
Thoreau's Ecstatic Witness
Alan D. Hodder(Author)
Yale University Press
Will be published approx. on 2. January 2002
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-300-08959-2 (ISBN)
Description
When Henry David Thoreau died in 1862, friends and admirers remembered him as an eccentric man whose outer life was continuously fed by deeper spiritual currents. But scholars have since focused almost exclusively on Thoreau's literary, political, and scientific contributions. This book offers the first in-depth study of Thoreau's religious thought and experience. In it Alan D. Hodder recovers the lost spiritual dimension of the writer's life, revealing a deeply religious man who, despite his rejection of organized religion, possessed a rich inner life, characterized by a sort of personal, experiential, nature-centered, and eclectic spirituality that finds wider expression in America today.
At the heart of Thoreau's life were episodes of exhilaration in nature that he commonly referred to as his ecstasies. Hodder explores these representations of ecstasy throughout Thoreau's writings-from the riverside reflections of his first book through Walden and the later journals, when he conceived his journal writing as a spiritual discipline in itself and a kind of forum in which to cultivate experiences of contemplative non-attachment. In doing so, Hodder restores to our understanding the deeper spiritual dimension of Thoreau's life to which his writings everywhere bear witness.
At the heart of Thoreau's life were episodes of exhilaration in nature that he commonly referred to as his ecstasies. Hodder explores these representations of ecstasy throughout Thoreau's writings-from the riverside reflections of his first book through Walden and the later journals, when he conceived his journal writing as a spiritual discipline in itself and a kind of forum in which to cultivate experiences of contemplative non-attachment. In doing so, Hodder restores to our understanding the deeper spiritual dimension of Thoreau's life to which his writings everywhere bear witness.
Reviews / Votes
"Hodder's brilliant and persuasive study of the religious side of Henry Thoreau will change the way people think about Thoreau. This is a first-rate book, sure to have a lot of impact and to be cited for years to come." Robert D. Richardson, Jr., author of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind and Emerson: The Mind on Fire.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-08959-2 (9780300089592)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Alan D. Hodder
Thoreau's Ecstatic Witness
E-Book
12/2001
1st Edition
Yale University Press
€96.95
Available for download
Person
Alan D. Hodder is associate professor of comparative religion at Hampshire College and author of Emerson's Rhetoric of Revelation.