Rating: 
Summary: The pinnacle of American Literature, A must read.
Review: I am a High School student and have read “The Last of the Mohicans” for my American Studies Class. We just finished studying the Native Nations and I have read a few articles on the Native Americans. The Last of the Mohicans, written by James Fenimore Cooper, is the paramount of American Literature. Unlike other books of its time, it ignores the stereotypes and common misconceptions of the Native Americans, concentrating only on reality. Throughout the book Cooper outlines his views on race, love and hatred between individuals from different groups within the American society of that time.
The story is set in the French and Indian War. The two daughters of Colonel Munro set off into the wilderness to meet their father in Fort William Henry. They are accompanied by Major Heyward, and are guided by Magua, an Indian. They meet the scout Hawkeye and his companions Chingachgook and Uncas in the forest. The last of the Mohicans is about the treachery, loyalty, challenges, and allegiances that this group encounters during this perilous journey through the wilderness.
This book might be a challenge for many readers, since the language used is not common in present-day literature. However once the reader overcomes this barrier, the true power and complexity of this story reveals itself. Cooper does not label Indians as savages in this story; instead, he shows the honorable side of them, such as the bravery and determination of Uncas, or the wit and intelligence of Chingachgook. He also presented the interaction between races, for example the doomed relationship between Uncas and Cora. Cooper’s writing style is extremely detailed and vivid. His description of fighting scenes and the emotions of individuals lets the reader experience the incident as if they were watching the event personally.
The Last of the Mohicans is an extremely well written master piece by James Fenimore Cooper. In the book Cooper illustrates the greatness of Native Americans. He also outlines his views on race, love and hatred between certain groups of individuals during the French and Indian War. This book is great for people interested in understanding Native American culture, but be prepared for a fairly challenging read.
Rating:
Summary: An American Classic
Review: I first read "Last of the Mohicans" many years ago. Recently, I was doing research on the Beaver Wars of the 17th century and learned a great deal about the history of the early colonies and the relationships between the various Native American nations and tribal groups. It's fascinating stuff, to say the least.After completing the research (which resulted in a two volume set of books entitled "Iroquois Wars" available on Amazon.com), I re-read Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" with a more careful eye. Clearly, Cooper knew his stuff. He captures the true spirit of the American frontier spot on. He retains a mournful sensitivity toward the plight of the dwindling eastern woodland tribes while offering none of the absurd modern political correctness that makes every Indian wise, generous, and kind, and every European colonist vicious, greedy, and ignorant. While subject to the occasional novelist's hyperbole, Cooper also draws an accurate picture of Native military tactics and rituals. The various harangues and conversations he creates could have been lifted directly from the pages of the Jesuit Relations or other primary sources in which actual conversations were recorded by those who understood the various Algonquian and Iroquoian tongues. In short, I highly recommend "Last of the Mohicans" to anyone who enjoys historical novels or those with a particular interest in frontier history, the American colonial wars, or the native tribes of the eastern woodlands. The book truly is an American classic. (P.S., don't bother with the recent movie of the same name--it bears only passing resemblance to this book).
Rating:
Summary: Captures the ruggedness of the American wilderness
Review: I first read The Last of the Mohicans in 1973 and have reread it periodically over the years. Although Mark Twain is often given credit for being the first quintessential American author, I would vote for James Fenimore Cooper. This is a magnificent book that captures the ruggedness of the American wilderness and creates the American Hero, Hawkeye- the loner who rejects the institutions and the relationships that most men need and who stand alone for what is right. This motif has been picked up in countless American heros ranging from Hammetts Sam Spade to John Wayne. Although written in a style that may be difficult for the contemporary reader to grasp, it is, nevertheless, a beautifully written novel. Cooper has a way of describing the savage beauty of the American wilderness that is unequaled in literature. An example of this is his description of the forest swallowing up the European armies only to spit them out in ragged pieces- armies larger than those that often dispose of the scepters of the mother countries were seen to bury themselves in these forest, whence they rarely returned but in skeleton bands that were haggard with care or dejected by defeat. Raised in western Oregon and spending much of my youth in the Oregon wilderness, I know exactly what Cooper describes. There is a terrible beauty about the wilderness that both invites and destroys. It is a beauty that draws on into its inner recesses can quickly turn into terror as the weather turns foul, ones sense of direction is lost and the forest seems to close in around one fights off the feeling of terror and loneliness. It gives an rush that city folks cannot even imagine. The story is set in the geo-political struggle between the France and England for control of colonial empires both in the Americans and India. It is a story of savagery, slaughter, betrayal and courage. Of course, this book would offend the sensibilities of politically correct. Yes, Indians are describes as savages and yes, they massacre innocent women and children. Yes, Europeans get better press; but Cooper, like Melville, addresses the race issue. Hero's and villains are been on both sides of the conflict. This is a great book and should be on your must read list of American literature.
