Walden By Henry David Thoreau (Illustrated Edition)

Illustrations were created specifically for this edition in 2019 by Lysa Kaliostra. Walden by Henry David Thoreau "Walden, or Life in the Forest" is a widely-known book by American poet and thinker Henry David Thoreau. First published in 1854. This book is literary a record of a kind of social experiment, for which the author spent over two years. On his own. Thoreau decided to isolate himself from society for some time, focusing only on himself and his needs, imbued with the ideas of the liberal philosopher and the Unitarian pastor Ralph Waldo Emerson. He settled in Massachusetts, in his own self-built hut on the banks of the Walden Pond. He got everything he needed to live on his own, spending most of his time gardening, fishing, reading classic literature, swimming and rowing. However, he did not avoid human intercourse, often meeting and talking both with random travelers, and with the owner of the pond - Emerson himself. With his experiment, Thoreau sought to make it clear to the modern society with its cult of material things that it is possible to live well and happily outside of society, satisfying all natural needs with your own work. He contrasted the industrial revolution and the emerging consumer society with freedom from material wealth, privacy, self-sufficiency and closeness to nature. In fact, the Thoreau's book in addition to its undoubtedly amazing literary qualities is also a kind of propaganda of anti-capitalist and romantic-utopian ideas of the XIX century. By the way, it is appropriate to note that the ideas of maximum separation from modern society, in order to be left alone with yourself and with nature, are also quite popular in the 21st century ...