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THE MAINE WOODS
Paperback
By Henry David Thoreau
442 pp. New York:
Penguin Nature Classics. $15
Reviewed by Burndett Andres
Thoreau's eloquent description of the wilderness and his journeys through it
still resonates one hundred fifty years later. It was in September 1853 that
he paddled down the West Branch Penobscot to Chesuncook Lake. The Maine
Woods is a posthumous creation made up of three essays, one for each of
Thoreau's excursions to Maine, “Ktaadn” in 1846, “Chesuncook” in 1853 and
“Allegash and East Branch” in 1857.
I read The Maine Woods for two reasons. The first would be that I am
recently transplanted to this state and am interested in all things “Maine.”
The second is that I am an inveterate armchair traveler and this sort of
book is right up my alley. I followed his progress with my DeLorme Maine
Atlas and Gazetteer, and what a time I had.
The greatest challenge in reviewing this book is deciding what tack to take
in order to navigate through it thoroughly but with some hope of brevity.
Timeless writing defies generalization and condensation; it is multi-layered
and each word contributes. The continued popularity and usefulness of
Thoreau's work one hundred fifty years after it was written, is a testimony
to both his modern voice and the ageless appeal of his subject, the
wilderness. Such timelessness is not easily summed up in the proverbial
nutshell; one is constantly in danger of being lured down some byway, which
does not contribute to the terseness desirable in a review. I will consider
only several of many possible perspectives from which to explore The
Maine Woods.
The most obvious place to begin is with the writing itself. On a superficial
level, it is an easy read, the most difficult part being the pronunciation
of the Indian place names and Latin labels for fauna and flora. A reader
looking for an adventure story can simply skim over these and follow in
Thoreau’s steps as he and his companions paddle up and down (or down and up)
streams and rivers, challenge rapids and falls or portage around them, climb
mountains, slog through swamps, anguish over man’s incursions, sleep and eat
outdoors, overcome adversity, slay a moose, absorb the lore of the wild,
soak up the ambiance and generally enjoy a naturalist’s dream vacation. For
the erudite and the more attentive reader, there is also great pleasure
here. The Thoreau Society Bulletin, No. 223, Fall 2000, offers a six-page
analysis of two short sentences from “Chesuncook.” (Check it out at
www.calliope.org/thoreau/thoradv/woodplay1.html) Writing that offers opportunities
for both the cursory reader and the accomplished wordsmith, where story and
message are painlessly interwoven, is both sophisticated and enduring.
Another obvious angle from which to analyze The Maine Woods is its
power to inspire. Within this area, let's consider two possible calls to
action. The first is to the adventure traveler; “Such an excursion need not
cost more than twenty-five dollars apiece, starting at the foot of Moosehead,
if you already possess or can borrow a reasonable part of the outfit,”
Thoreau says in “Appendix VI. Outfit for an Excursion.” The second appeal
calls everyone to promote and protect the wilderness, to “see its perfect
success.”
Subsequent to reading The Maine Woods, and inspired to “go and do
likewise” in response to the first of these calls, I was delighted to learn
through Internet research that one can follow these same routes today and
see much of what Thoreau saw one hundred and fifty years ago, and in much
the same way. Hundreds of hikers climb Katahdin each year, but there is no
road to the top. A modern traveler will find campsites along the rivers and
lakes, but Chesuncook Village is still only accessible by boat, and there
are few roads along the shores of the Allagash or the banks of the East
Branch. Outfitters catering to the adventure traveler abound; the number of
excursions into the wilds each year is expected to soar in the foreseeable
future beyond what the wilderness can endure. Parks are placing quotas on
the number of persons allowed entrance at any one time. Clearly the call of
the wild, that Thoreau voiced so seductively, is still a siren song.
It is harder to determine the success of his second appeal. How many of the
thousands of acres under protection in the Maine woods today owe their
integrity to this work bearing the same name? It is enough for our purposes
here to acknowledge that his work and words have been useful; generations of
conservationists have found inspiration and information in these essays and
much of the wilderness endures. Just as Thoreau stood on the shoulders of
John Evelyn and drew inspiration from Sylva, so have students of
ecology drawn from Thoreau and his enduring legacy.
The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Thoreau's trip to Chesuncook
presents a perfect excuse, as if one were needed, to visit, or revisit,
The Maine Woods.
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2008 Wolf Moon Desk Calendar
We are pleased to announce that we have put together another snappy desk calendar
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