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    Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio): Illustrated Classics
    Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio): Illustrated Classics
    Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio): Illustrated Classics
    Audiobook42 minutes

    Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio): Illustrated Classics

    Written by James Fenimore Cooper

    Narrated by Saddleback Educational Publishing

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Last of the Mohicans is a historical story in Cooper's brilliant frontier tales. It is an exciting adventure about America's original inhabitats- our Native Americans- and Hawkeye's heroic plight and pursuit against his white brothers while battling the evil and vengeful Huron Chief Mugua.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSaddleback Educational Publishing Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2006
    ISBN9781612474496
    Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio): Illustrated Classics
    Author

    James Fenimore Cooper

    James Fenimore Cooper was born in 1789 in New Jersey, but later moved to Cooperstown in New York, where he lived most of his life. His novel The Last of the Mohicans was one of the most widely read novels in the 19th century and is generally considered to be his masterpiece. His novels have been adapted for stage, radio, TV and film.

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    Reviews for Last of the Mohicans, The (A Graphic Novel Audio)

    3/5

    31 ratings36 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I had a hard time getting into this book. It is a very interesting plot but the manner in which it is written made it pretty tedious for me. I also felt like things dragged on a bit much.
    • 3/5
      OK, let's start with what I enjoyed about this classic - great story and wonderful characters. In this book you really get a good mental picture of Hawkeye, the scout, and Uncas, the last purebred Mohican chief. You fall in love with Cora's heroism and you detest Magua as a treacherous villain. Now, what did I not like - the writing style! This book was so wordy and hard to slug through. Although I enjoyed all the conversations between the characters the descriptions were so tedious and peppered with footnotes. Toward the end of the book, I found myself fast forwarding through the footnotes - some of them were several tracks long! I can see why people love this book - what a great story! But does anyone like his writing style? Last of the Mohicans is the Last of Cooper's books for me!
    • 4/5
      This is a difficult book to read. I only read it because I loved the moive "Lat of the Mohicans" with Daniel Day Lewis. The really interesting part is that some threads of the original are present in the movie. Some of the best lines in the movies are actually taken from the book. 
    • 3/5
      Overall a good story, but told in a very awkward style. I kept drifting off, my mind wandering as I read it. It just simply couldn't keep my attention even though the story itself and most of the characters were very good.
    • 4/5
      A classic adventure novel, set in young America in 1757 during the French and Indian War, published in 1826, this is the story of how a Scout, named Hawkeye by his Delaware tribe companions, helps to try to rescue the two daughters of an English colonel who has been forced to surrender his fort to the French forces. After their surrender, the English soldiers and the families are unharmed by the victorious French, but their Native American colleagues are less merciful and a massacre and kidnapping takes place. Hawkeye (aka Natty Bumppo), the Mohicans Chingachgook and his son Uncas, and Duncan Heyward, a British major, embark on a rescue mission to try to save Colonel Munro's daughters, Alice and Cora Munro, from a fate worse than death at the hands of the villainous Huron, Magua. This is an exciting adventure, with scattered episodes of shocking savagery by the Hurons who have sided with the French forces, and occasional acts of nobility and sacrifice by the Delaware and Mohicans of the story. My history is not strong enough to have a sense of how accurately the "Indian" characters are portrayed, but the even-handed way in which they are depicted seems unusual for a white author in 1826. The only thing that marred the story for me was the stiff and archaic language and sentence structure, but it may well be that this was entirely a product of the times and was well-received by readers at the time. It did make the reading of an exciting story a difficult slog for the most part. This particular copy is undated, but there is a handwritten name and probable date: Cleopatra Price, '13 (1913 of course).
    • 2/5
