To me, a hallmark of a good book is one that I get so caught up in that I finish it in a day. Helen Humphreys usually does that for me. In Followed by the Lark, Humphreys novelizes the life of naturalist and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau. Based on his many writings and extensive journal, Humphreys presents Thoreau’s “inner world” through short, often lyrical passages that read almost like a commonplace book of scrap remembrances and incidents. Humphreys manages to bring the early 19th century America to life, as well as create a personality of Thoreau that is engaging, haunting, tragic, and memorable.
I knew next to nothing about Thoreau before this book, other than his fame for Walden and his reputation around civil disobedience. I had imagined a recluse living in a shack at Walden Pond, opining on the evils of the modern world, and so have been corrected in that thinking. Thoreau was a man more at home in nature than in society, but not one averse to his world. He was devoted to his family, suffering great losses in the deaths of his older brother and sister. While he enjoyed his solitude in nature, he got great joy out of sharing what he learned with others, through talks and writing and sharing his discoveries with friends. He lived in a time and in connection with other greats of American literature – Emerson, Whitman, Hawthorne, Alcott – and yet was less a part of their literary world than his later fame would suggest. His many writings were published and well received in his time but not as famous as they were to be come a century later.
Humphreys’ portrait of Thoreau is not of a misunderstood man, nor of a lovable man (he could be a real jerk to his friend), but of one who strove in his own way to experience and document the natural world before it disappeared, through destruction of the spaces and memories. His philosophies of peace, nature, equality, and care for the environment are not elaborated here, but are suggested throughout as ways that he not only espoused but actually lived.
Fate: stays with my Humphreys collection.
4 – published in 2024
8 – female author
19 – based on a true story
28 – old favourite author
32 – about art
33 – Canadian
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