Cape Cod Henry David Thoreau 9781619492523 Books
Download As PDF : Cape Cod Henry David Thoreau 9781619492523 Books
Arguably some of Thoreau’s most beautiful writings on American history and natural scenery, this collection is dedicated to the poet’s ruminations on the beaches of Cape Cod. Exploring the variety of natural life and human interests that have intersected on the Cape, Thoreau brings the richness of its history and natural beauty to life with his poetic, and occasionally outlandish, musings.
Cape Cod Henry David Thoreau 9781619492523 Books
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is probably best known for “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience.” Neither has the readability of “Cape Cod,” one of the accounts he wrote of his extensive travels. He was a great travel writer, eager to describe the places he visited, using a more relaxed tone with lighter philosophical inclination than that used in his controversial essays.As an essayist he was relentless as an advocate for the discovering of life’s true necessities. He was a lifelong abolitionist and champion of civil disobedience. Some described him as an anarchist, although he seemed to favor the improvement of government rather than the destruction of it. While either sitting in prison or residing in solitude on Walden Pond, his writings were heavy with transcendental idealistic musings on “the meanness of the world.” Not so much with his travel tales that seemed to lighten his countenance.
Always known for his pointed satire and cunning wit, Thoreau seemed to bring them forward more easily as he rambled around. A Thoreau biographer, Walter Harding, called “Cape Cod” his “sunniest and happiest book. It bubbles over with jokes, puns, tall tales, and genial good humor.” That might be stretching it a bit, but there’s no doubt that the book is pleasant to read, if a bit wordy. After Thoreau left Walden Pond in 1847 he became increasingly interested in natural history and the environment, and began writing more about them in his travels and expeditions. His love of flora and fauna sometimes dominated his writing providing the reader with great skimming opportunities to survive the redundancy.
The walks he recorded in “Cape Cod,” were compilations of four treks he took, covering most of Cape Cod’s towns. His observations are full of descriptions of the countryside from the seashore to the marshes, plains, scrubby trees, and fields of the Cape’s inner reaches. His encounters with a shipwreck in which many people were killed, an educational encounter with an oysterman, and a riveting description of a lighthouse are informative and highly readable.
I noticed an oddity about his writing. Enthusiastic travel writers are heavy into the food they encounter as they wander. Thoreau tended to ignore the subject. Although he was not a strict vegetarian, meat was low in his priorities because of his perception that it was unclean, and he seemed to subsist on little but air as he trekked around. At one point he mentioned that a clam and a couple of crackers would make a fine dinner,
His writing received widespread praise in later years but also received some pointed criticism from some of his well-known contemporaries. Luminaries such as Robert Lewis Stevenson, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all took their shots at him, calling him unmanly, a skulker, and a “woodchuck.” Thoreau answered by invoking the idea that every man needs to consider the scope of his own life and not worry about what he has heard of others.
There was a good deal of satisfaction for me in the reading of “Cape Cod.” Thoreau’s ideas are thought provoking, his vistas are well formed, and he is, after all, considered a literary icon. I feel much more intelligent and well read after completing “Cape Cod.”
Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES
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Tags : Cape Cod [Henry David Thoreau] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Arguably some of Thoreau’s most beautiful writings on American history and natural scenery, this collection is dedicated to the poet’s ruminations on the beaches of Cape Cod. Exploring the variety of natural life and human interests that have intersected on the Cape,Henry David Thoreau,Cape Cod,Empire Books,1619492520,Literature & Fiction General,FICTION Classics
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Cape Cod Henry David Thoreau 9781619492523 Books Reviews
For those of us who have lived, now live, long to live, or love to visit Cape Cod, this is a must read.
This is written like a diary with Thoreau's observation of the unique topography of the Cape and digressions on miscellani. Its not a page turner, but if you, like me, have an interest in the times and place just before WWII its a great curiousity read.
Wonderful account of the Cape long before it was heavily settled, and while the cod were still running!
Thoreau makes the universal personal & the personal universal as he explores the not always nice quirks of Cape Cod.
