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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
Women are weak and Indians are savage beasts. These are but two of the stereotypes found in the book. Cooper does include a strong female and intelligent Indians to dispel those stereotypes but it's tough to feel that he sees his creations are the exceptions and the the stereotypes as the rule of the day. That said, I was surprised to find the fast-paced action scenes interspersed with flowing descriptions of the beauty of nature. It's not the easiest style to read and it tends to lose my interest from time to time, but it was a pretty good read.
I don’t think I like it as well as The Pathfinder and The Deerslayer, but this was riveting. The detailed descriptions seem to place you in the setting yourself, and the subtle way the plot and characters unfold is like watching a master painter touching brush to canvas: each stroke is significant, but not until near the end can you understand what the picture is that he paints.
I honestly can’t choose a favorite character: Hawkeye seems obvious, but he figures less in this than in the other books. Duncan perhaps? Or Uncas? Those three are the greatest contenders. I hesitate to say Uncas was the favorite, because it makes his death the harder. And subtle as it was, I picked up on his fascination for Cora when they first met.
Why four stars? Killing a main character like that — or *two* in this case — is mean. ☹️ As a rule, I don’t get emotional over books… but I choked up with the last page. Why couldn’t Uncas and Cora have survived?
The other reason for the 4 stars is that I disagree (strongly) with the idea that the “Manitou” is identical with the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible. This ecumenical conflation of religions may be appealing to some, but not to me.
May or may not read again someday — killing Uncas might have killed that opportunity.
I honestly can’t choose a favorite character: Hawkeye seems obvious, but he figures less in this than in the other books. Duncan perhaps? Or Uncas? Those three are the greatest contenders. I hesitate to say Uncas was the favorite, because it makes his death the harder. And subtle as it was, I picked up on his fascination for Cora when they first met.
Why four stars? Killing a main character like that — or *two* in this case — is mean. ☹️ As a rule, I don’t get emotional over books… but I choked up with the last page. Why couldn’t Uncas and Cora have survived?
The other reason for the 4 stars is that I disagree (strongly) with the idea that the “Manitou” is identical with the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible. This ecumenical conflation of religions may be appealing to some, but not to me.
May or may not read again someday — killing Uncas might have killed that opportunity.
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
One of the very few cases in which the movie is better than the book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Once I got used to the less modern writing style and the flowery prose, I got into the book.
It's obvious that Cooper has a deep and abiding love and respect for the stark beauty of the untamed wilderness, and the people who inhabited the Americas before Europeans showed up. I can see how, for its time, this book was progressive regarding the view of non-Caucasians.
It is the tale of a group of English in the midst of the French-American war, who have been thrust into treacherous circumstances and luckily have made the aquaintence of a well-seasoned traveler and his two native friends. As the wise guide Hawkeye endeavors to help the English, we are taken across the landscape of the natural wilderness.
The plot, considered by itself, felt fairly slow and repetitive. Group is led astray and requires rescue. Rescue occurs after a period of tracking, then group is restored. Tragedy occurs and group requires rescue once more...you get the idea.
However, the descriptions of the wilderness and it's harsh beauty somewhat save the book from it's predictability. I could see the fog rolling in the valleys and the water tumbling down the creeks and lapping on the shores of the lake, hear the slap of beavers' tails hitting the water and birds calling in the trees, smell the fresh earth and vegetation, feel the wind whispering through the pines and leaves of the forest.
The admiration of the natural world comes through very strongly, both from the protagonist Hawkeye and the author himself. Next to this was the apparent reverence of the native "savage", the valiant friends of Hawkeye, the last of the noble Mohicans.
Still, at times the message got muddled--on one hand, venerating the particular skills and knowledge to be had by the natives, and on the other, constantly making reference to "blood without a cross", etc.
You have the heroine Cora, herself a strange mix of contradictions, as despite her burden of being of the "fairer sex" she manages to be braver, smarter and steadier than the soldier Heywood at times. Her blood does contain a cross with non-white, and her father even accuses Heywood of prejudice because he prefers her purer-blooded sister Alice over herself. Perhaps this is what makes it okay for the Mohican Uncas to pursue her?
Even while Chingachgook and Uncas are praised for their noble bearing and spirit, Magua is despised for his evil cunning and base nature. This preferential treatment of one tribe over another may very well be entirely on the part of Hawkeye and not of the author himself. However, Hawkeye himself continually wavers in his viewpoint, at some points denegrating Heywood, Gamut and Munro for their "citified" ways, but in others seeming to pity the natives for their simple ways.
This wishy-washy sense may have come about because the author was endeavoring to write a book with a progressive view of Native Americans in a time when it may not have been well received by his peers, so in order to temper this and still be allowed to get his message across, he threw in the obligatory superiority references to whites.
