Customer Reviews (8)

North Country Meander
What a shame most people will never get beyond Walden...

This title is a joy and stands on its own. First up is a short piece about an early ascent of Ktaadn, followed by a longer one on the Allegash & East Branch. If you read nothing else, open it to the middle of pg 22 (& ends on 23). It will take 1 minute and enthrall you with observations and the call of the Wild Boreal North Woods as they were long before roads or even trails and certainly before the great northern paper companies cut their unending swaths through virgin lands. His reflections on the ponds and natives (the Brookies) are as intimate and priceless as the jewels themselves. His opine references to the Greeks are as relevant today as they were then or 4,000 years ago. I first came across a copy in the White House Library (at a dinner reception i could not resist seeing what comforted our leaders during long & troubled nights). It took me several years to track down a copy but it was worth the process.

Do not read this and compare it to Walden or as a some window into Thoreau, but for sheer joy of kicking off the canoe at Telos and the wonder of the north country.

Not just another travelogue
Published posthumously, this volume lacks some cohesiveness as it is divided into 3 separate trips. Thoreau is a master of blending materials from different experiences into one single cohesive and consistent volume -- he did that in Walden (which gives one the feel of one year even though he lived there for about two years) and Cape Code (which gives one the feel of one long walk, even though the material is from several trips), so it makes me wonder what he could have done had he been able to finish this book in his lifetime?

That being said, it is still a great book. Thoreau's observations of nature and of Native American people are vivid, his cry for conservation profound and still resonating. There are also sparks of the dry New England humor here and there, making it a very enjoyable read. One only wishes that he had lived longer and given us more -- what if he had been to the Rockies, the desert southwest? It gives me chills just thinking about it.

In a sense this is a travelogue, but I don't think we should be too critical in judging it -- not every book has to be Walden, and there can only be one Walden after all. It is a travelogue with authentic Thoreau flavor. I would gladly take 10 more travelogues like this one if only I could.

Live Like a Philosopher
This screed from Thoreau is obviously not as classic as his work on Walden, but here we may be seeing the beginning of the travelogue business. Thoreau is often misrepresented (by those who haven't read his works, or have read them too many times) as a hardcore back-to-nature hermit who lived off the land and rejected civilization. One read of his Walden story disproves that stereotype, and in this work about three trips to Maine's wild country, we can surely see Thoreau's social side all the more. At the time, the Maine Woods were surely a thrilling landscape ripe for exploration and adventure, and Thoreau gives us an enjoyable travelogue of his ramblings and recreations. A bonus is great coverage of the Indians of the area, especially Thoreau's longtime traveling colleague Joe Ponis. The only problem here is that Thoreau's introspective naturalist philosophy is mostly missing at this stage of his career, and he pretty much accidentally invents descriptive travel writing instead. This is still a worthy exploration if you're interested in the Maine Woods either as they were then or if you wish to explore them today. But Thoreau's classic naturalism is better found in his other works. [~doomsdayer520~]

Travel wild rivers with Thoreau.
One day I took my children to Disneyland, found the quietest corner of the Material Kingdom, and read The Maine Woods. I read it later in the shadows of Ktaadn. In each case I found myself fading into damp, 19th century forests, cataloging with Thoreau the flora of central Maine.
Few could be the equal of Thoreau in making an account of wilderness travels: "The Jesuit missionaries used to say, that, in their journeys with the Indians in Canada, they lay on a bed which had never been shaken up since the creation, unless by earthquakes. It is surprising with what impunity and comfort one who has always lain in a warm bed in a close apartment ... can lie down on the ground without a shelter, roll himself in a blanket ... in a frosty, autumn night ... and even come soon to enjoy and value the fresh air."
The pace of the book is slow but rich in natural wonder: "Once, when we were listening for moose, we heard, come faintly echoing ... a dull, dry, rushing sound, with a solid core to it, yet as if half smothered under the grasp of the luxuriant and fungus-like forest, like the shutting of a door in some distant entry of the damp and shaggy wilderness. If we bad not been there, no mortal had heard it. When we asked Joe in a whisper what it was, he answered, 'Tree fall.' There is something singularly grand and impressive in the sound of a tree falling in a perfectly calm night..."

