Thoreau: Walden / Civil Disobedience

By: Henry David Thoreau

Narrated by: Rupert Degas

In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the small town of Concord for the country. Beside the lake of Walden he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect – while surviving on eight dollars a year.

From this experience emerged Walden, one of the great classics of American literature, and a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that Thoreau saw as the main impulses of mid-19th-century America. Here also is Civil Disobedience, Thoreau’s essay on just resistance to government, which not only challenged the establishment of his day but has been used as a flag for later campaigners from Mahatma Ghandi to Dr Martin Luther King.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2010 Naxos Audiobook (P)2010 Naxos Audiobook

Great book and narration

After to listening to other narrations I picked this one because it was enjoyable to my ears. I listened to it while driving and I never felt sleepy from his tone. I would suggest.

Great listen / read! I’m a fan

The performance was better than expected. With the poetic intelligence being effectively portrayed. We have very similar problems today.

One-note

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The reader conveyed a persistent tone of anger, resentment and scorn. Never just thoughtful. I kept wondering what voice I would have heard reading the actual book and how reading it myself would have changed my experience of the book.

Superb

Excellent book excellently read. Thoreau is a poet in every sense of the word. Every line heard of these books is music to my ears. He is a profound thinker and an astute observer on a plethora of subjects. A genius. Simply brilliant and very well read.

A classic for a reason and just as fresh in 2012.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this because a recent speaker quoted from it. I found it as fresh and relevant to daily life and humanity as when it was written. If you have no patience for the ritual of the world and want to get to the heart of the matter, this book delivers now and well into the future. It is timeless and amazing both. You will find it worthwhile.

Simpler times

The simple way of living that is lost in today's rush rush world. Stopping to take a look at your surroundings. Wakes our inner currious child long forgotten.

Awesome

Henry david is the best story teller ever on the north american continent. Never gets old. Walden pond!!!!! Exellellant

A Literary Gem

I tend to evaluate a book by 2 sets of criteria: My own subjective enjoyment, and then also by literary standards.

'Walden' is beautifully written, a literary gem. The words can phrases can almost be savoured and appreciated. The subject matter idyllic with wonderful values.

Unfortunately, its wisdom could only be applied with great difficulty and a set of hugely life-threatening circumstances in today's world. Or perhaps this is only true where I live.

But it is dreamy. A kind of Utopia.

On a personal level, i did find myself getting distracted and rather bored in sections involving lengthy descriptions of nature.

5 Stars as a literary work, 3 for personal enjoyment.

This is a must read.

The narration conveyed the story very well without being monotone or overly dramatic, and so I think was excellent, because such a great work must be conveyed without the narrator adding to or subtracting from the work.

I want to find my own place in the wilderness now, and plant beans and subsist on rice.

Over a century and a half and this is still as relevant, possibly more so, as the day it was published. with the exception that the great classics are available in English today without having to learn Greek to read The Iliad. Include this in your collection, you won't be sorry. I've listened to this many times now, and will likely never tire of it.

A Great Listen and a Classic

Surprisingly relevant to our times, this book provides a guide for thinking. It can be enjoyed for it's place in time, but it's poetry-prose at its best. Some have found it condescending, but it's beautiful, edgy, and has lasting wisdom. I even enjoyed a bit of the bean counting economics, but more prominent is the celebration of individualism against a lost society. There are lessons here for now, expressed with a mix of wit, charm, and gall. The audio performance is excellent. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes