Cooper, James Fenimore

The Last of the Mohicans (Bantam Classics)

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Natty Bumppo: The American Tarzan
Last of Mohicans
Lighten up Sam!
A worthy successor to the early novels of Sir Walter Scott
A Frontier Classic

The Last of the Mohicans (Bantam Classics)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553213296
Release Date: 1982-06-01

Book Description

The wild rush of action in this classic frontier adventure story has made The Last of the Mohicans the most popular of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. Deep in the forests of upper New York State, the brave woodsman Hawkeye (Natty Bumppo) and his loyal Mohican fiends Cingachgook and Uncas become embroiled in the bloody battles of the French and Indian War. The abduction of the beautiful Munro sisters by hostile savages, the treachery of the renegade brave Magua, the ambush of innocent settlers, and the thrilling events that lead to the final tragic confrontation between rival war parties create an unforgettable, spine-tingling picture of life on the frontier. And as the idyllic wilderness gives way to the forces of civilization, the novel presents a moving portrayal of a vanishing race and the end of its way of life in the great American forests.

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At the centre of the novel is the celebrated 'Massacre' of British troops and their families by Indian allies of the French at Fort William Henry in 1757. Around this historical event, Cooper built a romantic fiction of captivity, sexuality, and heroism, in which the destiny of the Mohican Chingachgook and his son Uncas is inseparable from the lives of Alice and Cora Munro and of Hawkeye the frontier scout.

Customer Reviews:

Natty Bumppo: The American Tarzan.......2007-06-11

Nathanial Bumppo, otherwise known as Leatherstocking, Deerslayer, and Long Rifle, is without a doubt the quintessential American version of Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan. To be sure, Cooper's frontier character saw print long before Burrough's creation did in 1912. This in no way invalidates the creation of ERB, but it does give more literary impact to a wholly American character who appears in what can only be defined, if one is truthful, as wholly flawed novels.

The five novels which feature Bumppo were written by Cooper out of sequence. This doesn't necessarily impair the fictive underpinnings of the stories themselves, but it does give rise to certain elements which writhe like a murky thread throughout the main arc.

We will, as expected, consider the best known, at least as far as the general public goes, work of Cooper, that being "The Last of the Mohicans" and examine just what makes this novel tick, and why you should read it.

Cooper believed that Indian culture must needs be crushed by the Anglo Saxon wheels of religion and technology. He saw no other way around this inevitability. Though he wasn't himself racist by the definitions which we adhere to today, he did have certain beliefs of superiority of his own culture which "dark-skinned" individuals had to bow down to. "Mohicans", with its poignant idea that there will come a time the "last" of this noble race will pass from the ken of men (that is to say the ken of White Men), has through this very self-same literary device carved for itself a spot of prominence withing American literature.

Not everyone liked Cooper's work. He was always viewed much more favorably in Europe than by home-grown American authors. Mark Twain famously savaged Cooper's work and the savagery resonates even to this day. Yet, something about the novels, especially "Mohicans" endures. Perhaps it is the idea of a race of men passing, the thread of virgin forests and pure lakes, the savagery of life on the frontier, the fog of war, the blood-curdling violence. Whatever the reason for its longevity, and Twain notwithstanding, this book endures. Thank God.

As one might expect there is very little of this book that is recognizable in the 1992 film remake of the same name. In fact, the film stole much of the story line which was rewritten in the 1920 silent film. In the modern film Hawk-eye, at the height of his powers, is taciturn to a fault but still capable of a normal sexual relationship. In the novel Natty Bumppo is not only naive sexually, he won't shut up, period. He discourses on everything, even to the halt of the action being described around him. Leaning on his rifle he has no problem detailing, to exhaustion, his opinion on events around him.

Another big difference, aside from the often awkward descriptions, stereotypes of women and just plain ignorance of Native American ethnicities, is the fact a major character dies in the novel yet is allowed to survive in film. I suppose this would come as a shock to someone who saw the movie first, but there it is. Cooper has no problem dispatching that which, if allowed to live, would intercede in the future life of Hawk-eye. Natty Bumppo must remain pure. He must be allowed to view and accept nature as a powerful motivation than the love of another human being. It is his past, it is his destiny. He is akin to the figure of Greek tragedy in this way. He has a duty to perform and he will accomplish it, but he himself cannot lose the connection he has to the pristine land he loves and calls home.

I highly recommend this book, though the new reader must approach it with a few caveats and not a little caution. Cooper is simply not that great a writer. I am not the first to say that nor will I be the last. Many of the passages go on far too long and the long-winded philosophies of Bumppo grate. Nevertheless, there is power here, along with pathos, grandeur, and yes, love -- though it's love on Bumppo's, and Cooper's, own terms.

Despite its many flaws this is a major American novel by any definition. If you like adventure, and don't mind a little (okay, a lot) lagging, I think you will enjoy reading "The Last of the Mohicans."

Last of Mohicans.......2007-03-15

Very different from the movies, but very good in its own right

Lighten up Sam!.......2007-01-31

Mark Twain took great pleasure in ridiculing Cooper's novel, gleefully pointing out plot inconsistencies, unbelievable events that led often to harder to believe conclusions, and the wooden dialog and petty philosophizing of the novel's principle character - all in an effort to prove that any way you might look at it, Copper could not, for his life, tell a tale. I think that Twain might be guilty of a bit of jealousy. Many of the faults that Twain found with Cooper can be found in his own writings, from Tom Sawyer to Huckleberry Finn; moreover, in none of Twain's work can you find the dramatic action that Cooper was able to create. Also, Twain was looking backward some fifty years and American English had undergone some major transformations, becoming less structured thus making earlier American literature, by contrast, seem formal, wordy and, to some, unreadable.

