In July, we will be reading Walden.
Please post your thoughts and questions in this thread.
In July, we will be reading Walden.
Please post your thoughts and questions in this thread.
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
I don't yet know who 'we' is, but Walden is one of my all time favourites. I didn't grow up on it, nor was it pressed upon me. I just love the simplicity, the independent philosophy and love of nature that it contains, even if (or because) it is fictional.
"All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event in the living act, the undoubted deed there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask!"
Wow - I can't believe Walden won. But I'll be gladly participating in this discussion. And maybe I'll even read though Walden for the second time this year (read it in Fall).
I'll just throw this out there for anyone interested: When I read Walden, I whisper it to myself. I don't just read silently as I would a novel or magazine. The prose and ideas and joy of Walden ask for a slightly slower pace. And I've found that a quiet whisper help me to hit that mark that makes the joy of reading Walden all the more like a summer afternoon after the appointment book has been burned.
“Oh crap”
-- Hellboy
Oh I would love to re-read this, but I don't have the time unfortunately. It's a great read. Possibly the best non-fiction work of literature that I can think of.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
"Love follows knowledge." – St. Catherine of Siena
My literature blog: http://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/
I'm going to give it a shot. I'll see how it goes once I have a copy
Hello! I'm a newbie. Been looking for a book club. Glad you picked Walden. Haven't read it since high school. Looking forward to checking it out again.
I'm very glad it won! I'll begin it as soon as possible. That's interesting about how you whisper it, Comedian. I tend to do that with poetry, and sometimes with prose. I think I'll take my copy out to the woods and read it to the dogs!
By the way, I've never joined a book club discussion before. How do you usually go about it?
hello!!I am new!I haven't read the book yet but I'll try reading it and share my opinion!Thanks for the nice forum!
Welcome to the forum!Originally Posted by ladycolleen
Just post what you like/don't like, questions, or discussion points about the book. Usually the discussion follows pretty naturally after that. I'll probably post some stuff about the first chapter, "Economy" tomorrow.
One of the things that I think is always under appreciated about Walden is it's humor: like Algebra or Shakespeare, people take Thoreau too seriously sometimes. Often, in Walden he makes fun of himself, makes nerdy word jokes, all sorts of stuff.
I do think that when reading Walden that we see his going to the woods as an "experiment": more than all the other nature-boy, hippie stuff that's been associated with the book, Walden is full of playful experiments with trying to live a spiritual, complete life. And it's full of failures.
I'm glad that you're joining the discussion L.M. -- High summer is a great time to take Walden outdoors and whisper it to the trees, brook, or dogs.
“Oh crap”
-- Hellboy
How fortunate for me it's Walden. I have the book and I just got the audiotape set free from my library - they must be phasing them out. I restrained myself and only took this one and it happens to be the one we are reading - what luck!
"It's so mysterious, the land of tears."
Chapter 7, The Little Prince ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Sweeeeet!! I've been just kind of meandering through it here and there. From what I do read of it though I love it! Count me in! I love the chapter on reading! I may be out of the conversation though if I take it with me to Guatemala.
"So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about, the way....He loves us..."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5xXowT4eJjY
Thanks for the explanation, Comedian. I've just been looking through the Introduction today.
I have to admit I always presumed that Walden would prove to be a rather boring and tedious read but what I read in the description about it did sound like it could be intriguing and I figured I would give it a try for this discussion and I am surprised how much I am enjoying it thus far, and I have only just started reading it.
It really is quite enjoyable to read as well as surpassingly easy to read, the only problem I have is that because the book does sometimes have a bit of a rambling feeling to it, it makes my mind start to wander if I try to read too much of it all in one siting, my attention will start to stray.
Some books, most particularly books that are written as 1st person narration just have a certain rhythm to them which causes my mind to be distracted while reading, I guess it is sort of trance like.
LOL maybe it is because it is like listening to someone talk, and I do get impatient with people when they take too long to get to the point of what they are saying and after a certain point start to tune them out.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
I should be able to get the book within a couple weeks. Looking forward to the read.
I think I shall give it a shot! Hopefully would begin it tomorrow...
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew.
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