The Last of the Mohicans (Scribner Classics)

I first read Cooper's novel in high school and found it exceedingly difficult to get through, but since I was obsessed with the Daniel Day-Lewis movie version that had just come out in theatres, I wanted to give the book a try. Granted, this is by no means a modern novel. As a literary form, the novel was still in its infancy when Cooper wrote his book. Now coming back to it years later, I can better appreciate how much the narrative does achieve. It's a great adventure story at heart, but also a story that looks at the gaps between cultures and how various people manage. For its time, Cooper's book achieved quite a lot and set a higher standard for novels that followed.

Beautiful copy of a gorgeous book. To refute one reviewer, this book was not about pioneer women who moved with their family, most of whom were actually very reluctant to do so. This was about two young women who were daughters of a high-ranking officer in the army. They were sent to find their father. As such, they did not have a home in which they could hide. One of the women, at least, was quite brave. And both women were extremely well respected, just as they should have been. As to the veracity of the Mohicans and the inconsistency of the Colonel's character, this is a fictional story and like all of our lives, it is not perfect. And to those of you who say the reading is too difficult, what's wrong with challenging your brain? It's rewarding to manage reading and understanding a difficult book.

So this is a classic. I really enjoyed it. But be very careful which book you get. I picked up this .99 cent version. It was horrible. It said it was unabridged. Great! 700+ pages. Great. But 1. It was illustrated with random pictures that did not relate to the story, were hard to see, and graphically inappropriate. 2. It had no chapters! Really come on. Someone just copied and pasted the text onto their version and made some bombastic claim that they have the unabridged version. 3. I am not sure that it was ordered all correctly. I could not follow the book. So I ran over to the local library and picked up a paper copy and totally enjoyed it. I could not put it down. It made sense.For parents out there. There is graphic violence. The use of the English language is great. I really enjoyed hearing about the time period and I am interested in learning more about the French and Indian War. Overall, I would give it a four out of five stars and just caution you to be careful what version you get.

This story was written almost 200 years ago and describes an era about 50 years previous to the publication date. As such, the style of writing is meticulous meaning that there is a lot of time and words spent on describing the physical surroundings, which also means that the story can drag a bit at times while the reader digests the exact coloration of the trees or the rush of water in the streams. However, it is a good story. The film with Daniel Day-Lewis is quite a good film and follows the book fairly well until the ending climax, which involves the demise of the bad guy as well as the reason behind titling this story "The Last of the Mohicans". I didn't have problems getting through the book even though I can sometimes have a short attention span since I did get wrapped up in the story and how it would turn out. Others who don't have that ability to concentrate on the story at hand might have more difficulties than I did. Some have commented about the 'racial overtones' of the story which I can postulate that this is merely a retelling of 'the way things were' at the time. I found no real problems with the portrayals of the various non-white characters since at the time the story is set, this is actually how they were. How could I know that - I don't but that's the way I see it. The non-whites are portrayed as savages at times, but only at the behest of the whites that have deluded them with empty promises, otherwise they are shown to be reasonable, human, and yes 'noble'.If there are those readers that insist on trying to apply today's morals and beliefs when they read this story, then this story is not for them. Reading is supposed to both inform and entertain and I believe that this book does both, but in order to fully absorb this, the reader must first both suspend their own prejudices and beliefs while also just being 'an open book' by accepting the basic premise and concepts in any story.

The first couple of times I started reading this book I could not get past the first few pages. I did not give up on it. The next time I had nothing else to read, but I approached it differently.I skipped the first 50 or so pages and tried again. The story gripped me and I kept going. When I had decided it was a keeper, I went back to page one and started over to catch what I had missed.When I caught up to what I had already read I just skimmed through to where I had left off, then breezed through to the end, captivated.This was in summer. I read it again the next four summers. When it came up as a Kindle read read, I had to have it. Need I say more?

