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Title: The Last of the Mohicans (Signet Classics)
ISBN: 0451529820
Author:
James Fenimore Cooper
Publicate Date: 2005-07-05
Publish: 2005-07-05
List Price: $4.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.88
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.75
Amazon Merchant Price: $4.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Still a classic
I bought this for my 12-year old granddaughter; it was good to see that a classic is still a classic.
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2: The Leatherstocking Tales: The Last of the Mohicans
This is Cooper's masterpiece, especially if you measure by popularity. His second installment in the Leatherstocking tales does quite a bit to deserve its reputation. This book was likely written to delve into the backstory of Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook, the characters that emerged as, by far, the most interesting ones in Cooper's first Leatherstocking tale ('The Pioneers').
Due to it's tight pacing, 'The Last of the Mohicans' is easily the best read of the five Leatherstocking Tales. It is also the most consistently plotted and paced book of the series because, as a tale of betrayal, flight, captivity, and frontier warfare, Cooper has a lot less time to indulge in his stately prose (although you'll still need to use a machete to cut through some mile-long sentences!).
'The Last of the Mohicans' has all the physical confrontation that makes for a great adventure story. There are plenty of battles and a pretty extraordinary level of violence considering the time the book was written (kids getting murdered, rotting corpses, and plenty of scalps a-flying). The novel isn't gleefully graphic, but Cooper makes no bones about the
tenuous hold people had on life on the frontier. Considering his usual penchant for rank sentimentality, he's surprisingly detached about the violence he depicts in this book. To me this is evidence that he definitely knew how to shut off the histrionics.
Another reason for the success of the book are the characters. Leatherstocking (going by Hawkeye here) is in his prime as a hero/scout. He is authoratative, brave, cunning, and always knows what to do. Chingachgook is powerful, unpredictable, and savage. However, he takes a backseat to his son Uncas. While Cooper gives Uncas little dialogue, Cooper gives us a very clear picture of what makes him a hero and what motivates him. Cooper's writing, overall, shows an uncharacteristic level of restraint in this regard.
A bigger surprise was the character of Cora. Generally, Cooper is incapable of handling female characterization without building a nauseating shrine to the 'gentle sex.' As a result, it is all the more refreshing to find Cora outspoken, resolute, and strong. During one sequence when several characters are imprisoned by the Iriquois, it is she - not her 'brave male protector' - who remembers to leave a trail in the forest so they can be rescued.
On the other side of the fence, Le Renard Subtile is the best villian of the series by a long shot. Even though you hate him, you can't help but sympathize with him to a certain degree. Cooper skillfully (and without preaching) uses the tragedy of Indian displacement as Magua's motivation. Though it's hard not to feel Magua's anger is justified on some level, Cooper prevents you from rooting for his villian and this creates some interesting tensions.
As with many of the Leatherstocking tales, victory is bittersweet and is necessarily a defeat for the wilderness Hawkeye loves. The fate of the Mohicans clearly foreshadows what Cooper (and the reader) knows will become of every Native American in this tale (or in real life). Comparing these charcters to their latter selves in 'The Pioneers' underscores this very emotionally.
You can definitely enjoy 'The Last of the Mohicans' all by itself and as a straight-up frontier advernture, but there is more to be found if you read it a little deeper. It is a book every American should read. NOTE: Please don't hold the dreadful Daniel Day Louis movie against this book; the two have little in common beyond their titles.
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3: A True American Classic
Last of the Mohicans is the initial volume in a series of books that trace Natty Bumpo's adventures at the frontier of a rapidly expanding Amaerica. Although Cooper never spent time on the frontier he writes engagingly of the vicissitudes and attitudes of frontiersman.
This is an adventure story that all American children should read.
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4: Free SF Reader
The Last of the Mohicans is an adventure story, set in America in the 18th century. Two girls are kidnapped, and Hawkeye, otherwise known as Nathaniel Bumppo. The British are fighting the French, and Hawkeye is a scout.
When two women are kidnapped, it will be his job to see what he can do about tracking them and their Indian captors.
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