A Life of the Mind
May. 28th, 2008 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thoreauwatched the two hour sunset again tonight - on the deck reading.
I'm reading HENRY THOREAU - A LIFE OF THE MIND by Robert Richardson. It's very interesting - Thoreau would have appreciated the fact that here, "mind" is not limited to abstractions but includes the web of personal relations and political contexts, the physical textures of seasonal life. What I like about this book more than anything is it's attention to the small detail; Richardson's account of Thoreau's development from his return to Concord from Harvard in 1837 to his death in 1862 is neither diffusively tedious nor glibly generalizing. He is particularly original in delineating the major foreign influences on Thoreau, especially the German (Goethe), the classical (Cato), and the British (Gilpin, Darwin, and Ruskin). The style is graceful and clear, and the author's admiration for his subject does not lapse into adulation or preachiness. (as my writing about him does.... (wink)) What I like is that Richardson talks about the origins and inspirations for Thoreau's core thoughts and ideas. Recognizing Thoreau as a unique, and perhaps essential, American voice.
I'm reading HENRY THOREAU - A LIFE OF THE MIND by Robert Richardson. It's very interesting - Thoreau would have appreciated the fact that here, "mind" is not limited to abstractions but includes the web of personal relations and political contexts, the physical textures of seasonal life. What I like about this book more than anything is it's attention to the small detail; Richardson's account of Thoreau's development from his return to Concord from Harvard in 1837 to his death in 1862 is neither diffusively tedious nor glibly generalizing. He is particularly original in delineating the major foreign influences on Thoreau, especially the German (Goethe), the classical (Cato), and the British (Gilpin, Darwin, and Ruskin). The style is graceful and clear, and the author's admiration for his subject does not lapse into adulation or preachiness. (as my writing about him does.... (wink)) What I like is that Richardson talks about the origins and inspirations for Thoreau's core thoughts and ideas. Recognizing Thoreau as a unique, and perhaps essential, American voice.
