OCH Publications > Oregon Humanities table of contents
Oregon Humanities is a journal of ideas and perspectives published twice a year by the Oregon Council for the Humanities. Each issue includes essays and articles that explore a particular theme from a variety of perspectives, broadening the ways in which readers think about a subject and providing a basis for further thoughtful discussion.
Oregon Humanities Fall/Winter 2007
- Kathleen Holt
- EDITOR
- Jennifer Viviano
- GRAPHIC DESIGN
- Leigh van der Werff
- PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANT
- Allison Dubinsky
- COPY EDITOR
- Editorial Advisory Board
- Tom Booth
- Brian Doyle
- Debra Gwartney
- Julia Heydon
- Marianne Keddington-Lang
- Guy Maynard
- Win McCormack
- Camela Raymond
- Kate Sage
- Linny Stovall
- Rich Wandschneider
- Curt Yehnert
Oregon Humanities, a journal of ideas and perspectives about the humanities, is published biannually by the Oregon Council for the Humanities, 812 SW Washington Street, Suite 225, Portland, Oregon 97205.
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Reading Houses: Walden
The house at Walden Pond is surely the world's best example of a house built to reflect a philosophy. That Henry David Thoreau eschewed the life of "quiet desperation," that he wanted to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life" by being close to nature, and that he considered that the ne plus ultra of life was to "simplify, simplify"--all of this was evident in his ten-by-fifteen foot, shingled and plastered, entirely self-sufficient cabin.
He didn't begin by designing a house but by building one, letting its architectural beauty grow "out of the necessities and character of the indweller, who is the only builder." The house had a window on each side, a door at one end, and a chimney built from Walden Pond rocks. For lumber he hewed and milled pines in his woods and salvaged other wood from an old house.
The simplicity of Thoreau's furnishings matched the simplicity of his architecture. He had no curtains because there were "no gazers to shut out but the sun and moon, and I am willing that they should look in." There was a bed, a table, a desk, and three chairs, "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." Simplicity is good, but, Thoreau claimed, "None is so poor that he need sit on a pumpkin." He had a three-inch mirror, some minimal kitchen utensils, a japanned lamp, and a copy of Homer's Iliad. That's it. And what need for more?
Thoreau's house in the woods suited a man who cherished solitude, but for visitors he considered his house too small if there were to be meaningful conversation. "You want room for your thoughts to get into sailing trim and run a course or two before they make their port," he said. He preferred to take his "distinguished guests" to his "withdrawing room": the pine woods behind the house. In this way, in keeping with his philosophy, Thoreau expanded the architecture of his house to include the nature surrounding it.
--Diana Coogle
Published in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Oregon Humanities.
© 2007 Oregon Council for the Humanities