Cooper's work must be evaluated from within its own time frame to prove just how revolutionary his writings were. Shaped by the traditions of the eighteenth century English novel and influenced by his contemporary, Sir Walter Scott, Cooper continued this tradition of the romance novel - with a peculiarly unique American twist: three of the major characters of this novel were not European whites (the almost universal character model of the literature with which Cooper was acquainted), but American Indians. Althought this was quite unique, Cooper was not free from the prejudices that was prevalent at the time of the novel's writing, and despite being associated with the idea of the "noble savage", created many more ignoble Indians than he did noble ones.

The strengths of the novel are the descriptive prose that Cooper employs to paint his picture of frontier America - descriptions which, in fact, compare with some of the best nature descriptions in American literature - and the fine character development of two of his supporting characters, Magua and Cora. Twain was correct about Cooper's hero, Hawkeye - he is wooden, ignorant, and despite his close association with his two Mohican buddies, Chingachgook and Uncas, is openly santimonious about his pure "un-crossed" white blood and rails at anything that smacks of learnedness. Magua and Cora are much more complex characters.

Magua is one of the best crafted characters in early American literature. He is not the stoical Indian character type represented by Chingachgook and Uncas, but combines the bravery of the Huron warrior witht the worse habits of the white man; he is ravaged by rage and hatred, having been cast out by his own tribe and used by both the French and English for their own colonial pursuits. He comes across as a sort of native American Ahab and is not without his sympathetic side. Cora is the antithesis of her fainthearted sister, the blond Alice. She is brave, resourceful and feminine; yet never could be considered (although Hawkeye does) a member of the "gentle sex". That there is a hidden aspect to her character, that her "charged color" hints at some dark mystery only makes her more appealing as a character.

In short, Cooper did know how to tell a story, and if the contemporary reader will abate some of his biases and give the novel a chance, that reader will be not only captured by the action of the book but will realize that Cooper deserves his place as America's first novelist. Do not confuse the recent movie of the novel, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, as an honest portrayal. The screenplay, when compared to Cooper's text, seems to have been based on an entirely different novel.

A worthy successor to the early novels of Sir Walter Scott.......2006-12-01

If familiarity does indeed breed contempt, then perhaps that explains why my opinion of Cooper's most famous novel has weakened over time. I recently reread the book after an interval of many years; not only was I disappointed (and somewhat bored), but I realized that it has become my least favorite of the five Leatherstocking novels.

In "Last of the Mohicans," Cooper aimed brazenly for a melodramatic adventure story in the Romantic tradition of the novels of Walter Scott. Reading it as an adult, the farcical caricatures that delighted me as a boy made me cringe at times, almost with embarrassment. (In particular, the psalmist named David Gamut is Cooper's Jar Jar Binks.) And the overwrought dialogue can be cumbersome and even unintentionally comical; only Natty ("Hawk-eye") Bumppo would deliver a 300-word speech to hush his compatriots in order to avoid the imminent risk of a possible ambush.

Several things save the novel from its maudlin prose, and they alone justify its status as a "classic." First is the unexpected depth of the portrayal of Cora. By modern standards, her character is stereotypically feminine, but she is a pioneering heroine whose depiction violates nearly every preconception of the era. A second aspect is the unhesitant and (for its time) graphic horror with which Cooper depicts hand-to-hand combat; the shocking episode that opens the massacre of the garrison still has the ability to give me nightmares. And, finally, there is Cooper's decidedly "unromantic" willingness to surprise the reader by killing off major characters with startling (and believable) twists in the plot. Set aside the cartoonish characters, the overstylized prose, the speechifying dialogue--the story alone is worth the read.

So it's not a bad book by any means, and opinions will depend on taste. I prefer the character-driven narratives and the almost pastoral mood of "The Pioneers" or "The Prairie," which at times seem to anticipate the survivalist novels of Willa Cather. For those who prefer the swashbuckling action of "Ivanhoe," however, this is the book.

A Frontier Classic.......2006-07-15

"The Last of The Mohicans" is the second in the Leatherstocking series by America's first professional novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. Set in upstate New York during the French and Indian War, it introduces the reader to the Eighteenth Century world inhabited by settlers and Indians. This work contains both continuations and similarities to "The Deerlsayer" (see my Amazon reivew). The Deerlsayer is now known as Hawkeye and seems to be more a man of action and less a man of words. Chingachgook remains his loyal friend, although the Indian nature is more presented by his son, Unca. As in "Deerslayer", much of the story revolves around two sisters, in this case Cora and Alice, who are making their way in the wilderness with the aid of their companions. Like in "Deerlsayer" the saga finds its action in war and chase scenes involving American settlers and their Indian allies against Indians opposed to them. This series is rare among early American literature in that the Indians display characters of their own. A bit of comedy is introduced into the narrative by the character of David Gamut, the professional psalmodist who, despite having gifts so ill-suited to the environment of the story, still manages to play a helpful role in the conflict running throughout the book.

I read this for "mood setting" during a trip to Cooperstown and other areas in which the book is set and in which the author lived. I was also interested in a familiarity with this classic of American literature. As a reader of my Amazon reviews is aware, I tend much more toward history than to novels and, generally, enjoy them much more. That being said, this novel is a keeper. It is an enjoyable and edifying read, even if classical novels are not your forte.

