Rating: 
Summary: Last of Mohicans is good but slow
Review: The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper is a narrative told in the third
person. It has many action, fighting scenes, and times when the characters do nothing.
The story follows a group of English around the wilderness while encountering many
obstacles.
The story is set during the French and Indian War in northern America. The
setting is important because the frontier gives a sense of danger to the story. Also, the
war brings an atmosphere of kill or be killed. The characters have to be careful who they
trust.
The characters in the novel are not very believable. The characters are either
totally good or totally evil, there are none in between. Cooper provides a stereotype when
portraying the Indians. The only good Indians in this story are the Mohicans which are
dying out. The rest of the Indians are portrayed as savages.
Cooper's characterization is indirect. The Characters are developed through
actions, not background. When a new character is being introduced, they are described
with out a name. Then, after they have been left out for a while, the characters are
referred to by name. This along with the fact that many characters have more than on
name often causes confusion.
The language of The Last of the Mohicans is very out dated. The book was
written in the 1500s. This makes the language very difficult. Also, this time period used
more words to explain a scene than it would today. This makes the slower scenes drag
on. The action scenes move faster but still are slow going due to language.
The Last of the Mohicans is a good book, although it is difficult to read.
Language and Cooper's style of writing make the book difficult to read, and at times
boring. Despite this, the novel was still a good book. The book is appropriate for a
person at the college level.
Rating: 
Summary: a chore to read
Review: I wanted to like this book so badly, I did, but I must admit that reading it was like being dragged naked by wild horses across a rocky terrain. I've seen the movie a dozen times. Daniel Day Lewis was the essence of every woman's idea of a hero, practically dripping with romance. Granted, I knew the book would not reflect the movie perfectly, but geez louise, Hawkeye was about as romantic as a block of stale cheese in the book. He's still loyal to the Mohawks and he's still a sure shot with his rifle, but if you're looking for the "I'd-die-for-Cora-and-cut-down-anyone-in-my-way-to-save-her" Hawkeye, you ain't gonna get it in the book. The book at least doled out a little action here and there, but overall it was an endurance test to finish the book. I wouldn't recommend the book simply because you loved the movie. It's totally different, with the exception that Magua is still the quintessential evil son of a *bleep*. I'm glad I read it in terms of its value as one of the first American literary classics, but for classic entertainment in general, I'd much rather read Robert Louis Stephenson or Mark Twain. Cooper's writing comes across as choppy and rough as the lives his characters lead.
Rating: 
Summary: A CLASSIC
Review: Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans" is a classic novel that stands the test of time. The unforgettable characters, Hawkeye Uncas, Magua, and others all tie together for a climactic ending. It is sort of confusing though, and hard to follow at times. The novel like a romeo and juliet of sorts, and the romance between Uncas and Cora is a major plot line in the story. It also deals with themes of racism and Indian relations with white men. An ok book that should be read by anyone who enjoys American literature or frontier novels. In my opinion, watch the movie, it's a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC
Review: Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans" is a classic novel that stands the test of time. The unforgettable characters, Hawkeye Uncas, Magua, and others all tie together for a climactic ending. The novel is sort of a romeo and juliet of sorts, and the romance between Uncas and Cora is a major plot line in the story. It also deals with themes of racism and Indian relations with white men. A good book that should be read by anyone who enjoys American literature or frontier novels.
Rating: 
Summary: An essential early American novel
Review: 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. As I said, the book is not without flaws. The momentum of the book lags for a brief stretch, and some of Cooper's characters (in particular, his women) at times sound a bit stereotypical. But the overall power and intelligence of Cooper's work is undeniable. Particularly impressive is his re-creation of a multilingual world of complex cultural and personal conflict. Also noteworthy is his evocation of the American landscape. A tale of death and survival, of betrayal and loyalty, and, above all, of the extraordinary bond between a white man and an Indian, "The Last of the Mohicans" is one classic that deserves to be read and reevaluated by each generation.
Rating:
Summary: The Last of The Mohicans By: James Fenimore Cooper
Review: This book is an excellent read. Anyone who enjoys stories of Indian wars will love this novel. With romance and action-packed suspense with story line fits this book perfectly. James Fenimore Cooper's does a great job with the book and entices anyone who has reads it. Hawkeye acurate aim, Chingachgook's nativity, Uncas's daring thoughts, Alice's innocence, Cora's strength in mind and spirit, and Duncan's courage and love for Alice makes the book extremely breathtaking. Magua, is the evil Huron warrior who is a great enemy. His unusual love for Cora makes him extremely eery. Maguas is determined to destroy the last of the Mohicans.
