[.ca] Wild Fruits (ISBN 0393321150)

From Amazon.com:
Henry David Thoreau was 44 years old when he died of tuberculosis in the early spring of 1862. He had acquired a measure of notoriety in his lifetime largely for his fervent support of abolitionism and his refusal to pay taxes to support the American war of conquest against Mexico, the subject of his widely circulated pamphlet Civil Disobedience. Closer to his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, he was known as something of an eccentric who kept a home in the woods and took long walks when the citizens of the town were at work or church. We scarcely know Thoreau better, writes archivist and scholar Bradley Dean: we still remember him today for having spent time in jail and spinning philosophy out of the New England woods. On the strength of this lost, and now published, final manuscript of Thoreau's, Dean would have us think of him as a protoecologist, and for very good reason. In the last years of his life, Thoreau resolved to learn better the science behind nature, and in Wild Fruits he collected the lore and facts surrounding the plants around his home, observing such things as the quantity of chestnuts that local trees were producing, the myriad shapes of pine cones as they unfold, the taste of "fever bush," and the smell of sweet gale. The unfinished manuscript, cataloging dozens of species, affords a fascinating glimpse into Thoreau's method as an amateur student of nature--a method worthy of close study and imitation. Dean adds greatly to it with his intelligent commentary, which revisits Thoreau's sources, corrects a few of his errors, and emphasizes the writer's importance to natural history and belles-lettres alike. --Gregory McNamee

hats off to Dean:
Dean Bradley needs to be commended for taking on the challenge of resorting and reorganizing Thoreau's lost manuscript, for if he had not we would not have the beautiful language of Thoreau to savor once again. With this manuscript we see Thoreau as he meanders through his beloved Walden Pond area and we learn of his intellect as he quotes from the ancient authors as well as his contemporaries. The descriptions soothe one on a stressful day and once again make us see just how great a writer Thoreau was. Hats off to Dean Bradley for his work!

Wonderful journal....:
At this time of the year, I am off to the local forests, parks, etc. with my dogs, to walk along and fill my lungs with hopefully clean air. The dogs and I like to kick up the leaves, and they sniff about a great deal, undoubtedly detecting one animal or another. As I look up, I see the walnuts clinging to their mother branches, standing out against the sky as Thoreau said they would. Many nuts fall long after the leaves. This is a lovely book, and the next best experience you can have to a long walk in the woods. Bradley Dean, the Editor, could have called it "A Walk in the Woods with Henry David Thoreau." Thoreau sniffs, he tastes, he feels, he draws what he sees. And he invites the reader to do the same. Walden Forest and the surrounding countryside Thoreau knew are threatened, but some are trying to conserve what remains. Among other bits of information the reader can find in this book is how to join the crusade to save Waldon Forest. Sadly, the American countryside Thoreau describes has been disappearing. Even 50 years ago, small farms were the norm, and hedgerows and creeks between farms harbored all sorts of wild things. Although DDT introduced after WWII had done a bit of damage to some of the wildlife, herbicides, pesticides, and huge commercial farms had not yet driven everything except a monocrop out of existence. One could walk along the country lane and find blackberries, chokeberries, cranberries, gooseberries, and blueberries in their many forms. Wild cherries and crabapples were abundant. Have you found crabapple jelly at the supermarket lately? I had to send off to a mail order company to buy it. Crabapples are native species, but they are in decline. Wild fruits we took for granted have been driven to the brink of extinction. When I was in fourth grade, our teacher Mrs. Bryant took us to visit a brook that ran through our neighborhood. The brook was lined with a small forest, even though it backed up onto housing. There we found wild Trilliums and Mandrakes, signs of the Ovenbird, and a creek filled with Crawfish who scurried away when you moved the rocks that hid them. The creek was clear as glass, and we did not hesitate to drink the water--the thought we might become sick never entered our minds. A creek runs through my grandchildren's neighborhood, and it's lined with concrete where it doesn't run through a culvert--flood control to protect housing built where it ought not be built. Thoreau writes beautifully, as everyone who ever read him knows. In "Wild Fruits" -- his last known work -- he describes the excursions he made into the woods, thickets, swamps, and fields during the last years of his short life (d. age 44). The journal entries/essays cover the seasons of the year, and are arranged by type of fruit--for the most part. Thoreau is humorous, thoughful, and instructive. In the section on autumn fruits, Thoreau describes his friend who suggested they wear the stick-tights acquired on their pantaloons on an afternoon walk until they fell off naturally. His friend shows up a day or two later still coverd with little green seeds. Thoreau is somewhat given to making political and philosophical comments, and he refers to the troubles in the bloody Kansas of the 1850s and other troubles associated with slavery. But, he can make your heart sing when he describes the bluejay hammering a nutcase like a woodpecker as he estracts his supper, or the complexity of the Asclepia seed pod that launches it's silky parachutes on the wind. Finally, he reminds us how easy it would be to leave the natural world entact where trees rise toward heaven like the pillars of a cathedral -- and refrain from building the man-made edifices to worship God that are so inferior to those Nature erected.

