Bibliographic Information

A week on the Concord and Merrimack rivers

Henry D. Thoreau ; edited by Carl F. Hovde, William L. Howarth, and Elizabeth Hall Witherell ; with an introduction by John McPhee

(The writings of Henry D. Thoreau)(A Princeton classic edition)(Princeton paperbacks)

Princeton University Press, c2004

  • : pbk

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Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Henry D. Thoreau's classic A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers is published now as a new paperback edition and includes an introduction by noted writer John McPhee. This work--unusual for its symbolism and structure, its criticism of Christian institutions, and its many-layered storytelling--was Thoreau's first published book. In the late summer of 1839, Thoreau and his older brother John made a two-week boat-and-hiking trip from Concord, Massachusetts, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After John's sudden death in 1842, Thoreau began to prepare a memorial account of their excursion. He wrote two drafts of this story at Walden Pond, which he continued to revise and expand until 1849, when he arranged for its publication at his own expense. The book's heterodoxy and apparent formlessness troubled its contemporary audience. Modern readers, however, have come to see it as an appropriate predecessor to Walden, with Thoreau's story of a river journey depicting the early years of his spiritual and artistic growth.

Table of Contents

Introduction by John McPhee ix Concord River 5 Saturday 15 Sunday 43 Monday 117 Tuesday 179 Wednesday 235 Thursday 298 Friday 334 Index 395

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