      Watch the movie! For once, I think the film versions (none of which are completely true to the book) are better than the original novel. Cooper has written an exciting adventure story in such a way that it is a struggle to read. It is tempting to blame that on the early date it was written (1826) except that Jane Austen wrote even earlier and in a much easier style!This audiobook edition also has some problems. This digital audiobook from Recorded Books has chapter markers but they bear no relation to the chapters in the text! I suspect that they represent the sides of cassette tapes -- but at least there wasn't any "This is the end of..." bits. The narrator was okay. Unfortunately, his voice, instead of compelling my attention, caused my mind to wander. For some sections, I had to resort to reading my Kindle edition after repeated attempts to listen left me unable to comprehend what was happening.
    • 4/5
      Kidnapping, adventures tramping through the woods, battles between Native American tribes, this book is full of adventure! This is the most well-known book from Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales series. It’s set during the French and Indian War in 1757. Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of Lieutenant Colonel Munro, are being escorted through the forest in New York when they are kidnapped by members of the Huron tribe. The leader of the band is the vile and unrepentant Magua. The Munro sisters’ protectors, including Major Duncan Heyward, Hawkeye, two Mohican Indians, Chingachgook and Uncas, and a singing teacher named David, attempt to rescue them. Their methods are clever, dressing as animals, even using David’s love of singing at one point! I also loved that there are quotes from Shakespeare throughout the text. He was so revered, even at a time when his plays weren’t readily available. The book was published in 1826, but even back then there are so many mentions about the atrocities that were done to the Native Americans. There are fascinating parts that delve into the history of that time period, but much of the plot is spent with one group chasing another group through the woods. I’ll admit it became tedious after a while. BOTTOM LINE: Wonderful historical information, but it stretched on and became repetitive.
    • 3/5
      Boriŋ. But ðen I was a kid.
    • 4/5
      For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss. Last of the Mohicans is one of my favorite movies, starring Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. While this novel features the same time frame (French and Indian War), the same geography (New York/Canadian border) and the same characters (with the addition of David Gamut, who did not appear in the movie), much of the action, plot and story lines differ significantly.James Fenimore Cooper, the author of Last of the Mohicans and several others of the same genre, came under fairly scathing criticism from none other than Mark Twain, concerning both his style and the contents of his tales. Certainly, Cooper was somewhat wordy, and imbued his heroes with outlandish talents and skills, but not to the detriment of the story, in my opinion.The hero of this novel, and the others in the Leatherstocking series, is known variously as Hawkeye, the Long Rifle or the Scout, an American who has been raised by a Mohican chief, Chingachgook, and his son, Uncas (last of the Mohicans). Hawkeye is the quintessential frontier woodsman, well versed in all of the skills possessed by the natives, but imbued with all of the intelligence, morality and virtues of his race. Some have criticized Cooper for his stereotypical portrayal of the Native Americans (the Delaware as noble savages, the Huron as simply bloodthirsty beasts), but this falls within the common critical failing of attributing current societal norms and mores to historical personages. In any event, Hawkeye and his Mohicans befriend an English officer charged with transporting two English maidens to an English fort on Lake Champlain. The English have been betrayed by their Huron guide (Magua). The balance of the novel entails the effort to rescue the women from their Huron captors with the aid of the friendly Delaware tribe. Much woodscraft, skill in battle and Indian practices and beliefs are contained within the story.While I much preferred the movie to the novel, having much to do with the striking visuals provided by the former, I cannot overly fault the latter and found it to be entertaining taken as a whole. Taking it for what it is, an early-19th century look at the French and Indian War, the reader could do far worse than this classic work.
    • 4/5
      The Last of the Mohicans
      by James Fenimore Cooper
      Published 1826
      Pages: 416
      Genre: Fiction, historical romance
      My copy: kindle/☊, narrated by Larry McKeever.
      Rating ★ ★ ★ 1/2