Rating:
Summary: A review for Last of the Mohicans
Review: I know this book is a classic, and James Fenimore Cooper sought to fatten these pages with epic sagas of Indian and White-Men wars, placing special emphasis on the pride of every Indian tribe and their greatly diverse natures. He succeeded. The proud and somewhat glorious adventures of these doomed warriors is on every page. The Indian tribes are richly described in their bravery and cunning at war, their knowledge of the land they love and know so much better than the White Man. In the wilderness of the 16th century, we have the Mohicans and the Mingos at war with each other and the white man. It is significant to the author to point out the last of the great Mohican tribe as a symbolic reference that, during this time frame, one tribe at least was near extinction, an omen and future yet to befall the rest of the "owners" of a country much loved and revered by the Indian. What becomes tough for the reader to sort out is this: Some tribes are referred to by three different names - or more, and within these tribes, some Indians themselves by many names. Adventure and fighting are abundant of course, and James Fenimore Cooper even adds a bit of romance and intrigue as a quest for two loved ones underlies much of the story. I am sorry to say I was lost in trying to keep it all straight, and the book put me to sleep more often than not. Still, if you are an adventure lover and particularly interested in 16th century sagas, you may thrill to these pages. If not, it's a pretty good sleeping pill.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to understand
Review: I never really had any intention of ever reading this booking, having assumed that it was romanticized nonesense, but after watching the movie, and, for some reason, enjoying it, I decided that the time had come: I had to read the book. So I did. At first, I'll admit, the going was a little slow, as the writing is somewhat fanciful and the dialogue stilted, but this awkwardness became less of an issue the more I became enthralled by the story. Having seen the movie in advance, it was interesting to see how much the movie had in fact diverged from the story. Actually, aside from many of the characters, the setting, and the general premise of the story, the movie is quite different from the book. So much so, that it is safe to say that the movie has totally failed to capture the true spirit of the novel, and is little more than the typical Hollywood historical romance. The most unfortunate aspect of the movie, however, is how the "patriotic" element was incorporated--this is simply not in the book. I do have to say that the movie in its own right is good, but it utterly fails as an adaptation. The is no doubt that Last of the Mohicans is a classic. It is a book that I know will be reread a number of times before my time comes, and I'm sure with each reading, new meaning and insight will be found in its pages.
