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Rating:  - Hey Publisher, Pay Attention!
Holmes is intelligent and thoughtful, but lots of his thoughts are in Latin. Since many readers, including myself, did not benefit from a Catholic or a Classical education, I confess I cannot read it. It is very frustrating to someone who spends a lot of time on footnotes when these require translation. I would very much have appreciated it if the publishers, who surely have access to translations, would provide them!
Rating:  - Good Book
I am not a lawyer but I enjoy reading on the law. This book is definitely very educational. I like the way the book was set up with various sections such as liability, criminal law, and torts. If you have any interest in our laws, you will find this book to be a good read.
Rating:  - Book review
Even though this book,was written along time ago it is still
relevant. This was on my reading list for law school.it
open my eyes to new ideas and and critical thinking.
Rating: - Great Content, Poor Packaging
The review title sums up this book, in my opinion; Holmes clearly doesn't possess the literary ability to package complex ideas in eloquent, accessible language. As another reviewer mentioned, however, the fact that legalese is strewn everywhere makes the structure of the lectures, and the concepts therein, difficult to follow and piece together for the lay person who has little to no legal vocabulary.
With that said, the concepts brought forth by Holmes are intriguing, and the presentation of the legal terms affords one a great opportunity to learn their usage--if a copy of Black's Law Dictionary is readily available and flipped through every other sentence.
As a pre-1L, however, I must admit it's a poor choice for introductory legal material.
Rating: - Not an "elaborate joke"
This comment doesn't attempt to assess Holmes' classic work. I write, however, to note that the other gentleman's comment about this work being possibly an "elaborate joke" is ludicrious and disprovable. In a letter reproduced in The Essential Holmes, edited by Richard Posner, Holmes discusses giving up all pleasure for a year to write this book and of his hopes of getting some recognition from British commentators for it.
Holmes' prose is occasionally arcane, but enduring the tics of a writing style rooted in Civil War America is a small price to pay in exchange for experiencing the thoughts of one of the most formative legal minds in American history.
"The Literature of the past is a bore--when one has said that frankly to oneself then one can proceed to qualify and make exceptions." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Letter to Frederick Pollack, April 6, 1924, reproduced in The Essential Holmes, edited by Richard Posner, page 19.
If the prospective of tackling the Common Law still strikes you as momentous, reading the Essential Holmes, which has excerpts from The Common Law, is a good compromise. Holmes's many letters and opinions therein are very accessible.
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