Walden Or Life In The Woods Henry David Thoreau

Recollections of the Past:
From Pioneer Naturalist to Mountaineer Buddhist
(Thoreau and Kerouac) An old adage says "never let the truth get in the way of a good story". However, where is the line drawn between embellishment and fabrication? Artistic privilege is just as it sounds; a liberty to manipulate and coerce verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of speech and sentence structure to yield a far more pleasing narrative. As with any privilege there comes responsibility, in this case, a responsibility to not change the original intent of the story or the context in which it took place. In "Walden, Or Life in the Woods" (1995), by Henry David Thoreau, he takes a very analytical approach to his recollections of the past.
"My head cold and sinus were bad and I stood on my head five minutes. I laughed. ‘What would people say if they saw me?'" (Kerouac 122) As opposed to saying I stood on my head five minutes so that my head felt better, which Thoreau might have said, Kerouac focuses on how he felt afterwards. Yet another instance of Kerouac examining his life occurs when he elaborates, "‘Where am I, what is the basketbally game of eternity the girls are playing here by me in the old house of my life, the house isn't on fire is it?' but it's only the banding rush of waves piling up higher closer high tide to my blanket bed." (Kerouac 8) This sentimental tone of Kerouac enables him to write more from an introspective angle with respect to experiences. "I got up early and bathed in the pond; that was a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did." (Thoreau 58) Thoreau does not elaborate on why or how he felt after he bathed in the pond. The overall tone of each other evokes a rather significantly different response from the reader. It is far easier to identify with Kerouac simply for the fact that he discloses his emotions. Conversely, Thoreau induces less of a catharsis from a reader because it is harder to identify with a colorful description of a forest in Massachusetts, especially if someone hasn't been
Thoreau even goes as far as providing the exact dimensions of his cabin and cost of maintenance, food, etc… "And to meet this I have for farm produce sold $36.78, which subtracted from the sum of the outgoes, leaves a balance of $25.21¾ on the one side, -this being very nearly the means with which I started, and the measure of expenses to be incurred, -and on the other, beside the leisure and independence and health thus secured, a comfortable house for me as long as I choose to occupy it." (Thoreau 39) While being extremely verbose, there is no question about Thoreau's authenticity because of his accurate records. Kerouac relies more on the actions of his peers and personal sentiment to tell his story. Both authors are stylistically different. Consequently, both works offer an account of personal experience, but approach the matter at totally polar extremes. Examples of Kerouac, almost being fantastical in his descriptions, occur frequently throughout his work. "…an I was immensely pleased with the way the trail had a kind of immortal look to it, in the early afternoon now, the way the side of the grassy hill seemed to be clouded with ancient gold dust and the bugs flipped over rocks and the wind sighed in shimmering dances over the hot rocks, and the way the trail would suddenly come