This very short work by Thoreau is sheer poetry to read. He explores the role of wild apples within history and culture, often citing the classics. It's highly readable--more so than many 19th century works--and a pure sensory delight. Honestly, it made me hungry for apples.

"The out-door air and exercise which the walker gets give a different tone to his palate, and he craves a fruit which the sedentary would call harsh and crabbed. They must be eaten in the fields, when your system is all aglow with exercise, when the frosty weather nips your fingers, the wind rattles the bare boughs..."

"Almost all wild apples are handsome. They cannot be too gnarly and crabbed and rusty to look at. The gnarliest will have some redeeming traits even to the eye."

This book is available for free, legal download online. ( )