How does dying affect art: literature and music?

In this collection of essays, Edward Said explores the last works of writers and musicians, including Thomas Mann, Constantine P. Cavafy, and Samuel Beckett. Said asks: "Does one grow wiser with age and are there unique qualities of perception and form that artists acquire as a result of age in the late phase of their career?"

Read more about On Late Style. How do you think a writer's last work can be affected by the knowledge that the end is near?



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Henry David Thoreau is one of the most studied writers in American literature--not for fiction, but for a nonfiction collection about his stay at Walden Pond.

Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817--he would be known as an American writer, poet, philosopher and naturalist. There's no small debate about how realistic his stay at Walden Pond was.

Discover Walden Pond, with these site resources on Classic Literature:

• Walden Quiz
• Profile: Henry David Thoreau
• Thoreau: Collected Essays and Poems
• Civil Disobedience - Henry David Thoreau
• Walden - Henry David Thoreau
• Books About Walden
• Nature Writing

Discover "Walden" and other works by Henry David Thoreau.