      Story of the Seven Year War of 1757. Frontiersman, Hawkeye and his Native American friend Uncas, along with David Gamut, the singing teacher, and Major Duncan Heyward, the group's military leader set off to rescue the two Munro sisters who have been taken captive. This author is one of the first to include Native American's in his writing and he does a good job of respecting their culture. There is the suggestion of interracial marriage in the story which would have been quite controversial and maybe also was the reason for his popularity. I think his book might have been one of the very first to make this suggestion. While it is a historical novel and also a novel about a people, there are some inaccuracies. The author's prose is not easy to read. Audio made it better and McKeever had a fine voice but the quality of the audio was poor. I had an echo and also the transitions were quite obvious. Twain criticized Cooper as being a spendthrift as far as his use of words.
    • 5/5
      Difficult to adjust to the writing style? No doubt. Patience required even then? Yes. Nevertheless an artfully and skillfully accomplished novel? Absolutely. This book is so descriptive and tedious in its setting because the merciless and rugged wilderness of N. American before colonisation and Europeans ultimately conquered it was in and of itself one of the primary characters in the novel, just as important as that of the Mohicans, their Indian foes, and the white settlers. While it's a work of fiction, in order to fully understand the tale, it forced me to educate myself on the history of the French-Indian War, most of which it appears I'd forgotten. I'd recommend this book to those interested in the history of colonisation of N. American and certainly anyone interested in Native American culture and the clash between it and the white settlers. A beautiful piece of work.
    • 1/5
      A perfectly good cheapo edition with two typos and no critical apparatus. The only reason you might want to read a scholarly edition is that regular notes will give you blessed breaks in the text of this appallingly awful novel.The novel does have merits. If you have come here after reading the Deerslayer you will find something much more readable because Cooper's intrusive authorial voice is budding but not yet in full flower. If this is your first experience of Cooper, I know it's hard to believe, but he actually gets worse. The dialogue is broken but thankfully he makes little attempt to represent Hawkeye's pronouciation.What you're lacking is anything like the thematic unity of the prequel. There Hawkeye's internal conflict will his ethnic identity is reflected in the plot. There's none of that here. I did find myself wondering a couple of times if Hawkeye was protesting too much and is actually supposed to be mixed race and in denial, but on reflection I think he's just degenerated into a sort of contemptuous racist. I found myself wondering why the Mohicans put up with him. I certainly found it hard to do so.There are so many examples of unparalleled incompetence but I shall restrict myself to this little diamond from page 301:“The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be imagined than described.”Bad enough, but he then proceeds to the end of the chapter, taking a further 71 words to describe the effect.
    • 3/5
      Book on CD performed by William Costello
      3.5***

      The second (and most popular) of the Leatherstocking Tales is set in 1757, during the French and Indian wars. It’s an adventure novel and romance, featuring Hawkeye (a/k/a Leatherstocking, Natty Bumpo or the Scout), a white man who has adopted Indian ways. His “brothers” are the Mohicans: Chingachgook and Uncas. They weave through the lush landscape of upper New York, fighting to save Cora and Alice Munro, the beautiful daughters of a fort commander, from a treacherous Huron renegade, Magua.

      I’m sure this was assigned reading in high school, and am equally sure that I relied on the Cliff’s notes to get through the exam and didn’t actually read this classic American novel. As an adult I can appreciate the prose and the style of 18th-century writing, but it still frustrates me. For the modern-day reader Cooper includes way too much verbiage to get to the point.

      But if the reader can persist, s/he will find a tension-filled adventure – the chases through the wilderness, and major fights/battles are very suspenseful in places. And there is a significant message about the clash of civilizations as the Europeans fought over territory while ignoring the rights, wishes, livelihoods of the indigenous population. Cooper’s historical romance gave us many of the elements so common in frontier fiction: a loner hero, “noble savage” trusted companion, lovely heroines in danger, and a plot full of chases and epic battles. Looked at it that way, I am reminded of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.

      What surprised me most on this reading was Cora’s character. Her strength, intelligence, courage and willingness to sacrifice herself made her a much more complex character than the typical “helpless maiden in distress.”

      William Costello does a fairly good job of reading the audio version, though his slow pace at the beginning made me reconsider whether I wanted to keep listening. I think, however, it was more due to Cooper’s style of writing, than to Costello’s skill as a performer.

