‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau: The book is loaded with ‘pearls of wisdom’

‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau is an American classic. I read it in the early 1990s and till now its influence remains on me.

Books have their own significance. Some are read for pleasure, some for learning and some to gain a higher meaning to life. Walden is one book that combines all the three purposes, though when I read it the first time, I was in my early 20s then, and I didn’t derive any pleasure, nor imbibed any knowledge, nor understood if it revealed any higher meaning. But, it did leave an impression on me, which made me go back to it again.

When I next picked it up to read, I was in my mid-30s, more matured and intellectually more receptive. This time I could grasp its contents effectively.

Walden is not an easy book to read. It requires lots of patience. The prose is dense, circumlocutory and unappealing. But, as you read slowly and mull over the words, you get drawn towards it, like moth to a flame.

Thoreau spent around two years alone on self–introspection. Imagine living in wilderness, with only feathered and furry friends for company, and contemplating on society, silence and spirituality. Walden is a record of Thoreau’s experiences of leading a solitary life in the woodland.

The book primarily deals with solitude, meditation, connecting with Nature, simple living, progress and independence. Therefore readers who have a penchant for Nature and love isolation would find this book worthwhile, but in order to find the pearls of wisdom scattered all over, they would have to be patient. Patience bears sweet fruit and there’s lot to be plucked.

— The reader is a banker based in Dubai.