Either way, it was an educational read and the ending had sufficient pathos to tug my heart a bit. It was harder to connect with the characters because of the style of writing and the fact that I've more modern tastes in prose, but that is entirely my own failing. I still gained a sense of each of them as seperate entities onto themselves, although many filled obvious archetypical roles (comedian, guide, mystery, learner, helpless, etc).
I'm not sure I'd ever read this again, but I'm glad I did read this classic regardless.
It's obvious that Cooper has a deep and abiding love and respect for the stark beauty of the untamed wilderness, and the people who inhabited the Americas before Europeans showed up. I can see how, for its time, this book was progressive regarding the view of non-Caucasians.
It is the tale of a group of English in the midst of the French-American war, who have been thrust into treacherous circumstances and luckily have made the aquaintence of a well-seasoned traveler and his two native friends. As the wise guide Hawkeye endeavors to help the English, we are taken across the landscape of the natural wilderness.
The plot, considered by itself, felt fairly slow and repetitive. Group is led astray and requires rescue. Rescue occurs after a period of tracking, then group is restored. Tragedy occurs and group requires rescue once more...you get the idea.
However, the descriptions of the wilderness and it's harsh beauty somewhat save the book from it's predictability. I could see the fog rolling in the valleys and the water tumbling down the creeks and lapping on the shores of the lake, hear the slap of beavers' tails hitting the water and birds calling in the trees, smell the fresh earth and vegetation, feel the wind whispering through the pines and leaves of the forest.
The admiration of the natural world comes through very strongly, both from the protagonist Hawkeye and the author himself. Next to this was the apparent reverence of the native "savage", the valiant friends of Hawkeye, the last of the noble Mohicans.
Still, at times the message got muddled--on one hand, venerating the particular skills and knowledge to be had by the natives, and on the other, constantly making reference to "blood without a cross", etc.
You have the heroine Cora, herself a strange mix of contradictions, as despite her burden of being of the "fairer sex" she manages to be braver, smarter and steadier than the soldier Heywood at times. Her blood does contain a cross with non-white, and her father even accuses Heywood of prejudice because he prefers her purer-blooded sister Alice over herself. Perhaps this is what makes it okay for the Mohican Uncas to pursue her?
Even while Chingachgook and Uncas are praised for their noble bearing and spirit, Magua is despised for his evil cunning and base nature. This preferential treatment of one tribe over another may very well be entirely on the part of Hawkeye and not of the author himself. However, Hawkeye himself continually wavers in his viewpoint, at some points denegrating Heywood, Gamut and Munro for their "citified" ways, but in others seeming to pity the natives for their simple ways.
This wishy-washy sense may have come about because the author was endeavoring to write a book with a progressive view of Native Americans in a time when it may not have been well received by his peers, so in order to temper this and still be allowed to get his message across, he threw in the obligatory superiority references to whites.
Either way, it was an educational read and the ending had sufficient pathos to tug my heart a bit. It was harder to connect with the characters because of the style of writing and the fact that I've more modern tastes in prose, but that is entirely my own failing. I still gained a sense of each of them as seperate entities onto themselves, although many filled obvious archetypical roles (comedian, guide, mystery, learner, helpless, etc).
I'm not sure I'd ever read this again, but I'm glad I did read this classic regardless.
This entire novel was written so Chingachgook and Hawkeye could sit under five feet apart and not be gay because they’re in the woods, constantly talking about weapons, and very, very manly
(Three stars for male friendship during the Puritan reign, two stars for every time Cooper said a woman was overcome by emotion “as one of their sex was inclined to do”)
(Three stars for male friendship during the Puritan reign, two stars for every time Cooper said a woman was overcome by emotion “as one of their sex was inclined to do”)
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I understand wholeheartedly why this was a classic in its day. However, it was just not my cup of tea. A pretty quick read, though. And the story itself was interesting - I had been eager to get a better understanding of the Indian-American relations during the French & Indian War. I would love to know more about that period in America's history. But this was such a localized account, that it wasn't very informative (even as far as historical novels are or are not). I didn't end up feeling much loyalty or passion for any of the characters - they seemed very one-dimensional and sans any sort of personality. But, again - I can see the attraction this book might have held for young boys growing up. And I hear the movie is very good - I will definitely check that out. Daniel Day Lewis!
Rare occurrence: The movie is (much) better than the book.
Honestly, I was underwhelmed and disappointed by the novel. Antiquated language made this a less enjoyable read. I found much of the natives’ dialogue… cringy. Only three stars.
Honestly, I was underwhelmed and disappointed by the novel. Antiquated language made this a less enjoyable read. I found much of the natives’ dialogue… cringy. Only three stars.