Thoreau's Ecstatic Witness
Literary students everywhere have read Thoreau's Walden and  "Civil Disobedience" and warmed to his widely acclaimed musings  on solitude, nature, and protest. But in this richly detailed  study, Hodder (comparative literature, Hampshire Coll.;  Emerson's Rhetoric of Revelation) pays scrupulous attention to  what he considers the religious expression in Thoreau's work  (including his journals); thus the use of the word ecstatic in  the title. Hodder believes that much of that expression has been  overlooked, with disproportionate critical attention being paid  to Thoreau's literary, philosophical, and political concerns. He  makes a convincing case that Thoreau's various designationsAas a  nature writer, man of letters, and social criticAcome into  better focus once his religious sensibility is factored into his  character and work. As Hodder demonstrates, Thoreau was not a  follower of institutional religion, believing fervently that  rapture came from experience, not faith. But as an ascetic and a  sensualist, he thought the natural world barren without a  connection to the human spirit. This work is not always an easy  readAit demands some knowledge of the writings of Thoreau and  other TranscendentalistsAbut it is certainly worth the effort.  Recommended for academic and large public libraries.ARobert L.  Kelly, Fort Wayne Community Schs., INCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.