內容簡介
28歲的你，是否也曾渴望自由、踏實與豐盛的生活？
獻給忙碌的21世紀人們 ‧ 與梭羅一起踏上一段尋找生活本質的心靈探索旅程
《湖濱散記》（Walden），是美國思想家亨利．大衛．梭羅（Henry David Thoreau）於19世紀中的經典代表作，被譽為自然寫作與超驗主義哲學的代表文本。書中記述作者在麻州瓦爾登湖畔自築小屋，獨居兩年多的生活經驗，18篇散文，透過對自然的觀察省思內心，在最儉樸的生活裡尋找自我實現與社會價值的本質。
梭羅在書中描繪森林湖水的四季更迭，也因景處情，進一步深入思考現代人對物質的依賴和對時間的浪費，認為回歸自然才能真正找到內在自由，與靈魂的寧靜。
《湖濱散記》融合了哲學、文學與自然書寫，語言清新優美、思想深邃，經過數百年後，在現今網路駕馭一切的時代，當我們的生活被社群媒體攻佔，遭受無數腥羶色與營利廣告的荼毒，追求物質條件的提升與金錢的累積，卻忘傾聽疲憊的心真正的聲音，在梭羅樸實的文字與紀錄中，我們看見原來生活可以有另一種方式，原來消費是一種選擇，我們不需要成為土地與房產的奴隸，或成為財富的信徒，包持健康的距離，才能保有真正思考的自由意志。
無論是作為自然愛好者的田野筆記，還是自我探索的靈魂指引，本書都以深遠的智慧呼喚人們反思「怎麼活著」的根本問題，是一部歷久彌新的經典之作。
The Norton Library edition of Walden and Other Writings features the complete text of the 1906 edition of Walden and a selection of Thoreau’s most famous antislavery writings: “Civil Disobedience,” “Slavery in Massachusetts,” and “A Plea for Captain John Brown.” An introduction by Jedediah Britton-Purdy offers historical and biographical context for Thoreau’s writings and prepares readers to engage with his spiritual and activist reflections on a modern life freely lived.
The Norton Library is a growing collection of high-quality texts and translations―influential works of literature and philosophy―introduced and edited by leading scholars. Norton Library editions prepare readers for their first encounter with the works that they’ll re-read over a lifetime.
- Inviting introductions highlight the work’s significance and influence, providing the historical and literary context students need to dive in with confidence.
- Endnotes and an easy-to-read design deliver an uninterrupted reading experience, encouraging students to read the text first and refer to endnotes for more information as needed.
- An affordable price (most $10 or less) encourages students to buy the book and to come to class with the assigned edition.
作者介紹
Henry David Thoreau spent almost his entire life in the village of Concord, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1817. After graduating from Harvard College in 1837, he developed a deep friendship with the writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, the foremost figure in the Transcendentalist movement. Emerson’s emphasis on the cultivation of intuition and experience as keys to personal and social enlightenment profoundly influenced Thoreau. In 1845, Thoreau built a small cabin on a parcel of land Emerson owned near Walden Pond, where he lived for most of two years, seeking a new relationship to nature, society, and his own self. His experiences there are the raw material of his masterpiece, Walden, or Life in the Woods. Although he was first and last a writer and outdoorsman, Thoreau worked as a surveyor and handyman and was an active abolitionist and opponent of war and imperialism. He died in 1862 of tuberculosis.
Jedediah Britton-Purdy is the Beinecke Professor at Columbia Law School and a scholar of environmental and constitutional law. His books on environmental themes include After Nature and This Land Is Our Land. He has also written about Henry David Thoreau in venues including The Atlantic, The Nation, and n+1. He grew up in West Virginia and now lives in New York City with his family.