      I do have to admit, that the glorious cinematography and music score of the 1992 film, starring Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye, kept running through my mind as I read/listened. While that film has significant departures in plot from Cooper’s novel, it did make me think that I should probably actually read the book, so when our local university book discussion group announced this book in the lineup for fall, I immediately RSVP’d. I’m glad I finally read it, and am looking forward to the discussion.

    • 2/5
      Probably better to stick with the movie version on this one.
    • 2/5
      I had a hard time getting into this book. It is a very interesting plot but the manner in which it is written made it pretty tedious for me. I also felt like things dragged on a bit much.
    • 1/5
      I hated the writing in this book. I slogged all the way through it, but I honestly don't recall much beyond tedium.
    • 3/5
      Classic American stories are part of our lives. We read books on them, references in television series, and watch movies on them. But when we read the actual classic, we find that what we thought it was about is slightly different. The Last of the Mohicans is no different.James Fenimore Cooper wrote a classic that is read in most schools across the country. It’s the story of 2 young English women on a journey to see their father who is a leader in the British Army. With an escort of British military and one native scout they find themselves ambushed. They are saved by a scout and 2 other natives. The fighting amongst the French, English, and native tribes gives Cooper a plethora of material for an intricate plot.This proved to more difficult of a read than I remember from high school when I read it. Maybe it is because I’ve read so many more contemporary versions and watched movies. There are several scenes were the dialogue is only in French. Sorry, I know about three words in that language. Also, so much description was placed that I’d forget what was happening in the scene.Now, I have to admit how movies ruined Cooper’s book for me. The movie with Daniel Daye Lewis was great. I loved it. When I just reread the book, I was so disappointed because the storyline is so different. The book has Alice and Duncan in love. The move has Hawkeye and Cora. There are many other differences, but I would be spoiling the reading experience.If you have not read the book yet, try not to see any movies on it first. It will make the experience so much more enjoyable.Note: This book was free as a public domain piece of literature.
    • 3/5
      --May contain minor spoilers--This novel held a few charms, but none were sustained throughout. Although the plot is one of adventure and suspense, to the modern reader the prose and dialogue often come off as goofy at best. The multiple epithets for each character, for example, imply a sense of grandeur to the pageant that simply wasn't there. The sentence structure, the narrative voice, the epigraphs that preface each chapter and the dialogue all shared in this effect. I was initially entertained by Cooper's eagerness to please, but eventually groans and eye-rolls began to take their toll. The book is at its best when we're getting to know the characters. I became fond of Major Heyward, and much preferred his character to that of Hawkeye the scout. Hawkeye is likely meant to be portrayed as an amazing hero, but he starts out as a completely insufferable know-it-all. (Hawkeye becomes much more tolerable in the final third of the book, but by that point the book has other problems...) I enjoyed the banter with Gamut, the descriptions of the Munro family's love for and loyalty to one another, and the portrayal of Uncas's and Chingachgook's relationship. Magua makes a worthy foe.Memorably, whenever a character is engaged in a debate or is called upon to make a stirring speech, Cooper goes to great lengths to describe the rhetorical strategy, cunning, and eloquence that must be employed for the occasion. One is asked to hear the listeners of these speeches oooh and aaah as Cooper praises the words of his noble and ignoble characters. These speeches on the page, however, are never all that different from how he has any given character speak the most casual dialogue anyway. It's goofball stuff.Cooper asks for a heavy suspension of disbelief when it comes to the amazing prowess of Hawkeye, but even this does not prepare one for later chapters featuring characters infiltrating enemy villages by wearing... a bear costume. (There was also a brief moment of a character blending in with some beavers.) There are truly impressive moments in the book (the massacre outside the fort, for example) but having recently finished it I just can't take it seriously--I'm hung up on the complete cheese of the hero crawling around disguised as a gruff but domesticated bear and getting away with it. Only the experienced eye of Uncas can notice the subtle differences between this farce and the real thing! I read this book out of literary/historical interest, and I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it at times, although maybe not for the reasons Cooper may have intended. My curiosity is now satisfied, and I will not be looking to read more Cooper.
