Book Bearings
Walden
- 270 pages · about 5 hours
- First published 1854
- 1,140 editions
- Free to read
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1 About this book
Walden (first published in 1854 as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and—to some degree—a manual for self-reliance.
Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.
Thoreau makes precise scientific observations of nature as well as metaphorical and poetic uses of natural phenomena.
Good for readers who want: a true life story, nature, philosophy, and a book they can read free online.
- Biography
- Natural history
- Wilderness areas
- Philosophy
- Classics
- Essays
- Authors, biography
- Philosophy, modern
2 Read it free, right here
A free scan from the Internet Archive opens right here on the page, with no sign-up.
Read it on the Internet Archive3 About Henry David Thoreau
Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
4 More by Henry David Thoreau
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