Visit Maine in the mid-1800s

Henry David Thoreau :: _Walden_ :: _The Maine Woods_
John Muir :: _My First Summer in the Sierra_ :: _Travels in Alaska_

The analogy is almost perfect. Each of these writer-naturalists is most often identified geographically with the setting of his best-known work (i.e., Walden Pond or the Sierra Mountains). Each was intrigued by a vastly different habitat located north of his usual stomping ground -- and was so enticed by that wilderness region that he made multiple visits and took copious notes on everything he saw. For Thoreau, it was the forests and mountains of Maine, while Muir delighted in the glaciers of Alaska. Both made their trips by water with native guides but also with at least one old friend along for companionship. They later produced travelogue essays and / or lectures about their journeys, both describing miles and miles of terrain and the very few residents they encountered along the way. Both _The Maine Woods_ and _Travels in Alaska_ chronicle the discoveries made during three separate trips: Thoreau's adventures occurred in 1846, 1853, and 1857; and Muir's happened in 1879, 1880 and 1890. Both men died of a lung disease (tuberculosis, pneumonia) before making final edits on the third portion, the last journey, of each book. Both of the resulting books were put together by surviving relatives and were published posthumously. Eerie, isn't it?

That being said, my advice to the reader of Thoreau is the same as written in my review of Muir's _Travels in Alaska_: Don't read this one first if you haven't read anything else by him. Read _Walden_ and some of the shorter travel pieces before moving on to _The Maine Woods_. Here Thoreau is at once fascinated by the thickness of the forests and appalled by the devastation caused by the lumber industry. You'll follow him up Mount Katahdin and canoe along with him on lakes and down rivers. You'll learn about the kind of true camping that could be done only in the wilds of sparsely-inhabited country. You'll see lots of trees and plants and animals and hear some of Thoreau's opinions about nature and mankind. And you'll be pleased to know that everyone returns home safely in the end.

Thoreau was asked on his deathbed if he had made his peace with God. His retort was, "I did not know we had ever quarrelled." Even though he told a friend that he would die without regret, these kinds of last-minute questions must have forced him to take quiet mental stock of the events of his life in search of something that didn't quite fit with his philosophy. It is said that his final words were "moose" and "Indian." I believe that, with those utterances, he had finally realized his sole regret in life: that he had witnessed the killing of several Maine moose -- the last one, by his Indian guide -- and had done nothing to stop the slaughter. Whenever the hunters were thus engaged, Thoreau retreated to his botanizing and documenting the plant life in the area. He deliberately put blinders on at a time when he could have prevented the animals' deaths. And perhaps his own rationalizing behavior was not made clear to him until the end. For as he says here in the "Chesuncook" chapter, "Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine-trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it." That statement could be a personal chastisement, a reminder to himself. If that's the only wrong performed during your lifetime, Henry, then you did pretty well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A good 38 page start that doesn't make it to the finish line
"Guide to Owning a Maine Coon Cat" starts out strong with a detailed exposition of the various Maine Coon origin theories:the 'Marie Antoinette'; the 'Viking'; the 'Racoon cross'; the 'Lynx cross', among others (I favor the 'Viking' since Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats look an awful lot alike).

The author then spends a good deal of print on the Maine Coon personality and the breed standard and colors.The photographs are beautiful, professional and in color.

It's when we get to the chapters on care, grooming, and feeding that this book strays away from Maine Coons and becomes generic and uninteresting.The photographs deteriorate into advertisements for various grooming and food products.Some show the covers of other books from the same firm that published this book, i.e. T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

Go ahead and buy this book, but buy it for the first 38 pages.

Very glitzy pictures of the many faces of Maine Coon cats.
The basic content of this book is generic to all cats, but what sets it apart from others is the very high quality of its pictures.

