This 39-volume collection is the definitive Ruskin edition, luxuriously complete and satisfying. It takes no genius to realize, however, that the price is a problem. At almost $100 per volume, these books are beyond the reach of any but the most dedicated (and well-heeled) bibliophile. It is heavily ironic that Ruskin, who regarded himself as a messenger, not only to the upper classes, but to working men and women, should be available in unexpurgated form only at such a king's ransom. I don't own these books. I would love to own them, and I think they should be on the shelves of every civilized person. But until some way is found of making them available at a reasonable price, a space on my shelves will continue to acquire dust and cobwebs. Oh! For an edition analogous to Library of America!

An affectionately and well-written account of Ruskin's life (I'm referring here to parts 1 and 2 of this biography, taken as a whole). As another reviewer has pointed it, the book does move along nicely, leaving the reader feeling as though he has been given a solid picture of a period in Ruskin's life (the book is organized chronologically), though not that he has exhausted all possible accounts of it, accounts which could easily become boring to all but the most devoted of Ruskin's admirers. The only thing for which I would fault the book is its sometimes cumbersome, dry over-emphasis on facts -- lots of facts. We are too often told about where, what and when instead of why. Perhaps it was the author's intention to give an "objective" account of Ruskin's life, one in the shadow of which we'd paint our own picture of Ruskin the man. But that would seem to be contradicted by the obvious affection with which Hilton writes. Nevertheless, it was an informative read and the two volumes evidence Hilton's enormous work of scholarship. Ruskin was one of the most prolific writers we know of, but here Mr. Hilton shows that he familiarized himself thoroughly with Ruskin's works and letters. If for nothing else, we should be grateful for that. With a little humor and more analysis, this would be a near perfect biography. As it is, it's the most authoritative contemporary account of its subject and a fulfilling read.

To begin with the headlines: Ruskin was a racist, sexist, anti-democratic pedophile. Despite all of this (grounds for civil, if not criminal, liability today), Hilton has managed to craft a magnificent biography. He does not condemn these parts of Ruskin's character -- raising the question of whether it is place of biography to condemn -- he simply states the facts. Hilton certainly does, however, praise Ruskin where praise is due, perhaps posing this problem of biography in reverse. In this book, a fifteen year later sequel to "The Early Years," available here in paperback, but in hardbound only through the out-of-print service, Hilton accomplishes everything for which one could wish in a literary biography. Hilton makes you feel Ruskin's inspirations and how they colored, often drove, his numerous works. He ties Ruskin into his time and how he stood in relation to his contemporaries. I'm not sure that Ruskin was worth the dedication of so much of Mr. Hilton's life and labor. Surely that is for him to decide. Nevertheless, this is, and will remain, the definitive work on Ruskin.

It has been a hundred years since John Ruskin's death, ending his 60-year career as a writer with these last words: "the fireflies everywhere in sky and cloud rising and falling, mixed with lightning, and more intense than the stars" (p. 578). I first encountered Ruskin as a graduate student in a Victorian literature seminar taught by Ian Fletcher. Ruskin was a university professor who, like my own professor, encouraged students not to study merely "in expectation of advancement in the material world once they graduated" (p. 466). There are "treasures hidden in books" (p. 91), Ruskin wrote, and as a student I found Ruskin's writing filled with treasures that have enriched my life for years since finishing college.

In his excellent new biography, Hilton returns to Ruskin during his subject's "later years." However, the book actually picks up with Ruskin entering his middle years at age 40, and ends with Ruskin's death in 1900 at the age of 81. Ruskin died on the doorstep of the 20th century. "What is the world coming to? I wish I could stay to see" (p. 484) we find Ruskin wondering. Hilton follows Ruskin's troubled descent from the heights of his life as a true Renaissance man--prolific writer, social critic, artist, art critic, Victorian intellectual, and eccentric Oxford professor--to Ruskin in his final years, an unhappy, bewildered, and silent man, incapable of writing, and looking "like Lear in the last scene" (p. 589). "Life is really quite disgustingly too short," Ruskin reflects at one point in the book. "One has only got one's materials together by the time one can no longer use them" (p. 531).

Ruskin's life is so fascinating, it is a wonder that it took someone a hundred years to write this biography. Hilton triumphs in bringing Ruskin to life. We learn, for instance, that Ruskin was an avid collector of drawings, gems, minerals, manuscripts, shells, photographs, birds' feathers, sculptures, books, and paintings. While an Oxford professor, he played hide-and-seek in Christ Church Cathedral. We witness his intellectual doubts eroding his religious faith. More curious, perhaps, we experience the "sad and wasteful story" (p. 132) of Ruskin's relationship (and obsession) with Rose La Touche, to whom he proposed marriage in 1866. Rose had just turned 18. Ruskin was 46 and divorced from an unconsumated marriage. Ruskin suffers for Rose in this book, and we feel his pain. We then watch Ruskin's progressive "mental collapse" into madness, following a series of breakdowns beginning after Rose's untimely death, leaving Ruskin "lost in a wildrness [sic] of thoughts" (p. 419), with no control over his mind or life.