James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales I: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie (Library of America)

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The Pioneers
volume 2 is 5 stars!
THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE
Rediscovered treasure

James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales I: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie (Library of America)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450208

Customer Reviews:

The Pioneers.......2003-03-20

In The Pioneers (1823) James Fenimore Cooper, who created the forerunner of backwoods heroes, depicts the clash between individualistic and communal impulses of people in the early development of a frontier settlement in upstate New York. The founder of the settlement, Judge Temple, is the personification of a bourgeois planned and stable society. He believes that laws imposed on individuals separate people from savages and are prerequisites for a civilized society. By trying to educate his settlers in practical approaches to farming and building and conservation of natural resources for practical use, he wishes to establish social and economic relations which are essential for a firmly structured society. Richard Jones, business assistant to Judge Temple and, later, the Sheriff of the county, is an egotistical jack-of-all-trades and represents a spirit of restless competition by which one pursues riches in order to climb the ladder of success. In contrast, the old hunter, Natty Bumppo, the solitary individual who lives in harmony with nature, is a frontier individualist who has a vision of a frontier society coexisting with nature. He craves traditional attitudes while fearing and despising civilization and its wasteful ways. His individualism is considered as a threat to Templeton and his natural laws eventually bring him into conflict with the "civilized" Judge and the people who are destroying the wilderness, a conflict that ultimately makes him escape the encroaching civilization and the lawless settlers.

volume 2 is 5 stars!.......2002-11-06

I give this 3 stars, because LotM is included here, but the other 2 novels are slow, tedious and well, I've never finished them. Volume 2 of these nice volumes includes The Deerslayer and the Pathfinder, two exciting novels that I recommend, perhaps even before LotM. My favorite is the Pathfinder. Natty Bumpo is awesome in that adventure!

THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE.......2002-09-17

I strongly believe that James Fenimore Cooper belongs to the American and the world history. I learned the history reading his books. I have all of them and I still open them once in a while even now, forty years later.

Rediscovered treasure.......1999-07-05

Cooper's works are wonderful blends of action and character development, evoking every emotion from the reader. "Last of the Mohicans" may be his best known novel in the Leatherstocking series (story line order: Deerslayer, Last of Mohicans, Pathfinder, Pioneer, and Prairie), but all five are really great frontier adventures for the outdoor woods lovers.

The Last of the Mohicans (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

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At Last A Truthful View!
Incredible!
All right story, BUT...
Great American Classic
The last of the mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Last of the Mohicans (Cliffs Notes)
The Last of the Mohicans (Bantam Classics)

ASIN: 1593080654

Book Description

During the fierce French and Indian wars, an adroit scout named Hawkeye and his companion Chingachgook weave through the spectacular and dangerous wilderness of upstate New York, fighting to save the beautiful Munro sisters from the Huron renegade Magua.

The Last of the Mohicans is the most popular of James Fenimore Cooper’s five Leatherstocking Tales. With its death-defying chases and teeth-clenching suspense, this American classic established many archetypes of American frontier fiction.

An engrossing “Western” by America’s first great novelist, The Last of the Mohicans is a story of survival and treachery, love and deliverance.

Customer Reviews:

At Last A Truthful View!.......2006-09-22

I grew up reading the Longstockings Saga. As an African American mixed with Native American, there was much pain in my reading. I thought that this was a true image of the Native American, whites, and the few Negroes who were mentioned. Although Chingachgook and his son, Uncas are depicted as proud and pure, they never seemed to be equal to Deerslayer.
I also bought the DVD with Daniel Day-Lewis, in which Uncas dies and there is a painful speech given at the end which offers no hope for the Native American. Then I read the introduction of Stephen Railton. What a revelation tnat was! How much research did John Fenimore Cooper do on the Native American tribes he describes as being so terrible in his writing? I can remember trembling as a young student reading of his Mingo
warriors! Mr. Railton sheds much light and truth on the subject... Yes, the Last of the Mohicans is an exciting story, but it would have been better well research, with honest views of that period.

Incredible!.......2006-05-20

This book is a very well-written and amazing book. To be honest, it was hard to start out (because I didn't get used to Cooper's method of writing), but once I was a chapter or two into it, it was quite excellent. The portrayal and story and characters were all admirably well designed and I am glad I bought it.

All right story, BUT..........2005-03-18

If you've seen the 1992 movie "Last of the Mohicans" with Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. The movie is an almost completely different story from the book, and if you ask me, the movie is a much better adaptation. The movie will ruin the book for you.

In the book, the characters are prety one dimentional, with Hawkeye doing nothing but bragging how many Hurons he killed with his rifle, Cora doing nothing but being a damsel in distress in one scene after another, Major Hayward doing nothing but showing how incompetant he is in the woods, and all of them speaking in the exact same confusing monotone as every other character does. It's as if Cooper didn't think to actually create any distinctive personalities for his characters. Compare that to the movie, which has the grizzled woodsman who resists anything remotely resembling authority, the sheltered girl who eventually opens her eyes to the brutal realities of the frontier, and the stuffy army officer whose manhood is being threatened by a rival. I didn't mention any names, but you already knew exactly which character was which.

Even Cooper's own literary peers comment how banal this work is. In the back of the book, Mark Twain comments how, whenever the characters are required to remain silent in a scene, someone is bound to step on a dry twig and have everyone within two hundred yards hear it and come running.

It's not a horrible read, mind you, but after seeing the movie this book does little more than make you wonder what all the hype is about over this book. It may have been great for readers back in Cooper's day but I'd be amazed if this would ever get published today.

