Woodsburner by John Pipkin

Woodsburner springs from a little-known event in the life of one of America's most iconic figures, Henry David Thoreau. On April 30, 1844, a year before he built his cabin on Walden Pond, Thoreau accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed three hundred acres of the Concord woods--an event that altered the landscape of American thought in a single day. Against the background of Thoreau's fire, Pipkin's ambitious debut penetrates the mind of the young philosopher while also painting a panorama of the young nation at a formative moment. Pipkin's Thoreau is a lost soul, plagued by indecision, resigned to a career designing pencils for his father's factory while dreaming of better things. On the day of the fire, his path will intersect with three very different local citizens, each of whom also harbors a secret dream. Oddmund Hus, a lovable Norwegian farmhand, pines for the wife of his brutal employer. Elliott Calvert, a prosperous bookseller, is also a hilariously inept aspiring playwright. And Caleb Dowdy preaches fire and brimstone to his congregation through an opium haze. Each of their lives, like Thoreau's, is changed forever by the fire. Like Geraldine Brooks's March and Colm Toibin's The Master, Woodsburner illuminates America's literary and cultural past with insight, wit, and deep affection for its unforgettable characters, as it brings to vivid life the complex man whose writings have inspired generations

In 1844, Henry David Thoreau accidentally set the woods surrounding Concord, Massachusetts on fire, burning over 300 acres of forest and several farms. Luckily, the fire was contained before it could reach nearby Walden Pond, where Thoreau would eventually live as a recluse and write his famous transcendentalist reflection,[bc:Walden 16902 Walden Henry David Thoreau http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348462004s/16902.jpg 2361393][b:Walden 16902 Walden Henry David Thoreau http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348462004s/16902.jpg 2361393], the following year.This book takes the Concord Woods fire of 1844 and uses it to frame an exploration into the minds and personalities of not only Thoreau, but also several other people whose lives were affected by the fire. A variety of narrators tell how and why they are in the Concord area on the day of the fire, and we come to know a range of different backgrounds and philosophies that might have been found in the New England area during the early 19th century.I enjoyed the deep, introspective writing style and intense description of events, but I felt mixed about the obvious environmentalist message being shoved into the reading. “Man's inability to conceive of the world's limits does not render the world limitless. And there is no longer a new world for the empty-handed to flee to from here.” I found those kind of pronouncements off-putting rather than inspiring. The author did such a good job of writing about the place and describing the fire, that he shouldn't need to explain and insert himself so much into the story. I'd suggest this book to anyone who has, or wants to enjoy the writings of Thoreau or any of the transcendentalist writers of the 19th century. The book is also a good example of writing with a sense of place, so if you enjoy natural history, especially in the early New England area, you would also find the book quite readable.

Really liked this one! The writing is beautiful, poetic in style. The book is based on a real life event in which Henry David Thoreau and a companion accidentally set the woods outside of Concord on fire. The incident plays as a backdrop to a whole slew of interesting characters and their lives and just makes for a really enjoyable read!