徐震的《美人谱》是明末清初众多闺阁记趣类笔记中的一种，收在清•张廷华（虫天子）辑的《香艳丛书》中。徐震，字秋涛，浙江嘉兴人，生卒年不详，著有《闺秀佳话》十二卷等。徐震不试举子业，入清之后流落江湖，靠给书商写艳情小说谋生。艳情有别于色情，不单是谋生之具，在明末更是文人情趣和风尚雅事。
对古代女子缠足一事从诸多角度和方位予以分题描绘，可以说是关于中国女子小足的“专著”。同时，它也反映了封建文人和士大夫们对女子“香莲”充满丰富联想意会和封建历史积累的“审美欣赏”、“审美感受”及“审美要求”。从这个意义上说，《品藻》亦可谓是一部“香莲美学”之作。如此书中《香莲五观》一节说：
观水有术，必观其澜；观莲有术，必观其步。然小人闲居工于屟著，操此五术，攻其无备，乃得别戴伪体，毕露端倪。
临风；踏梯；下阶；上轿；过桥。
什么意思呢？方大博士说：观察大海有术的人，必观察其波涛；观察香莲有术的人，必观察其步姿。然而小人家居无事，只会掩盖其坏处而显示其好处。如果操此五术，攻其不备，就可“取真去伪”，使其端倪毕露。“五术”分别为：临风之步；踏梯子之步；下台阶之步；上轿之步；过桥之步。这可以说是体现他作为“评花御史”和“香莲博士”水平的一段文字，是教给众人在什么时机看女人的小脚可以看到“毕露端倪”的真货。细想来，这“五术”原本是人的脚最无处躲藏的地方，方绚对生活观察之细致，用心之良苦，非常人所能及。
他在书中把女人小脚按照品相高下做了比较细致的分类：曰“四照莲”(端端正正，瘦瘦削削，在三四寸之间者)；曰“锦边莲”(苗苗条条，整整齐齐，四寸以上，五寸以下的小脚也)；曰“衩头莲”(瘦削而更修长的小脚，所谓竹笋式者)；曰“单叶莲”(瘦长而弯弯的小脚也)；曰“佛头莲”(脚背丰满隆起，如佛头挽髻，所谓菱角式者，即江南所称之鹅头脚)；曰“穿心莲”(穿里高底鞋者)；曰“碧台莲”(穿外高底鞋者)；曰“并头莲”(走起路来八字的小脚)；曰“并蒂莲”(大拇趾翘起来的小脚)；曰“倒垂莲”(鞋跟往后倒的小脚)；曰“朝日莲”(用后跟走路的小脚)；曰“分香莲”(两条腿往外拐的小脚)；曰“同心莲”(两条腿往里拐的小脚)；曰“合影莲”(走起路来歪歪斜斜的小脚)；曰“缠枝莲”(走起路来成一条线的小脚)；曰“千叶莲”(六寸七寸八寸的小脚)；曰“玉井莲”(跟船一样的小脚)；曰“西番莲”(半路出家之莲，或根本没缠过的小脚)。
如果说前面所说的“五术”是一种了不起的发现，那么，这“香莲十八名”则称得上是伟大的发明了，同时也将小脚文学的成就推向了最高峰。
观水有术，必观其澜；观莲有术，必观其步。然小人闲居工于屟著，操此五术，攻其无备，乃得别戴伪体，毕露端倪。
临风；踏梯；下阶；上轿；过桥。
什么意思呢？方大博士说：观察大海有术的人，必观察其波涛；观察香莲有术的人，必观察其步姿。然而小人家居无事，只会掩盖其坏处而显示其好处。如果操此五术，攻其不备，就可“取真去伪”，使其端倪毕露。“五术”分别为：临风之步；踏梯子之步；下台阶之步；上轿之步；过桥之步。这可以说是体现他作为“评花御史”和“香莲博士”水平的一段文字，是教给众人在什么时机看女人的小脚可以看到“毕露端倪”的真货。细想来，这“五术”原本是人的脚最无处躲藏的地方，方绚对生活观察之细致，用心之良苦，非常人所能及。
