Thoreau

by Henry Seidel Canby

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Genres: Biography

508 pages, Textbook Binding

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

from wikipedia article: Henry Seidel Canby (September 6, 1878 – April 5, 1961) was a critic, editor, and Yale University professor.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Canby's book represents some of the early scholarship on Henry David Thoreau. (published in 1939) Excellent points are made and some controversies are presented. It's very well written; I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Brandon Schembri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of Thoreau was readable and interesting. The subtitle confused me at first: " The Biography of a man who believed in doing what he wanted." Couldn't that be lots of peoples biographies? Does it accurately summarize Thoreau? Well, Thoreau went to great lengths to distance himself from the onslaught of materialism, and discipline himself to find life's values. All in all, I found it worth while. I really enjoyed the Transcendental philosophy in high school, and every once in a while find myself going back to read a little more.
Something, I took from this boon was: What really made Thoreau posthumously famous was that he lived his philosophy-namely the pursuit of simplicity and prize of wisdom. Also his contributions to American literature were significant.
This book is for fans of Thoreau, as well as anyone interested in Transcendentalism. I gave it a 4 out of 5. While I liked what I read, it seemed to me the author (an English Professor and Critic in the 1930s) had his own tangents that distracted form the text. His audience may have been different as well (this book was published in 1939). I recommend this book for those interested in the life of a serious, thoughtful and path-paving literary figure of the 19th century.

[Wesjackson07 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best, most thorough biography on Thoreau I've read. It's not a quick read (my version was 455 pages), but it's not so bogged down with biographical detail that it doesn't carry a good, well paced narrative on Thoreau's life. The majority of the biography takes the reader through the years from Thoreau's time at Harvard to the years following the publication of Walden. The final five years or so of Thoreau's life are given in very brief sketches. Canby's biography gives Thoreau a humanity that eludes many other biographers. His insights into the failed relationships with Ellen Sewall and Lidian Emerson are probably the best I've read. And the chapters on his associations with Walt Whitman and John Brown are especially revealing. Thoreau was a man who did genuinely cherish men and women, and what he admired in them reveals much about himself. And, even though the final chapters are brief, Canby does a terrific job dispelling the perception that Thoreau's creative faculties dried up in his final years and he delved into the science of his surroundings. Canby's biography is fair and thorough, a must read for Thoreau enthusiasts.