Profitably Soaked: Thoreau's Engagement with Water - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 097174680X ISBN 13: 9780971746800

Publisher: Green Frigate Books, 2003

Synopsis

A century of academic scholarship has left us with an incredibly dull and dry image of Thoreau as the moping detached intellectual or the reflective nature mystic. In this collection of quotations compiled from all of Thoreau’s works and arranged under the headings Adventure, Joy, Contact, and Contemplation, editor Robert France counters this prevalent view through nothing less than resurrecting Thoreau bringing him back to the life that he so fully lived. This work clearly demonstrates that Thoreau was very much the thirsting sensualist, using his body at every opportunity as the way in which to engage the world. And it was water, above all else, that served as the means for Thoreau’s deepest immersion into nature.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Surely, one may as profitably be soaked in the juices of a marsh for one day, as pick his way dry-shod over sand"

"I must let the water soak into me"

"That part of you that is wettest is fullest of life"

"To feel...the water flow on you and love you, is a rare enjoyment"

A century of academic scholarship has left us with an incredibly dull and dry image of Thoreau as the moping detached intellectual or the reflective nature mystic. In this collection of quotations compiled from all of Thoreau's works and arranged under the headings "Adventure", "Joy", "Contact", and "Contemplation", editor Robert France counters this prevalent view through nothing less than ressurecting Thoreau--bringing him back to the life he so fully lived. This work clearly demonstrates that Thoreau was very much the thirsting sensualist, using his body at every opportunity as the way in which to engage the world. And it was water, above all else, that served as the means for Thoreau's deepest immersion into nature.

From the Inside Flap:

"A perceptive treatment" - from the Foreword by Ann Haymond Zwinger, author of Shaped by Wind and Water

"Extraordinary...remarkable" - from the Afterword by Roderick Frazier Nash, author of Wilderness and the American Mind

"An exhilarating and thought-provoking book" - blurb by David Kidner, author of Nature and Psyche

"Perfectly captures and consolidates the Master's timeless work and brings Thoreau's essence alive" - blurb by John Middendorf, author of Big Walls

"Sincere immersion...informs our every step" - blurb by Laura Sewall, author of Sight and Sensibility

"A stimulating presentation...a gift' - blurb by J. Parker Huber, author of Thoreau on Mountains

"A fine assembly of Thoreau's thoughts" - blurb by John Hanson Mitchell, author of Walking Toward Walden

About this edition

• Publisher: Green Frigate Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 097174680X
• ISBN 13: 9780971746800
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 125
• Editor: France Robert Lawrence