Thoreau shows his true genius!:
As anyone should know, from reading my previous reviews (regarding the works of a certain American writer, novelist, botanist and downright genius, i.e., Henry David Thoreaus) is that I do consider him to be one the greatest writers ever to have come/lived in the US. His wide array of knowledge is astounding, e.g., botany, history, linguistics et al; so that everyhting that he states, writes and says in his book is with the voice of authority. For anyone whom is even remotely interested in botany, ecology or enviromentalism; then this book is a must have. Since Thoreau can be and should be seen as the first true enviromentalist in the US. However, for the scholar, this book in question ,i.e.,Wild Fruits : Thoreau's Rediscovered Last Manuscript by Henry David Thoreau, et al, is a must have and I would defenitely recommend it.

Last sweet words from our friend Henry:
I received Wild Fruits from my parents for Christmas, read it last spring, and finally have gotten around to writing a small, informal review. First of all, I'd like to thank Dr. Dean for bringing this last Thoreau manuscript to light-- he has done a great service to Thoreau enthusiasts, lovers of literature and nature, and posterity with this work (I'd tell him personally but I seem to have misplaced his e-mail address). There isn't a great deal I feel need to add, as previous reviewers have done a good job already. Over the past year, Thoreau's words on these wild fruits have been steeped in my consciousness. Henry's loving, beautiful depictions of these various gifts of nature were with me as I worked this summer at a garden center, realizing that Henry's "shad bush" and our "serviceberry" were one and the same. After reading this book, I was much more aware of the fruits of my own native Michigan fields and woods-- blackberries, rose hips, elderberries, wild grapes, and viburnums were all there this summer, more numerous and beautiful than ever before. I found myself collecting and tasting plants I never would have thought to try before, Henry's words openened a whole new world to me. Then, in August, I made a pilgrimage to Massachusetts, looking for and tasting the fruits of New England, even the fabled huckleberries, on Cape Cod National Seashore and in the Walden Woods, as I sauntered along the railroad tracks into Concord from the pond. Even this fall, when I came back to my university in Colorado, I discovered and gathered the fruits of the prickly pear cactus, and have saved the seeds, hoping to possibly propagate them. Read these last sweet words from our friend Henry-- let him teach you to love the simple natural joy that can be found nestled among the shrub-oaks and pitch pines: our free, wild American fruits.

It's really about fruit!!:
This may sound silly, but I was surprised to find out that this book is actually about WILD FRUITS. I mean everything you ever wanted to know about every kind of fruit the New England landscape has to offer: when it blooms, where it can be found, texture, color, everything. If you're looking for another Walden or a deeper understanding of the Transcendentalist movement, start elsewhere and come back to this one. As always with Thoreau this book is marvellously written, and the philosophy is there. It's just scattered and half-hidden throughout the landscape like wild strawberries (and just as delicious). It's a great read, just be warned: it's first and foremost about fruit!