    • 4/5
      Cooper's famous tale of the white scout Hawkeye (aka Natty Bumppo aka La Longue Carabine) who has forsaken the growing materialism of "civilized" society to live amongst the natives in the woods of 18th century New York offers what should have been a lively tale of adventure. The year is 1757, the French and Indian War rages in North America, both the British and French having their own Indian allies. The daughters of a British commander, Munro, must travel from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry, guided by a Huron whom their father trusts. That Huron, Magua, turns out to be an ersatz ally of the French commander Montcalm. Hawkeye and his companions, father and son Chingachgook and Uncas, rescue the daughters, Cora and Alice. They lose them to Magua and his band of Huron. They rescue them again. Then, when they finally arrive at Fort William Henry, it is nearly too late as the French have it under a ferocious siege. Munro surrenders the fort to Montcalm who lets the British troops retreat to Fort Edward. Magua has other designs and attacks and massacres the British, yet again kidnapping the Munro girls.The racial and gender views of the time are repeatedly brought forth in the narrative, and this is not just Cooper regurgitating beliefs from 100 years prior to his writing. In the preface, Cooper himself states that women should not read his book as they won't like it, it's too manly. On practically every other page, Hawkeye, while treating his two Delaware as of his own family, reminds his white companions and the reader that his blood has no cross, meaning no cross-contamination with native blood. After a dozen or so instances, it gets incredibly trying seeing it on the page again and again.Somewhere inside is a great adventure story, but you have to get through a multitude of asides, 18th century racial philosophy that is repeatedly placed in the reader's face and a density of language beyond the usual anachronistics of early 19th century literature. It still, however, retains its place in literary history as one of the earliest examples of the American novel.
    • 5/5
      James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Last of the Mohicans" (subtitled "A Narrative of 1757"), is a remarkable book for many reasons. First published in 1826, the book represents an early attempt to create substantial literary art from the material of North American history and geography. Although the book has its flaws, it is for the most part a success.In the novel, the white woodsman Hawk-eye and his Mohican Indian comrade Chingachgook join forces to help the daughters of a white military officer through hostile territory. The story takes place in a colonial American setting marked by conflict between French and English forces -- a conflict that also involves various Indian nations.There are a number of exciting (and often graphically violent) scenes of battle and chase. Hawk-eye, a white man who, to a large degree, rejects European-American values, is a fascinating figure -- indeed, he is one of the most enduring fictional creations in all of United States literature. Through the mouths of Hawk-eye and the various Indian characters, Cooper offers some intriguing criticisms of white culture.
    • 1/5
      Having to read this in high school is one of the things that made me think I hated to read. I'm sure there are those for whom this is their cup of tea, but it should never be inflicted on high school students! It seemed like it was about a guy who walked around in the woods for hundreds of pages. Granted, my experience with it might be different as an adult, but I don't see myself trying again with this one.
    • 3/5
      The title of the story pretty much sums up the main storyline. The Last of the Mohicans is surprise, about the last of the Mohicans. Well if you want to be technical, it's about the last two Mohicans, a Father and his Son, but based on the title of the story, you can pretty much guess what happens at the end. The story is centred around two sisters, Cora and Alice who are the daughters of a British General. They are travelling back to meet up with their Father at one of the British trading posts when they are betrayed by an Indian guide (antagonist) who is supposed to show them they way through the wilderness. Long story short, the girls are caught and then freed and then caught again (this happens multiple times) and during this whole time, the Mohicans and their friend, the Scout (I am assuming he is British as well) who are the protagonist of the story are in constant pursuit to rescue these two damsels from the perils of their captors - the savages.As with so many other classics that I've read in the past, the first couple of chapters are always the most laborious to read as it takes me some time to catch onto the idioms and the language that these books usually take. I often find that I am reading the same paragraphs multiple times in order to wrap my mind around what the author is trying to convey. Overall The Last of the Mohicans was a pleasant enough read. There were certain portions of the book that keep me going while other parts rather dragged (after the second rescue and capture, it got rather annoying), and my mind would start wandering. With a little dash of adventure and a smidgeon of romance, the story passed relatively quickly for the most part. If you are a lover of Classics then I would definitely give this book a chance, but otherwise, for most readers, I think time could be better spent elsewhere.