The reader can get a very good idea of all the background, behavioral characteristicsas well as colors and patterns without a lot of further research.Easyreading for the new MC owner but not as complete as "That YankeeCat," or "This is the Maine Coon Cat."

Very glitzy pictures of the many faces of Maine Coon cats.
The basic content of this book is generic to all cats, but what sets it apart from others is the very high quality of its pictures.

The reader can get a very good idea of all the background, behavioral characteristicsas well as colors and patterns without a lot of further research.Easyreading for the new MC owner but not as complete as "That YankeeCat," or "This is the Maine Coon Cat."

Half-baked Book
The first half of this book is very good detailing the Maine Coon breed, history and standards. Wonderful photos. The second half fails miserably. It is too generic. It does not go into specific details about thisparticular breed. It just gives the general feeding and caring patternswhich are similar to other cats and other books that I have read. It doesnot tell you what the ideal weight should be, etc. Another area that itfails is to tell you about a specific hereditary trait which I found outabout on the internet: hip dysplasia. So only two stars for this book.

A Really nice book.
This is a small but delightful book.The part about the typical Maine Coon Cats character is very interesting.It also has details about the different coat colors and patterns, showing your cat, and about general catcare.The photographs are top quality. ... Read more

Book Description
Henry David Thoreau wrote four full-length works, collected here for the first time in a single volume. Subtly interweaving natural observation, personal experience, and historical lore, they reveal his brilliance not only as a writer, but as a naturalist, scholar, historian, poet, and philosopher. "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" is based on a boat trip taken with his brother from Concord, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire. "Walden," one of America's great books, is at once a personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, manual of self-reliance, and masterpiece of style. "The Maine Woods" and "Cape Cod" portray landscapes changing irreversibly even as he wrote. The first combines close observation of the unexplored Maine wilderness with a far-sighted plea for conservation; the second is a brilliant and unsentimental account of survival on a barren peninsula in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Influential writings whose beauty you will see differently at different stages in life
While every artist is tied to their time and place, this is especially true of Henry David Thoreau.To me, Thoreau has always seemed like a beautiful and tender plant that could only exist in a specific time and place.His world was rich enough to allow him to enjoy nature rather than see it as something to tame.Yet it was also rural enough to leave him natural space to enjoy as if it were wild.

It also seems to me that Thoreau's writing is more beautiful and observant than penetrating and intelligent.It is more about the senses than analysis.I think this is why it appeals so much to young people of so many generations and why he became such a symbol for the Back-to-Nature portion of the Boomer generation.

This volume contains his most influential works (the essays and poems are collected in a companion volume also from the wonderful Library of America): A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, The Main Woods, and Cape Cod.So much has been written about these works that I can't think of anything specific to add except to encourage their being read.However, I would encourage adults who remember reading them in their youth with such enthusiasm to read them again from the vantage point of mid-life.I think they will find somewhat less to be enamored of in the content, but they will appreciate his sheer power of writing more.

The total collection is more than a 1,000 pages and includes a chronology of Thoreau's life, notes on the text, relevant maps of the areas covered in the book, more notes, and an index.

The Library of America's Thoreau
While reading the four books of Henry David Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) included in this volume, I was reminded of the piano sonata no. 2, the "Concord" sonata by the American composer Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) and decided to listen to it again to complement my reading.The Concord is a monumental work in which Ives tried to capture the "spirit of transcendentalism" associated with Concord, Massachusetts.Its four large movements bear the names of Emerson, Hawthorne, Bronson Alcott, and Thoreau.The "Thoreau" movement of the Concord captured in music for me what I had been reading in Thoreau's texts, with its reflective arpeggios, long hymnlike introspective passages, distant sounds of bells, and quiet close.Ives wrote the movement, he said, to reveal the "vibration of the universal lyre"to which Thoreau had alluded in the chapter of Walden titled "Sounds".Those who love Thoreau or the American Transcendentalists should explore Ives's great musical tribute to them and their thought.