他在书中把女人小脚按照品相高下做了比较细致的分类：曰“四照莲”(端端正正，瘦瘦削削，在三四寸之间者)；曰“锦边莲”(苗苗条条，整整齐齐，四寸以上，五寸以下的小脚也)；曰“衩头莲”(瘦削而更修长的小脚，所谓竹笋式者)；曰“单叶莲”(瘦长而弯弯的小脚也)；曰“佛头莲”(脚背丰满隆起，如佛头挽髻，所谓菱角式者，即江南所称之鹅头脚)；曰“穿心莲”(穿里高底鞋者)；曰“碧台莲”(穿外高底鞋者)；曰“并头莲”(走起路来八字的小脚)；曰“并蒂莲”(大拇趾翘起来的小脚)；曰“倒垂莲”(鞋跟往后倒的小脚)；曰“朝日莲”(用后跟走路的小脚)；曰“分香莲”(两条腿往外拐的小脚)；曰“同心莲”(两条腿往里拐的小脚)；曰“合影莲”(走起路来歪歪斜斜的小脚)；曰“缠枝莲”(走起路来成一条线的小脚)；曰“千叶莲”(六寸七寸八寸的小脚)；曰“玉井莲”(跟船一样的小脚)；曰“西番莲”(半路出家之莲，或根本没缠过的小脚)。
如果说前面所说的“五术”是一种了不起的发现，那么，这“香莲十八名”则称得上是伟大的发明了，同时也将小脚文学的成就推向了最高峰。
仅仅祈求来世福吗？或许也祈求了来世的姻缘。清道光年间浙江钱塘秀才蒋坦曾作《秋灯琐忆》来记述他与妻子秋芙的日常生活，用看似轻描淡写的文字道出一对夫妻的淡远情长，他这样憧憬两人以后的生活：“数年而后，当与秋芙结庐华坞河渚间，夕梵晨钟，忏除慧业。花开之日，当并见弥陀，听无生之法。即或再堕人天，亦愿世世永为夫妇。明日为如来潘涅盘日，当持此誓，证明佛前。”珍惜今世，又许下来世，如同每一对深情的夫妻。就在蒋坦写下《秋灯琐忆》后不久，秋芙即病故，而蒋坦数年后也不幸死于战乱。灾难会湮灭一切幸福，罄尽全力、倾尽眼泪也留不下什么。
据考,关瑛约于咸丰四五年间(1854～1855年)病死,辛酉年间(1861年)太平军攻占江浙,杭州戒严,蒋坦逃难到慈溪投靠友人,后又回到故乡,在战乱之中饿死。《秋灯琐忆》是一篇表现作者家庭生活乐趣的回忆性散文。
据考,关瑛约于咸丰四五年间(1854～1855年)病死,辛酉年间(1861年)太平军攻占江浙,杭州戒严,蒋坦逃难到慈溪投靠友人,后又回到故乡,在战乱之中饿死。《秋灯琐忆》是一篇表现作者家庭生活乐趣的回忆性散文。
什么叫神韵？可能每个人都能够很恰当地使用这个词，当你看到一幅山水画，你很喜欢它，你会由衷地讲这个画很有神韵。你读到了好的山水诗，你也会使用这个词。而且不限于艺术创造的领域，有的时候我们在日常生活的其他方面，我们也把神韵作为一个审美标准的。
那么神韵的提出，它是在魏晋南北朝，它刚提出的时候，主要是在绘画领域。在南北朝有一个相当有名的美术理论家谢赫，他写过一本书，叫《古画品录》。他把他所看到的古代那些著名画家的作品，把它分成第一品、第二品、第三品，分成了这么几品。在评价第二品中的“顾骏之”时，他使用了这么四句话，“神韵气力、不逮前贤，精微谨细，有过往哲。”顾骏之是当时一个很有名的人物画家，但是谢赫对他评价不太高，没有把他列入第一品，而是把他放在了第二品。为什么？就是认为他 “神韵气力、不逮前贤”。那么谢赫提出的这个神韵，这是最早的第一次出现。
一直到了我们今天，我们在使用神韵这个概念的时候，基本上就是在谢赫所奠定的这么一种内在的要求之上的。艺术创造的高质量和艺术家的内在生命相结合，艺术作品的感人魅力和艺术家传达出来的某种内在的情思，某种内在的风采，有机地融合在一起，这才叫神韵。神韵是个很高的要求。
那么神韵的提出，它的关键是什么？为什么不早不晚，偏偏是在魏晋南北朝。而很重要的就是在人物的评价方面，当时的读书人就是魏晋名士，他们完成了一个转折，对人物的评价由政治角度、实用角度转到了一种审美的角度，这样才有神韵这么一个概念的提出。他们用神韵来评价人物，当然这里面有一个背景，东汉末年以来，在世俗社会里面开始流行一个专门的术语，叫做“人伦鉴识”。东汉以来这种“人伦鉴识”大盛，大家喜欢你评我几句，我评你几句。主要还是一种政治上选拔人才的需要。到了东汉末年在这种“人伦鉴识”的环境之中，大家就开始提出要通过人的外在可见之形，来了解人的内在不可鉴之性，这就是东汉末年以来在政治上为了选拔人才流行起来的一种对人的外貌，人的行为举止待人接物在这些方面大家注意观察，提出了一些选择的标准。