Great American Classic.......2005-01-12

The Last of the Mohicans was the first successful American novel and Cooper the first major american novelist. His desriptions of the New York wilderness and the Indian tribes that inhabit them are beautiful. They also are for the most part accurate. There are romantic themes running thorough the story. The reader feels the loss of a dying people and a dying way of life. The settlement of indian territories by colonists and native American tribal warfare are also rendered in deft prose.

This certainly is not an easy read, but one that is well worth the effort.

The last of the mohicans.......2004-01-19

The aouthor is James Cooper he wrote four other books in this seiries that i have not read. This book is about a major in the british army during the french and indian war he is escorting two of the genrals daughtera to a fort but there guide led them into a trap three men came to save them one was named Natty the other two were named Chingachgook and uncas. The aouthor wanted to educate people on this time period. I found that this book was agood adventure but it is not good inless you are an advanced reader because there is alot of difficult words in the book .

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A spirited, funny, and occasionally melodramatic novel about the clash between civilization and individualism
Evocative of America's illustrious past.........
18th Century Ecologists
The first of many
Read the book!

The Pioneers (Oxford World's Classics)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192836676

Book Description

Originally published in 1823, The Pioneers is the first of Cooper's five Leatherstocking Tales, and the one that incorporates most fully his own experience of growing up in a town of the American frontier. The heart of the novel is a conflict over who owns America, and by what concept of right. The competing claims of Native Americans, Tory loyalists, roving hunters, and visionary cultivators are pitted against one another in the area of history, and the magical village of Cooper's youth becomes the scene in which a nation's destiny is forged. The novel also marks the invention of his enduring contribution to world literature: Natty Bumpo, the Leatherstocking. This edition uses the text approved by the Center for Editions of American Authors of the Modern Language Association of America.

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Originally published in 1823, the novel is the first of Cooper's five Leatherstocking Tales and the one that incorporates most fully his own experience of growing up in a town on the American frontier. He provides brilliant pictures of village life, from Christmas dinner and a turkey shoot, to church and tavern, deer hunt and forest fire, and village courtship and courtroom drama. The heart of the novel is a conflict over who owns America, and by what concept of right.

Customer Reviews:

A spirited, funny, and occasionally melodramatic novel about the clash between civilization and individualism.......2006-07-30

In "The Pioneers," Natty Bumppo, the adventurous hero of "The Last of the Mohicans," is 70 years old and has become disenchanted with a young American republic whose rapidly advancing population and government encroaches upon the free-spirited life to which he is accustomed. Natty's run-down shack is allowed to stand at the pleasure of Judge Marmaduke Temple, a well-meaning yet stern patriarch who received a vast land grant at the end of the Revolutionary War and who builds a town whose existence depends on the rule of law and order. The plot of the novel flows from the inevitable conflict between the advance of this new civilization and the claims of the rugged individualists who can barely abide its rules.

In his Preface, Cooper warns the reader that the book contains none of "the strong excitement that is produced by battles and murders"; unlike his later books, this is no adventure story. Nevertheless, he still manages to animate his novel with daring heroics, melodramatic chase scenes, and daring rescues. Also adding suspense are the appearance of a mysterious young man (whose identity is fairly obvious, but no matter) and the secrecy of what Bumppo is hiding in his cabin.

After several briskly told opening chapters, about two nearly disastrous accidents, Cooper slows things down a bit, describing the Judge's household, the townsfolk, and their churchgoing and barhopping ways. Because the Judge's relatives and friends range from blustering pretenders to crusty old-timers, these sections are filled with unexpected humor. (But one does have to wade through an awful lot of prose about the weather.) Fortunately the last half of the book is fast-paced, including a hilarious yet oddly electrifying court trial and jail rescue.

Some readers have been tempted to interpret Natty Bumppo as a primitive Howard Roark figure--an early libertarian struggling against the capriciousness of government overreach. There's a bit of truth in this thematic approach, but such a portrait doesn't take into account the novel's earnest environmentalism (a topic on which both Bumppo and Temple form an uneasy alliance). And the characters of the Judge and his daughter are far too nuanced, likeable, and honest to cast them as enemies of limited government and rugged individualism. Instead, Cooper paints an early American landscape that is sympathetic to both sides--to both the pioneers of Temple's new town and to those who, like Bumppo, came before them and paved the way.

Evocative of America's illustrious past................2003-04-05

Marmaduke Temple opens this story as he retrieves his daughter Elizabeth from a boarding school in New York City shortly after the Revolutionary War. As they descend the mid-winter mountains of upstate New York into the valley the Temples call home, they meet the other major characters of the story, Natty Bumppo, Chingachgook, and Oliver Edwards. Cooper prefaces this book by telling us that he wrote it for his pleasure, not ours. As Elizabeth's first night back home consumes 178 pages, I was beginning to take the man at his word, but, from here, an outstanding tale unfolds.

The Pioneers is a book in the romantic style of it's age which also carries contemporary messages. The loss of wilderness and wildlife were already a concern in the late 18th century. As the population shifted westward, Native Americans were supplanted and the wilds they inhabited were methodically tamed. Marmaduke Temple and Natty Bumppo, the conservationists, approach the issue in differing ways. Temple exemplifies the responsible management of natural resources while Bumppo longs for the departure of civilization so that nature may reclaim it's own.

Surrounding the ecological message is a story of a human dimension that, though expectedly formulaic, is nonetheless pleasing to behold. The characters are finely wrought as is the portrait of 18th century American life. Easily transported, the reader will find the descriptions of natural surroundings evocative of period and place.

I was sorry to see the last page, though the last page was masterfully done. While James Fenimore Cooper need not be proclaimed by me as the author of classics, I consider this book one and the same and rate The Pioneers a resounding five stars.