    • 4/5
      I think people get mad at this book because it is written in the romantic style. Of course there is lofty language, of course it is strewn with figurative language and idealistic undertones. In fact, that is what made the novel revolutionary (not to mention an unseen-before anthropologist's cultural relativity..sort of.) If you don't like sentimentalism...then don't read fiction from the romantic period in America. And by romantic I don't mean love, I mean a deference to natural surroundings and a higher appreciation for artistry and sentimentalism. The characters are well developed, believable in that larger-than-life way. There is a proper hero, a fallen woman, an epic grace to the way the story flows. War and adventure is at the forefront, and a there is a hint of travel, journey, experience. To anyone who understands why historic literature is the way it is, I recommend this four star book.
    • 3/5
      Fenimore writes with sentimental flair which can certainly annoy and irritate:1) the lofty narrative tone 2) the ornate convoluted language 3) the unconvincing dialogue 4) the unconvincing, one-dimensional characterization, and these are all there to repell any reader.However, there were times in my reading that I no longer had that plodding feeling, and I contribute that loss of annoyance to a few factors as the plot unfolded.The setting: I found Fenimore’s description of the lush and dense foliage, the mountains, and the landscape of the early upper state New York wilderness as interesting and detailed, serving as a convincing foundation and revealing it as very much an obstacle in the French and Indian War. The culture: Fenimore delves into the various customs and tribal politics of the Hurons and Delawares. Yes, the scalping is all there, but it's the inter-personal relationships and how they are dealt with between Chigachgook and the Hurons. And of course, Hawkeye, clearly a man who has cast off civilation, preferring to live with the confines of the wilderness where contamination of western society are far and few between. When the sentimental language tended to be a bit much (which was frequent) I would remind myself that the novel was geared toward entertaining current readers of that time (with no i-pods and computers, something to bear in mind). There were a few times in the novel I found myself confused to what was happening, but strove on. I can't say this was an enjoyable read; I can say it was an unusual reading experience, and for the most part a painless one. It could have been worse--it could have been Faulkner. I actually have a desire to read the rest of The Leather Stocking Tales.
    • 3/5
      This is one of those icons of American literature that everyone has heard about, but not everyone gets around to actually reading. I don't know why I had never picked it up before, unless maybe I read something of Cooper's in school and didn't enjoy it. But I decided to see for myself what it was all about.Despite my expectations, the book was pretty easy to read. There were a few times when I skimmed through, especially towards the end, but there was a lot of action and the story was interesting. It is quite different from modern books in a couple of ways. First, the dialogue. Nobody speaks like that! In fact, I doubt they ever spoke like that! Usually it was just sort of one of those things you read and don't think about, but a couple of times it actually brought me back out of the story, especially when Hawkeye would use some dialectal spelling of a word which didn't need any spelling change in the first place. So that was sometimes disconcerting.The other major shift is the whole 'noble savage' thing. See, it starts with these two sisters who are daughters of an English - well, Scottish major, who is defending a fort from some French soldiers and Indians. They want to travel from one fort to another to meet him. They get captured, and lost, and rescued, and then arrive and a bunch more adventures ensue. They are rescued by Hawkeye and his two companions, both Mohicans. Somehow, there's all this stuff in there that translates into Bad Indian versus Good Indian. It's all pretty dated. If you ask me, none of them were all that noble! What's with all the scalping and dashing babies brains out? But Uncas and his father, the two Mohicans, were certainly more the heroic type. I just have to wonder how much of this is romanticized, and I think the answer is, most of it. It was still a good story, but I think modern readers would find it a little hard to puzzle out. I was helped a lot by sparknotes.com and their reader's guide. 3 stars because it is a good story, but it's not really told in a way that I loved.
