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| http://loscuatroojos.com/2011/08/13/my-sense-of-humor-and-an-example-of-why-im-going-to-hell/ |
Thoreau made jokes. People actually laughed. AMAZING.
Before it appeared as the first chapter of Walden, Thoreau delivered “Economy”—“dry, sententious, condescending,” too long, is how Schulz describes it—as a well-attended lecture at the Concord Lyceum. According to a review that appeared in The Salem Observer, the lecture created “quite a sensation.” It “was done in an admirable manner, in a strain of exquisite humor, with a strong under current of delicate satire against the follies of the times.” It kept the audience, the reviewer notes, “in almost constant mirth.” After attending one of Thoreau’s lectures, Emerson recorded in his journal, perhaps enviously, “They laughed till they cried.”
Where are the jokes? In plain sight. Schulz even quotes some of them, for instance in this passage, on his objection to doormats: “As I had no room to spare within the house, nor time to spare within or without to shake it, I declined it, preferring to wipe my feet on the sod before my door. It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.” That last sentence is a parody of a Puritanical sermon, not a sincere emulation of one, just as Thoreau’s fastidious bookkeeping is a satirical parody of business.
~ https://newrepublic.com/article/123162/everybody-hates-henry-david-thoreau
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