I'm a rower in high school on the west coast, and you don't really hear much about rowing over here, since it's mostly an east coast sport. So when my history teacher started going over Thomas Eakins and showed a clip about him from a documentary with some examples of his rowing paintings, my attention was immediately captures. I decided to do my term paper on him, but I expected it to be a long and tedious process, judging from the book I got from the library (which looked plain, boring, and old), so I put it off 'till the last minute. I just picked up the book an hour ago for the first time and just got online to see if they had any copies of it ..., since it proved to be well-written and interesting (so you don't space out so much in the middle of paragraphs like I tend to), and because it led me to think about things that are important parts of learning and art and life, but nobody ever talks about. This book proved to be insightful and fascinating, and after only one chapter, I'm hooked on the subject! And to think I was dreading reading it!

Anecdotes abound in reference to Thomas Eakins American painter, watercolorist, draftsman, photographer, and sculptor. He is remembered for relaxing after painting by working calculus problems, and shocking friends with stories of his nude models.

A skilled portraitist he painted Walt Whitman. The poet said of his likeness, "I never knew of but one artist, and that's Tom Eakins, who could resist the temptation to see what they think ought to be rather than what is."

Whitman's opinion aside, Eakins (1844 - 1916) is recognized as one of the premier American artists to appear following the Civil War. He traveled to Paris for training, and later chose to apply Beaux-Arts techniques to distinctly American subjects. His fondness for athletics is found in his noted scenes of sailing, fishing, and boxing.

He is equally remembered for his then controversial paintings of surgeons at work, and remains a key figure in American art. This beautiful volume is apt affirmation of Eakins the artist.

- Gail Cooke

This is one of my favourite Hardy novels. As some others have noted, it's not one of the "big 5" but certainly worth reading. Hardy's descriptions of the woodlands are beautiful, and I found the ending to be one of his most unpredictable. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you are feeling down, as the ending is sooooo wonderfully tragic (hehe), or if you're not a fan of Hardy's prose style, but otherwise it's a wonderful read. Very personal as well. I got the feeling it was written just for me :)

This novel has received less attention in the U.S. than some of Hardy's other works, such an The Mayor Of Casterbridge, w ith its theme of the individual in tragic conflict with fate. The Woodlanders dwells on the needless sufferings and unhappiness brought on by class privelege. This is a subject always sure to raise suspicions of membership in the Khmer Rouge or the North Korean Secret Police here in the holyland of capitalism. But it is a beautiful work of art. Henry James and Jacques Barzun sneered at it because of its attacks on the upper classes. But that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must be on the side of progress and human emancipation.

Unlike some of Hardy's other classic works, such as The Mayor of Casterbridge, with its theme of "the individual" against "fate," The Woodlanders has received little attention in this country. Perhaps that is because it deals so strongly with the themes of class privelege and class conflict, usually associated in this holy land of capitalism with the Khmer Rouge and Stalin. But it is a magnificent and rewarding work of art. Jacques Barzun and Henry James sneered at it because of its hostile treatment of the upper classes, but that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must stand for progress and human emancipation.