This volume is the first of two in the Library of America devoted to Thoreau, with the second book consisting of essays and poems.It includes the two books published during his lifetime, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" and "Walden" together with two books published shortly after his death, "The Maine Woods" and "Cape Cod".The former two books are philosophical and introspective in tone, even though they include much of the descriptive writing about nature for which Thoreau is famous.They are the writings of Thoreau the Transcendentalist, the Thoreau of Ives's Concord Sonata.The second two books are describes Thoreau's travels.They originated the American practice of writing about nature.

Thoreau's most famous book, "Walden" describes the two years he spent living at Walden Pond, near Concord, from 1845 -- 1847 on a tract owned by Emerson. Walden is deservedly an American classic, as Thoreau reflects upon and attempts to simplify his life, to appreciate it for itself and for the everyday, without the strains of commerce or the pursuit of wealth.It is an eloquent study of learning to be alone with and content with oneself.

Thoreau wrote the first draft of "Walden" while he resided there and also wrote "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" which in 1849 became his first published book, enjoying little success at the time. This book describes a trip Thoreau took with his brother and there are many detailed observations of people, places, and plants and animals.But the book is full of detailed digressions on literature, philosophy, the Greek Classics, friendship, and Thoreau's religious beliefs.This book shows the large influence of Eastern thought on Thoreau.It is filled with allusions and quotations from poetry on virtually every page.It is a joy to read.

There is little overt philosophising in Thoreau's latter two books.But both these books made me want to leave, at least for a short time, my life in the city and to run and visit the wild places Thoreau described.In "The Maine Woods" Thoreau describes three trips he took to Nortwest Maine -- its forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains, in 1843, 1853, and 1857. It includes detailed descriptions of rugged camping, in the rain and sun, on water and on land.The higlight for me was Thoreau's discussion in the first essay of the book of his climb on Mount Ktaadn, with Thoreau's description replete with both actual description and ancient Greek and American Indian symbolism.

Thoreau's final book, "Cape Cod" describes three visits in 1849, 1850, and 1853 (A fourth, later visit to the Cape is not included in the book.)This is Thoreau's only book which features the ocean and the seashore.It describes a rugged place, but the tone is leisurely and humorous in many places as Thoreau takes his reader on a thirty-mile "ramble" over the Cape.Thoreau introduces a memorable character in his chapter "The Wellsfleet Oysterman" and draws a picture of a lighthouse, no longer standing, on the Cape, "The Highland Light."Reading this book made me want to walk the sands and dunes that Thoreau walked and described over 150 years ago.

As with all volumes in the LOA series, this volume is lightly annotated but includes a valuable chronology of Thoreau's life which helps in approaching the texts.Transcendentalism and naturalism both have played critical roles in the development of American thought and you will find them both here.And if you enjoy Thoreau, I encourage you again to approach Ives's masterpiece, the "Concord Sonata" and meet Thoreau realized in sound.

Robin Friedman

A Fine Collection of Great Works
Henry David Thoreau is one of America's greatest literary treasures, and this Library of America compilation of his four complete, full-length books is an excellent purchase for any Thoreau fan.It includes possibly Thoreau's most famous work, Walden, as well as lesser-known (but still immensely inspired and entertaining)works.I would highly recommend this purchase to any interested Thoreau reader, as I am yet to find a comparable compilation for nearly as good a deal as this.

I respect no one more than I do Henry David Thoreau
It was Thoreau who made me understand that writing had everything to do with one's sum total and worth as a human being, and everything to do with one's passion and sense of purpose in life. It was while reading from an anthology of his work that I first made contact with a superior being. I recognized a mind that I could be intimate with, a mind and soul of someone with whom I could spend endless hours and never cease to learn from.


Thoreau's style is cumbersome. He can be terribly dry, and his paragraphs run way too long. But who cares when passages ignite the page with brilliance, flame from the black and white of paper into the depths of one's being. 'Walden' has more profound and relevant quotes than any other book I've read. They're the purest gems to be found in the rough of a larger work. A work that I wouldn't dare to diminish, but forewarn the reader so that they have the patience and perseverance to continue.


