If you look closely, those bashing on this book are high school students complaining about having to annotate and analyze the text. Don't, I repeat please do not listen to them. The book itself is full of insightful thoughts on the way that one should live their life. The kids saying they "don't understand" are simply upset because they don't know how to delve a little deeper into the text and look for something more complex than the surface meaning of what Thoreau is trying to convey. If you enjoy picking apart texts and are open to new ideas and thoughts, it's honestly a great read.
