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> Some highlights: Mahler was antisemitc. Pope was sexist. If you judged works of art by who the author is, then most works of art would be viewed as rubbish.

> Some highlights: Mahler was antisemitc. Pope was sexist. If you judged works of art by who the author is, then most works of art would be viewed as rubbish. > HDT is not one of them, IMHO. Just because you disagree with his ascetic and "anti-social" lifestyle doesn't mean he wasn't a great writer. Walden and Civil Disobedience are easily some of the most important and iconic writings in american literature. Many of the great writers are eccentric. You can't judge works of art based on who the author is. The amount of anti-intellectualism pushed by the social justice left is rather alarming. If HDT wasn't a great american writer, then there is no such thing as a "great american writer". I just had a debate the other day with someone who claimed Mark Twain was a terrible writer because he used the N word in his books. Now I have to defend Thoreau? What's going on here?

uhhhouses 9y ago
Well, you don't have to defend Thoreau, just his writings. Which I would appreciate, BTW—I loved walden pond as a kid, but now it reads like a friend's #minimalism #tinyhouse medium blog. Civil disobedience was obsoleted by people with causes saying everything better. Where is the value in his text in contemporary society outside of nostalgia?
- eighthnate 9y ago
  > Well, you don't have to defend Thoreau, just his writings. I know. That's my point. The guy was attack thoreau, not his writing. > Which I would appreciate, BTW—I loved walden pond as a kid, but now it reads like a friend's #minimalism #tinyhouse medium blog. Did you really? If it reads like your friend's #minimalism then you really haven't read it. > Where is the value in his text in contemporary society outside of nostalgia? Nostalgia? The value lies in its influence and its cultural impact, not just in america but the world. Almost every american writer in the 19th century was influenced by thoreau. He's pretty much the godfather of american writers. Here is a cliff notes version. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/thoreau-emerson-and-transcendentalism/henry-david-thoreau/thoreaus-reputation-and-influence https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/thoreau-emerson-and... Not only that, he was one of the biggest and influential abolitionist voices and his civil disobedience influenced everyone from gandhi to martin luther king. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/martin-luther-king-and-gandhi-werent-only-ones-inspired-thoreaus-civil-disobedience-180963972/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/martin-luther-king-... Thoreau is a FOUNDATIONAL writer of america and american civilization. He helped form and define and describe the american character. It's okay to disagree with the guy's values/opinions/etc. But to claim that he isn't a great writer or he isn't relevant is just political posturing. Do you think the bible is not great literature or a great work of art? Is it just nostalgia? I can't believe I am even debating this. If you find thoreau to be disagreeable. Fine. But to claim a work that is foundational to america and influenced everyone from gandhi to MLK a century later as "nostalgia" is agenda driven nonsense. "Here, in this courageous New Englander's refusal to pay his taxes and his choice of jail rather than support a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico, I made my first contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I reread the work several times. I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement; indeed, they are more alive than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau#Influence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau#Influence
  - mikestew 9y ago
    Did you really? If it reads like your friend's #minimalism then you really haven't read it. Wow, that’s so condescending I could be convinced Thoreau himself wrote it.
vikeri 9y ago
While I agree with you on HDT's quality as an author I'm confused by how the parent comment was _social justice left_. Could you please clarify?
CharlesW 9y ago
> What's going on here? Nothing new, I think. The complications of Good Art created by Bad People has always been a thing in the modern world (see Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Chris Brown, Roman Polanski, etc.).
hellofunk 9y ago
> Mahler was antisemitc. Mahler was a Jew.
- NiklasMort 9y ago
  oh double trouble!

uhhhouses 9y ago

Well, you don't have to defend Thoreau, just his writings. Which I would appreciate, BTW—I loved walden pond as a kid, but now it reads like a friend's #minimalism #tinyhouse medium blog. Civil disobedience was obsoleted by people with causes saying everything better. Where is the value in his text in contemporary society outside of nostalgia?

eighthnate 9y ago
> Well, you don't have to defend Thoreau, just his writings. I know. That's my point. The guy was attack thoreau, not his writing. > Which I would appreciate, BTW—I loved walden pond as a kid, but now it reads like a friend's #minimalism #tinyhouse medium blog. Did you really? If it reads like your friend's #minimalism then you really haven't read it. > Where is the value in his text in contemporary society outside of nostalgia? Nostalgia? The value lies in its influence and its cultural impact, not just in america but the world. Almost every american writer in the 19th century was influenced by thoreau. He's pretty much the godfather of american writers. Here is a cliff notes version. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/thoreau-emerson-and-transcendentalism/henry-david-thoreau/thoreaus-reputation-and-influence https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/thoreau-emerson-and... Not only that, he was one of the biggest and influential abolitionist voices and his civil disobedience influenced everyone from gandhi to martin luther king. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/martin-luther-king-and-gandhi-werent-only-ones-inspired-thoreaus-civil-disobedience-180963972/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/martin-luther-king-... Thoreau is a FOUNDATIONAL writer of america and american civilization. He helped form and define and describe the american character. It's okay to disagree with the guy's values/opinions/etc. But to claim that he isn't a great writer or he isn't relevant is just political posturing. Do you think the bible is not great literature or a great work of art? Is it just nostalgia? I can't believe I am even debating this. If you find thoreau to be disagreeable. Fine. But to claim a work that is foundational to america and influenced everyone from gandhi to MLK a century later as "nostalgia" is agenda driven nonsense. "Here, in this courageous New Englander's refusal to pay his taxes and his choice of jail rather than support a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico, I made my first contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I reread the work several times. I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement; indeed, they are more alive than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau#Influence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau#Influence
- mikestew 9y ago
  Did you really? If it reads like your friend's #minimalism then you really haven't read it. Wow, that’s so condescending I could be convinced Thoreau himself wrote it.

vikeri 9y ago

While I agree with you on HDT's quality as an author I'm confused by how the parent comment was _social justice left_. Could you please clarify?

CharlesW 9y ago

> What's going on here? Nothing new, I think. The complications of Good Art created by Bad People has always been a thing in the modern world (see Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Chris Brown, Roman Polanski, etc.).

hellofunk 9y ago

> Mahler was antisemitc. Mahler was a Jew.

NiklasMort 9y ago
oh double trouble!