当这种风气流行开来之后，就形成我们大家所熟悉的魏晋名士，魏晋名士肯定是我们中国历史上空前绝后的一种很独特的文化现象，而且是一种审美文化现象。当时大家主要是强调精神自由，生命情调。欣赏别人的生命存在，欣赏别人的生命风姿，展现自己的生命风姿，自然而然从从容容这样来表现。
那么神韵的提出，它是在魏晋南北朝，它刚提出的时候，主要是在绘画领域。在南北朝有一个相当有名的美术理论家谢赫，他写过一本书，叫《古画品录》。他把他所看到的古代那些著名画家的作品，把它分成第一品、第二品、第三品，分成了这么几品。在评价第二品中的“顾骏之”时，他使用了这么四句话，“神韵气力、不逮前贤，精微谨细，有过往哲。”顾骏之是当时一个很有名的人物画家，但是谢赫对他评价不太高，没有把他列入第一品，而是把他放在了第二品。为什么？就是认为他 “神韵气力、不逮前贤”。那么谢赫提出的这个神韵，这是最早的第一次出现。
一直到了我们今天，我们在使用神韵这个概念的时候，基本上就是在谢赫所奠定的这么一种内在的要求之上的。艺术创造的高质量和艺术家的内在生命相结合，艺术作品的感人魅力和艺术家传达出来的某种内在的情思，某种内在的风采，有机地融合在一起，这才叫神韵。神韵是个很高的要求。
那么神韵的提出，它的关键是什么？为什么不早不晚，偏偏是在魏晋南北朝。而很重要的就是在人物的评价方面，当时的读书人就是魏晋名士，他们完成了一个转折，对人物的评价由政治角度、实用角度转到了一种审美的角度，这样才有神韵这么一个概念的提出。他们用神韵来评价人物，当然这里面有一个背景，东汉末年以来，在世俗社会里面开始流行一个专门的术语，叫做“人伦鉴识”。东汉以来这种“人伦鉴识”大盛，大家喜欢你评我几句，我评你几句。主要还是一种政治上选拔人才的需要。到了东汉末年在这种“人伦鉴识”的环境之中，大家就开始提出要通过人的外在可见之形，来了解人的内在不可鉴之性，这就是东汉末年以来在政治上为了选拔人才流行起来的一种对人的外貌，人的行为举止待人接物在这些方面大家注意观察，提出了一些选择的标准。
当这种风气流行开来之后，就形成我们大家所熟悉的魏晋名士，魏晋名士肯定是我们中国历史上空前绝后的一种很独特的文化现象，而且是一种审美文化现象。当时大家主要是强调精神自由，生命情调。欣赏别人的生命存在，欣赏别人的生命风姿，展现自己的生命风姿，自然而然从从容容这样来表现。
以女性为主题，重温中国跌宕起伏的历史；感触厚重的文化，破解中华女性美的密码。本套书对中国上下五千年300多位美女进行全景式的描述，探询她们的心境和灵魂，可谓中国历代美女之列传。全书尊重史料和民间故事，富有创意地展现了中国女性的绝世风采与神韵。女性是历史的承载者，美女价值评断必须基于特定的历史环境，书中对美女的评价是客观的。
The book featured a lifetime professor at Peking University, the famous linguist, translator scientist, Mr. Ji prose masterpiece than half a century, the main sub-notebook, on the people, the scenery in three parts. Mr. quarter pristine prose text, but expressed profound ideological plain, quite demeanor.
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古清生是职业作家，长期致力于人文地理考察写作，创作出奇特的、充满个性化的行走文学。本书主要讲述的是古清生在旅行中的美食及所见、所闻、所感。古清生的散文、随笔，文笔清新，或走笔山水，惬意空灵；或品茗食炙，扬色生香，或点国是，或洞民心，无不彰显出一流散文大家的诗性真情。
作者在书里向读者打开了他的故乡栗门张村的大门展示了这个村庄的方方面面，描绘了形形色色的人物。尤其因为他是个以动脑思考为习惯与爱好的人，还是个感觉敏锐感情细腻而丰富的人，更麻烦的是他又是个有正义感与悲悯情怀的人，这就注定了他对他看到并与之打交道的人和事不可能见惯不怪，熟视无睹麻木不仁，因为在他眼里这都是一个个问题和病症，有必要拉开帷幕让公众加以了解和认识，并进行思考。个体的历史和命运组成了一个村庄的历史和命运。
摸摸张爱玲的衣领，撩撩杨玉环的裙摆；胆子大的时候，也动动慈禧太后的胭脂……用智慧穿针引线，用学识指东说西。这是一位曾与李欧梵、梁文道、王受之同版开栏的女专栏作家。她沉浸在古今女子服饰的世界，写旗袍，写红裙，写斗篷，写裙带，写睡鞋，写帽子，写油纸伞，写谢公屐，写玉簪花黄胭脂金钏项链牙梳背，写麻衣如雪温润如玉画眉深浅暗香盈袖……每每惊艳。
Few times quietly give up, but no fate to give up a favorite friend; to give up the feelings of some input but no harvest; give up certain expectations of the mind; give up certain ideas. Then it will give birth to a sad time and space in the new music listen to it again, repeat the story! Because this is a natural farewell and give up, it is full of the spirit of detachment, which was pretty sad! World there are too many good things, the absence of the good, we were struggling desire and pursuit. In order to obtain, and busy. In fact, you really need, often after experiencing many years will understand, or even end his life has disappeared! Which already has a good, we often lost it because of the experience, and the existence of a disturbed and worried. Therefore, sublimation of a quiet life and need the spirit of detachment. Understand that people know how to give, people who know how to sacrifice the truth, happy people know how to transcend.
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樱花的开落之际、着装的藏露之间、##的颦笑之下，本书着眼于中日文化的同中见异，无不透露出耐人寻味的文化审美信息。
佛说，前世的五百次回眸，才换来今生的擦肩而过。
你说，前世的五百次回眸，才换来今生的情怀依旧。
佛说，前世的五百次回眸，才换来今生的一朝拥有。
你说，为了今生的这次相遇，我在佛前求了五百年。
感恩的心，是世界上最贵重的心；感恩的情，是世界上最宝贵的情。再高贵的心灵，也要懂得感恩生命；再卑微的生命，也怀着感恩的心。
你说，前世的五百次回眸，才换来今生的情怀依旧。
佛说，前世的五百次回眸，才换来今生的一朝拥有。
你说，为了今生的这次相遇，我在佛前求了五百年。
感恩的心，是世界上最贵重的心；感恩的情，是世界上最宝贵的情。再高贵的心灵，也要懂得感恩生命；再卑微的生命，也怀着感恩的心。
他对女性的审美观念，女性的婚姻##，女性的独特心理等等有着诸多评论。他的此类杂文并没有因为内容是评述##而变得委婉柔顺，还是读者所熟知的柏杨似的锋利畅快，尽数##这比上帝还难懂的天生尤物。
他对女性的审美观念，女性的婚姻##，女性的独特心理等等有着诸多评论。他的此类杂文并没有因为内容是评述##而变得委婉柔顺，还是读者所熟知的柏杨似的锋利畅快，尽数##这比上帝还难懂的天生尤物。
“…… 你知道吗，郊外的一条大路认得我呢。有时候，天蓝得发暗，天上的云彩白得好像一个凸出来的拳头。那时候这条路上就走来一个虎头虎脑、傻乎乎的孩子，他长得就像我给你那张相片上一样。后来又走过来一个又黑又瘦的少年。后来又走过来一个又高又瘦又丑的家伙，涣散的要命，出奇的喜欢幻想。后来，再过几十年，他就永远不会走上这条路了。你喜欢他的故事吗？”
《那些忧伤的年轻人》是一个名叫许知远的青年在星巴克咖啡馆里、北大校园的男生宿舍床上、春天的北方城市街道边，一次次遭遇智慧或者青春的完成。
Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, and manual for self reliance.
Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.
Thoreau did not intend to live as a hermit, for he received visitors and returned their visits. Rather, he hoped to isolate himself from society to gain a more objective understanding of it. Simple living and self-sufficiency were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, a central theme of the American Romantic Period. As Thoreau made clear in his book, his cabin was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, not far from his family home.
Synopsis
Economy: In this first and longest chapter, Thoreau outlines his project: a two-year and two-month stay at a cozy, "tightly shingled and plastered," English-style 10' x 15' cottage in the woods near Walden Pond. He does this, he says, to illustrate the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle. He easily supplies the four necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, and fuel) with the help of family and friends, particularly his mother, his best friend, and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The latter provided Thoreau with a work exchange — he could build a small house and plant a garden if he cleared some land on the woodlot and did other chores while there. Thoreau meticulously records his expenditures and earnings, demonstrating his understanding of "economy," as he builds his house and buys and grows food. For a home and freedom, he spent a mere $28.12 1/2, in 1845. At the end of this chapter, Thoreau inserts a poem, "The Pretensions of Poverty," by seventeenth-century English poet Thomas Carew. The poem criticizes those who think that their poverty gives them unearned moral and intellectual superiority.
Where I Lived, and What I Lived For: After playing with the idea of buying a farm, Thoreau describes his house's location. Then he explains that he took up his abode at Walden Woods so as to "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Although he criticizes the dedication of his neighbors to working, he himself is quite busy at Walden — building and maintaining his house, raising thousands of bean plants and other vegetables, making bread, clearing land, chopping wood, making repairs for the Emersons, going into town, and writing every day. His time at Walden was his most productive as a writer.
Reading: Thoreau discusses the benefits of classical literature (preferably in the original Greek or Latin), and bemoans the lack of sophistication in Concord, evident in the popularity of unsophisticated literature. He also loved to read books by world travelers. He yearns for a utopian time when each New England village supports "wise men" to educate and thereby ennoble the population.
Sounds: Thoreau opens this chapter by warning against relying too much on literature as a means of transcendence. Instead, one should experience life for oneself. Thus, after describing his house's beautiful natural surroundings and his casual housekeeping habits, Thoreau goes on to criticize the train whistle that interrupts his reverie. To him, the railroad symbolizes the destruction of the pastoral way of life. Following is a description of the sounds audible from his cabin: the church bells ringing, carriages rattling and rumbling, cows lowing, whip-poor-wills singing, owls hooting, frogs croaking, and cockerels crowing.
Solitude: Thoreau rhapsodizes about the beneficial effects of living solitary and close to nature. He claims to love being alone, saying "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."
Visitors: Thoreau writes about the visitors to his house. Among the 25 or 30 visitors is a young French-Canadian woodchopper, Alec Therien, whom Thoreau idealizes as approaching the ideal man, and a runaway slave, whom Thoreau helps on his journey to freedom in Canada.
The Bean-Field: Thoreau relates his efforts to cultivate two and a half acres of beans. He plants in June and spends his summer mornings weeding the field with a hoe. He sells most of the crop, and his small profit of $8.71 covers his needs that were not provided by friends and family.
