The Maine Woods
This is an autobiographical narrative by Henry David Thoreau, originally published in 1864. It contains three accounts of trips to Maine: "Ktaadn", describing an excursion to Mt Ktaadn in 1846 - "Chesuncook", a journey from Bangor to Chesuncook Lake in 1853 - and "The Allegash and East Branch", concerned with a voyage from Bangor to St John's Lakes by way of Moosehead and Chesuncook, returning via the east branch of the Penobscot in 1857
With Abnaki guides, Thoreau climbed Mt. Katahdin and hiked deep into the Maine woods to places where one "might live and die and never hear of the United States." His accurate, evocative descriptions still reflect his belief that man himself is a part of the natural world.
Live Like a Philosopher
This screed from Thoreau is obviously not as classic as his work on Walden, but here we may be seeing the beginning of the travelogue business. Thoreau is often misrepresented (by those who haven't read his works, or have read them too many times) as a hardcore back-to-nature hermit who lived off the land and rejected civilization. One read of his Walden story disproves that stereotype, and in this work about three trips to Maine's wild country, we can surely see Thoreau's social side all the more. At the time, the Maine Woods were surely a thrilling landscape ripe for exploration and adventure, and Thoreau gives us an enjoyable travelogue of his ramblings and recreations. A bonus is great coverage of the Indians of the area, especially Thoreau's longtime traveling colleague Joe Ponis. The only problem here is that Thoreau's introspective naturalist philosophy is mostly missing at this stage of his career, and he pretty much accidentally invents descriptive travel writing instead. This is still a worthy exploration if you're interested in the Maine Woods either as they were then or if you wish to explore them today. But Thoreau's classic naturalism is better found in his other works. --Reviewer: doomsdayer520 from State College, PA USA