This definitive biography gives Ruskin the long-overdue attention he deserves. Hilton's insight into his subject and vast knowledge of Ruskin's writing suggest he has spent his entire life studying Ruskin. Hilton is a fine writer, and this is a fine book that will hopefully prompt more readers to also discover the treasures found in reading Ruskin. Although Ruskin's books may not be widely available, I recommend Rosenberg's 1998 collection, THE GENIUS OF JOHN RUSKIN.

G. Merritt

This is an ideal introduction to the life and work of John Ruskin. It's clear and readable but has lots of facts. My only criticism is that it doesn't give as much of a psychological insight into Ruskin as I would have liked. I was left wondering what kind of person Ruskin really was. Still, I do recommend it - and it is reasonably priced too.

Dr. O'Gorman, a well-known Ruskin scholar, has provided us with an outstanding introduction to one of the nineteenth century's most outstanding writers, critics, artist and creative mind. The wide ranging interests and extraordinary accomplishments of Ruskin are treated to an elegant, intelligent, and highly readable treatice. Ruskin will no doubt grow in importance in the decades to come. This book is the perfect place to start on an exciting intellectual journey discovering John Ruskin.

An affectionately and well-written account of Ruskin's life (I'm referring here to parts 1 and 2 of this biography, taken as a whole). As another reviewer has pointed it, the book does move along nicely, leaving the reader feeling as though he has been given a solid picture of a period in Ruskin's life (the book is organized chronologically), though not that he has exhausted all possible accounts of it, accounts which could easily become boring to all but the most devoted of Ruskin's admirers. The only thing for which I would fault the book is its sometimes cumbersome, dry over-emphasis on facts -- lots of facts. We are too often told about where, what and when instead of why. Perhaps it was the author's intention to give an "objective" account of Ruskin's life, one in the shadow of which we'd paint our own picture of Ruskin the man. But that would seem to be contradicted by the obvious affection with which Hilton writes. Nevertheless, it was an informative read and the two volumes evidence Hilton's enormous work of scholarship. Ruskin was one of the most prolific writers we know of, but here Mr. Hilton shows that he familiarized himself thoroughly with Ruskin's works and letters. If for nothing else, we should be grateful for that. With a little humor and more analysis, this would be a near perfect biography. As it is, it's the most authoritative contemporary account of its subject and a fulfilling read.

The first volume of Tim Hilton's biography, John Ruskin: The Early Years, is a fascinating look into the life and work of one of the truly great minds of the nineteenth century. Hilton treats Ruskin's eccentricities with a careful touch. The strangeness of the Ruskin life is there to see. yet the book is not overwhelmed by it. The star here is the Ruskin intellect and artistic sensibility. As a passing fan of Ruskin prior to reading this I felt hugely informed by this book. It is very nicely written and moves at a compelling pace.

I found that tying in human traits to different styles of architecture was not interesting at all. There is no discussion of building techniques or the practical side of architecture. This would be more for the artist that is trying to project different human feelings into the structure. If you are looking for a techincal guide to architecture this is not it.

If you are looking for a "practical guide to the
structures and tools" of architecture, this is NOT
your book nor your guide.
For John Ruskin is an art critic, classicist, and
moralizing aesthetic prophet. He is not an "art for art's
sake" temporizer or relativist. He not only knows what
HE believes...but he believes he knows what YOU should
believe too. If that makes you uncomfortable or makes
you feel hampered, you might want to pass him by until
you feel you can accommodate the "insult" and "restrictions"
on your "free will choices." Otherwise, there is much of
beauty, wonder, and insight to be gained in these pages.
Ruskin's point of view is that of a classical Platonist
mixed with the moralizing tenor of an exhorting (but not
shrilly so) prophet toward beauty, Truth, and clarity of
vision...and moral purpose in Art. He also has a wondrous
prose style which is both clear, compelling, and entrancing.
This edition published by Dover as a reprint is of the
second edition of the work from 1880. It also includes
14 plates of drawings which Ruskin did to illustrate the
points which he makes in the text.
Along the way, Ruskin includes shortened Aphorisms
in the margin which restate the bold face print points
which he is making in the text. In Chapter 2, titled
"The Lamp of Truth," Ruskin stands forth most forcefully
and dynamically (and perhaps to the "modern," most
tendentiously) as the classical Platonic moralizer
and aesthetic apostle/prophet/priest. Though raised
a strict Protestant, Ruskin rebelled and left Christianity
for a classical Paganism based on beauty, Truth, and clarity.
Needless to say, this more than tended to alienate him
and isolate him from the mercenary, industrialized
Victorian world which was chugging along outside his
hermetically sealed temple dedicated to Truth, Beauty,
Goodness, and Clarity. Mercantilism and "practical
progress" don't exactly exalt those four princples as
the means or the goals whereby to make money and become
successful in the eyes of the world or popular opinion.
But if you want to read about Truth and Beauty and
read it through the eyes and soul of a lover of those
qualities -- and read it expressed in most beautiful
prose and style (which is both poetic and powerful),
then Ruskin and this work are clearly the choices you
should make.
This excerpt from Ruskin tied to Aphorism 29 {"The
earth is an entail, not a possession.") clearly shows
that Ruskin's vision and prophetic power extend beyond
the merely practical realm of architecture into an
all-encompassing total vision of responsibility and
reverence: "The idea of self-denial for the sake of
posterity, of practising present economy for the sake of
debtors yet unborn, of planting forests that our
descendants may live under their shade, or of raising
cities for future nations to inhabit, never, I suppose,
efficiently takes place among publicly recognized motives
of exertion. Yet these are not the less our duties; nor
is our part fitly sustained upon the earth, unless the
range of our intended and deliberate usefulness include,
not only the companions, but the successors, of our
pilgrimage. God has lent us the earth for our life; it
is a great entail. It belongs as much to those who are
to come after us, and whose names are already written in
the book of creation, as to us, and we have no right, by
any thing that we do or neglect, to involve them in
unnecessary penalties., or deprive them of benefits which
it was in our power to bequeath."
Read...enjoy...benefit...