There is a particularly well-known issue with regard to the "Mohicans" Cooper refers to in his title. The Mohicans were an Indian Nation of upstate New York and the Upper Connecticut River Valley. The Mohegans, the nation Uncas was a leader of, lived in Connecticut east of the New York border. The Mohegans are the Indian nation Cooper is actually referring too, not the Mohicans of present-day Stockbridge. It baffles me that the person charged with writing the intoduction to this edition did not know this. This is an important distinction that should be rectified by the publisher. It has only been 15 years since this edition wad published...The editor does well to recognize Cooper's historic tale is more myth than history, but I encourage others to read the Introduction at least of Michael Oberg's _Uncas_ for a clearer explanation of Cooper's lasting effects of Native American memory and history.

A story that will appeal to those interested in the period of the North American colonial wars, when Britain and France were in bloody conflict for control over what would later become the USA and Canada. Featuring the legendary woodsman scout Hawkeye, the backdrop of the tale is the vast area of forest and lakeland of (in present-day geography) up-State New York. During this period, it’s interesting to note that the various indigenous (ie Indian) tribes were in fact allied to the respective antagonists, the Hurons with the French and the Mohawks with the British. Although the book is undoubtedly an engaging and worthwhile read, it should be noted that it is written in an old-English style, which can, occasionally, be difficult to understand.

This novel is an absolute barnstormer. From start to finish it's a tale of treachery, friendship, chases, manhunts, political intrigue, hand-to-hand combat, survival, death and manliness. The beautiful poetic writing gives the whole an epic feel that complements the background themes of the book: the clash of the British and French empires and the tragic fate of the natives who were caught in the middle. With careful guidance, this would be a great book to read to your children.

Setting aside the style of writing, which is rather heavy going and very typical of the time, the story itself is quite fast flowing and captures the difficulties and differences between the European newcomers and the native tribes that live of the North American lands and the disasterous consequences of one trying to control the other. Cooper does use a lot of stereotypes which now come across as not only disrespectful and inaccurate but outright racist and sexist but this is often the case with novels of the time and it does reflect the ongoing differences between the settler populations and native tribes, not to mention the ever present view that women are utterly helpless and need men-folk to save them from everything. These issues aside, Cooper's use of overly detailed descriptions does get a little laborious at times but does also help recreate the era and brings to life every aspect of the time, possible even a little too much.

When Maurice Scully writes in a dense prose poetry mode he is top class but sadly his spare style weakens his work. The effort to ape Louis Zukofsky fails totally as Scully has very little subject matter. He showed huge promise in Five Freedoms Of Movement that has never been realised in more recent work. But a certain levity undermines Sonata as a great or good book. I feel Maurice Scully now needs to try a Joycean route to reveal the actual world he dwells in? Being Mr. Twee of Irish letters simply no longer cuts the mustard leaving only blurred lines. The sad thing is that Scully needed the dogma of Objectivism least of all his peers in Ireland.

This is the second book in the Leatherstocking Tales which spans an entire life of a single man: Natty Bumpo otherwise known as Deerslayer in the first book, Hawkeye in this one, Pathfinder in the third book and Leatherstocking in the ones to follow, or just Natty. The Deerslayer concentrated on the early years, his early twenties whereas in this book he has become an experienced scout, hunter and is known throughout the colonies as Hawkeye for his exceptional shooting ability with the rifle known as Killdeer, first obtained in the Deerslayer. Natty is now about 35 years old. Suffice it to say, he is now a man of renown. It starts when he is engaged in rescuing the daughters of Colonel Munro from the revengeful Magua who was whipped by Colonel Munro and swore vengence on the children of Munro. It also covers the time of Braddock's defeat after the loss of Fort William Henry. It discusses, in earnest, the decline of the Native American population in the East. It does this through the tale of Uncas the son of Natty's friend Chingachgok. Uncas becomes a kind of symbol of this decline, a brave warrior with great vigour, constitution and heart the story shows that the sun is beginning to set on the native peoples even though they are yet strong and vigorous.By far the best of the tales I have so far read, having read the first three. It is more dynamic than the other tales and the story moves forward quickly. It is again written in that old style of the 1800's which has its own character and is not unpleasant to read. I enjoyed this book a great deal.N.B. The Last of the Mohicans is very different from the film of the same name starring Daniel Day Lewis. In fact I would say the story of the original bears very little resemblance to the film.