This book certainly has moments of great insight. Emerson's passion is quite clear and often well-articulated. But this is a very lengthy book, and many of the essays no longer have as much to offer as they perhaps once did. There are several that are invaluable, of course, but many of them have simply become too obtuse and arcane to be really relevant anymore. I read the book all the way through, but my recommendation would be that people purchase it simply for reference, and maybe to read the more famous essays now and again. In the end, many of the essays have disturbing undercurrents of racism or anti-democratic sentiment and Emerson's inability to see nature as a dark force, as it can sometimes be, sinks large portions of the book. We must bear in mind that Emerson was writing in a different time and that his comments that are now unacceptable were not always that way. Clearly this book is historically important, and it is obviously a worthwhile one to have sitting on the shelf to quote or occasionally reference, but it is certainly not the bulletproof guide to living that many have made it out to be.

This book is the complete essays and lectures of ralph waldo emerson. It contains everything you could want from emerson, save his journals. His writing is beauty in it's truest form. What he speaks is what you have forever felt to be true. When he warns against self-distrust in self-reliance you feel that he is not only speaking to you, but speaking for you. Reading this book is not only seeing what he has written, but is a demonstration of what he has written. When he writes in "self-reliance" of the reoccuring situation where people have to take their truth from another, the medium becomes the message. Emerson's work as presented in this volume has been under rated by philisophical circles for years. Here you will see that not only is he a great essayist, but that (while unconventional)he is a great philosopher.

I took only one book (Walden) recently when I packed light for a trip 240 miles down the Haul Road along the Trans Alaska Pipeline to the farthest north truck stop at Coldfoot. We live in Barrow, Alaska and wanted to get away to a simpler life for a bit.
The tundra colors were spectacular and when we finally got to trees they were all gold and red. And there were caribou, dall sheep and musk ox.
Our room at Coldfoot was very basic --two small beds, a chair and small closet ---that was it. No data ports, no TV, radio or phone.
So we read a lot and I felt fortunate to have Thoreau with us.
Even when it rained heavily and we had to shorten our daily hike, Walden Pond was there to recharge me, hopefully help me get out from under in this heavily consumer society.
I love this man's insights, and am sorry he died at the early age of 45. This book is so current today. Please read it and share the ideas.
Oops, now I am communicating about "Walden" over the Internet on a fairly new computer. Well, maybe will have to read the book again. Enjoy friends!!
Earl

Unbelievable! I went to Barnes & Noble the other day to purchase a copy of Walden. They had the Cliff's Notes but not the book. Is that a profound comment on our times, or just the last straw that persuaded me to write this review?

I have read Walden from cover to cover many times. I have read excerpts from it many more times. I have never found it boring or tedious, as some reviewers have. In fact, I have found it to be one of the few books worth re-reading on a frequent basis. Why?

Our times do not differ significantly from Thoreau's. He saw a society enthralled with "progress," such as the ability to travel from place to place via railroad at the astonishing speed of 35 miles per hour, without any idea of what to do when they arrived. He travelled by foot, and saw the life that others hurried by.

Has it ever seemed to you that the acquisition of ever-more-expensive habits and tastes, and the need to work longer and harder to satisfy them, is ultimately a waste of the precious gift of time and life that each of us is blessed with? Do you wonder how (or if) people who live without televison, video games, and automobiles can be happy or fulfilled? How would you fare if you were stripped of your possessions but still retained the ability to obtain the necessaries of life? Could you treat that as an opportunity to discover more about what it means to live?

If any of these are questions that have nibbled at your psyche, read Walden. If you love nature and its intricacies, read Walden. If you've ever thought about through-hiking the Appalachian Trail, read Walden. If you think modern-day life can't be improved on, or you want a quick read that will entertain you for a few hours, read something else. And if you read Walden and don't find it meaningful or profound, perhaps you will find another book that will remain as significant an influence in your life as Walden has been in mine.

If anyone can describe what life is really about it is Thoreau. Even in the 1830's he gave relevant advice that can tie into everything in today's world. Every sitting a new and exciting idea to ponder over. Thoreau reminds us all of the confusing yet wonderful world we live in. Most of all Thoreau in Walden makes a tribute to the indivdual and tells us to follow our dreams, because they are just that ours. The best book I've read by far!

I love Emerson. For my money, he's one of the most insightful thinkers and beautiful stylists this country has produced. He deserves better than he's received from "professional" philosophers who tend to dismiss him as "just" a person of letters (as if that were a shameful thing to be!).

But this collection of Emersonia is seriously flawed. It prints the essays in Emerson's first collection, but only two from his second. It omits some of his best poems (including "The Sphinx," which Emerson himself so valued that he always had it printed at the very beginning of all the books of poems he published during his lifetime), as well as all of the later essays. In their place, the editors choose to print Emerson's "English Traits," a pleasant enough travel book but rather fluffy compared to the rest of his works. As the editors admit in their Introduction (itself a rather disappointing effort), they tend to feel uncomfortable with Emerson's work on mysticism, and so they decided to leave out of their anthology huge chunks of it. But since Emerson is first and foremost a mystical writer, this is to seriously misrepresent him.

In short, read Emerson--but find a better one-volume collection of his work than this one.

Every Emerson volume is 'a good read'. Unlike some other readers, I love English Traits, maybe because I am English. Emerson is a joy, everyone should read him, at least once.

Emerson's writings are eaily and clearly displayed in this wonderful publication. My thirst for poetry was easily quenched with his powerful and meaningful words. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read thoughtful and discriptive literature.

This book is too nice.it presents the lifestyle of Emerson,the great philosopher in a very analytical way.

For thirty years I have coveted a battered copy of Bliss Perry's abbreviated edition of Emerson's Journals which my father carried in his sea bag during World War II. I first read this edition at age fifteen, and now most recently at age forty-four and continue to find much to startle and enlighten.

As a literary figure, Emerson towers over every other American writer. Not just through his own Essays and poetry is the arm of his influence so large, but chiefly through his influence on "disciples" like Thoreau, Whitman and a hundred others. His journals are the mother lode of this rich influence.

There are few greater books to carry in our own sea bags.

From the review, everyone seems to enjoy this piece of work

I like this book and the way the author dealt with the "vulnerable" subject on Emerson and Pragmatism. It is strongly persuasive and compact. And the most superb part of the book is the critical geneology the author delienates from Emerson to Stein, though he leaves out C. S. Pierce, who I think is one of the undeveloped and unappreciated thinker among scholars.

This book somewhat gives a different view of what Emerson was like away from being the literature giant that he is...if that sounds interesting to you then you should get this book.

This book contains edited essays of Emerson written in the 1800's. They seem to me like the sermons of a minister, which he was. They are often incomprehensible -- maybe 10% inspirational, using words as ministers did at that time. I had to push myself to finish it; however, the later essays were better (more understandable, showed common sense at times).

This is the first book by Emerson that I've read, but hope to read more of his essays later. The book really is inspirational. Emerson is an excellent writer and his words flow together like nothing I've ever read. The essays in this book are pure poetry.... really beautiful. Even if you don't believe in the Transcendalist/Idealist view, you can still read this book and feel like you've gotten something out of it. I would recommend this for anyone who has a liking for beautiful writing.

I cannot pick up this book without feeling encouraged and inspired. The editor has gone through and picked out some of the best passages from Emerson's works, thus saving us the trouble of wading through hundreds of pages of prose for the really good stuff. Everyone needs a copy of this book.