Thoreau at Walden

By John Porcellino

2008

First Published

3.80

Average Rating

112

Number of Pages

3H24M

Audio Length

“I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship, but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely.” So said Henry David Thoreau in 1845 when he began his famous experiment in living on Walden Pond. In this graphic masterpiece, John Porcellino uses only the words of Thoreau himself to tell the story of those two years off the beaten track. The pared-down text focuses on Thoreau’s most profound ideas, and Porcellino’s fresh, simple pictures bring the philosopher’s sojourn at Walden to cinematic life. For readers who know Walden intimately, this graphic treatment will provide a vivid new interpretation of Thoreau’s story. For those who have never read (or never completed!) the original, it presents a contemporary look at a few brave words to live by.

Avg Rating

3.80

Number of Ratings

1,107

5 STARS

24%

4 STARS

39%

3 STARS

31%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

John Porcellino

Author · 5 books

JOHN PORCELLINO was born in Chicago, in 1968, and has been writing, drawing, and publishing minicomics, comics, and graphic novels for over twenty-five years. His celebrated self-published series King-Cat Comics, begun in 1989, has inspired a generation of cartoonists. Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man, a collection of King-Cat stories about Porcellino’s experiences as a pest control worker, won an Ignatz Award in 2005, and Perfect Example, first published in 2000, chronicles his struggles with depression as a teenager. Thoreau at Walden is a poetic expression of the great philosopher’s experience and ideals, and King-Cat Classix and Map of My Heart, published by Drawn and Quarterly, comprise the first two volumes of a comprehensive King-Cat history. According to cartoonist Chris Ware, "John Porcellino's comics distill, in just a few lines and words, the feeling of simply being alive."