Walden
Walden by Henry David Thoreauby Henry David Thoreau
Shares rank 12 of 25 memoirs by recommenders
Recommended for its lovely lines and its account of leaving society to live close to nature. One critic calls the hermit life it describes bogus.
Recommended for its lovely lines and its account of leaving society to live close to nature. One critic calls the hermit life it describes bogus.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Leaves society to live near nature
“You should read the book "Walden". The guy is also leaves society to live closer to nature for more or less similar reasons.”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “I Am Retiring from Tech to Live Offline” Full of lovely lines
“Full of lovely lines such as”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Free to start and try
“It's free to start, give it a try.”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Walden [video]”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Calls the hermit life bogus
“Walden is a bogus hermit life.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “What we want is a hunter gatherer lifestyle with space age tools (2022)”
Other memoirs people recommend
The four most recommended other memoirs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Feynman | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| Waldenby Henry David ThoreauThis page | 4 | 2 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's free to start, give it a try.”
“Full of lovely lines such as”
“Walden is a bogus hermit life.”
“You should read the book "Walden". The guy is also leaves society to live closer to nature for more or less similar reasons.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.