Book Review

Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, I finally got around to Walden...

First off I really liked some parts of the books. There were some great thoughts on personal leadership that I took to heart. I also enjoyed his musings on early mornings and reading classics. And while I enjoyed them I can't say there was anything really revelatory for me personally though.

I struggled with some of the book. It was just plain boring to me. The overall message of the book-simplify your life-was definitely a great one. However, I think there needs to be a more middle ground than the life he enjoyed at Walden. This of course he himself only enjoyed for two years.

Overall, good theme, good message, thoughts to mull over, but still lacking somewhat in reality for me.

I will probably read this again later to study it more.

As for the second book "Civil Disobedience" I enjoyed that one a whole lot more. I would give that one four stars. I agreed with most of his points about government. Some were slightly idealistic but I definitely felt that I benefited from his perspective.

The whole concept of civil disobedience is important to me and I have repeatedly talked to my children about it. I think the movie "National Treasure" is a perfect example of this. Ben felt that he needed to break the law. He felt that was the right choice. HOWEVER, he was willing to pay the price for breaking the law. He felt it was more important to break the law and fix the problem then to sit back and do nothing and thereby avoid prison. This example I have hammered in repeatedly to my children. "You must be willing to face the consequences." Of course another example of this is our revered Founding Fathers.


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