Rating: 
Summary: An Early Example of American Literature
Review: Reading this, it's easy to see why James Fennimore Cooper is considered the first true American novelist. A comparison with the rather talky, and overly descriptive English novels of the time, shows that this is vastly different. First, of course, this is about the exploits of the common man. Hawkeye, the main white character, is the quintessential rugged individualist, eschewing society to live in the woods and travel with his Indian companions. Then there is the natural setting--the woods and streams and waterfalls of upstate New York, which appear almost as characters, themselves in the novel. And then, of course, there is that most American of stories, the decimation of the Indian populations. Having not read this book since I was in grade school, I found it suprisingly enjoyable. I was also surprised to find that the true emphasis of the story was the relationship between Hawkeye, the white scout,and the Mohicans, rather than the love story cooked up for the 1991 movie, and that a love interest also exhisted between the young Mohican, Uncas, and Munro's daughter, Cora,who, expediently, turned out to be of mixed race herself. As historical fiction, this is very accurate. And though the Indians are generally depicted,at their worst, as inhuman savages, and, at their best, as surprisingly bright and sensitive savages, for the time in which it was written, it was probably rather daring, and the most one could expect toward bridging the gap between the races. In this edition, the N.C.Wyeth illustrations were a real asset. I wish we could go back to the days when books were beautifully bound and contained artistically rendered illustrations. It really adds to the total reading experience. I would definitely recommend that those who think of this as one of those classics they were forced to read in school, give it a second try. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Still one of the Classics
Review: Set in upstate New York in colonial times, Cooper here tells the tale of the stolid colonial scout Hawkeye, nee Natty Bumppo (don't ask), who, with his two Indian companions Chingachgook (the Big Snake) and his son Uncas (apparently newly come to manhood), stumble on a party of British soldiers conducting two fair maidens to their father, the commander of British Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War. Under the watchful eyes of the young British officer who has the girls in his charge and led by a Huron scout, Magua, the party appears, to the indomitable Hawkeye, to be at greater risk than they realize as they trek through the wilderness toward the safety of the girls' father's garrison. And, indeed, Hawkeye's judgement is soon proved right as the scout Magua treacherously betrays the hapless girls in repayment, it seems, for a stint of corporal punishment inflicted on him previously by their absent parent. Since the Hurons, Magua's native tribe, are culturally akin to the Iroquois who are the herditary enemies of the Algonquin Delawares, from whom Chingachgook and his son hail and among whom Hawkeye has made his home and friendships, a natural antagonism arises almost at once between Hawkeye's party and the Huron and this proves salutary, when danger finally strikes. The tale quickly becomes a matter of flight and pursuit through thickly overgrown primeval forests, over rough mountains and across broad open lakes as the beleagured travelers first elude and then flee the dreaded Iroquois (allies of the French) who have joined the renegade Huron in an effort to seize the two girls. After a brief respite within the safety of William Henry however, the tables are once again turned as Magua's perfidy puts the girls once more at risk. And now the story shifts to a manic pursuit of the fleeing Magua who means to carry off his human prey in order to finally have his revenge on the girls' father, on the British and on the Europeans, generally, whose presence in his native country he blames (not altogether unjustifiably) for his myriad travails. Written in the fine tradition of the 19th century romance (which, of course, is what this book is), Cooper picked up where Sir Walter Scott (the venerable founder of this novelistic tradition) left off, creating a rich historical tale of adventure, nobility and marvelously sketched characters set against a brilliantly detailed natural landscape. If his characters are less keenly drawn than Scott's they are no less memorable for, in the quiet nobility of the scout Hawkeye lies the strong, silent hero of the wilderness which has become the archetypical protagonist in our own American westerns. And the Indians, Chingachgook and Uncas, are the very prototypes of the noble savage, so much used, and over-used, today. This is a tale of action first and foremost without much plot but so well told that you barely notice, as our heroes flee and pursue their enemies in turn -- until the very quickness of the prose seems to mirror and embody the speed of the action. Nor is this book only to be read for its rapid-fire rendition of flight and pursuit, for it touches the reader on another level as well, as the bold young Uncas moves out ahead of his comrades to place himself at risk for the others and the woman he loves. Although we never see Uncas at anything but a distance and never get to know the man he is supposed to be, he is yet a symbol of that people of whom he is the last chiefly descendant, the Delaware Mohicans. Nobly born into the finest of Mohican bloodlines, Uncas faces his final trial with heroic energy and resolve in order to defeat the nefarious and twisted Magua. Yet this struggle is also the final footnote in the story of a people, marking the closing chapter for all those Indians who, with the Mohicans, have, in Cooper's own words, seen the morning of their nation and the inevitable nightfall which must follow. If you give this book a chance and bear with some of the heavy nineteenth century prose, it will prove out in the end. An exciting and worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Cooper's Most Admired Novel
Review: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS is an adventure story set in the frontier wilderness of New York during the French and Indian War (1756-1763). The war is fought between the British and the French. The latter make alliances with several Native American tribes.
