The Thoreau You Don't Know
What the Prophet of Environmentalism Really Meant
Chapter One
The Thoreau You Don't Know
I'd like to introduce the Thoreau you don't know, or don't necessarily know, or know but perhaps never hear people talking about when people talk about Thoreau. People talk a lot about Thoreau in America—they reference him in these days of ecological awareness, in these green times, in times when, as people all along the political spectrum agree, we care about the earth, the wilderness, what's wild. But when we talk about Thoreau, we talk about a particular Thoreau who I would suggest has more to do with us than Thoreau. The Thoreau we already know is, for instance, not here. He's out, away, off in the woods most likely, on the shore of that lonely little pond or ascending a faraway mountain. He's busy getting more in touch with the natural world. He's not in town with us, that's for sure. The Thoreau we know doesn't really go to town. He's managed to separate himself from the hustle, the rat race—or at least to say that he has. People wonder, after all. They always ... read full excerpt from: The Thoreau You Don't Know ebook
