Cape Cod | 
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Based on several trips to the Cape and originally published as a series of articles, Henry David Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a remarkable work that depicts the natural beauty of Cape Cod and the nature that surrounds it. Thoreau, a consummate lover of the outdoors and nature is right at home in the Cape and he details his excitement of the area with naturalist portraits of the indigenous species and animals. Any lover of nature or of Cape Cod in general will delight in this captivating depiction of the area in the early to mid 1800s.
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Customer Reviews:
• Travel To The Cape With Thoreau 20 December, 2007
(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).
While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.
Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2R504QEK5URRL
• Leave Your Brain At The Door. 24 June, 1999
You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A4H4KYSM2KQ85
• Best Edition Available, By Far 13 June, 2007
This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:
1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.
2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.
3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2LCM1E6F6OXX3
• A Cape Cod Walk With Thoreau 05 August, 2006
Thoreau visited Cape Cod in 1849, 1850, and 1853. These trips formed the basis for a series of essays, several of which Thoreau published in magazines. After Thoreau's death, the essays were gathered together and published as "Cape Cod" in 1865.
Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is different in tone in theme from his earlier books. The tone is leisurely and light. Instead of solitude or the wild woods, the picture that remains with me from this book is that of a long walk, or, as Thoreau puts it, a "ramble" through the sand and dunes of Cape Cod. The book is picturesque, full of humor and wry observation. Thoreau unforgettably describes the ocean, in its storms, vicissitudes, and moments of peace, the fish and the fishermen, the sands, birds, plants and lighthouses of Cape Cod, and the people. I have visited portions of the Masachusetts coast, but I have never been to Cape Cod. Thoreau took me there in his book.
The book is arranged into ten chapters. It opens with a description of the shipwreck of the St John on a rock off the Cape. Thoreau then describes a ride by coach across the Cape. But the heart of the book lies in the following chapters in which Thoreau with a companion walks the 30 mile beach from Nauset Harbor to Provincetown with many stops and diversions along the way. I felt the salt air and saw the fishermen and the sandy beach as I walked with Thoreau.
The most vivid characterization in the book is in the chapter "The Wellfleet Oysterman", as Thoreau describes a grizzled, taciturn, and ancient native of Cape Cod and his family who offer him hospitality for the night. Another memorable chapter involves the description of the Highland Lighthouse, no longer standing, and its keeper. The stops with the Oysterman and the Lighthouse punctuate Thoreau's long walks through the day over the beach and his meditiations about and descriptions of what he finds there.
Thoreaus walk ended at Provincetown, on the northernmost portion of Cape Cod, with its wood walkway, shanty houses, and ever-present scenes of fishermen, boats, and drying fish. Thoreau offers what I found an affectionate portrait of these hardy fishermen and their families. Following a description of what he found at Provincetown, Thoreau offers a great deal of historical background on the exploration of the Cape, from the Pilgrims reaching back to earlier French, Icelandic, and English explorers.
Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a worthy companion to his books describing his experiences inland, on Walden Pond and on the rivers and woods of New England and Maine. It is beautifuly written with unforgettable descriptive passages. It made me want to get up and go from my life in the city, and over 150 years after Thoreau wrote, wander and walk for myself along the dunes and sands of Cape Cod.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A21VR7M8O55EF6
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