So, we've decided that Thoreau is organizing his information somehow, albeit it's a bit confusing at times. With that being said, what do you think of Thoreau's narrative so far (that is, the part where he builds his house!)? Do you think he's following a strict timeline or making some things fit in the grand scheme of things?
Here are some links to pictures of Thoreau's cabin (a replica) and Walden Pond, if you're interested.
There are many more pictures and a virtual tour here.
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So far, Walden has been a tedious read because of the detail Thoreau goes into when he tells about the construction of his house. I found it interesting that he obtained some of the materials for his house by tearing down an old, decaying shack. I looked at the pictures and Walden Pond. And while the house is quite small and simple, it still shocks me he built a place to live for such a small cost. Also, I belive that Thoreau is not on a strict timeline. Part of his experiment was to find out if a person could work one day a week to support himself with the neccessities. The other six days were spent leisurely.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Walden Pond is beautiful. I had no idea. It reminds of Crystal Lake in New Hampshire.
-Rachel Butler
I agree with Rachel. Walden is not easy to read because he spends so much time on detail! I think what we've read so far is more of an introduction to how Thoreau thinks; I think he's slowly leading us into the depths of his mind. I'm sure there is a big picture of simplistic living that he wants us to see, and the first chapter is slowly leading us toward it. Hopefully it will all really make sense later. By the way, did Walden Media get its name from Walden Pond? Just wondering :)
ReplyDelete-Dominique Gannuch
I agree with Dominique and Rachel in the fact that Walden is a challenging read due to his focus on the many intricate details he provides of his lifestyle. Thoreau's organization I think is a continuous flow of thoughts from one perspective to the next. They seem circular, as if they are never ending and can be viewed from many different angles. I greatly enjoy the way that Thoreau built his house because it is so simplistic and genuine in a way that he has all of the things he really needs to survive. Ideally, I have gathered from Walden, is that if we set aside the "stuff" we fill our lives with and live by the bear necessities (hehehe oh 7th period) we have the ability to clear our minds and are able to focus on things in our lives that truely matter.
ReplyDelete~ Melanie Pryor
Hmm...I'm not sure about Walden Media. Perhaps that is where the name came from. I'll have to do some research. Good insights, girls. It's true; Thoreau does want to set up his philosophy first and explain later; although, he really does like to talk philosophy. Walden Pond is indeed beautiful from all the photos I've seen. It's my goal to make it up that far one of these days and put my stone on the pile of others to mark Thoreau's cabin!
ReplyDeleteI recently watched the movie Up In The Air, with George Clooney and Anna Kendrick, and in the movie The character that George Cloonely plays, Ryan Bingham, occasioanlly speaks at conferences while he travels all over the country firing people and at these conferencces he talks about "what's in your backpack" meaning what is the "stuff" that we carry with us and I think that Henry David Thoreau is a lot like Ryan in the way that their backpacks are virtually empty-- figuratively speaking of course. Their philosphy is very similar as well because they both like to contemplate life and the meaning of everything only Thoreau did that at Walden Pond and Ryan did his contemplating on airplanes going from city to city. But curiously people celebrate Thoreau (or at least I do) for finding himself in nature by being alone and everybody (espcially my mother!! gr!!) criticized Ryan in the film although I thought he was doing what he wanted to do. Just because someone isn't married with children and isn't home very often (since he has no family at home there is no reason he has to sit in Ohmaha, which is where he lived) does not mean that said person is unhappy or living a half life. I think that Thoreau could have found his doppelgänger in Ryan Bingham. Needless to say, I adore Walden and I think that everything about it is fabulous, his philosophy, his narrarating, his philosophy, and his cute little house. I think he is following no time line other than being done by winter and just going along at this gorgeous little pond writing, reading, and self-actaulizing. I love Walden!!
ReplyDeleteLauren Opal Payne (Transcendentalist like no other)
P.S. I plan on going to Walden Pond before I leave for my backpacking trip across Europe after my senior year, I too want to put a rock on the pile where his house was!
P.P.S. I highly recomend Up In The Air, it was fabulous even though my mother and father and sister all hated it. It hilarious, well acted, VERY well directed, and according to my parents I was a lot like Anna Kenricks character, Natalie but still everyone should see it!! :)
LOP
Walden so far has been a harrowing read. I'm not interested in the least by his experiences of building a shack in the middle of nowhere. I also tend to disagree with every single one of his philosophies and beliefs. Not working because you think it's slave driving yourself seems like a pathetic excuse to avoid it. If everyone followed Thoreau's silliness the world would plummet back into a stone age.
