One of the small Penguin 60s Classics, Thoreau on Civil Disobedience & Reading...the activity not the town in Berkshire ;)

Despite being a wee pocket penguin, I couldn’t finish the first part of this, a complex, no doubt erudite study on the nature of government, individual rights and expectations; from the blurb, ‘...perhaps the most famous essay in American literature [circa 1849] – the inspiration for social activists around the world’. Anyway, I’m law-abiding, living in England in the C21st, so this doesn’t really have much to say to me.

However, the second part of this book does, ‘Reading’ is fun for the incredibly dogmatic and prejudiced way that Thoreau claims that we, the masses, are ill-educated that don’t read the Greek and Latin classics in the language of the authors! He goes further, books are the only true timeless art form because, only in reading and understanding can we return completely to the writers thoughts in the way that visual arts, say, can’t; they will always be subject to interpretation (imprecise translation?)

And when we are not reading Homer or Aeschylus, well we, ‘...vegetate and dissipate their [our] faculties in what is called easy reading.’ Ho hum.

The extract is part of Thoreau’s most famous work, ‘Walden’ which I have, to tackle when I’m feeling brave and intelligent!

RELEASE NOTES:

Taking along to the BookCrossing meet-up to share or leave on the Caffe Nero shelves

Picked up as I enjoyed reading "Walden" and enjoyed the company of curmudgeonly Thoreau.