    • 3/5
      Who knew a book so full of action could be so boring? I didn't even cry at the end,,,
    • 5/5
      This week, I finished The Last Of The Mohicans, which took me a bit longer than most books of that length. The writing was particularly dense and descriptive, so I wasn’t getting through as many pages as I would in a lighter book. I’ve not seen the film, so the whole story was new to me, which is always a bonus.I really enjoyed this one, and it’s the first classic I’ve dipped into for a couple of months. It’s easy to lose yourself in the 18th century American wilderness, and the characters are well fleshed out. I’ll say this for Cooper: he can write battle scenes brilliantly. Every assault by Indians, or attempt to hold a position by the heroes, was captured in a manner which got my heart pounding from paragraph to paragraph, and put the images in my head as clearly as if I were standing in the middle of that forest.Having said that, I thought the writing style as a whole was over-descriptive. I’m more of a fan of a more minimalist style, probably as a result of reading a lot of contemporary works. When writing gets too wordy, it can become difficult to get through and less enjoyable for me. That’s probably why this book was a bit of a slog each day.Nevertheless, I’m glad I persevered. I tried to read this book years ago, when I was about 18 or something, and gave up after about 20 pages because it just didn’t grab me. It’s been sat on my shelf since, and it was definitely worth picking up again.
    • 2/5
      I was a history major in college and even studied much about the French and Indian War. The movie of the same title is great, so I thought the book would be worth a read. I was very, very wrong. The book is a long and rather awful read. I hate to say such bad things about a famous American novel and writer, but the story just did not make much sense sometimes and the narrative was long and very hard to read. If you like the movie, the story is completely different. It may be worth a read if you have the time.
    • 1/5
      If time travel were possible, I'd go back in time and assassinate James Fenimore Cooper before he ever put pen to paper (in this imaginary scenario, let it be known that I also possess mad ninja skills). Why do I hate Cooper so much? Let me count the ways:1) His never-ending description of every rock, twig, river, etc., that the main characters come into contact with. No pebble escapes his scrutiny. This book would have been 3 pages long without the description. And even then, it would have been 3 pages too long.2) Native American dialogue is limited to the occasional exclamation of "Hugh." Not Hugh as in Hefner, but something more like "huh." They're a quiet people, apparently. I'm shocked they don't greet each other by saying, "How."2 1/2) While we're on the subject, they're all stereotypes of either the noble savage variety or the "me big chief Ugh-a-Mug gotta have 'em squaw" variety. The whole thing is a racist piece of crap. And don't tell me that Cooper was reflecting the beliefs of the time because, while that may explain the racism, it doesn't explain away the crap bit.3) Practically every speech by Hawk-eye will contain some bit of dialogue such as, "Even though white blood runs through my veins." Lest we forget he's white since he's been hobnobbing with the natives for so long.4) Those damn women just keep getting kidnapped.5) For an action story, it's mind-numbingly boring. To illustrate, I give you a riveting, action packed scene in which Duncan, the British officer, tries to distract le Renard Subtil (also known as Magua, also known as Wes Studi in the film) with a discussion of French etymology. Dash cunning of him, don't you think? It sure would have sucked if he had just attacked him with a knife, a gun, or even a rapier wit. Apparently Duncan's plan was to wear down his enemy with sheer boredom:'Here is some confusion in names between us, le Renard,' said Duncan, hoping to provoke a discussion. 'Daim is the French for deer, and cerf for stag; elan is the true term, when one would speak of an elk.'6) Everyone is known by about three or four different names, because anything less would have been confusing. Right, Coop?7) Did I mention that it's just frickin' boring? I would rather slam my head in a car door than ever read this book again.The best part about the book was that there were entire sections in French. For once, lack of knowledge about a foreign language has paid off! I was practically giddy with excitement when I encountered entire pages of French dialogue as it meant, mon Dieu!, I got to skip the entire page.
    • 3/5
      This would've been a lot better book had they not interupted the action parts with long dialouge. Still, pretty good.