Cape Cod

The volume on Cape Cod is deliberately formless in style, being interspersed with quotations from old histories and records of merely local interest; it abounds, however, in its author's dry sententious humour and sparkling paradoxes. It has been said that Cape Cod is in one sense the most human of Thoreau s books, and has more tenderness of tone than Waldeii) as if the sea had exercised a mellowing influence on his mind. Especially good are the Dutch pictures of the Wellfleet oysterman and the "e; sea-captains"e; of Provincetown. "e;It is worth the while,"e; says Thoreau, "e; to talk with one whom his neighbours address as Captain, though his craft may have long been sunk, and he may be holding by his teeth to the shattered mast of a pipe alone, and only gets half-seas-over in a figurative sense now. He is pretty sure to vindicate his right to the title at last can tell one or two good stories at least."e; In Cape Cod the experiences of several visits are condensed into one account.