Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau by Kenny Luck Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau
Book Review: Conversation Starter
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me start by saying that because I enjoy quotes and use them in my work, I enjoyed this book. But, I wish I had been given an actual copy of the book to review. What I received was a photocopy of the book, which didn't do the book near the justice it deserves. I imagine the photos in the book are exceptional, but in black and white it's hard to tell.
If you love to read, collect, share quotes, then you will enjoy this book. It is one to keep on the coffee table or in your office, to return to over and over again. The quotes that the author chooses are chosen carefully and appropriately. You really get a glimpse into Thoreau and his thinking. Each page has one or two quotes along with a picture, which just adds to the quotes themselves.
I really enjoyed this one and wish that more authors would do books like this with other famous figures. I think they are books to be cherished.
Book Review: Fabulous for all Thoreau lovers!
Summary: 5 Stars
Creator Kenny Luck has brought together all of Thoreau's most profound quotes and separated them into a stunning and easy to reference volume.
Accompanied by gorgeous illustrations, each page boasts a formatted Thoreau quote that literally jumps off the page. One of the things that I personally love most about Thoreau's work is that it is very easy to discern his meaning. With the formatting that is present in this book, it's easier than ever and visually beautiful.
For those who are Thoreau buffs, this book will definitely be a treat. Split into three sections, "Spirituality and Nature", "Society and Government" and "Love", this book is an all encompassing volume on the work of Thoreau. For those who are new to Thoreau, I think this is a fabulous way to introduce them to his work.
Without a doubt, I would recommend Thumbing Through Thoreau to absolutely everyone out there! His writing is intriguing enough alone, but having it presented in such a well thought out and visually stunning fashion takes it to a new level. I am please I was able to review this, and look forward to purchasing a bound copy of my very own.
Book Review: Familiar, but disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
The cover of the book is taken from a beautiful painting of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts where Henry David Thoreau lived and wrote. Unfortunately, the artwork on nearly every page in the text is not nearly as attractive or colorful, and seems rather repetitious after 50 pages or so. According to the cover, Jay Luke's artwork is on the even-numbered pages and Ren Adam's artwork is on the odd-numbered pages, though truthfully I could not distinguish between the two artists' styles.
The book is divided into three sections that each of the quotes could be filed under: "Society & Government", "Spirituality & Nature", and "Love." The quotes that Kenny Luck compiled were indeed thought-provoking. When examining the collection as a whole, I could imagine the kind of man that wrote these words day in and day out. As Luck states: "This book... is my attempt to bring together the best pieces of Thoreau's writings in one collection." Before reading this book, I was not overly familiar with Thoreau's work, and afterwards I realized that the man Thoreau has much in common with my own husband. But I digress.
Some quotes were familiar, such as this one:
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
Many more quotes were unfamiliar, but quite profound:
"I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown."
"What is it [to] be born free and equal, and not to live? What is the value of any political freedom, but as a means to moral freedom?"
"A written word is the choicest of relics."
"The day is an epitome of the year. The night is the winter, the morning and evening are the spring and fall, and the noon is the summer."
"I suspect that the child plucks its first flower awith an insight into its beauty and significance which the subsequent botanist never retains."
"To be married at least should be the one poetical act of a man's life."
"Love is a severe critic."
"The only way to speak the truth is to speak lovingly; only the lover's words are heard."
What I found especially distracting was how the words within each quote varied in font size and color, almost as if Luck did not trust the reader enough to know how to read the work and felt he had to dictate to the reader where the emphasis lay in each quote. While I can not say for sure if this was the aim, I felt like my intelligence was being belittled and undervalued as I flipped through the pages. Plus, these words are Thoreau's, not Kenny Luck's, and only Thoreau would be able to truly say where the emphasis within each sentence should be. Luck is only presuming to make intelligent guesses. While I respect Luck's obsession, which he describes in his introduction, I think he should allow for the words of Thoreau to stand alone, so that each reader can appreciate Thoreau through his or her own interpretation.
"The fact is I am a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot."
Book Review: For Thoreau Enthusiasts
Summary: 3 Stars
This is one of those coffee table books that most people will know right away whether it's up their alley or not, and there honestly isn't that much to say about it in a review. If you really enjoy Thoreau, then an illustrated book of his quotes will probably be something you'll like. However, personally, much as I like Thoreau, the illustrations don't particularly strike my fancy, so I feel that this book fails to impress. That may be partly due to the fact that I'm a local and have been to Walden Pond multiple times myself, and I find that black and white line drawings tend to, in general, fail to live up to photography of nature. Art is definitely relative though, so you might quite enjoy the illustrations. You can check out galleries of sample illustrations here and here and decide for yourself.