This book is the origin of virtually every theory held throughout the history of architecture. The arts and crafts movement, Frank Lloyd Wright's organicism, and Corbusier's New Architecture are just a few examples of prominent theories whose foundations lie within the pages of this book. In this book, Ruskin prescribes the essential elements required to make timeless, meaningful architecture. This manifesto is a must for any student interested in the practice and study of architecture.

I had it as a text book in my high school and hated it. I had to locate this book today to explain to my 9 year old how we always dont get to read interesting books, more so for class assignments. I know any number of kids who get turned off by Dickens just because they had a tyrannical teacher stuff it down, rather up their brainstems in junior high school. One is asked to read a book in so called dear time, got to read it and follow the party line to get the grades and move on. If you want to teach your child how to read for pleasure, this is not the book to start with.

If you like beautiful and euphonious prose, and think it worthwhile for your children to hear a story in which greed, cruelty and dishonesty are ultimately defeated by truth, purity, and kindness... well, buy this book for them. Read it aloud and revel in it.

I must have read this book when I was 7 or 8. When my familiy moved, I searched in vain for the book to re-read, but it must have been lost in the move. I discovered it on a friend's shelf a few weeks ago, and re-read it. What joy! I always thought of this as the story where a bad guy steals Holy Water, but it is much more than this. The young hero has two dreadful brothers. He takes their abuse, and repays them with kindness, rescuing them from their own greed. Ruskin's descriptions of the country side are dramatic and vivid. One warning: Some might be disturbed by the references to the brothers' drunken behavior.

I read this novella at the recommendation of a friend in just 2 or 3 hours, and that was reading slowly.

The experience is hard to describe for me. The skillful intertwining of narratives has already been described by others. The effect is sensitive and deceptively simple. I couldn't help but feel, when I had finished, that there were deeper threads connecting the two stories that I couldn't quite see yet -- much like the threads on the back of needlework can tie together what on the surface is unconnected. I have a sense that by reading it one more time, and one more time after that (etc.) I would gradually see the metaphors that make each story reflect the other.

Without doing that, however, be assured that it is enough to read the book once, just to experience its light touch on your mind (and possibly your heart).

If you were to tell me of a story that focuses on a seamtress working on a medieval tapestry and an art critic of the 19th century, I would immediately question that anyone could write a story interweaving the two. Marta Morazzoni has done it with seamless ease - an incredible read.

The common thread is the reading of life through their art - e.g. the seamtress is more impressed with the queen's stitches than her position. Through this comes the title - The Invention of Truth - for both artists read the truth of their lives through their art.

Well, it is indeed a pretty obect, but it's hardly a "book". It has to take me longer than a half an hour to read in order to dignify a piece of writing as a "book". As an illustrated historical essay, i give it FIVE stars. Publishing a hard cover around an fine essay and filling it with illustrations, is a little too "twee" for my taste, but i have to admit it was an experince to read and i will not forget the sensitive insight into my favorite Victorian. Hey, on this date, it's about the right price, Dave... go for it.

Ruskin's Rose provides a Venetian love story of an art historian who fell in love with Irish girl Rose in 1858. Using material from the letters between the two, the authors reconstruct a tale of forbidden romance every bit as vivdly dramatic as Shakespeare, with color illustrations by Ann Field peppering the account.

Michael Wheeler argues convincingly that, despite his own protests to the contrary, John Ruskin was influenced throughout his life by his deepseated belief in a benevolent God. This thesis runs counter to conventional critical opinion that holds Ruskin abandoned religious belief in 1858, and that his later work provides a secular alternative to organized religion.

This work is well researched and intended for other scholars. Even the literate, well-read generalist outside 19th century studies may have difficulty tracing Wheeler's argument, since he references hundreds of works by Ruskin and by those who have written about him in the past century. Nevertheless, the argument is well constructed and should serve as a corrective to the tendency of postmodernist critics to revel in the agnosticism and atheism that pops up in several of Ruskin's writings during the middle years of his career.