ReplyDelete-Patrick Lee
I agree with Patrick. If everyone only worked 6 days a week, we would be back in the Stone Age. However, I think part of what Thoreau is trying to say is that maybe life was better and people were happier in the Stone Age because people lived simpler lives. But I also think his experiment wouldn't have worked quite as well if he hadn't been so close to a town.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren! I also watched Up in the Air, and I thought it was so cute. Thinking of what Lauren posted, it surprises me that many of the stuff in the movie can relate to Walden!
ReplyDeleteTo my opinion, Walden seems to be a bit dragging with all its details and random opinions. But from all the comments I've heard from my junior and senior friends, it isn't so bad at all. I actually quite enjoy reading the thoughts of Thoreau because it's so unique and different. So far, this book is pretty interesting as of this moment.
-Jiyun Choi
What I've read of Walden so far has been very insightful. It's intriguing how he moves in a circle, from one point to another. Reading his different, and sometimes contradictory, remarks keeps me on my toes. However, I cannot read more than about 10 pages a day, because after that the words start running together. I do believe that he condenses the actual events to fit into his book. This book is very deep if you take the time to analyze what Thoreau says and means.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Sabourin
In my opinion,Thoreau has many good ideas that he expresses in this book. However, I also agree with Kaitlyn in the sense that you can only handle so much per day, or else you will become overwhelmed and forget some of the major points that Thoreau makes. I find it fascinating that Thoreau had the patience to not only build a house by himself with almost no luxuries, but to live there for many years. It really makes me realize that a lot of the things in my own house are uneccessary, because Thoreau can be happy with his simplistic lifestyle.
ReplyDelete--Katie Toth
I agree with Katie on reading too much at one time. When I go to read Walden I always have to be in a quiet area to focus otherwise I'm easily distracted. However, when I can think about what I'm reading I like what Thoreau discusses and how it makes you think more than you normally would. Somtimes the things he describes about his living I would be curious to try because they sound more fulfilling in ways. My favorite chapter was when he talked about books.
ReplyDelete-Hannah Petty
So far, in Walden, Thoreau kind of just goes with the flow. He has his own way of a timeline. He "works" as much as he can per day. As people have said before you can only do so much per day. In my opinion i feel that Thoreau is just making things fit into the whole grand scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteBlah... Walden is a REALLY boring book. I don't like how he explains his philosophies all at once. And since he talks in circles, it is really hard to keep up with him... and keep having the will to read Walden. He has a timeline in the narrative by chronological order and in his philosophies he has the tendency to keep talking in circles. I think he is xylophilous or a nemophilist.
ReplyDelete-Jae Woo-
Walden gives me mixed emotions. Sometimes I enjoy and look forward to finding a time to continue reading out of curiousity of what Thoreau will bring up next. Other times I dread having to continue on with the confusing story. In my opinion, Thoreau is making some things fit in the grand scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteI think that the concept of living away from society in the woods is unique and interesting, so I believe that Walden has potential to be a good book. I am finding Walden super hard to read because of Thoreau's writing style. I think he is trying to fit things in the grand scheme of things, but I find this organization consfusing and slightly boring. I do find our in class discussions entertaining though because by talking about it I can actually understand the book and I am able to realize that the ideas Thoreau is trying convey are unique and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI think that Thoreau building his house is one of the most exciting parts of his book (which is somewhat sad). Everything else that he talks about is philosophy. He does this though to try to get our heads wrapped around thinking independently.
ReplyDeleteI think Thoreau's organization can seem confusing at times, but his ideas come together to make readers think on how to view the main idea in his or her own way.
ReplyDelete-Lucero
...Is this comment still legit?
ReplyDeleteThoreau's narrative wasn't as boring as I thought it'd be. He seemed to be making a timeline as well as making things fit into the grand scheme of things. It's how a person's life is in a way...you could make a timeline of somebody's life but there are a ton of things that just wouldn't really fit into the timeline.
I think he is just rambling whatever comes to his mind at the moment. That being said, it does folow a specific "circle", as he always comes back to his main themes.
ReplyDelete-Zhijian Xing