"walden"

[Frank]

Don't know how many here have read Henry David Thoreau  'walden'. Truly a masterpiece.....the definative work on simplicity and nonconformity. If he was both alive and a sailor...he'd be on a small/simple boat he built himself and probably contibuting to this site... more than likely he'd be 'best buds' with the Pardey's. I'm on my 3rd read....always get something new. So many pages are now dog eared for reference that they outnumber unfolded ones.GREAT stuff....brilliant man.

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

If you like walden, you should get Sensible Cruising: The Thoreau approach.  :D

[Frank]

Adrift..."ya just don't get it"   ;D...Thoreau's "Walden" is a masterpiece. He is probably thee greatest writer north america has seen to date.His work is far ahead of his time.His was an extremely deep thinker,a brilliant observer of nature and the human condition.To use Thoreau in the same sentence as a 'sail simple' type book would be like comparing Emmerson's writings to a 'computers for dumbie's'  ;)

[BobW]

So, are you saying there is nothing worth reading except Walden?  :-)  Are you saying a book about sailing simple, with the authors' observations and interpretations of Thoreau shouldn't have been written or read?  Just asking. :-)

[Frank]

Bob.."no book but walden worth reading"...NOPE...not saying that at all. ANY book on 'simple sailing' is worth reading. I love ALL the Pardey's books....guess ya could say 'they wrote the book on the topic'. To have sailed over 170,000knm around the world..with little funds..have done ALL southern capes, incl. the horn AGAINST the wind and all on either a 25 or 29ft wooden boat they built with NO engine is truly an accomplishment worth reading about in any of their books.Their motto is 'sail small,sail simple,sail now'. I'm sure there are MANY other worthy authors of small/simple sailing. This post was on Thoreau as an author and Walden as a book.I started this post because I was/am amazed at the many messages, cleverly interwoven in his books that all come down to being true to yourself--not going with societies 'flow' but following your own heart--living 'simply' so that you have time to notice the beauty around you and be in the moment more.........and how many of his observations,so brilliantly written,could easily apply to sailing small craft.Bottom line...if one reads Thoreau...REALLY reads Thoreau...you are apt to question much about your life and decision making process's. That was the nature of this post.I doubt many books will or could do that.

[AdriftAtSea]

Frank-

I know that Walden is a masterpiece... my point was if you really liked what Thoreau wrote in Walden, then you might like what was written in the book Sensible Cruising.  It takes a look at the cruising life using Thoreau's writings as a filter on the subject.  It does emphasize the idea of simplifying things to make cruising long-term a reasonable possibility for people of modest means, and applies much of what Thoreau wrote to sailing small craft...

If you haven't read the book, you might want to get off your high-literary horse, and do so, before jumping all over a person for making a suggestion. 

[CapnK]

Walden is a classic, I agree wholeheartedly. I read it first back in junior high, IIRC, and the content of that book resonated within me even as a youngster. I haven't had the chance to read Caseys 'cruising version' yet, though I'd like to see how he wrote his book, what he has to say.

I think you're right, Frank, that ol' Henry David might have been a sailFarer, were he around today.

Maybe he'd write a book... "On Small Sailboats".  :D ;)

Frank - have you ever read any of Richard Bach's books? I just reread "Running From Safety", and now that I am a few years older than I was last time, it spoke to my soul much more...