Thoreau's careful descriptions and train-of-thought presentation lend the reader a very different view of Cape Cod. He carefully blends his several trips to the Cape into a single narrative that evokes a time when the Cape was not the vacation mecca it is today. His story is written , for the most part, about the outer cape, Orleans, Truro and Province-town. He uses his many references to the early descriptions and explorations of the to contrast what he sees and how the Cape has evolved to what he sees in the 1850's, which leads the reader to make the same kinds of comparisons with their personal experiences on Cape Cod. The National Park Visitor Center in Eastham has an excellent short film illustrating features of Thoreau's visits and observations on Cape Cod which are basedon this book.
To enjoy any of Thoreau's writings you have to appreciate his unique prose style. But if you do, his ability to describe the natural world around him is priceless, and leaning about nature during that relatively unspoiled time makes one appreciate what we have lost already and what we likely will lose in the future. Cape Cod is unlike some of his other writings in that there it provides more social commentary on the people who live in this setting at that time.
I could not put this piece of delightful reading down. I grew up on Cape Cod as a youngster (many years ago) , and
was fascinated by the travels described by this noted individualist Henry David Thoreau on his visits there. I just loved
the history of this famous cape as described and written such a long time in the past. Thoreau's descriptions of the native
Cape Codders he encountered brought back fond memories of my youth and my own encounters with many crusty old retired
sea captains who resided there.
This book is certainly not for everybody, but it sure brought memories and joy to my heart. Thoreau, was probably a rather
strange individual, but he certainly wrote with clarity, humor and had an almost uncanny knack for accurate observation about
nature around him and ordinary people he encountered.
Thanks for these wonderful times that such marvelous writings of the past are now being digitized and made available to
the general public.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is probably best known for “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience.” Neither has the readability of “Cape Cod,” one of the accounts he wrote of his extensive travels. He was a great travel writer, eager to describe the places he visited, using a more relaxed tone with lighter philosophical inclination than that used in his controversial essays.
As an essayist he was relentless as an advocate for the discovering of life’s true necessities. He was a lifelong abolitionist and champion of civil disobedience. Some described him as an anarchist, although he seemed to favor the improvement of government rather than the destruction of it. While either sitting in prison or residing in solitude on Walden Pond, his writings were heavy with transcendental idealistic musings on “the meanness of the world.” Not so much with his travel tales that seemed to lighten his countenance.
Always known for his pointed satire and cunning wit, Thoreau seemed to bring them forward more easily as he rambled around. A Thoreau biographer, Walter Harding, called “Cape Cod” his “sunniest and happiest book. It bubbles over with jokes, puns, tall tales, and genial good humor.” That might be stretching it a bit, but there’s no doubt that the book is pleasant to read, if a bit wordy. After Thoreau left Walden Pond in 1847 he became increasingly interested in natural history and the environment, and began writing more about them in his travels and expeditions. His love of flora and fauna sometimes dominated his writing providing the reader with great skimming opportunities to survive the redundancy.
The walks he recorded in “Cape Cod,” were compilations of four treks he took, covering most of Cape Cod’s towns. His observations are full of descriptions of the countryside from the seashore to the marshes, plains, scrubby trees, and fields of the Cape’s inner reaches. His encounters with a shipwreck in which many people were killed, an educational encounter with an oysterman, and a riveting description of a lighthouse are informative and highly readable.
I noticed an oddity about his writing. Enthusiastic travel writers are heavy into the food they encounter as they wander. Thoreau tended to ignore the subject. Although he was not a strict vegetarian, meat was low in his priorities because of his perception that it was unclean, and he seemed to subsist on little but air as he trekked around. At one point he mentioned that a clam and a couple of crackers would make a fine dinner,
His writing received widespread praise in later years but also received some pointed criticism from some of his well-known contemporaries. Luminaries such as Robert Lewis Stevenson, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all took their shots at him, calling him unmanly, a skulker, and a “woodchuck.” Thoreau answered by invoking the idea that every man needs to consider the scope of his own life and not worry about what he has heard of others.
There was a good deal of satisfaction for me in the reading of “Cape Cod.” Thoreau’s ideas are thought provoking, his vistas are well formed, and he is, after all, considered a literary icon. I feel much more intelligent and well read after completing “Cape Cod.”
Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES
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