This document analyzes book reviews of Walden from different time periods. Early reviews from 1854 praised Thoreau's skillful writing and descriptions of nature. Later reviews expressed reluctant appreciation for Walden's message of self-reliance but acknowledged the beauty of Thoreau's writing. Reviews from the 1960s reflected this same attitude, seeing Thoreau as an eccentric but also as a voice for social ethics. Even later reviews note that advances in society made Thoreau's philosophy harder to follow but that his writing remained evocative and opened new meanings for words. The document examines how Walden has endured through history by relating to core human truths beneath changes in society.