Walden Review

[김태호]

Before writing this review, I'd admit that it was never easy to complete reading this book, and it would have been the same, even with the translated version in Korean. This book contains multiple complex and profound ideas, so it took me so long to finish reading Walden, and still, I needed some more time to grasp what the words and sentences really meant. Nevertheless, I would willingly recommend this masterpiece to others, since it is worth investing such time for it.

The overall storyline features the life of Thoreau around the pond named Walden. Around there, he escapes from the urban center crowded with people, and lives a solitary life for about two years. He criticizes the vanity of modern people, and seeks the return to the nature throughout his book. By trying to be self-sufficient as much as possible, he even builds his own house near Walden and does many things by himself. He also spends much of his pastime observing the pond and the nature nearby. He also enjoys reading books, especially classics.

There are many things that I felt while and after reading this book, and I’d like to share some of them. First of all, considering that this book was written at the midst of the industrialization era, Thoreau must have been a revolutionary thinker to attempt to get away from the cities and live with minimum needs. In the book, he wrote that he read many classics, not only the ones of ancient Greek, but also of the old Chinese and Indian ones. He may have came up with some of his concepts from those eastern publications, such as the writings of Confucius or Chuangtzu. Anyway, his criticism towards vanity and lavishness sharply comments on the upper and middle class of the time who neglect those suffering in the midst of extreme poverty. As he successfully observes; “The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another.” In my opinion, this could also be applied to modern people who are obsessed with urban lifestyles and latest topnotch devices. Let me give a simple case for better explanation. Due to the greed and impatience of modern people, millions of latest cell phones are produced every day. Meanwhile, many Chinese or Southeast Asian laborers, who are often under age, are forced to work many more hours than the law has designated, receiving salaries below the legal minimum. They intake toxic gases in factories with neither adequate cleansing systems nor proper compensation. If Thoreau were aware of this fact, he must have felt sorry that the people have not improved from then.

Another point that I’d like to emphasize in Walden is his love of nature, and his beautiful illustrations about various aspects of it. As Thoreau resides in his homemade cabin for two years, he thoroughly watches the change of weathers, temperatures and seasons. Watching those sceneries, his sensations are directly and honestly expressed with his gorgeous sentences. He is impressed with minor changes as well, such as watching an indigenous eagle fly, or hearing the sound of melting ice. These watchful attitude of him would have been the motivation of his genuine ideas.

In conclusion, despite those sensational parts, however, I would not call this book a perfect one. It seems that he indirectly praises himself too much(maybe not actually) and the sentences are too complicated and difficult for most people to read. However, for those who succeeded in finding, reading and comprehending it, it will give a new perspective to look back on their lives and to improve them. This book has truly become a ‘Classic’, which Thoreau was unsparing of his praise in Walden.