Reviews
The Thoreau You Don't Know: What the Prophet of Environmentalism Really Meant by Robert Sullivan
tyoungster's review
5.0
"Music is the sound of the circulation in nature's veins." —Thoreau in Walden
Few associate Henry David Thoreau as a lover of music and dancing, but if you read "The Thoreau You Don't Know," you'll learn a lot about the man who wrote "Walden" that you don't yet know about him. Rather than the recluse that some are often want to painting him as, Robert Sullivan sets out an argument for Thoreau as someone who knew his neighbors and often had visitors even while at Walden Pond.
I learned so much about Thoreau and those he was friends with at the time, including Emerson and Walt Whitman. It's hard to imagine what his life was like, though he writes about it often, since Thoreau had many odd jobs, many well-known author friends and seemed to have tons of free time in between to write, walk and be to himself.
I can definitely relate to Thoreau as a person who not only enjoys being around others, but also likes being alone and observing life. A minimalist at heart, I find his time at Walden very romantic and exciting.
The depth of the insight in this book should not be missed by anyone who wants to learn more about Thoreau, or even the time period and area he lived in.
Few associate Henry David Thoreau as a lover of music and dancing, but if you read "The Thoreau You Don't Know," you'll learn a lot about the man who wrote "Walden" that you don't yet know about him. Rather than the recluse that some are often want to painting him as, Robert Sullivan sets out an argument for Thoreau as someone who knew his neighbors and often had visitors even while at Walden Pond.
I learned so much about Thoreau and those he was friends with at the time, including Emerson and Walt Whitman. It's hard to imagine what his life was like, though he writes about it often, since Thoreau had many odd jobs, many well-known author friends and seemed to have tons of free time in between to write, walk and be to himself.
I can definitely relate to Thoreau as a person who not only enjoys being around others, but also likes being alone and observing life. A minimalist at heart, I find his time at Walden very romantic and exciting.
The depth of the insight in this book should not be missed by anyone who wants to learn more about Thoreau, or even the time period and area he lived in.
vegancleopatra's review
2.0
1.5 stars
I guess when it comes down to it this is the Thoreau I didn't really care about knowing. Overall I've never had much interest in Thoreau despite myself being a staunch environmentalist, which makes sense since I have never really considered Thoreau much of one--at least not one as it is known today. There is simply far too much time and change between Thoreau's time and now for his "environmentalism" to mean much of anything, honestly the farthest I think one can safely go back is to Rachel Carson. I did, however, find it interesting that we continue to go through the same cycles of economic downturn, job loss, technology-blaming and xenophobia as we continue to do today. Now that has not changed since Thoreau's time.
The most interesting aspects of the book for me had little to nothing to do with Thoreau and that was the historical ongoings of the time of his life. I honestly did not walk away from the book liking Thoreau terribly much. He displayed his own forms of xenophobia and irritating behaviors, like chopping down trees and being responsible for a major forest fire in the Concord area. I found it rather irritating that after every transgression by Thoreau noted by the author the author seemed to feel the need to essentially say "now before you judge" or "I don't think he meant THAT the way you think" etc. In other words, there was some apologizing being done.
Overall I found the writing a bit tedious and dull. The author frequently enjoyed using quotes that did not necessarily bolster his previous statements. He also managed to arrange some chapters in such a way that it was difficult to grasp what the hell he was trying to accomplish in that chapter with all of his jumping around. I would only recommend this for Thoreau enthusiasts.
I guess when it comes down to it this is the Thoreau I didn't really care about knowing. Overall I've never had much interest in Thoreau despite myself being a staunch environmentalist, which makes sense since I have never really considered Thoreau much of one--at least not one as it is known today. There is simply far too much time and change between Thoreau's time and now for his "environmentalism" to mean much of anything, honestly the farthest I think one can safely go back is to Rachel Carson. I did, however, find it interesting that we continue to go through the same cycles of economic downturn, job loss, technology-blaming and xenophobia as we continue to do today. Now that has not changed since Thoreau's time.
The most interesting aspects of the book for me had little to nothing to do with Thoreau and that was the historical ongoings of the time of his life. I honestly did not walk away from the book liking Thoreau terribly much. He displayed his own forms of xenophobia and irritating behaviors, like chopping down trees and being responsible for a major forest fire in the Concord area. I found it rather irritating that after every transgression by Thoreau noted by the author the author seemed to feel the need to essentially say "now before you judge" or "I don't think he meant THAT the way you think" etc. In other words, there was some apologizing being done.
Overall I found the writing a bit tedious and dull. The author frequently enjoyed using quotes that did not necessarily bolster his previous statements. He also managed to arrange some chapters in such a way that it was difficult to grasp what the hell he was trying to accomplish in that chapter with all of his jumping around. I would only recommend this for Thoreau enthusiasts.
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