Thoreau Today

Henry David Thoreau in the Literature and Culture of the 21st Century

Questions and Findings by Chris Dodge

January/February 2009

Besides such items as a "Happiness Is the Way Moebius Necklace," "Hot Flash Pajamas," "Swedish Egg White Facial Soaps," and "Chakra Bed Dressing," the Acacia Holiday 2008 mail-order catalog ("Thoughtful gifts for family & friends") offers--for just $49.00--the "Walden Vase," a glass vase described as being "[l]ike a walk through Thoreau's woods." "Arrives nicely boxed," the description says.

Made in China, but sold in the United States, marketed under the Sacchi imprint of Swing LTD, Concord, MA, 01742: a gold-colored metal bookmark on which is stamped, with a gratuitous exclamation mark: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Henry David Thoreau."

"Tracking Thoreau Through a Land 'Grim and Wild,'" by Ethan Gilsdorf (New York Times, September 19, 2008) is a page-long article published under the Times rubric "American Journeys," about traveling in Maine. (The title of the online edition differs: "Tracking Thoreau Through Maine's 'Grim and Wild' Land.") The article begins: "Few places in the United States can honestly be described as wild, let alone 'stern and savage.' But those words, which Henry David Thoreau used to describe the north woods of Maine a century and a half ago, stand as true and tall as evergreens even today. The region remains vast and remote, the "continuousness of the forest," as Thoreau put it, still "uninterrupted."

"Thoreau's 'The Maine Woods,'" the article goes on, "first published in 1864 (composed partly of articles he had written earlier for periodicals) and still in print, is an insightful reporter's picture of a rugged wilderness the moment before being irrevocably altered by armies of loggers. Today the virgin forest seen by Thoreau is gone; trees have been cut, regrown and harvested again. . . . But modern travelers--hikers, campers, hunters, fishers, canoeists or back road wanderers---will still find, as Thoreau did, a land 'more grim and wild than you had anticipated.' It's also pin-drop tranquil, teeming with wildlife and, in places, challenging to reach."

"Following Thoreau into the Maine Woods is hardly a new idea, but it is becoming easier. Last year, the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail was inaugurated, delineating and celebrating Thoreau's passage on routes that Penobscot Indians had used for thousands of years. And this year, the Appalachian Mountain Club released its revised edition of J. Parker Huber's long out-of-print guide, 'The Wildest Country: Exploring Thoreau's Maine,' chock full of maps that pinpoint his best guesses at where Thoreau camped each night. Thoreau traveled by foot, canoe and the flat-bottomed boat that French explorers called a bateau. When I set out this summer to trace some of his footsteps and paddle strokes, I went mostly by car and kayak. Guides led him--backwoodsmen on his first trip, in 1846, and two Penobscot Indians, Joseph Attean and Joe Polis, on expeditions in 1853 and 1857. I traveled solo, armed with a Maine Atlas and Gazetteer that details every potential wrong turn. He slept in a tent or under his canoe. I stayed in a cabin, an inn and a campground with showers and electric hookups. . . ."

"Mr. Huber, 68 and a retired college administrator from Brattleboro, Vt., traveled in these woods 16 times since 1974, using Thoreau's text as his guide. 'There were only a few places I got lost,' Mr. Huber said. 'I couldn't have done it without him.' . . . "

"Another way to take on the woods is by canoe. Garrett and Alexandra Conover of North Woods Ways lead Thoreau-themed expeditions. . . . The Conovers' trips follow Thoreau's route where the Penobscot River dumps into the northern tip of Chesuncook Lake."

The bio line for Robert Sullivan's review of William Least Heat Moon's Roads to Quoz: An American Odyssey in the December 14, 2008, issue of the New York Times ("On the Road Again, Again") says: "Robert Sullivan is the author of 'Cross Country: Fifteen Years and 90,000 Miles on the Roads and Interstates of America.' His book 'The Thoreau You Don't Know' will be published in March."

A French correspondent asks for help verifying whether Thoreau was ever mentioned or quoted on the television show Friends. Can anyone reading this shine light on the question? Helene Thiercy also points out a Thoreauvian appearance on the sixties drama Lassie. According to Lassie Web, in a 1969 episode titled "Walden" (03/02/69), "Lassie befriend Patricia Prescott, who refers to herself as 'Walden,' a free-spirited teenage girl, who has left home to live in the wilderness like her idol, Henry David Thoreau, after the young woman cleans up a picnic area. But both of them are endangered by aftershocks from an offshore earthquake. Walden: Hilarie Thompson." According to the Internet Movie Database, this was LassiSeason 15, Episode 22.

From a review by Heller McAlpin of Jay Parini's Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America in the Sunday, November 30, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle: "Parini's long, overly detailed descriptions of each work are . . . problematic. These are not the appetite-whetting recommendations found in, say, Michael Dirda's 'Classics for Pleasure.' While his essay on Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' (1957) contains intriguing comparisons between the original scroll manuscript and edited editions, descriptions of other beloved classics, such as Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden' (1854), make us wish we were reading the originals instead."

In John Green's young adult novel Paper Towns (Dutton Books, 2008) a character downloads a plug-in called "Omnictionary." "I tried a zip code near the Catskill Park in New York . . . eighty-two [hits] . . . I started to read . . . Lake Katrine a small lake in Ulster County, New York, often visited by Henry David Thoreau." This sentence appears between entries for Woodstock, New York, and the Catskill Park. Nothing more is said of Thoreau.

I don't recall ever reading anything about Thoreau visiting here. Can anyone confirm this for me?

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