17 December (1967): E.B. White to Callie Angell

Henry David Thoreau was E.B. White’s favorite author; he thought of Walden as “an invitation to life’s dance.” White made frequent pilgrimages to the pond, which served as the touchstone for the 1954 essay, “A Slight Sound at Evening.” In the following letter, White gives his step-granddaughter, Callie Angell, “Walden” for Christmas, and explains how the book should be read.

To Caroline Angell

Sarasota 17 December [1967]

Dear Callie: Through Grandma’s maneuvering, I think you will receive a copy of “Walden.” This is my Christmas present to you in this critical year of 1967. I hope you will get as much fun and instruction from the book as I did, at a somewhat later age. Thoreau has been greatly misconstrued and been made use of by all sorts of groups and thinkers. He laid himself wide open to this, as you can see by reading his stuff—which is full of contradictions and cryptic utterances. But he was, I think, a good seer and prophet, and many of his sentences cover whole areas of modern life and the modern dilemma. The way to read Thoreau is to enjoy enthusiasms, his acute perception. Much love and a Merry Christmas.

Andy

FURTHER READING

John Updike at The Guardian on “the Bible” of American literature, and White’s relationship to it.

Review of White’s book of quotations, with full description of his Thoreau-inspired farm.