The Village: Thoreau visits the small town of Concord every day or two to hear the news, which he finds "as refreshing in its way as the rustle of the leaves." Nevertheless, he fondly but rather contemptuously compares Concord to a gopher colony. In late summer, he is arrested for refusing to pay federal taxes, but is released the next day. He explains that he refuses to pay taxes to a government that supports slavery.
The Ponds: In autumn, Thoreau rambles about the countryside and writes down his observations about the geography of Walden Pond and its neighbors: Flint's Pond (or Sandy Pond), White Pond, and Goose Pond. Although Flint's is the largest, Thoreau's favorites are Walden and White ponds, which he says are lovelier than diamonds.
Baker Farm: While on an afternoon ramble in the woods, Thoreau gets caught in a rainstorm and takes shelter in the dirty, dismal hut of John Field, a penniless but hard-working Irish farmhand, and his wife and children. Thoreau urges Field to live a simple but independent and fulfilling life in the woods, thereby freeing himself of employers and creditors. But the Irishman won't give up his dreams of luxury, which is the American dream.
Higher Laws: Thoreau discusses whether hunting wild animals and eating meat is good. He concludes that the primitive, animal side of humans drives them to kill and eat animals, and that a person who transcends this propensity is superior to those who don't. (Thoreau eats fish and occasionally salt pork and woodchuck.) In addition to vegetarianism, he lauds chastity, work, and teetotalism. He also recognizes that Indians need to hunt and kill moose for survival in "The Maine Woods," and ate moose on a trip to Maine while he was living at Walden.
Brute Neighbors: Thoreau briefly discusses the many wild animals that are his neighbors at Walden. A description of the nesting habits of partridges is followed by a fascinating account of a massive battle between red and black ants. Three of the combatants he takes into his cabin and examines under a microscope as the black ant kills the two smaller red ones. Later, Thoreau takes his boat and tries to follow a teasing loon about the pond. He also collects animal specimens and ships them to Harvard College for study.
House-Warming: After picking November berries in the woods, Thoreau adds a chimney, and finely plasters the walls of his sturdy house to stave off the cold of the oncoming winter. He also lays in a good supply of firewood, and expresses affection for wood and fire.
Former Inhabitants; and Winter Visitors: Thoreau relates the stories of people who formerly lived in the vicinity of Walden Pond. Then he talks about a few of the visitors he receives during the winter: a farmer, a woodchopper, and his best friend, the poet Ellery Channing.
Winter Animals: Thoreau amuses himself by watching wildlife during the winter. He relates his observations of owls, hares, red squirrels, mice, and various birds as they hunt, sing, and eat the scraps and corn he put out for them. He also describes a fox hunt that passes by.
The Pond in Winter: Thoreau describes Walden Pond as it appears during the winter. He claims to have sounded its depths and located an underground outlet. Then he recounts how 100 laborers came to cut great blocks of ice from the pond, the ice to be shipped to the Carolinas.
Spring: As spring arrives, Walden and the other ponds melt with stentorian thundering and rumbling. Thoreau enjoys watching the thaw, and grows ecstatic as he witnesses the green rebirth of nature. He watches the geese winging their way north, and a hawk playing by itself in the sky. As nature is reborn, the narrator implies, so is he. He departs Walden on September 6, 1847.
Conclusion: This final chapter is more passionate and urgent than its predecessors. In it, he criticizes conformity: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." By doing so, men may find happiness and self-fulfillment.
"I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Themes
Walden emphasizes the importance of solitude, contemplation, and closeness to nature in transcending the "desperate" existence that, he argues, is the lot of most people. The book is not a traditional autobiography, but combines autobiography with a social critique of contemporary Western culture's consumerist and materialist attitudes and its distance from and destruction of nature. That the book is not simply a criticism of society, but also an attempt to engage creatively with the better aspects of contemporary culture, is suggested both by Thoreau's proximity to Concord society and by his admiration for classical literature. There are signs of ambiguity, or an attempt to see an alternative side of something common.