I would like to mention a superb biography written on the life and mind of Thoreau, a biography that exceeds and exceeds in going deeper into the life and mind of this great and humane and very misunderstood man, it is called: 'Henry Thoreau --A Life Of The Mind,' by Robert D. Richardson Jr. Mr. Richardson not only wrote a biography, he was on a mission, for he knew and believed in what his subject was about. As comprehensive, insightful and exhilerating as any biography can or should be.


The price and quality of this anthology can't be beat. Beautiful to read and beautiful to see on my book shelf. Buy it! Get to know this man of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I would like to publicly thank Henry David Thoreau
I would like to publicly thank Henry David Thoreau for teaching me this:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -Henry David Thoreau

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very Good.
A regimental history that really reflects the combat history of the Army of the Potomac from Antietam to Appomattox, this piece of Civil War literature is well worth your time.

Pullen puts you in the action so effectively that you really begin to wonder how regiments like the Twentieth Maine were able to perform so heroically for so long. Credited with single handedly saving the Union flank the second day Gettysburg, this unit produces one of the finest battle field commanders of the war: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

With a combat record second to none, the Twentieth Maine just may have saved the Union. It is because of their efforts that the United States owes such a deep sense of gratitude to the State of Maine.

Bayonet!
This is one of the best regimental histories written about a Civil War outfit on either side.It is also a story of high valor and drama, of lost youth and heavy, heartbreaking losses.It is also the story of the maturing of a good man, Joshua Chamberlain, into a good soldier who does more than his assigned duty and ends the war with a general's stars, and more than one wound.

The regiment doesn't start with promise, however, and its first commander, Colonel Adelbert Ames, a hardened regular, is somewhat dismayed at his new command.However, hard work and professionalism pay off, and the 20th Maine does evolve into 'a hell of a regiment.'

The payoff is at Gettysburg on the second day on the far left flank of the Army of the Potomac on a wooded hill known locally as Little Round Top.Now commanded by the Lieutenant Colonel, Joshua Chamberlain (Ames being deservedly promoted to Brigadier General and brigade command), the regiment becomes the focus of the southern effort to capture Little Round Top and flank the Union Army.If one man could lose the war in the afternoon, it was Chamberlain and his homespun regiment from Maine.

They rise to the challenge, at heavy loss to themselves, execute a bayonet charge down the hill after running out of ammunition, sweeping up 400 prisoners and saving the Union left flank.It is the stuff legends are made of.

This is only one episode in this superb volume, and this book belongs in every Civil War collection.It is written with wit, verve, and accuracy, and it stirs the soul that our country was fought for and saved by men such as these.

The definitive account of this brave regiement
John J. Pullen is to be commended for writing a masterful and interestingaccount of the famed 20th Maine led by Colonel (later Maj. General) JoshuaLawrence Chamberlain.From the founding of the regiment made up offishermen, lumberjack and regular men of various towns in Maine, Pullendescribes the unorganization and various other problems the regimentencountered when it was first formed.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain wasmade Lt. Colonel when he first arrived to join the regiment and soonafterwards the regiment was becoming disciplined and effective, also underthe command of Col (later Gen) Aldebert Ames.

From the first battles theunit fought in to the carnage of Fredericksburg and thus toChancellorsville and finally to the 2nd of July 1863, Pullen describesvividly the heroic stance the 20th Maine made against the brave attack ofthe 15 Alabama and 4th and 5th Texas under Col. William Oates. Thesuprizing bayonet charge by the 20th Maine, when all seemed lost was adaring and bold moved that quite possibly saved the Union line and thusultimately won the Battle of Gettysburg.The heroic regiment also foughtbravely for the rest of the war especially at Petersburg where Gen.Chamberlain was seriously wounded.