18th Century Ecologists.......2003-01-07

The title page of James Fenimore Cooper's 1823 novel "The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna" defines it as "a Descriptive Tale"; and indeed the narrative is more a series of descriptions rather than a straight-forward plot. There is a well-drawn set of characters living quiet country lives. There is a plot "teaser" that is fairly obvious and finally resolved in the penultimate chapter, and there is a vague love triangle that never intensifies. In fact,Cooper seems to be not so much concerned with events as with attitudes. The story opens at Christmastime of 1793, and the settlers discuss the tumult of that year in Paris and the Vendée. (One of their company is an émigré who keeps muttering "Les monstres!" and "Mon pauvre roi!") Unfortunately, Cooper seems to have lost track of his time scheme because several months later in the story it's still 1793. This is one of the Leatherstocking Tales, which means that Nathaniel Bumppo (called Leatherstocking by the newcomers, Hawkeye by the Indians) is one of the major characters. But "The Pioneers", unlike "The Last of the Mohicans", does not involve Natty in dangerous adventures. (Which is just as well -- he's suppose to be 70 years old.) Instead, the novel presents frontier life in central New York at a settlement on Lake Otsego through commonplace but colorful occurrences: a fishing expedition, a turkey shoot, a gathering at the Bold Dragoon, a trial. The remarkable aspect of "The Pioneers", and the reason today's readers will identify with it, is the many arguments for the conservation of natural resources, both flora and fauna.Natty Bumppo's concern is understandable, as he is a man of the wilderness. More surprising is the wealthy entrepreneur Judge Temple's insistence that "we are stripping the forests, as if a single year would replace what we destroy. But the hour approaches when the laws will take notice of not only the woods, but the game they contain also". Later, both he and the Leatherstocking are appalled by the indiscriminate slaughter of birds in a single outing. This ecological attitude gives an unexpectedly modern tone to "The Pioneers" and makes it sympathetic reading in the 21st Century.

The first of many.......2002-10-10

Even though this is a difficult read if you are not in the right frame of mind, I felt it was an excellent book. This book illustrates the final days of Hawkeye and the dilemmas that he encounters as an old man. I believe that the only major problem of the novel was the unbelievable and corny ending. Overall a good book.

Read the book!.......2002-04-14

"...the noble bay horses that drew the sleigh were covered, in many parts, with a coat of hoar frost. The vapor from their nostrils was seen to issue like smoke, and every object in the view, as well as every arrangement of the travelers, denoted the depth of a winter in the mountains. The harness, which was of a deep dull black, differing from the glossy varnishing of the present day..."

Great movies can come from great books but I doubt that a movie could be made that captures the images and sounds, not to mention the intellectual stimuation, that Cooper evokes in The Pioneers. One can smell the leather harness and the horse sweat and stale air underneath the fur robes in the sleigh. One can see the girl's dancing eyes and feel the numbness of the sleigh driver's hands. One can hear the booming reports of the fowling piece and the long rifle.

Read the book and see the movie in your mind about the interaction between native Americans and pioneers on the eastern frontier; about their conservation concerns; about hunting rights and animal rights; about wilderness ethics.

New York State is arguably the most beautiful place in the world - winter or summer - and Cooper's book preserves what it was like before the canal system, the agriculture, the telephone lines, the thruway, the golf courses, the airports and the POSTED NO TRESPASSING signs.

Book Description

Cooper's epic of the western course of the American frontier follows the exploits of Natty from the French and Indian Wars to the early nineteenth century. The five novels are presented in their order of composition. Volume 1: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie. Volume 2: The Pathfinder, The Deerslayer.

Customer Reviews:

A Tribute to Virtue.......2006-09-19

The Pathfinder and The Deerslayer are great stories well told. Natty Bumppo (a.k.a. Pathfinder, Deerslayer and Hawkeye) is the archtypical American hero. He is brave, honest and selfless, yet still humble. He is a model for us all. Young people in particular should read about him as an antidote to the rampant braggadocio that too many modern "heros" exhibit.

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses.......2006-03-22

There is one, and only one reason to read Fenimore Cooper's books.
That reason is so you can fully appreciate Mark Twain's critique of Cooper's writing.
See:
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses"
[...]

For this reason only I recommend to read this book or others by Cooper. It will have made all that pain greatly worthwhile.

CAPTIVATING STORIES INTIMATLY TANGLED WITH ART.......2001-07-23

Cooper is too good to be true! I love reading his books because he creates such beautiful pictures while he binds you to an imaginative story line. His stories bring you to the battlefront and into the very mind of the hero.

Customer Reviews:

An all time great classic book!.......2005-05-21

This book is one of the greatest books that I have ever read. The reason for saying this is that the book's genre, adventure, is one of my personal favorites, plus James Fennimore Cooper is my second favorite author. The book is loaded with imagery. It sparks your imagination into picturing just exactly where you are at and who is involved in the story that could possibly be around you.
When you first start reading you get caught in the elaborate setting. You are given a straight out setting of a hot summer day in July 1757. Immediately you're imagination is caught in the building of the stories plot.
I would strongly recommend this book to all ages. This book gives you some history and a lot of rising-falling action to keep you reading. There is no strong language but there is some death. It can be overcome, to read a great book. You will more than likely be stunned by the ending, because ... you'll have to read it to find out.
Once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down. There are so many twists, surprises, and exciting spots in the book that you will want to read the rest of what is happening. Before you know what has happened you are lurched into another portion of the exciting plot. It is well written with several leads to each part of the book. You will end up wanting to read the story again to see what you missed the first time through.

great Americana literature.......2004-08-14

Last of the Mohicans is one of the more accessible Deerslayer novels, I'll grant. But to call it unreadable and boring because no one can understand it is just plain unfair. I suggest if you find this book difficult then try acclimating yourself to more modern uses of the language at first. T.H. White is a wonderful place to start, then maybe some Patrick O'Brian, on to Dickens, maybe the Morte D'Arthur, etc... The main thing here is, of course, to get used to reading different (older) forms of the English language. Once you get into it, it's really a great experience. There's such a wealth of imagery and culture and history in this book that it'd be a shame to ignorantly toss it off as elitist or unnecessary. Just the opposite: it's mind expanding and greatly insightful. And a whole lot of fun!