Thoreau regarded his sojourn at Walden as an experiment with a threefold purpose. First, he was escaping the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution by returning to a simpler, agrarian lifestyle. Second, he was simplifying his life and reducing his expenditures, increasing the amount of leisure time in which he could work on his writings (most of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was written at Walden). Much of the book is devoted to stirring up awareness of how one's life is lived, materially and otherwise, and how one might choose to live it more deliberately. Third, he was putting into practice the Transcendentalist belief that one can best "transcend" normality and experience the Ideal, or the Divine, through nature.
Published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.
Thoreau did not intend to live as a hermit, for he received visitors and returned their visits. Rather, he hoped to isolate himself from society to gain a more objective understanding of it. Simple living and self-sufficiency were Thoreau's other goals, and the whole project was inspired by transcendentalist philosophy, a central theme of the American Romantic Period. As Thoreau made clear in his book, his cabin was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, not far from his family home.
Synopsis
Economy: In this first and longest chapter, Thoreau outlines his project: a two-year and two-month stay at a cozy, "tightly shingled and plastered," English-style 10' x 15' cottage in the woods near Walden Pond. He does this, he says, to illustrate the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle. He easily supplies the four necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, and fuel) with the help of family and friends, particularly his mother, his best friend, and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The latter provided Thoreau with a work exchange — he could build a small house and plant a garden if he cleared some land on the woodlot and did other chores while there. Thoreau meticulously records his expenditures and earnings, demonstrating his understanding of "economy," as he builds his house and buys and grows food. For a home and freedom, he spent a mere $28.12 1/2, in 1845. At the end of this chapter, Thoreau inserts a poem, "The Pretensions of Poverty," by seventeenth-century English poet Thomas Carew. The poem criticizes those who think that their poverty gives them unearned moral and intellectual superiority.
Where I Lived, and What I Lived For: After playing with the idea of buying a farm, Thoreau describes his house's location. Then he explains that he took up his abode at Walden Woods so as to "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Although he criticizes the dedication of his neighbors to working, he himself is quite busy at Walden — building and maintaining his house, raising thousands of bean plants and other vegetables, making bread, clearing land, chopping wood, making repairs for the Emersons, going into town, and writing every day. His time at Walden was his most productive as a writer.
Reading: Thoreau discusses the benefits of classical literature (preferably in the original Greek or Latin), and bemoans the lack of sophistication in Concord, evident in the popularity of unsophisticated literature. He also loved to read books by world travelers. He yearns for a utopian time when each New England village supports "wise men" to educate and thereby ennoble the population.
Sounds: Thoreau opens this chapter by warning against relying too much on literature as a means of transcendence. Instead, one should experience life for oneself. Thus, after describing his house's beautiful natural surroundings and his casual housekeeping habits, Thoreau goes on to criticize the train whistle that interrupts his reverie. To him, the railroad symbolizes the destruction of the pastoral way of life. Following is a description of the sounds audible from his cabin: the church bells ringing, carriages rattling and rumbling, cows lowing, whip-poor-wills singing, owls hooting, frogs croaking, and cockerels crowing.
Solitude: Thoreau rhapsodizes about the beneficial effects of living solitary and close to nature. He claims to love being alone, saying "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."
Visitors: Thoreau writes about the visitors to his house. Among the 25 or 30 visitors is a young French-Canadian woodchopper, Alec Therien, whom Thoreau idealizes as approaching the ideal man, and a runaway slave, whom Thoreau helps on his journey to freedom in Canada.
The Bean-Field: Thoreau relates his efforts to cultivate two and a half acres of beans. He plants in June and spends his summer mornings weeding the field with a hoe. He sells most of the crop, and his small profit of $8.71 covers his needs that were not provided by friends and family.
The Village: Thoreau visits the small town of Concord every day or two to hear the news, which he finds "as refreshing in its way as the rustle of the leaves." Nevertheless, he fondly but rather contemptuously compares Concord to a gopher colony. In late summer, he is arrested for refusing to pay federal taxes, but is released the next day. He explains that he refuses to pay taxes to a government that supports slavery.
