What problems I have with Walden are my own doing. You see, I naively thought that Thoreau had set up residence on Walden Pond to commune with nature, to become one, as they say, with the flora and fauna of rural Massachusetts. Not true. What he set out to do was conduct a social experiment in self sufficiency; what “communing” he does is quite often incidental. Thoreau wasn’t moving toward something (the pond) so much as he was moving away from something (19th century American society).

So, why was I so wrong about Thoreau’s motivations? The answer is in the quotes:

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”

I read that as “I’d rather be outside” when, in context, Thoreau was really saying, “I’d rather be alone.”

“Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor...”

I read that as “live in harmony with nature” when, in context, Thoreau was really saying, “helping the less fortunate can be counterproductive.”

"I have a room all to myself; it is Nature."

Again, I read that as “I like the company of squirrels” when, in context, Thoreau was really saying, “I dislike the company of (most) men.”

Walden (the book, not the pond) is much more a social commentary than an ecological treatise. I should have known that going in, but I did not. At its core it is the rant of a talented, intelligent, antisocial man—and that’s okay. I don’t use the term “antisocial” derisively. Hell, I myself have been called antisocial on occasion (every time I decline an invitation to attend a tractor pull or a monster truck show or a Trump rally). ‘Antisocial’ can be a badge of honor. I embrace it in myself and I accept it in Thoreau.

I do recommend reading Walden, but do so in the spirit in which it was written. Wear your sociological (not your ecological) spectacles, or else lower your expectations.

__________________________________

“I had some guests from those not reckoned commonly among the town’s poor, but who should be; who are among the world’s poor, at any rate; guests who appeal, not to your hospitality, but to your hospitalality; who earnestly wish to be helped, and preface their appeal with the information that they are resolved, for one thing, never to help themselves.”

“You must have a genius for charity as well as for any thing else. As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution.”