The Best!!!!!!!!!.......2003-06-10

The Last of the Mohicans is a great book. I read it 3 months ago. I saw the movie and that's cool too.
It's about two ladies and a guy are going to their father. Onthe way there attacked. Then Hawkeye and two other indians save them. They take them to their father,but are attacked many mor times on the way.
It's full of action and fighting. It's awsome.
You shoud read it. It's great!

Average customer rating:

Cooper Knew America
Holds Your Interest!
Pretty good novel, if you
Natty: The early years..........
better for kids than adults

The Deerslayer (Bantam Classics)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Prairie (Penguin Classics)
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ASIN: 0553210858
Release Date: 1991-01-01

Book Description

The deadly crack of a long rifle and the piercing cries of Indians on the warpath shatter the serenity of beautiful lake Glimmerglass. Danger has invaded the vast forests of upper New York State as Deerslayer and his loyal Mohican friend Chingachgook attempt the daring rescue of an Indian maiden imprisoned in a Huron camp. Soon they are caught in the crossfire between a cunning enemy and two white bounty hunters who mercilessly kill for profit. The last of the Leatherstocking tales to be written, though first in the chronology of the hero's life, The Deerslayer is James Fenimore Cooper's masterpiece. A fine combination of romance, adventure, and morality; this classic novel of the frontier is an eloquent beginning for Cooper's great wilderness saga--and an unforgettable introduction to the famous character who has said to embody the conscience of America: the noble woodsman Deerslayer.

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The deadly crack of a long rifle and the piercing cries of Indians on the warpath shatter the serenity of beautiful lake Glimmerglass. Danger has invaded the vast forests of upper New York State as Deerslayer and his loyal Mohican friend Chingachgook attempt the daring rescue of an Indian maiden imprisoned in a Huron camp. Soon they are caught in the crossfire between a cunning enemy and two white bounty hunters who mercilessly kill for profit. The last of the Leatherstocking tales to be written, though first in the chronology of the hero's life, "The Deerslayer" is James Fenimore Cooper's masterpiece. A fine combination of romance, adventure, and morality; this classic novel of the frontier is an eloquent beginning for Cooper's great wilderness saga--and an unforgettable introduction to the famous character who has said to embody the conscience of America: the noble woodsman Deerslayer.

Customer Reviews:

Cooper Knew America.......2006-07-20

Race relations, environmental concerns, independent womanhood, the importance of personal character, survivalism, heroism, religion, cultural relativism, nature v. nurture, independence v. inter-dependency--sound like the latest hot topics in American TV, movies, and magazines? Actually, these constitute the bevy of themes that James Fenimore Cooper explored as foundational to the American experience when he wrote *Deerslayer* in 1841, setting it even farther back at the time of the French and Indian War, 1754-63. Some readers, not surprisingly, are put off by the ornate writing style of the early nineteenth century, but it doesn't hurt us post-moderns to turn off the TV and take a slower pace, interacting slowly with the writer and his thoughts. In Natty Bumppo, we find the first--and definitive--delineation of the American hero: selfless, dependable, restrained, tolerant, cagey, and moral. A generation raised on anti-heroes sometimes has a bit of a problem with the morality of Bumppo, but since 9/11, we have seen a revival of the American ideal that Cooper first defined in his Leatherstocking Tales. Don't give up on this one because of the language. Sit a bit and mull it over. You'll find Cooper will deliver remarkably well.

Holds Your Interest!.......2006-06-12

"The Deerslayer" is the sequentially first in the Leatherstocking series of America's first, great, professional novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. I read it in preparation for a trip to Cooperstown, New York and I am glad that I did. Set in upstate New York in the 1740s, it provides the reader with an idolized introduction to the society of white and red of this colonial frontier.

The criticisms that the dialogue and actions are totally unbelievable, while justified, do not detract from the story. While the simple, faith-filled actions of the "Feeble Minded Hetty" and the dialogue between Deerslayer and Chingachgook seem highly improbable, the do hold the readers' interest. While I am generally not one to pick up readily on character development, this novel is an exception. The contrast between Deerslayer and Chingachgook, the romance between Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah, the romantic web among Judith, Hurry Harry and Deerslayer, and the varying responses to changes in circumstance coming from sisters Judith and Hetty all contribute to the persistent popularity of this work.

Despite all the criticisms directed against Cooper as to form, the one thing that cannot be denied is that this book is very difficult to put down. I found myself always wondering what would come next and what would happen to the characters whom I had come to know. Whether you are looking for an insight into early American literature or just a good story, your search should lead to "The Deerslayer".

