Walking and Other Excursions

Henry David Thoreau

Summary

IN THE SPIRIT OF UNDYING ADVENTURE!    Sauntering through natural landscapes is a noble art; and one that Henry David Thoreau held in the highest regard.     Though he is perhaps best known for Walden: Life in the Woods and his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau was an early advocate of recreational hiking, canoeing, and conserving natural resources. A passionate nature writer, he penned many articles that shared these philosophies and perspectives.    This carefully restored re-creation of the 1863 essay collection Excursions features the nine original essays that were published posthumously:    “Natural History of Massachusetts”    “A Walk to Wachusett”    “The Landlord”    “A Winter Walk”    “The Succession of Forest Trees”    “Walking”    “Autumnal Tints”    “Wild Apples”    “Night and Moonlight”    This revised special edition also includes the original detailed biographical sketch of Thoreau by fellow transcendentalist and friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. Featuring a brand-new foreword by J.F. Penn, best-selling author of PILGRIMAGE: Lessons Learned from Walking Three Ancient Ways, and a fresh introduction from editor Mark Leslie.    ______    "In these ever more fast-moving times, as the constant noise of media in every form buffets us, and bad news from across the world shakes our sense of well-being daily, we can find truth in Thoreau’s words that 'in society you will not find health, but in nature.'" - J.F. Penn

Available since: 04/09/2024.

Print length: 247 pages.

Other books that might interest you

The Door in the Wall

H. G. Wells

Title: The Door in the Wall
Author: H. G. Wells
Narrator: Jonathan Dunne
Original Publication: 1906
Public Domain: Yes
Series Placement: Number 42 in the Timeless Terrors series
Description:
The Door in the Wall by H. G. Wells is a haunting meditation on memory, regret, and the fragile boundary between reality and imagination. Blending psychological mystery with quiet supernatural suggestion, Wells crafts one of his most poignant and enduring tales.
Lionel Wallace, a successful statesman, is haunted by a recurring vision from his childhood — a green door in a white wall that opens onto a garden of impossible beauty. Throughout his life, the door reappears at unexpected moments, tempting him to abandon the world he knows for one that may not exist at all. As Wallace’s obsession deepens, the story becomes a reflection on the price of ambition, the ache of lost wonder, and the peril of yearning for what lies beyond the known.
Narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures Wells’s tone of wistful dread and quiet revelation — the sense that paradise may be only a step away, but that to open the door is to lose oneself forever. While the text is in the public domain, this narration is an original performance and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne.
Part of Timeless Terrors, a series devoted to resurrecting the masters of the macabre and uncanny, The Door in the Wallendures as a tale of elusive beauty and the inexorable pull of the mysterious — a reminder that some doors, once found, can never truly be closed.

Show book

Orlando - A Biography

Virginia Woolf

At the beginning of Virginia Woolf's fantastical and satirical 1928 novel, Orlando is a young nobleman in Elizabethan England. At the age of 30, Orlando awakens to have found he's now a woman. Moving through the following centuries, the novel stretches over 300 years, during which time Orlando meets several key figures of English literary history.

Show book

A Christmas Tree

Charles Dickens

"I have been looking at a real Christmas tree, which stood in the middle of a great round table."

Before the world knew the full breadth of his holiday legacy, Charles Dickens penned this enchanting "meditation" on the centerpiece of the Victorian home. A Christmas Tree is not a traditional narrative, but a brilliant stream-of-consciousness exploration of memory. Looking upon the glittering branches of a tree, Dickens takes the reader on a nostalgic tour of the toys, the stories, and the spectral shadows that define our earliest holiday experiences.

A Toybox of the Imagination: Dickens vividly recreates the wonder of a child's world. He describes the "tumbling" dolls, the magic lanterns, and the leaden soldiers that once sparked his own imagination. Through his prose, we see the tree not just as a decoration, but as a living record of our growth—from the tangible excitement of childhood play to the more reflective, often haunting, memories of adulthood.

Ghosts of Christmas Past: In typical Dickensian fashion, the light of the tree is balanced by the shadows of the fire. The story delves into the "ghost stories" that were once an essential part of the midwinter tradition. Dickens reminds us that the holiday season is a time for remembering those who are no longer at the table, blending warmth with a poignant, Gothic sensibility that is uniquely his own.

Experience the heart of the holidays through the eyes of a master. Purchase "A Christmas Tree" today and rediscover the timeless magic of the season.

Show book

White Nights

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a poignant and introspective short story that delves into the complexities of human emotions and the transient nature of romantic connections. Set against the backdrop of St. Petersburg's nocturnal charm, the narrative follows the lonely protagonist through four consecutive white nights, where he encounters a mysterious young woman. As the two form a deep but ephemeral connection, Dostoyevsky explores themes of love, isolation, and the fleeting nature of human connections. The story unfolds with rich psychological depth, providing readers with a profound exploration of the human soul and the profound impact of chance encounters on one's emotional landscape.

Show book

Lying Awake (Unabridged)

Charles Dickens

Lying Awake: The 'Gentleman Connected with the Press' are short stories by Charles Dickens. Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars.

Show book

Ex Oblivione

H. P. Lovecraft

Title: Ex Oblivione
Author: H. P. Lovecraft
Narrator: Jonathan Dunne
Original Publication: 1921
Public Domain: Yes
Series Placement: Timeless Terrors No. 65
Description:
Ex Oblivione is one of H. P. Lovecraft’s most haunting and philosophical works — a dreamlike meditation on death, oblivion, and the seductive promise of release from suffering. The story follows a dreamer who drifts through strange visions and half-remembered realms, where the boundary between life and death dissolves and oblivion itself beckons with quiet allure. Through surreal imagery and reflective prose, Lovecraft explores themes of mortality, memory, and humanity’s fragile grasp on existence.
The horror in Ex Oblivione does not arise from monstrous revelation or violent action, but from the gentle, unsettling suggestion that nonexistence may be preferable to life. The atmosphere is hushed and melancholic, suffused with cosmic unease and a sense of inevitable fading. Shadows of forgotten worlds and unreachable realms linger at the edge of perception, reminding the listener that reality itself may be only a temporary illusion.
Narrated by Amazon-bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures the somber beauty, dreamlike dread, and existential weight of Lovecraft’s prose. While the text itself is fully in the public domain, this narration and production are copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne.
Part of Timeless Terrors, a series devoted to reviving the classics of horror, Ex Oblivione stands as a chilling reminder that the most profound terrors are not those that threaten the body — but those that quietly invite the soul to vanish into the void.

Show book