James Fenimore Cooper

[bluosean]

Ive finally finished reading all of the Letherstocking Tales and I loved them. I read the Last of the Mohecians first and I liked it the best. That was maybe five years ago and I would like to read it again sometime. They were all pretty amazing though. If any of yall would like to talk about these books or about Cooper that would be cool. His sea tales are supposed to be really good too (I know that Melville though that he was great and he admired his writings of the sea). I have a book that contains The Piolet and The Red Rover and when I have time Ill read it.

I realize that if we talk we need someting to talk about so ill offer something to start. I much prefer the sense of loss in the Pioneeres to that in Thoreaus Walden. These are two of the only books I have read that deal in large part with the destruction of the wilderness. Coopers descriptions of the shooting of the piggons and the fishing with drag nets in the lake are very good. Cooper may not reflect on nature quite the same as thoreau (who kind of bores me) but he is at least as good at writing about it.

Please don't make fun of my misspellings and vague ideas. I just want to get some people talking about Cooper, and the last thing that I want to say (thought it dosent fit here particularillarly well) is that I read St. John of the Cross, Cesear Vellejo, and Ruben Dario--though I don't remember the last one being recomended. So, thank you St. Luke. Spanish poetry is pretty bad ***. I loved all three (I read one book of collected pomes by each author). I would like talk about them too if anyone wants to.

[missmeadowsweet]

I have The Last of the Mohicans on my list to read this summer, but I'm hesitant to read it because I've heard reports that it is very boring. What did you like about it? Is the language difficult? It sounded interesting in a summary of it that I read, but I'm still unsure.

[bluosean]

It is usually charged against Cooper that he is boring. Ill admit that I have been bored sometimes reading some of his books, but the last of the mohecians is NOT boring. It is his most popular book probably because of that. It is about the French and Indian War and it is an amazing war book. Cooper writes extensively about peoples that most people dont (the native peoples of North America). I find his writings about Indians and Whites and Blacks (though last of the Mohecians contains no blacks) very interesting. Most authors leave out that part of the american experence. Thats why he is interesting (well Indians are one of the reasons). And nah the language isnt really that hard to understand. Some scenes, like the chase in the canoe, seem to come from the page very naturally (some of Cooper seems tortured), are beautifully written, and far from boring.

[Venerable Bede]

I have to disagree. I tried to read Cooper's Last of the Mohicans and I found it very boring. And it wasn't because the language was hard, since some of my favourite works have much harder language. There was far too much purple prose; it felt like Cooper was trying to mimic the high language of great authors, and ended up sounding unnatural and weird. His action scenes were muddled and ambiguous. Overall, I didn't like it :yesnod:.

[PeterL]

I don't think that Cooper was boring, and I had never encountered that criticism before. I do think that Twain was right about using Cooper as the exemplar of bad writing. Cooper's writing was very variable, and it wasn't always logical. I would suggest that you read "The Literary Offences of Fennimore- Cooper and see what you think of his writing after ward.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3172/3172.txt

[Ecurb]

Of course Mark Twain was a curmudgeon who slammed such literary luminaries as Jane Austen as well as Cooper. He once said of Austen, 'I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.'

Careful readers may wonder why, if Twain despised Austen's novels so much, he apparently read them over and over again ("Every time I read....").

[bluosean]

Twain also said something like "a library without any books by Jane Austen is a good one even if it contains no other volumes". But I like Austen and Cooper a lot and I dont like Mark Twain. Cooper is too under-rated I think and Twians reputation will slide. Huckelberry Finn is a good book but Twains writings overall, at least what I have read of them, are only alright. His essay doesnt prove anything. It is funny but unfair. Studies in Classical American literature (D H Lawerence) presents a much more balanced view of Cooper. Cooper can be boring but much of his writing is not. He certainly is a very varied writer. Cooper is not as good as Melville or Faulkner but he is better than Twain and Hemingway and as good as Crane.

By the way the charges that Twain brought against Cooper were said before and explained better by other critics. It has been said that Cooper entirely missed the essence of Native american cultures in his writings (he was too biased and inaccurate) but the same charge was brought against Faulkner pertaning to blacks. Be all that as it may, they both tried to understand and they both wrote good stuff. Compare this to Twains continuous and vicious attacks on Indians in his writing (not satire or attempted compensation for Coopers romatiziation of Indians but hateful attacks). One example of this is Injun Joe from Tom Sawyer. There is an article somewhere on the net on this. And yeah Coopers writing can can contain too much romance or be all romance but I think anyone who reads The Pioneers or The Deerslayer will be surprised by the depth of the observations and the excellence of the prose. The Last of the Mohicans strikes me as a very pure book that flows effortlessly, it is maybe the least tortured (the prose does not seem fake) of his books. Sure there are scenes that are more than unlikely but Cooper has something really good in his writings that I'm sure is brillance. One problem is that he was always short of money so he wrote something like 30 novels withouth revisions and at a fast pace. Probably, his books wouldn't be that much better had he revised them but there is something natural in his best prose that is really, really amazing. Sometimes he was akward but somethings came out amazing and seem right.

[The Comedian]

You've got me really interested in reading the Pioneers now. I've read Mohicans a long time ago -- too long to recall much for this discussion. And a friend lent me a copy the Deerslayer that I should read soon. Maybe I'll start it right now.

Thanks for the inspiration!

C

[bluosean]

The Pioneers is a crazy good book. Unfortunately, though I loved The Last of the Mohicans, the action in The Pioneers I did not like so much. The book starts great from the first sentences though and continues like that most of the way.

[missmeadowsweet]

Thanks for the input! I will definitely at least give Cooper a try and become more familiar with his works than I am now.

[onioneater]

Don't forget how suspenseful "The Pathfinder" is! I think that is my favorite Leatherstocking tale, although I've only read four of them. Last of the Mohicans is great too. The Deerslayer is very good too. I need to read The Prairie!