Walden (Original)

I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well

Eschewing a conventional residence and lifestyle, Thoreau set up home in the woods on the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts, a mile from his nearest neighbor, and earned his living by labor of his own hands. Most people, he says are so occupied with the factitious care and toils of life that its finer fruits remain unplucked. So he went to Walden in an attempt to find, in the seemingly simple routines of life stripped to its essentials, the shape beneath what is apparently chaotic.

Walden describes Thoreau's domestic economy, the wildlife, the few visitors to his remote wooden hut, and his reflections on the quality of human life in age of growing materialism and of prevailing work ethic. It has become poignant critique of the values of Thoreau's society which retains its relevance and extraordinary power today.

A comprehensive paper edition, with an introduction and chronology of Thoreau's life and times