Book Review: Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Spending a year living in a cabin on the edge of a lake in the woods sounds pretty much like a perfect year to me, an introverts dream come true. A year to sit around and read and write and enjoy nature. I don’t think I’d want to repeat Thoreau’s year in the woods though.

A lot of the book was about the practicalities of Thoreau's life in the woods. Building his cabin and growing his food. I didn’t find this particularly interesting as he did it all with the safety net of civilisation right there. I don’t know that there was much to be gained from reading it from a survivalist perspective either. It all seemed a bit too easy.

Another good portion of the book was just his opinion about how he thinks people rely too much on modern conveniences and if they would only do what he’s doing they could save themselves a lot of money and be much better off. I found his opinions to be forceful and brash. There was no possible way that he could be wrong and anyone who disagreed with him was probably out doubtful intelligence.

I enjoyed the chapters about the lake and the ice. That was interesting to learn about its depths and how it freezes. Living in a country where it doesn’t get cold enough to snow, let alone cold enough for lakes to freeze over, there’s something romantic about the idea of waking up to see your front yard covered in white and being able to walk where you used to swim.

Mostly this book was a whole bunch of boring opinions wrapped around a few nuggets of wisdom. I don’t think wading through the heap was worth the small treasures. I think you can gain all there is to gain from this book by reading a few Thoreau quotes. You don’t need to bother about reading the rest of the book for context, go spend your time reading something interesting instead.

2 out of 5 stars.

Walden meets criteria six for the 2018 Read Harder Challenge.

Have you read Walden? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below!