Overall, I'd recommend a print copy of this book to fans of Thoreau who also enjoy the illustrations. It's not for me, but I'm sure it will strike the fancy of some people quite well.
Book Review: Good but...
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was originally reviewed on my blog- Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing [...]
Disclaimer- I received an unbound copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair an unbiased review.
Thumbing Through Thoreau is an illustrated collection of quotations from Henry David Thoreau, compiled by Kenny Luck. According to the introduction, Kenny Luck is an avid fan of Thoreau. In Luck's words, Thoreau is his "literary and intellectual soul mate." This book is his chance to gather the best of Thoreau's writings, ideas, and philosophies into one place and make it accessible for everyone.
Before I go into my review of this book specifically, I need to make clear my opinion of Thoreau generally. I read Civil Disobedience in high school and rather enjoyed it. We also spent sometime discussing several major quotations from Walden and discussing those short passages and individual quotations. I found them interesting and thought provoking. I read Walden last year in it's entirety, and had none of the positive feelings for Thoreau I experienced in high school. I found his writings to be pompous, pretentious, and demonstrative of an over inflated sense of self and self importance, not to mention a little self-righteous. So knowing that I don't particularly love Thoreau, why would I accept a book of Thoreau's writing for review? Because I recalled those positive emotions from high school reading small excerpts and individual quotations, which is exactly what this book is! Complete with illustrations!
I decided I would read the book, because I prefer reading Thoreau as individual quotations, and I also liked the idea of the illustrations. The illustrations were lovely. The illustrations were produced by two different artists, with all of Jay Luke's illustrations on the even-numbered pages, and all the odd-numbered pages illustrated by Ren Adams. Each picture is simple but striking. More often than not, the illustrations have very little, if anything, to do with the actual quotation on the page, but instead depict a natural setting. Some are nothing more than the branch of a tree, or an individual flower. Others are more complex landscapes showing trees near bodies of water or rather detailed trees. Although, I am going to admit that when I read several quotations in a row, the illustrations did begin to blend together. Taken individually, the illustrations are each wonderful. When you begin to group them all together, they also start to run together.
However, the main complaint I had with this book was the font. (Feel free to use the 'search inside' feature on amazon.com to see what I mean. Click HERE.) The quotations are printed using different sized font for the various words, as well as different shades of gray or black. I imagine the bolded words are those that Luck believed to be of more importance, and requiring emphasis. However, I like to think that I can figure out the important words on my own. I'm rather of the mind that the type of people who would be interested in piking up and reading this book already know how to determine which words are more important in a quotation. It was especially annoying on those occasions where I found myself disagreeing with the words he chose to tell me were more important. **Edit: I was just informed by the publisher (see the comments section) that the bolded words were not actually chosen by the author, and were instead included for purely aesthetic purposes. It makes me smile more fondly on the author, for not supposing he knows better than anyone else which words are more important (sorry about that Kenny...) but I still don't like the shifting font types. I think it detracts from the reading and changes the way you internalize the quotations. ** End of Edit.
I do very much appreciate the idea behind this book. I believe that it makes Thoreau more accessible to people. He isn't an easy man to read for everyone. I know some people who adored Walden and Thoreau and others who can't abide him. I think that this book would be a great addition to anyone's bookshelf. It makes Thoreau easier to approach and the illustrations were lovely. This book would be perfect as a 'coffee table book.' You know, the books that sit on the table waiting for people to glance through, and making the host/hostess look very well-versed. I can see myself picking up a bound copy of this book in the future, and having it displayed somewhere in my home. Very few people decide to sit down and read an entire book of quotations, but this is the perfect type book to take slowly, reading only a few at a time, and to flip through when you don't have the time to sit down and read from your book, but would still like to be reading.
If you like Thoreau, want to like Thoreau, or are interested in getting a glimpse of Thoreau's ideals before you invest in his complete writings, this is a great book to look into. Luck did an amazing amount of research before compiling these quotations and he has a wide variety of sources, including personal letters, and Thoreau's journals in addition to his published works.
If you would like more information about the book, or about Kenny Luck (who did participate in the 69th Annual Thoreau Society Gathering at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts in July, 2010) you can visit the website for the book, [...] Here you can find photos from the above mentioned Thoreau Society Gathering, additional information about the author and illustrators as well as samples of the illustrations. Head on over, check it out, and let me know what you think!