Walden; or, Life in the Woods is the record of Thoreau's experiment to live as cheaply as possible. Thoreau builds a small cabin by Walden Pond and lives there for two years. No doubt, Thoreau embodies the failure of Transcendentalism. While practicing the tenets of intuition and of love for nature with a healthy distrust for progress, Thoreau was unable to achieve the ideal. However, in Walden, the reader will be sympathetic because Thoreau touches a longing that is in everyone: peace and quiet. The author offers keen insight to common things in nature and finds wonder with discovering anything new. Thoreau never overlooks even the most mundane of nature's bounty. His comments are delightful and interesting. In addition to this, his philosophy of life does challenge readers to reevaluate their systems of values and beliefs.
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