The main characters of the novel are Hawkeye, Magua, Duncan Heyward, Uncas, Cora Munro, Alice Munro, Colonel Munro and General Montcalm. Hawkeye is a scout and woodsman. Magua is a rogue member of the Huron tribe and the villain of the story. Duncan Heyward is a young major in the British Army. Uncas is the last member of the Mohican tribe and a protege of Hawkeye. Cora Munro is the daughter of Colonel Munro who is the commander of the British Army at Fort William Henry. Cora is partly of African descent. Alice Munro is Cora's younger half-sister. General Montcalm is a famous French general.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS is mostly a tale of adventure but it is also a love story which explores the challenges of interracial friendship and romance. The book's writing style is typical of an early nineteenth century novel and for that reason it is not always easy to understand. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS is a classic which raises questions that still remain relevant today.
Rating:
Summary: The Last of the Mohicans
Review: The Last of the Mohicans takes place during the French and Indian War, and it covers the fall of Ft. William Henry in 1757 to the French. In the vast woods travel Chingachgook, his son Uncas, and Hawkeye, a white man who is more comfortable with Indians. Chingachgook and Uncas are the last of the Mohicans, an Indian tribe. Although Hawkeye's niche is clearly with the Mohicans, he constantly asserts throughout the book that he is white and does not have Indian blood.
One day, this group meets with travelers heading to the fort. In this group are Cora and Alice Munro, Major Duncan Heyward, their Indian guide Magua, and later a minstrel named David Gamut. The girls want to meet with their father, British Colonel Munro at the fort. Magua has deliberately led them astray, but when confronted, he escapes. Magua is a Huron whose loyalities lie with the French, and he harbors deep resentment to Colonel Munro. The group arrives at the fort, but the fort falls to the French. The French and British have terms of peace, but the Indian allies of the French do not heed these terms, causing much bloodshed. Alice, Cora, and Gamut are captured, and the rest of the book covers the wild "rescue" of these three. Action and adventure depict the wild frontier, and there are also hints of love. Heyward and Alice are kind but "delicate" while Uncas and Cora are bold and courageous.
Great book. The plot moves quickly, although sometimes it is a little stagnant. However, the need to know what happens next drives the reader to continue reading. In addition, Cooper does a good job describing each character. One can imagine courageous Hawkeye standing there on the hills, a white man in deerskin, with his rifle, or the laconic but admirable Uncas emanating with courage and skill. Cooper describes the setting well--the wild frontier, complete with the sound effects of nature. The Indian skirmishes are described graphically, which is all the better for forming mental images.
Although this book is wonderful, I do have some complaints. In the beginning, there are long footnotes, and they distracted me. Also, there is some conversation in French but no translation! As one person pointed out, yes, a lot of characters have more than one name in the book. For example, Major Heyward is called Heyward, Duncan (his first name), the major, etc... It is not bad for Heyward, but for others, it can get a little confusing, especially in dialogue, if there are just titles (ie: "the Indian", "the latter," "the scout"). Also, there are tons of Indian tribes mentioned--Mohawk, Delawares, Huron, Mingo, Yengeese, Maquas--some of them are one in the same, but especially in the earlier parts, it can be hard to discern who's who.
I am glad I picked up The Last of the Mohicans. I am impressed by the first great American novelist, James Fenimore Cooper, and he deserves that title 100%.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to understand
Review: This book is not quite what I expected. I expected a book I could UNDERSTAND. It may have a nice adventurous plot, but it is just way too hard to read. It was more of a burden to read than a joy. I see it as similar to a majic eye. You can't figure out what it is saying unless you cross your eyes. If you like to read books at night to make you go to sleep this one is ideal. Also, I found that I had to stop and think about what I just read because it was so hard to read and understand. I lost my excitement for reading it on the first page.
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