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The Last of the Mohicans (Classics)Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here!  List Price: £7.99 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £5.99 You Save: £2.00 (25%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 813.2 EAN: 9780140390247 Edition: New edition ISBN: 0140390243 Label: Penguin Classics Manufacturer: Penguin Classics Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 384 Publication Date: November 27, 1986 Publisher: Penguin Classics Studio: Penguin Classics Related Items:
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 Rating: - Convoluted, involving historical tale of early AmericaI read all of James Fennimore Cooper's novels in a fever of curiosity about American history about ten years ago, and undoubtedly he is remembered for the right one - the colossal rag-tag tale that is "The Last of the Mohicans". The others are interesting, but never achieve the same narrative drive and sheer impressive drama. There have been numerous attempts to bring it to the big screen, the most memorable in our time being Michael Mann's epic film of the same name in 1992. But the original is not quite like anything else. To read it in the modern age you have to swallow certain reservations, certain prejudices of our own - more on this later. First, the story. It's the French and Indian wars in 18th century America; the French and English are battling for supremacy over this incredible resource, a new and terrifically important colony. Virgin forests, hundreds of tribes, the land of the east coast of America was the setting for unheard-of upheaval and destruction, and absolutely everybody was caught up in it. It's hard now to calmly assess the horrific arrogance of both the British (yup, that's me) and the French in their casual assumption that whoever gained military supremacy over this land would, literally, own it, quite regardless of the actual, long-time inhabitants. Of course, Cooper's 19th century America was no less arrogantly assuming ownership of the continent, the Indians being to them little more than a costly and dangerous thorn in their side. I generalise, of course: we all have our demons to exorcise. No British subject should forget our own sordid imperial past. In this setting, the story revolves around the impact on the lives of two sisters, lost in the woods, of a family party that rescue them, again and again: the Mohican Chingachgook, otherwise known as Le Gros Serpent, his son Uncas, and his adopted white son Hawkeye, also known as Natty Bumppo or La Longue Carabine (The Long Rifle). Their attempts to bring the sisters to safety form the basis of the story, and numerous armies, tribes and other characters cross their path in the dramatic and dangerous journey, surely the most important of which is Magua, the vengeful Huron Indian who has a long-cherished hatred of the sisters. I think Cooper's reputation is tarnished now; but the 1930 screenplay on which Mann's film is based seems to me to be cut from very similar cloth. Cooper, despite shades of bigotry, and for all his faults, gave a voice to all the many tribes of Indians about whom he writes in this novel. He names them; assigns them characteristics and gives them a voice and a decisive part in the action: these are not mere, faceless `Indians' of the type much beloved by Hollywood cinema of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The motivation of his prime villain, the multi-lingual Magua, is explored and taken in context. **Spoiler** Uncas, the warrior son of Chingachgook and the last of the Mohicans, falls for Cora. Cooper's racism is that of assuming that his readers would agree with him that it was out of the question that Uncas' love for Cora could be realised or even taken very seriously. But despite this note - which, today, is sour for me - you know these people very well by the end of the book. Some of Cooper's modern-day readers will be unable to forgive his casual contemporary racism. If so, reading modern American Indian authors such as Adrian C Louis may help redress the imbalance. Better still: if you feel part of the still-excluded `Other', write your own stories. It's unfortunate that the modern world favours the written word over the oral tradition, to which American Indian history is so tied. However, if you can take Cooper in context, forgive his foibles, and appreciate what he did achieve, and what he did positively do, you'll find in this novel (of which the NC Wyeth illustrated version is the best) a fascinating, sprawling narrative that will tell you a great deal about American fear and American life as shaped by the events of this incredibly turbulent time. Rating:  - Surprisingly tough goingI began reading Cooper's arguably most famous work with high expectations. Sadly, I was disappointed. The characters are dreadfully clichéd, and their wooden dialogue gets infuriating. Hawkeye, moreover, is quite a disagreeably arrogant character throughout most of the novel. Nonetheless, Cooper manages a nice frontier adventure which brings to life the never-never land of eighteenth-century America. I recommend for comparison Michael Mann's 1992 adaptation of the novel, which remedies all of the above flaws and is one of the best adventure films of all time. Rating: - worth every pennyThis 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, Pasthfinder 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. Rating:  - Truely a classicFor a book that was written in 1826 it still say alot for the world today. If people read the book in expecting it to be anything like the film with Daniel Day Lewis they would be mistaken. The book starts with the Mohicans and their white brother (Chingahook, Uncas and Hawk eye aka Natty Bumppo) who help protect the daughters of General Munro (Cora and Alice) against the savage trickery and cruelty of Magua, a Huron. The book follows their journeys together climaxing with a final confrontation, which ends the lives of some beloved characters. To read this you will need to vaguely comprehend (or have a dictionary to hand) French, but this doesn't occur much. The book is beautifully written, but does take a while to get used to, but it is well worth the effort. Rating: - Worth the waitFirst a confession: 'The Last of the Mohicans' had been on my bookshelf for four years and I'd never got past the third chapter. But with a five week break between jobs, I knew that if I didn't read it now, I never would. The first half of the book is slow, and Cooper's language is not easy on the modern eye. As other reviewers have pointed out, the plot does seem in places tenuous and the narrative over descriptive, but the book's strength is the brilliant characterisation. Despite the setting, as the story develops, the reader can identify strongly with the hopes and fears of the main characters. My fear on first opening this book that it would be irrelevant to my life proved wrong. This book may be hard-going, but it's worth reading. You need to take some time over it and persevere with the first half, but when you finish the book you'll feel it was worth it.  Try searching the Internet for "The Last of the Mohicans (Classics)" or Ebay for "The Last of the Mohicans (Classics)". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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