The Ponds: In autumn, Thoreau rambles about the countryside and writes down his observations about the geography of Walden Pond and its neighbors: Flint's Pond (or Sandy Pond), White Pond, and Goose Pond. Although Flint's is the largest, Thoreau's favorites are Walden and White ponds, which he says are lovelier than diamonds.
Baker Farm: While on an afternoon ramble in the woods, Thoreau gets caught in a rainstorm and takes shelter in the dirty, dismal hut of John Field, a penniless but hard-working Irish farmhand, and his wife and children. Thoreau urges Field to live a simple but independent and fulfilling life in the woods, thereby freeing himself of employers and creditors. But the Irishman won't give up his dreams of luxury, which is the American dream.
Higher Laws: Thoreau discusses whether hunting wild animals and eating meat is good. He concludes that the primitive, animal side of humans drives them to kill and eat animals, and that a person who transcends this propensity is superior to those who don't. (Thoreau eats fish and occasionally salt pork and woodchuck.) In addition to vegetarianism, he lauds chastity, work, and teetotalism. He also recognizes that Indians need to hunt and kill moose for survival in "The Maine Woods," and ate moose on a trip to Maine while he was living at Walden.
Brute Neighbors: Thoreau briefly discusses the many wild animals that are his neighbors at Walden. A description of the nesting habits of partridges is followed by a fascinating account of a massive battle between red and black ants. Three of the combatants he takes into his cabin and examines under a microscope as the black ant kills the two smaller red ones. Later, Thoreau takes his boat and tries to follow a teasing loon about the pond. He also collects animal specimens and ships them to Harvard College for study.
House-Warming: After picking November berries in the woods, Thoreau adds a chimney, and finely plasters the walls of his sturdy house to stave off the cold of the oncoming winter. He also lays in a good supply of firewood, and expresses affection for wood and fire.
Former Inhabitants; and Winter Visitors: Thoreau relates the stories of people who formerly lived in the vicinity of Walden Pond. Then he talks about a few of the visitors he receives during the winter: a farmer, a woodchopper, and his best friend, the poet Ellery Channing.
Winter Animals: Thoreau amuses himself by watching wildlife during the winter. He relates his observations of owls, hares, red squirrels, mice, and various birds as they hunt, sing, and eat the scraps and corn he put out for them. He also describes a fox hunt that passes by.
The Pond in Winter: Thoreau describes Walden Pond as it appears during the winter. He claims to have sounded its depths and located an underground outlet. Then he recounts how 100 laborers came to cut great blocks of ice from the pond, the ice to be shipped to the Carolinas.
Spring: As spring arrives, Walden and the other ponds melt with stentorian thundering and rumbling. Thoreau enjoys watching the thaw, and grows ecstatic as he witnesses the green rebirth of nature. He watches the geese winging their way north, and a hawk playing by itself in the sky. As nature is reborn, the narrator implies, so is he. He departs Walden on September 6, 1847.
Conclusion: This final chapter is more passionate and urgent than its predecessors. In it, he criticizes conformity: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." By doing so, men may find happiness and self-fulfillment.
"I do not say that John or Jonathan will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Themes
Walden emphasizes the importance of solitude, contemplation, and closeness to nature in transcending the "desperate" existence that, he argues, is the lot of most people. The book is not a traditional autobiography, but combines autobiography with a social critique of contemporary Western culture's consumerist and materialist attitudes and its distance from and destruction of nature. That the book is not simply a criticism of society, but also an attempt to engage creatively with the better aspects of contemporary culture, is suggested both by Thoreau's proximity to Concord society and by his admiration for classical literature. There are signs of ambiguity, or an attempt to see an alternative side of something common.
Thoreau regarded his sojourn at Walden as an experiment with a threefold purpose. First, he was escaping the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution by returning to a simpler, agrarian lifestyle. Second, he was simplifying his life and reducing his expenditures, increasing the amount of leisure time in which he could work on his writings (most of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was written at Walden). Much of the book is devoted to stirring up awareness of how one's life is lived, materially and otherwise, and how one might choose to live it more deliberately. Third, he was putting into practice the Transcendentalist belief that one can best "transcend" normality and experience the Ideal, or the Divine, through nature.
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