Letters to a Spiritual Seeker

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Thoreau's indelible writings on nature, liberty, justice, solitude, and simplicity are infused with spirituality, and, indeed, his entire quest to live an honorable life is a spiritual one, although he didn't overtly characterize it as such. He did, however, directly address matters of the spirit in a remarkable set of 50 letters written to Harrison Gray Otis Blake, an ex-Unitarian minister who initiated their 13-year correspondence in 1848 in his only extant letter. Dean, the Thoreau scholar who rescued Thoreau's magnificent and forgotten Wild Fruits (1999), now gathers together for the first time the American sage's still stirring and relevant spiritual musings and expertly sets them within biographical and historical contexts. Here Thoreau explicates his inclusive view of spirituality born of his intense attentiveness to nature and deep study of both Eastern and Western religious traditions. Here Thoreau, who has a knack for turning everyday activities into striking metaphors, analogies, and allegories, muses provocatively on work, contemplation, and responsibility. With quotable lines on every page, this is an important and affecting addition to the Thoreau shelf. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
In the spirit of Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, here are Thoreau's reflections on God and spirituality. Henry David Thoreau is famous for the literary excellence of his political and nature writings. But his friend Harrison Blake understood that the "true significance of [Thoreau's] life" was in fact spiritual, and he presciently asked the then-little-known Thoreau for guidance in finding a path of his own. The result was a regular exchange of letters for the remaining thirteen years of Thoreau's life, charting the evolution of his skills as a writer and thinker. The possibilities and limits of spirituality, the role of vocation in developing one's spiritual life, the importance of a direct relationship between the individual and God—Thoreau discusses these and more in his letters to Blake. The fifty letters, assembled and annotated here for the first time in their own volume by Bradley P. Dean—who has made the editing of Thoreau's manuscripts his life's work—are by turns earnest, oracular, witty, playful, practical, and deeply insightful and inspiring.


About the Author
Bradley P. Dean, an independent scholar living in West Peterborough, New Hampshire, has written extensively on Thoreau's life and writings and has edited two of Thoreau's previously unpublished book-length manuscripts.


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Dean (editor, Faith in a Seed) compiles for the first time in one volume the letters of Henry David Thoreau to Harrison G.O. Blake. After meeting Thoreau, Blake wrote to him asking for his thoughts on matters relating to the soul. Blake, an ex-minister and single parent, was struggling with his own spiritual development and hoped that Thoreau's words might rouse him to "a truer and purer life." Of the 50 letters collected here, dating from 1848 to 1861, 49 are from Thoreau to Blake. They start off meekly but over time develop into a rich, deeply spiritual discussion. Thoreau advises on earning a living, courage, materialism, sex, morality, solitude, religion, and stillness. Although some of the letters are brief and logistical, many bring out the principles that Thoreau is best remembered for his self-reliance, discipline, enjoyment of nature, and desire to live on his own terms. Sure to be welcomed by Thoreau lovers as well as readers of spiritual texts and the voluntary simplicity movement, this book is recommended for large public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/04.] Jaime Anderson, Cty. of Henrico P.L., VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


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