Walden

Mel Foster's resonant voice narrates this classic text with a precision that sounds nearly detached, but this style is appropriate for a work that emphasizes simplicity and personal accountability. Thoreau's reflections as he lived alone at Walden Pond are insightful; listening to WALDEN is a wonderful way to become better acquainted with his ideas, which are timeless and endlessly apropos to contemporary life. The pacing and delivery of the message are both clear and easy to absorb, making this classic beautifully suited to the audiobook format, especially with Foster's consistent voice taking control. Thoreau maintained that the "mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation"; this audiobook could help one break that silence. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

October 31, 1990
Shrinking Walden into picture book size is somewhat like trying to fit Moby Dick into an aquarium. Still, Lowe's selections from Thoreau's iconoclastic work will give children a brief taste of this classic. Using only quotations from the original work, Lowe tells the story of Thoreau's year in the woods, emphasizing his descriptions of nature,stet comma and action rather than his philosophical musings. Readers see the young Thoreau putting shingles on his roof, hoeing beans, welcoming a stranger; they can revel in the natural wonders he describes--the ``whip-poor-wills,'' in summer, the drifting snow in winter, the ice breaking in the pond in spring. Sabuda's superb linoleum-cut prints lend a hard-edged brilliance to the dark woods--where sunlight is filtered through etched leaves, and moonlight shimmers on the waters of the pond made famous by a young man's experiment with life. All ages.

Walden is organized like a conversation. Thoreau moves from topic to topic in an easy flow, touching on politics, economics, and spirituality. William Hope's performance of the work brings out this quality wonderfully. Reading slowly, with regular pauses, as if engaged in a conversation with a close friend, Hope allows readers to hear the rhythms of Thoreau's prose. But however it rambles, WALDEN always returns to the loving descriptions of nature and insightful reflections on personal identity that Thoreau developed in his cabin by Walden Pond. This is an accessible adaptation of an American classic. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine