real image of him as a person and some of the struggles that he had,that are all polished away in Walden. You might enjoy seeing that side of him!
And it also makes me feel confident in saying that I bet he wouldn’t want his book to make you feel inadequate!
If it helps you feel any better, his mother did his laundry for him when he was living in the “wilderness.”
get out there and struggle! Suffer! it’s the expressway to depth of feeling, imho. many authors have known this but my mind turns to the Beats or Hesse and their aimless, restless roaming.
A life could be lived at a reasonable pace in his day, whereas our lives are often oversaturated with stimuli that numbs our ability to follow a train of thought. Ours are more like fireflies, little dots and dashes and squiggles, constantly interrupted in one or more ways.
Many, many people have no time alone in the natural world, with no time constraints save bodily needs. Thoreau also had a gift with words, but that time by himself? He did that deliberately. Whether you have a similar gift or not, I can recommend time alone in natural settings. One of the best aspects of my childhood was that much of it was near or in US National parks and forests. I spent a lot of time by myself among trees. Decades later, it still serves me well.