Subscribe
John Kaag on Henry David Thoreau's Walden

Episode 4

Quiet Desperation

Featuring John Kaag

Audio episode · 16 min

John Kaag on Walden

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. People quote that line who have never opened Walden, and almost nobody asks the question underneath it out loud: is it true, and is it true of you? The strongest objection Kaag knows came from his grandfather, who worked in a pharmacy and a string of warehouses and never seemed desperate a day in his life. Kaag takes his side seriously before he answers him, and the answer costs him something personal. Then the sentence gets a history, a stranger on a New Hampshire road in 1839, and a farmer whose own oxen are about to make an argument.

This post is for paying subscribers only

Subscribe to continue reading

Read Deeper

What Did Thoreau Mean by Living Deliberately?

To live deliberately is to pay attention, Kaag argues — mindfulness of passing experience and honest self-reflection. No wilderness required.

Go deeper →

Why Did Thoreau Go to Walden Pond?

Thoreau went to Walden in 1845 to test which necessities are real and to find out, before dying, whether he had lived — a question Kaag says still travels.

Go deeper →

Was Thoreau Selfish? The Question of Self-Reliance

Kaag's answer is no: Walden's self-reliance is the clearing-away that makes connection possible — Thoreau read as communitarian to the core.

Go deeper →

Read with the Best

A literary publication for the self-taught reader. Where to start, which translation, why it matters — with editors who'll actually take a side.