Review 583: Henry Thoreau as Remembered by a Young Friend

Henry Thoreau as Remembered by a Young Friend by Edward Waldo Emerson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a somewhat small book recounting the character and person of Henry David Thoreau. The author, Edward Emerson was a child growing up in Concord and knew Thoreau quite well being the son of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson does not rely solely on his own experiences and memories, he includes other people's remarks about Thoreau. There are also passages of Thoreau’s that were from his diary or other published works. He also has a few poems, or lines of poetry that is sprinkled throughout.

The book was published about 70 years after Thoreau's passing and is a response to those who criticized his character. Some of the townsfolk of Concord at that time thought he was lazy or didn’t do right by his family by spending time wandering around the woods. Emerson here points out how Thoreau was wisely spending his time. He also shows how Thoreau was ahead of his time. If that was noticeable in 1917 he is every more so now another 100 plus years later.

Review 445: Thoreau at Devil's Perch

Thoreau at Devil's Perch by B.B. Oak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book fictionalizes a real person. Although his name is in the title and the series title, he is not the main character. No. Instead Henry David Thoreau is sidelined into a caricature.

The book format is of journal entries, alternating between Dr. Adam Walker and Julia Bell. They are first cousins who came to Plumford, MA to aid the elder Dr. Walker who broke his leg. I didn’t find the voice to vary much between the two narratives. Perhaps in an attempt to differentiate the two voices, Adam’s portion became full of awkward or incomplete sentences. Also, they aren’t what a typical journal entry would look like, so it was an odd choice for the book format.

The other problem I had with the book was the main concern throughout was this love interest between the two cousins. They longed for each other, but were told by several people that if they married their offspring would be monsters, malformed and hideous. (Quite the extreme, but still found the entire concept odd and a bit disturbing as well.) As if further proof they are made for each other there is even a part where Adam hypothesizes Julia who regresses to a previous life during Roman times, where the two of them have a beautiful baby. This was another distraction, the hypnotizing and past life explorations, Julia wasn’t the only one. It didn’t need to be in the book at all.

What about the murdered man they find? This mystery takes a sideline to another murder Adam and Thoreau start investigating. They keep trying to keep Julia out, but she is a strong woman, particularly for the mid-1800s.

The book had a lot of points of annoyances for me, and quite a few horrific instances (some involving animals). There seems to be a lot thrown into this book that didn’t need to be there, but I will say it did add dimension.

Apparently, there are two more books for this is a first in a series, and they all follow the same format, even with Julia and Adam continuing to pin for each other. No, I cannot follow along with that.

Review 414: Uncommon Carriers

Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is too short for it to have taken me over a month to read it. Why so long? Well, despite enjoying McPhee's writing overall, I found the book slightly boring. I was interested in most of the topics and late in the book I realized the problem here was he’s provided way too much information, too many details. So, maybe I wasn't quite that interested, maybe.

The first chapter, A Fleet of One, I enjoyed the most. It’s about a trucker, an owner-operator who specializes in hazardous liquid materials. He's been on the road for decades. The last chapter returned to the same trucker, although I wouldn't say it added much of anything new; and happily, was quite short compared to the other chapters. McPhee rode with him again, three years later and perhaps just had to add that into the book.

The next chapter, or essay, as it were, is called The Ships of Port Revel and is a training course for ship captains and ship pilots. They come from all over the world to train there for a week. It was somewhat interesting, and the shortest of all the essays.

The third essay, Tight-Assed River, started out okay, but went on way too long. It’s double the length of the essay before it and had many details that literally put me to sleep. Here the book really lagged for me, too much information. Oh, it’s about a barge carrying freight along the Illinois River.

The middle essay called, Five Days on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, was somewhat different than the others. Thus far, the collection is about work, mainly shipping in different formats (carriers). This one instead has the author and his son-in-law retracing the journey that Henry David Thoreau and his brother took many years before, which was recounted in HDT’s first book with a very similar name. While I mainly enjoyed this essay, the comparison from then and now (being 2003), it doesn’t fit with the theme the other essays.

The next essay didn’t fit well either, called Out in the Sort. It’s about a company that ships fresh lobster all around the world, the largest lobster company. Then it morphs into what UPS, United Parcel Service, can do for you. One could say a meandering essay, and perhaps covers shipping via airplane.

Then we have Coal Train, which is about what it says, about shipping coal via train. This essay is the longest and by far could have been cut in half. It went on for too many pages, with too many details, that maybe a train buff, train spotter, what-have you would enjoy, or not.

Then the last I’ve already mentioned. This book has not put me off of McPhee’s writing, but it may be a while before I jump into another collection of his essays.

