This book was written shortly before Thoreau's death in May 1862. Considered a naturalist, essayist, poet and philosopher he is best known for his 'Walden' and 'Civil Disobedience'. Thoreau talks about the joys of walking, prescribes at least four hours of walking, urges us to saunter and not huff and puff for sheer exercise and miss the joy of walking in the process. It is evident that he loves the process of walking, that he has benefited much from it, from being in solitude, for letting his thoughts stray and find a moment of genius.
Somewhere he mentions how in the far East (did he mention Varanasi I wonder) people who stray outside their village and carried away and eaten by wild animals whereas in America they have no such fear and one can walk in the woods at night and watch the stars int eh blue sky. He also abhors the idea of walking on roads and prefers walking off into woods and nature. He also advocates walking without any preset plan and to just walk in any direction the body pleases. Somewhere he mentions the Vishnu Purana 'the man who takes the liberty to live is superior to all laws. It is our active duty. He quotes the tortoise and the elephant and how the Hindus perceive the world and he is quite open to the idea as well. he quips that man's ignorance is beautiful while his knowledge is rather painful. He talks of the pleasures of hugging the earth, of climbing a tree. He ends with a sunset that seemed to have stayed in his mind as an abiding image.
There are moments in this essay when he transports you to another land which is what great literature does. Thanks Harshavardhan for lending em this book.
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