A Different Perspective of Walden

[Riggerjack]

I enjoyed the article. I didn't agree with her, but it was fun seeing the collectivist spin on "independence equals self centered" perspective.

It probably helps that I thought Walden was drudgery. Thorough can turn a nice phrase, but since he didn't walk his talk, it rang hollow. Camping in his buddy's backyard, couch surfing through the winter, while mom does his laundry, all the while proclaiming his absolute independence, does not impress.

It was like watching "grizzly man" without the unintended humor.

[GandK]

Maybe he was just jealously guarding his "precious bodily fluids."

When I was a child, my mother made a hand-drawn poster with this quote on it and hung it up in my room, which I still have on a faded piece of construction paper:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -- Henry David Thoreau

I was a lucky kid. It was one of those seminal parent-child experiences that I have kept with me.

This is the type of thing I want my sons to say about me someday.

[enigmaT120]

I didn't know his mom washed his laundry until I joined this forum. I'm not sure that's the stuff I joined to learn, but it did stick in my head.

[jacob]

To put it into perspective,

* Thoreau most famous works was written during the Awakening period (as per Strauss and Howe). Similar [A] periods are right now and 1930s. Intermittent and weaker periods were the 1970s (overpopulation, back to the land, frugality) and the Panic of 1893. These periods tend to generate a cascade of self-help/change the world books that are strongly worded and promotes some kind of introspectively driven change of values.

* Walden reminds me a lot of what a Tiny House manifest might look like a hundred years from now. See Thoreau's tiny house here. Given that Thoreau was a practical man albeit more spiritually based than "STEM"-based (look up transcendentalism) I hardly find it surprising that his mom did his laundry. How many tiny homes today is set up in the backyard of relatives or friends and take advantage of the local facilities. In a hundred years, will people be pointing out that today's minimalist tiny home promoters lived in their friend's backyard and took advantage of the existence of the house washing machine? Yeah, probably.

* Also, this is yet another confirmation that opinions on authors are overall FAR more subjective than they are objective. A review says far more about the the subject (the one who wrote the review) than the object (the actual writing) of the review. This much is eventually abundantly clear to any author. Reviews and opinions tend to be nothing more than reflections of someone's personal opinion/level of insight. E.g. tell me what you think of X and I can tell you a lot more about who you are than what I can about X from reading your thoughts... in most cases. IOW, authors are like mirrors.---Both when it comes to the times of the writing but especially when it comes to the personality (in the widest sense) of the people who read them.

[GandK]

Hehehe...

Existential Comics: Walden; or, Life in the Woods

[Noided]

Disclaimer: I didn't complete the book in part because it read like a collection of random aphorisms thought when rambling meanderings, that ultimately lead nowhere.

I am currently reading a portion of Thoreau's Walden (it is a little book of 100 pages, translated into portuguese - hey, my parents had it around the house) and I am reaching the same conclusion as you, 70 pages in. I have a hard time focusing on the book because he spends 1 or 2 pages talking about the fauna and flaura and than continues with the narrative. Also, the message he is trying to convey is like watering the ocean to me. It's just "I agree, I agree, I agree, next". It is not thought provoking at all.

On the other hand I still haven't developed that ability to just quit a book. I am "afraid" that the best part is still to come and that I will miss it. Do you guys also deal with this?

[fiby41]

On the other hand I still haven't developed that ability to just quit a book. I am "afraid" that the best part is still to come and that I will miss it. Do you guys also deal with this?

I'm not good at that either. In fact, I'm the opposite, if I like a book I feel compelled to read ALL their work. This OCD has got the best of me for 3 authors until now , but I digress...

One workaround I have found is having a lot of options open. A to-read list, some of those books around/easily accessible, so when you find a bad book, you can drop it immediately or until you are better prepared for it.

Dragline has wisdom for people like us:

I won't automatically exclude reading anything, but I might not read it for very long. The worst reading habit anyone can have is feeling compelled to finish bad books/writings, especially when you can probably find a five minute internet summary.

viewtopic.php?t=7598#p114342

[Noided]

I think I really have to start doing that. The emotional part is the hardest. In my head I am giving up something before I finish it, which is associated with failure.

[fiby41]

The fear of missing out is real.

[jennypenny]

A short (50pp) primer on Thoreau for those who can't get through Walden. (PDF is pay-what-you-want)

http://simplicitycollective.com/just-en ... -economics