Previously Read John McPhee books:

Assembling California (4 stars) - April.2018

Crofter and the Laird  (5 stars) - May.2019

Irons in the Fire (4 stars) - May.2021

Review 397: A Fugitive in Walden Woods

A Fugitive in Walden Woods by Norman Lock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This short novel is a sort of biography of Henry David Thoreau. Yet it’s told through the lens of a fictional runaway slave, the fugitive, Samuel Long. To escape he had to chop off his hand from his manacles, then made his way north settling in Concord for the duration of the book. Ralph Waldo Emerson gave Samuel a shack on his property to live in, and pays him to look after Thoreau and do odds and ends type jobs.

Weaved in this story are the philosophies and thoughts of the many transcendentalists and writers that were around Concord. We also get Samuel’s story as he relates it to William Lloyd Garrison for his newspaper The Liberator.

There is a lot of fact and history within these pages, but undoubtedly a lot of fiction as well. There isn’t really a plot, or anything moving the story forward except for time and events that follow one after another.

I enjoyed the book, as I did with the other two books of Lock’s American novels series I’ve read.

Review 287: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year

Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Started reading February 04.  

Had to catch up to the days in the beginning, but by end of month was on track.

Daily entries by calendar date. I read each to match the day, more or less, and starting late. I expected a couple of the entries to mark the holiday, such as Christmas or even Independence day, but that wasn't the case. Some entries seemed like an odd choice.

I picked this up in October 2008. I enjoyed the way I read the book but would not have expected it would take me to 2021 until actually reading it through. I had a great year with reading it.

Overall an enjoyable experience to have throughout the year. I have a journal of his that I'd like to do the same, just read each day's entry as the year goes by. Decided not to do that for 2022, but maybe for 2023.

Review 195: Being Henry David

Being Henry David by Cal Armistead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A teen wakes up in New York City and doesn’t know anything about himself, not his name, where he lives, anything. The only thing he has is a few dollars in his pocket and a book, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, so he names himself Hank. The story is about Hank finding himself and coming to terms of who he is once his memory starts returning.

What’s interesting is that the book in his hand provides something for him to seek, he goes to Walden Pond in Concord, MA makes a couple of friends, and manages to find shelter, food and clothing. While on the train there he read all of Walden (really?) and afterwards discovered he could recite passages perfectly. Amazing kid.

If you take out the references to Thoreau, which was more in the beginning of the story anyway, you’re left with the kid with amnesia. It was okay, not spectacular. There’s a bit of a romance and about runaway kids. It felt like the author was hoping to introduce young adults to some of the ideas of Thoreau, and a few other transcendentalists by this approach. Perhaps it works that way, the book would probably work better for a teen than it did for me in any case.

Oh, there were some hallucination scenes where Thoreau himself appeared. That was weird.

The audio narration was done well, no problems there at all.

Review 134: My Green Manifesto

My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism by David Gessner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One month after finished reading this book and finally have some notes:

There were three parts to this book: a river trip on an urban river, that ends up in the Boston Harbor, a coming to his own philosophy about environmentalism, how it should be approached, and the literature criticism of an environmental book.

The primary way the book moves forward is the river trip. Gessner and Dan Driscoll (a friend from the Frisbee days), paddle down the Charles River that ends in the Boston Harbor. Driscoll has made it his life work to improve the river. It started in the 1990s, new in the department and they said look at this river. Driscoll then says, hey, let’s green the river. Put in green pathways, connected, plant native plants, improve it. Soon he became known as “the River man.” It has been a long road but he has been persistent and constant for nearly twenty years. And now it is a good success for most of the river, of course more can be done. During their trip they do pass through very urban areas. Places where they have to haul the canoe a short distance the nature in urban become incongruous. When at the end of the day, you can hop over to a pub, have dinner and a few drinks, it is spectacular.

There is also a conversation about a book Gessner reads while taking this trip, Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. He argues with the authors on their viewpoints of environmentalism. This book helps Gessner to define his own approach and what may be something more people would be open towards, such as finding a spot in the natural world and fall in love with it

Bonus: Gessner's ideas:

• Have a small love affair with something in the world.
• Get in a fight. (to improve what you love)
• Launch a larger project of self and world.

Read two Gessner books at the same time. This book read: (April 29-May 07)
Other book: All The Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West

• 3.5 stars (April 22-May 04)

Review 133: All The Wild That Remains

All The Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West by David Gessner
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Part travel autobiography, part biography. The autobiography portion is in search of information and anecdotes about Wallace Stegner or Ed Abbey. I suspect that people who have read most of the books by Stegner and Abbey would get more out of this one than I did. What kept coming up in my mind was, I’ve only read one book by Stegner and it isn’t the most read, nor his most ambitious (Big Rock Candy Mountain). Recently I tried a book by Abbey, and was so disappointed by it, could not get beyond the overt racism and sexism. So this book did have some hurdles for me.

Despite that I enjoyed the book for the most part. I learned about both author’s lives and felt like perhaps I could get beyond some of Abbey’s crassness and read some of his other non-fiction books. The book I was appalled by he wrote furiously as he was dying, which makes me more upset. I would hope people would find peace and love in the end, not more antagonism toward other human beings.

