Rethinking Walden

I've been floundering about since finishing my novel Sodom, Gomorrah & Jones. Am I retired as a writer or not? I thought so. But writers never retire until they die -- writing has become a way to exist in the world. So I began looking for a project. I thought of a film adaptation of the novel. I'd have to simplify it. I looked for another video project. I had an idea for a new novel, with a title I loved, but does the world need another novel by me or anyone else?

Lately, brooding in my convalescence, I thought of a non-fiction book. Not a memoir but a reflection, a summary of what life has come to mean to me. And the perfect reference would be Thoreau's Walden, about which I used to know a lot. In my graduate seminar on Walden, I did so well my professor thought I should write my Ph. D. thesis on Thoreau. I dropped out of school instead.

Thoreau went to the woods asking the right questions. We don't hear the questions very much today. Are they even possible to ask in a meaningful way any more? Churches of all denominations attempt to and fail miserably in the shackles of their individual ideologies. It's all form and ritual. Thoreau was after bone marrow.

So such a book could be both a love song to Thoreau and a reexamination of his quest in the context of a world very much changed from the 19th century. And it could be personal.

Obviously the place to begin is with a rereading of the book, which I haven't looked at in decades. Then I'll decide if there's any worthwhile "rethinking" to do about the issues raised.

I like this idea. It has absolutely no commercial possibilities, which makes it doubly attractive. I'll start the rereading soon and see what happens.