Pullen does an outstanding jobdescribing the everyday life of the regiment and describing varioussoldiers and the routine that made life away from home very tough to bear,however this regiment is to be commended for their commitment to the Union,to the state of Maine and to their families most of all.

This book isHIGHLY recommended to all Civil War Readers and once you start reading it,it will be hard to put down.

Single best Civil War unit history I've read
Pullen did a masterful job of researching the history of the 20th Maine. He backed his research with clear, concise, powerful writing. He follows the unit from its inception in Downeast Maine, all the way through its"mustering out", touching on all the high and low points inbetween. His ability to clearly describe event through the eyes of oftenilliterate country boys is hard to match. He gives details most otherhistories assume the reader knows, such as what an average day in the fieldmight be like, or how the men learned the mundane but necessary skills offormation movement. He never skimps on the thrill or the horror of battle.This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War on a humanscale. I have read this book many times, and will reread it many more,always finding fresh deatil.

On Campaign - Army of the Potomac
What would it have been like to have been there, on campaign with Lincoln's Army?Anyone with even a casual interest in the ACW has asked that question - for the most part any available answer is most unsatisfying.We can walk the battlefields, read the histories, even re-enact with reconstructed materials, but we can never really feel what those soldiers felt.The closest we may ever come is Pullen's The Twentieth Maine.Pullen writes as a Mainer about Mainers, but he maintains his objectivity, despite the closeness of the subject matter.Drawing extensively from primary sources, as well as his own experiences with infantry in Europe during WWII, Pullen draws us into the regiment made famous by its "end-of-the-line" stand on Little Round Top while serving under COL Chamberlain on the second day at Gettysburg.Pullen's strength is his ability to relate the men of the Twentieth Maine as individuals throughout their ordeal, each with their own hopes and fe! ars to be realized.Little Round Top was their first face-to-face, knock-downengagement and the results were beyond any realistic expectations.Chamberlain was a man constantly in the right place at the right time and so was the Twentieth Maine, several times saved from being fed into suicidal attacks and in the end honored with participation in the final surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse.This is without question one of the finest three or four unit histories of the ACW.A thoroughly enriching, rewarding experience for anyone with an interest in the ACW or the conduct of everyday men under far from everyday circumstances.Pullen reminds us that the true depth and breadth of the human spirit can only be guessed at, never really known. ... Read more

Book Description
This book explores both the origin and development of the public library in Maine and the history of the architecture that houses it.It also includes a catalogue -- illustrated principally with historic photographs -- that draws upon a diverse body of primary sources to document the history of more than one hundred architecturally distinguished historic library buildings throughout Maine.Issues relating to the preservation and continued ue of these historic facilities are examined through a series of case studies. ... Read more

Book Description
Lists Maine's libraries with special or unusual collections. Includes activities that teach students about the importance of libraries,the Dewey Decimal System, the Library of Congress, Books-in-Print,contributions of Andrew Carnegie and how and why to use libraries. Listing includes many libraries with special collections about Maine.Freeteacher's guide. ... Read more

Book Description
A portrait in photos and words of the realities of life in a small Maine fishing village. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

UP RIVER opens one's eyes to examine the working poor.
Olive Pierce and Carolyn Chute have teamed up to tell it like it is on the coast of Maine, in this home-spun fishing family community.

Olive with her keen eye for catching glimpses of light in phenomenal settings with her camera, and her obviously very relentless effort to live with these folks and document their spirits, has got to stand out as an American best-work The black and white photography is moving to the heart.She qualifies her perspective in the forward to the book, sharing a moment to lead the reader to look and listen to only one's unbiased emotions.

Carolyn Chute is, as always, bold and cutting to the point.She is poetically harmonizing with words and the photography, bringing an explanation to a perspective from deep within the soul--that place sometimes ignored by the demands of our fast-paced material world.

And the people in the book, there just some of the best folks you'd ever want to know. Why?I've not only read the book, I know them.They're real; and UP RIVER proves that low-income people are to be respected for their place in the spectrum of human experience. ... Read more