So what was Thoreau doing, and why? As our group quickly learned, Thoreau didn’t go very far. Walden is replete with criticism of the way most people live, in particular their preoccupation with making a living and adding to their possessions. He is not exactly a misanthrope, he enjoys engaging with people, but at an emotional distance. Thoreau’s view of his fellow humans is a mix of bemusement and annoyance-at one point he talks about Concordians as objects of his study, like prairie dogs. Going all the way to Walden means not just leaving society but turning a baleful gaze on it. The popularity of camping and backpacking is due in part to Thoreau (an attraction lost on many, like my mother, who grew up on a farm and thought deliberately going out into the woods for days on end was nuts). Young people especially often go through a Waldenesque phase. Walden had only modest success when published, but over the years has become discovered and re-discovered to become an American classic. It means turning your back on society, going into the wilderness (with one or two favorite books), communing with nature. ‘Going to Walden’ is almost a meme for many Americans (and others-Yeats loved Walden). I could quote parts of Walden, I once visited Walden Pond it was so ‘familiar’ that I assumed at some point, when I was young, I had read it. It took me about 40 pages of reading to become convinced that this was really new. (One of my personal surprises was that I had never read Walden before. John’s way, we read no other texts, consulted no biographies or interpretations-just Walden. Not long ago I took part in a week-long seminar on Thoreau’s Walden, put on by my alma mater, St John’s College, and headed by two excellent tutors.
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