The Days of Henry Thoreau

by Walter Roy Harding

Book Overview

"The best biography we have had." -- Carl Bode, The New York Times Book Review
Henry David Thoreau is generally remembered as the author of Walden and "Civil Disobedience," a recluse of the woods and political protester who once went to jail. To his contemporaries he was a minor disciple of Emerson; he has since joined the ranks of America's most respected and beloved writers. Few, however, really know the complexity of the man they...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486242633
• ISBN13: 9780486242637
• Release Date: December 2011
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A perfect combination of scholarship and story -- the life of an exceptional individual

Walter Harding's biography of Henry David Thoreau is easily the most readable and thorough of the many accounts of his life. It represents an ideal blend of description and narrative with solid scholarship. Harding clearly explains what is known and how it is known, drawing from an extremely broad familiarity with the literature and with the many sources of information about Thoreau's life. He does not shy away from presenting the wide range of opinions about Thoreau, ranging from ridicule to idolization, but puts these opinions into context. He draws heavily upon Thoreau's own journals and writings in order to inject as much storytelling into the biography as possible, so that it never reads as if it were merely a dry work of scholarship. I found this to be a quite gripping read -- and finished it in just over a week, which happened to be a very busy week, during which I was always eager to return to it when I had a spare moment. As a result I have a very vivid portrait in my mind of Thoreau the man. Harding's book would be an excellent complement to Richardson's Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind. While Richardson's book focuses on the development of Thoreau as a thinker and a writer, Harding focuses on his development as a man. Both are highly recommended.

Probably the finest biography of Thoreau

This is probably the best biography of Henry David Thoreau, the most individual of American essayists. Walter Harding is one of those academics who not only knows his subject backwards and forward, but treats him with reverence. Yet this is not a mere hagiography. Thoreau's life is put into the context of the mid-19th century, and the reader develops a much greater understanding of why Thoreau wrote what he did, who he was, and why he became such an important American voice.

A Wonderful Life

If you like the writings of Thoreau, you will love this biography. Thoreau really comes to life and Walter Harding does a great job at aquainting us with Thoreau as if he were our neighbor or close friend. You will love all the stories of his childhood, his many excursions and his never ending desire for knowledge of nature. Also, at the end Harding dicusses Thoreaus's sexuality, which for me was a burning question throughout the book. There is no better biography out there written on Thoreau.

Good book on a brilliant man

This book looks at Thoreau's life in depth. The first few chapters try to show how Thoreaus young life shaped his older years. Always complicated both in his young and old years. This book also gives great details of Thoreaus many excursions, and the many people with whom he graced with his presence. If you in interested in Thoreau, it would be in your best interest to buy this book, it's the link between his life and his work.

An ecclectic repose of a great man.

I've alway's been in the habit of reading about the life of an author before acually reading his works and this book has covered all the bases of an incredibly intelligent man. His prose of description was in depth, and at the same time it showed views of alot of his friends in a town full of intellects. It makes you feel like you were there living Concord enjoying the scenes on Walden with thoughts from a perspective that the average person would not usually pull from any kind of methodical observation. I would read this book again and again for a distinctive and magnanimous outlook from one the most notable Thoreau scholars.