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A review by jdintr
The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
I actually liked this book better than Last of the Mohicans. Subtitled, "The First War-Path," it covers the rise of Natty Bumppo--named "Deerslayer" by his Delaware friends--to manhood. He takes his first life, but like a respectful, Christian man, he foregoes the scalp of his victim, who renames him "Hawkeye" with his dying breath. There is a love interest, a vivid embrace of Romanticism, and Nature above all else.
I'm planning a trip to upstate New York, and this book has sealed the need to see Cooperstown and Lake Otsego, where "The Deerslayer" is set. I have gone so far as to look it up on Google Earth. I can find the sunken island where the Castle set, the point where much of the action took place. It's all there, and I can't wait to see it for myself.
One more point about the book, the female characters are marginally better than LOTM. Judith, the love interest, is pretty well drawn, although her sister seems to remind people on every page that she is halfwitted--as if Cooper just wasn't a good enough writer to let us figure that out for ourselves.
Don't read this for the characterization, unless you're trying to frame Natty Bumppo as a Romantic hero. Read it for the adventure, the setting, the taste of American wilderness that existed long, long ago.
I'm planning a trip to upstate New York, and this book has sealed the need to see Cooperstown and Lake Otsego, where "The Deerslayer" is set. I have gone so far as to look it up on Google Earth. I can find the sunken island where the Castle set, the point where much of the action took place. It's all there, and I can't wait to see it for myself.
One more point about the book, the female characters are marginally better than LOTM. Judith, the love interest, is pretty well drawn, although her sister seems to remind people on every page that she is halfwitted--as if Cooper just wasn't a good enough writer to let us figure that out for ourselves.
Don't read this for the characterization, unless you're trying to frame Natty Bumppo as a Romantic hero. Read it for the adventure, the setting, the taste of American wilderness that existed long, long ago.