Thoreau the Thorough Impressionist

What follows is in no sense a scholarly study of Thoreau's work. I have read very little about his life and virtually none of the critical literature. My remarks are but the reflections of a devoted reader who first came to Thoreau from spending parts of each summer in Concord, on Nine Acre Corner itself, and getting to know the region and its history. My reading has been enthusiastic, but also critical, and at times hostile, as will appear. There are indeed two parts of equal weight that come together in this mere reader's assessment. By the end of Part One it may seem to an absolute admirer as if the assessor de-