Pretty good novel, if you.......2005-08-01

Can get past all the verbage. I found myself skipping sentences or paragraphs because of the way the auther keeps going on and on about the same thing without a puase or even carrying through with the same thought in the same sentence (kind of like I'm doing now!).
I really enjoyed the scenery images he paints, and the simple way of life portrayed. I also like the values the author held dear.
The first few chapters and the anti-climax were horrible. I didn';t think I was going to finish the book because of the non-sensical talking that occur in the first few chapters. And the book ended in such a goofy non-realistic morose way, that I wish I had stopped reading a few chapters before the end and imagined the ending happen the way I would have liked it to.
So I was dragging through the beginning, loving the middle, and depressed when I finished. Very odd sensation to read a book and get those kinds of feelings...

Natty: The early years.................2003-05-27

Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, The Deerslayer, depicts young Natty Bumppo on his first warpath with lifelong friend-to-be, Chingachgook. The story centers around a lake used as the chronologically subsequent setting for Cooper's first Leatherstocking Tale, The Pioneers. Tom Hutter lives on the lake with his daughters and it is here that Deerslayer (Bumppo) intends to meet Chingachgook to rescue Chingachgook's betrothed from a band of roving Iroquois. A desperate battle for control of the lake and it's immediate environs ensues and consumes the remainder of the story.

Throughout this ultimate Leatherstocking Tale, Cooper provides Natty much to postulate upon. Seemingly desiring a comprehensive finality to the philosophy of Bumppo, Cooper has Natty "speechify" in The Deerslayer more so than in any other book, though the character could hardly be considered laconic in any. Though the reason for this is obvious and expected (it is, after all, Cooper's last book of the series), it still detracts a tad from the pace of the story as Natty picks some highly inappropriate moments within the plot to elaborate his position. And, thus, somewhat incongruently, Cooper is forced to award accumulated wisdom to Bummpo at the beginning of his career rather than have him achieve it through chronological accrual.

All things considered, however, The Deerslayer is not remarkably less fun than any other Leatherstalking Tale and deserves a similar rating. Thus, I award The Deerslayer 4+ stars and the entire Leatherstocking Tales series, one of the better examples of historical fiction of the romantic style, the ultimate rating of 5. It was well worth my time.

better for kids than adults.......2002-07-01

I just reread this book after 35 years. I loved it as a 15 year old and enjoyed it as an adult. The negatives? The hubrus of Cooper, the successful author, shows up in the form of undeveloped characters and a wandering plot. The positives are the rolicking adventure and the way it makes me remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I read it. If you are under 16 read this on first and the rest just get better. Over 16 read them in the order they were written and try not to be too disappointed in with this later effort.

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The vast, idealistic prairie of Cooper's imagination
Anonymous Natty
Book Three of the Leatherstocking: Natty called home.....
a nice surprise
The best Leatherstocking tale

The Prairie (Penguin Classics)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

The Pioneers (Oxford World's Classics)
The Pathfinder: Or the Inland Sea (Oxford World's Classics)
The Deerslayer (Leatherstocking Tales)
The Last of the Mohicans (Bantam Classics)
The Pathfinder (Signet Classics)

ASIN: 014039026X

Book Description

Set in the immense landscape of the Great Plains, The Prairie (1827) addresses many questions raised by the penetration of the American west: the displacement of the Indians, the destruction of nature, and the creation of a just society both ordered and free. The aged trapper, Natty Bumppo, is given a grand voice in The Prairie, where he appears in the autumn of his days; he is spokesman for the conservation of the natural environment, for the proper use rather than abuse of nature. However, his physical prowess is waning and he is ultimately unable to thwart the despoilers. In this, the last in the series of five Leatherstocking Tales, Cooper brings to a resolution the issues of The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohicans, but at the same time he suggests that humility, self-control, reverence for God, and respect for nature are tragically lost on the prairie.

Customer Reviews:

The vast, idealistic prairie of Cooper's imagination.......2007-03-01

"The Prairie" piles a far-fetched mystery atop an implausible plotline, but there's something endearing about its sheer disregard for authenticity. The ultimate success of this installment of Cooper's Leatherstocking series is not in its realism--which is in short supply here--but in its comedy (often calculated but sometimes unintentional) and its social commentary.

Natty Bumppo appears again simply as "the trapper"; it's near the end of his life, and he has escaped his former residence in the Hudson Valley for the peace of the empty prairie. His tranquility is shattered by the arrival of an outlaw family of squatters, pursued by a young man--a bee hunter, no less--inexplicably and secretly following them. In quick order, the mysteries collect: a strange and beautiful young woman emerges at the edge of the family's outpost, a member of the family is murdered, and the stalker's interest in the family is not entirely clear.

There's an additional hanger-on, Obed Batt, M.D., whose character, it must be said, straddles the wrong side of the thin line between humor and silliness, between clever and cliche. Meant as a satirical portrait (think "absent-minded professor"), Batt is a "man of science" who is a bit of a bumbling fool and who, in an ongoing gag, mistakes his own beloved donkey for a wild and hitherto undiscovered beast. He intrudes the novel much like David Gamut, the equally exasperating psalmist in "The Last of the Mohicans."

Underneath the sarcasm and the satire and the silliness is Cooper's entire catalog of romantic idealism--the themes and lessons found in Cooper's other works. Natty is still the pioneering and rugged individualist escaping the encroachments of civilization; many of Natty's soliloquized sermons are conservationist pleas for the wise use of America's natural resources; and the Indians Copper idealized in the Northeast have been transplanted to the West. (The author's knowledge of the Great Plains was based on second-hand accounts and redrawn in the fields of his imagination.)

In spite of its fragile plot, facile characters, and (ultimately) futile homilies, "The Prairie" is rarely boring. But be warned: when the secrets are revealed, nine out of ten readers will react with a hearty "Oh, please!" (The tenth will have given up caring). But Cooper ultimately compensates the patient reader with one of the most poignant denouements in American literature.

