I stumbled upon this very interesting article published a few days ago about Thoreau. While, I don’t agree with many of the authors points, it is interesting viewing Thoreau in the opposite light from which we have been discussing him for the past semester. Below are a few of the most interesting quotes I found, but the whole article is worth reading. Let me know if you think the author has any valid points.

“The real Thoreau was, in the fullest sense of the word, self-obsessed: narcissistic, fanatical about self-control, adamant that he required nothing beyond himself to understand and thrive in the world.”

“But “Walden” is less a cornerstone work of environmental literature than the original cabin porn: a fantasy about rustic life divorced from the reality of living in the woods, and, especially, a fantasy about escaping the entanglements and responsibilities of living among other people.”

“Like his fellow-transcendentalists, he was suspicious of tradition and institutions, and regarded personal intuition and direct revelation as superior foundations for both spiritual and secular beliefs. Unlike his fellow-transcendentalists, he also regarded his own particular intuitions and revelations as superior to those of other people.”

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/pond-scum