Gessner compares and contracts these two which are somewhat complete opposites, except for their love of preserving the wild. Abbey was a sexist, could hardly stay married (had 5 wives), was a horrible father to most of his children. Then there’s Stegner who was married and loyal for decades, wonderful father. Stegner is quiet and works with legislature to get things preserved, while Abbey is loud and obnoxious and sets the foundation for Earth First! and property destruction in an attempt to stop the real destruction of wilderness.

I enjoyed Gessner’s own journey, meeting up with some people associated with the two authors, and discussing a little of the west and environmentalism. Perhaps the book overall would have worked for me better if I had read more of the Abbey and Stegner.

Read two Gessner books during same time. This book read: (April 22-May 04)
Other book: My Green Manifesto

• 4 stars (April 29-May 07) 

Review 71: Walking

Walking by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Dover Publications for the reprint of this lecture, by Thoreau that was published posthumously. The image they added to the text perfectly represents the mood of the book. Thoreau writes in a time when land was still being dominated and tamed, and here is the one voice speaking out that the wild nature has value as well. Not only has value, but we need it, as Thoreau writes: “in Wildness is the preservation of the World.”

There are many good quotes to pull out of this small book. I will refrain from quoting too many, but I must include another, “Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest.”

Thoreau also states how his walking is like the wildness, to go without a purpose, to go without your head thinking of things you need to do. It is a walk to just be out in nature and walk.

The book is short enough to read in one sitting and perhaps it best when read in that manner. I did not have the fortune to do so, but did have some extended periods of time while reading, and broke away a little refreshed, with a new view, after each reading. Thoreau’s writing may not be fully accessible and easy, but once you dive in, you can see why his words are still relevant today, and will be for a long time to come.

Reissue Review 67: The Life of the Skies

The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature by Jonathan Rosen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reissue Review #3: On occasion revisiting and reissuing reviews from the days before my blog postings. This is one to not miss.

A recent read: finished on September 02, 2016.

“what to make of a diminished thing”

This book isn’t so much about birding and birdwatching as it is a meandering of ideas that uses birding as the main focus. It’s tempting to call this a literary critique of birdwatching as literature appears almost as much as the birds.

Rosen frequently calls back to writers and poets, such as Thoreau, Whitman and Frost, but also those who may be more obvious such as Audubon, Darwin and Wallace. (Alfred Russel Wallace came up with the idea of evolution through natural selection at the same time as Darwin.)

The frame of the book is an attempt to find a bird that was claimed extinct but recently spotted – the ivory-bill woodpecker. This one bird can represent both despair and hope at the same time. The reason the bird went extinct was due to human logging of old growth forests. Hope is that it still survives, remained hidden all these years. Despair in that we have realized that our species can cause many other species to go extinct. Then hope in the attempt, or struggle to reverse that trend. Hope and despair is often found in the book.

The second half of the book Rosen goes to Israel for birding. Jewish heritage, history, religion, and of course the holocaust comes up. Perhaps the latter is brought into the book as a somewhat relation to the extinction of the ivory-bill and the attempted extinction of the Jewish people, both brought about by humans, albeit one consciously and the other unwittingly. This is just one example of the various connections Rosen brings up throughout.

There are some lines, some quirks to the book I haven’t seen before or extremely rare. At one point Rosen talks about lying and then reveals his story early in the book about how he started his habit of birdwatching is a lie. That’s curious. If you’re going to state it correctly why do that? You can edit. And occasionally there are moments that Rosen seems to think what the critics may say about his book and in this anticipation he brings up the idea and then answers it as well. Such as in the epilogue he writes: “Can a book about birdwatching sustain a reference to the horrors human beings inflict on each other?” The horrors he means specifically the holocaust. This oddness does remind me of a few authors who have written similarly. They think they know what people will say then dispute it within the same book. I don’t particularly like the tactic but can understand the motivation. They wish for a stronger argument within the book. But what is Rosen’s argument? That the environment is diminished for the birds?

“what to make of a diminished thing” This phrase comes up quite frequently. Rosen doesn’t quite answer it, as it is more a meditation, something to ponder rather than something to be fully answered. But if he does provide a hint of an answer for the reader it is found in the last pages: “We need to know that we are asking it about ourselves as well as the world around us.”

I really enjoyed the book, but not in the way I expected. I thought it would be more about birdwatching than a meandering of literary references and more. But I liked it. I’m sure some, who really are more interested in just the birdwatching aspect might find it tedious. There is a lot in this book, many digressions and sometimes the bird portion just seems like a thin veil to get to what he really wants to talk about. But it is interesting, there’s surprises on nearly every page, not knowing where this is going or where you’ll really end up.

Final note – didn’t like there isn’t an index, and this book really needs an index! Why this trend in non-fiction books to get rid of useful things such as references and indexes (indices)? At least he included notes on sources.

Book rating: 5 stars