Anonymous Natty.......2003-12-27

James Fenimore Cooper's 1827 novel "The Prairie" is an epic adventure featuring two major plots, twelve major characters, and a cast of thousands. Set in the Great Plains shortly after the Louisiana Purchase (the Lewis and Clark expedition is mentioned en passant), "The Prairie" sets two Indian tribes, the Sioux and the Pawnee, against each other as well as two disparate groups of white travelers. Even though Cooper had reservations regarding Sir Walter Scott that writer's influence on Cooper cannot be doubted. (One of the characters in "The Prairie" is named Le Balafré, as is a character in Scott's "Quentin Durward", published in 1823.) On the other hand, Cooper's style foreshadowed Charles Dickens in many passages, particularly the powerful depiction of frontier justice in Chapter Thirty-two. The central section of the novel, with its siege of Ishmael Bush's encampment and the portrait of Bush's Amazonian wife Esther, seems to have affected Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls". There are two young heroines, one swoony and the other spunky; but there are several heroes, including Duncan Uncas Middleton, a descendant of characters from "The Last of the Mohicans", and Hard Heart, a Pawnee partisan. (Partisan is an obscure synonym for chief which Cooper uses throughout the book.) Then there is Cooper's most famous character Natty Bumppo, who had already appeared in "The Pioneers" in 1823 and "The Last of the Mohicans" in 1826. He was to figure twice more in the 1840's as a young man, but "The Prairie" describes his final days as a graybeard. The odd thing is he's never named -- he's simply called the Trapper. Evidently his Deerslayer days are over, though he's referred to as "venable venator" by the novel's comic relief character Obed Batt (or Dr Battius, as he pedantically prefers). One assumes that Natty had become such a popular character readers were not confused by his anonymity. At any rate, he carries the complicated narrative, partly because he communicates with both the whites and the Indians in their native languages. The narrative's flow is smooth and rapid, and "The Prairie" is a page-turner for a lazy afternoon or a long flight.

Book Three of the Leatherstocking: Natty called home............2003-04-29

Third in the Leatherstocking Tales series, The Prairie finds Nathaniel Bumppo beyond the Mississippi as the encroachment of civilization pushes him further and further afield. There are five books to the Leatherstocking Tales. Cooper did not write them in chronological order. Accordingly, The Prairie relates the close of Bumppo's career among the Pawnee and Sioux of the Great Plains. As with The Pioneers, The Prairie starts slow and takes time to develop. Additional concessions must be made for a least one plot twist that tickles the limits of plausibility. It should be remembered, however, that the age and the romantic style of writing then in vogue permitted latitude today's novelists are not afforded. Be that as it may, once past this questionable plot development, it matters little for the book is that grand.

Sioux and Pawnee, contesting the plains, find Bumppo, a wagon train of shifty settlers, and a bee-hunting suitor caught between them. What follows is a historical novel which includes every ingredient required for a masterful yarn. Bumppo, in this case "the trapper", represents the ultimate antiestablishmentarian as he longs only for freedom and the space to enjoy it, despising the restrictions of polite society. It is a message that has not lost it's power. Indeed, James Fenimore Cooper, through the Leatherstocking Tales, exquisitely captures a period and place in a manner so evocative that the reader longs to range beside "the trapper" through thick and thin , through the length and breadth of the fledgling American frontier. Having read more than my share of historical fiction, The Leatherstocking Tales rate as one of the finest examples. The Prairie is no exception.

Fare thee well, Natty Bumppo.

a nice surprise.......2001-05-16

I chose to read this series in chronological order and not the order in which they were written. This being the third to be written but last in order, I read this one last. I must say that I was surprised at how enjoyable a read it was seeing that the last two I read (The Pathfinder and The Pioneers) were pretty disappointing. This novel has excellent descriptions of the prairie setting and the characters involved without weighing the reader down with page upon page of needless descriptions or rhetoric. The story line was very well-conceived, plausable, and coherent; qualities which not many books can boast. Of course, this being the last book in the series, I was concerned about how the author would conclude the saga of Natty Bumpo. Not wanting to spoil anything, I must say that I was very impressed with the way Natty's character was handled. There is nothing worse than reading five or so books and having the author ruin them all by messing up the character at the end. No need to worry here. This novel pretty much has all the ingredients which make The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans exceptional: indian warfare, revenge, some romance, the differences and similarities between Natty's and the American Indian's religious views and philosophy on life, and of course just some good ol' action. I would recommend reading this series in chronological order, but if you do have to skip one of them, The Pioneers can be that one and you would not really miss a beat.

The best Leatherstocking tale.......1998-09-02

This large, very elaborately written book is the first of the Leatherstocking tales Cooper wrote. It is, however, about Natty Bumppo's (aka Deerslayer, Leatherstocking, Hawkeye) final days. In this novel, he's more of a peripheral character, witnessing at least 2 other, very intriguing adventures.

The story is integrated in fantastic descriptions of the prairie; reading it you can almost feel the beauty and power of the unenslaved American wilderness.

The Last of the Mohicans
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The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Ann Arbor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cooper, James Fenimore | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Leatherstocking saga: being those parts of The Deerslayer, The last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The pioneers, and The prairie which specially ... prairies in Jefferson's administration
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The Leatherstocking saga: being those parts of The Deerslayer, The last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The pioneers, and The prairie which specially ... prairies in Jefferson's administration
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Pantheon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Cooper, James Fenimore | Classics | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007DEUHE

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