Rating:
Summary: Leatherstocking and Old Lace
Review: As a novel "The Last of the Mohicans" is hopelessly anachronistic, but as an exemplar of 19th century romanticism there are few equals - especially amongst American writers. Fenimore Cooper subscribed, lock, stock and two smoking barrels, to the great romantic themes of the Great White Man of Action, the Noble Savage, the eroticism of nature and the virtue of physical pursuit. Politically, "The Last of the Mohicans" is so closely aligned with Manifest Destiny that it became the bedside companion not only of American pioneers but also British imperialists and Russian expansionists. That said, there are thrills aplenty in the description of the Seven Years War, as fought in New York under the misnomer "French and Indian War," and pure adventure value in the actual story of Natty Bumppo's forest trek with the Munro daughters. From this, Michael Mann was able to distil a brilliant, thorougly modern film, shorn of the political incorrectitudes of the book, but nonetheless true to its essence.
Rating:
Summary: the film is better than the book...
Review: well, as I said, if you have watched the film and then read the book, you will probably be disappointed... I am not saying this is a bad book...I enjoyed reading it, but I watched the film first, so it kinda ruined my enjoyment of the book...the book itself is classic and I would reconmand you to read it. :)
Rating:
Summary: A great book, but...
Review: With the possible exception of Moby Dick, this book tested my stamina as a reader more than any other. Yes, it is a great adventure story but it is written in a convoluted prose style that was outdated in even Cooper's time. I was inspired to read this book by watching the Michael Mann film. If you go into this story expecting it to be sort of a novelization of the film, you'll probably be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific -- And Terrifying
Review: This review pertains to the Penguin Classic edition, which has a fascinating introductory essay by Professor Richard Slatkin. But I would save the essay for last; it's so pedagogic in nature, it almost strips Cooper's French & Indian War masterpiece of the fundamental magnetism that has drawn countless readers to it for over 150 years. For this reader, that "magnetism" is the sheer awe-inspiring beauty and terror of the North American primal forest. Slatkin's essay is rather bloodless, but I can assure you that this novel is not. And the idea of constantly running and hiding from an archetypical villain, like Magua, and his band of warrior Hurons, who feel quite comfortable with the act of cleaving one's skull with a hatchet, is quite unsettling. Of course, "The Last of the Mohicans" is not a depiction of Native Americans through the lens of 21st Century sensibilities. Unquestionably, the modern day reader should be at least a little horrified at the near extinction of the Native American population. But no matter how sensitive one is about their tragic, inexorable decline, it is still an unalterable fact that -- under the alliance they entered into with the French -- several Eastern tribes struck abject terror into the hearts of 18th Century British Colonials. (May I suggest a casual inquiry into the colonial history of Deerfield, Massachusetts? The hatchet marks can still be seen on the wooden doors.) The setting for "The Last of the Mohicans" is the great waterway formed by Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson River. The last glacial retreat laid down a perfect invasion route for the French moving south from Quebec, or the British moving north from Albany. That is why the area is studded with old colonial forts at strategic choke points. It is on the way to Ft. William Henry that the heroines, Cora and Alice Munro, are betrayed by Magua, who was charged with guiding the defenseless daughters to their beloved father -- an old Scottish warhorse, who serves as commander of the fort. How the daughters are captured, escape, nearly massacred and recaptured occupy the first half of the book. Their eventual rescue forms the second half. Cooper's action-packed narrative is an artful blend of history and fiction. There was, indeed, a siege of Ft. William Henry by the French General, the Marquis de Montcalm. And there was some sort of trouble with Montcalm's Indian allies, but there is now serious doubt about a full-scale massacre of the fort's inhabitants. Indeed, Cooper has been criticized for botching numerous historical facts, but the "massacre myth" cannot be laid solely at his door. No less than the preeminent American historian, Francis Parkman, devoted several pages to the supposed incident. What is outright fiction is Cooper's heroic protagonist, Hawk-eye. He is the central character throughout Cooper's 5-book Leatherstocking Series of which "The Last of the Mohicans" is the second installment. Hawk-eye (better known as "Natty Bumppo" in the other 4 volumes) is one of the most enduring figures in all of American Literature. The honest-speaking, self-reliant, nature-loving, chaste woodsman/warrior is indelibly etched in our national psyche. It's no exaggeration to say he has influenced generations of Americans. Surely our military has taken to the man -- the Hawkeye missile is just one explicit manifestation. Juxtaposed to Hawk-eye is the Huron Chieftain, Magua, who wreaks havoc on everyone, including himself. Trust me -- he's not the sort of fellow you'd want over for a weekend barbecue. His descent into darkness began with a fondness for the bottle, which led to the expulsion from his own tribe. And his kidnapping of Colonel Munro's daughters stems from a humiliating whipping ordered by their father. Magua lives in the obscure half-world betwixt the tribe that abandoned him and the British Army that he betrayed. Cooper has seemingly placed Hawk-eye and Magua at opposite ends on the continuum of good and evil. But perhaps they are not quite that far apart. There's something a bit unsettling about the heroic Hawk-eye. Like Magua, he occupies a strange middle ground, shunning white civilization (into which he was born), but hardly embracing Native American culture (with the exception of his friendship with Chingachgook and his son, Uncas.) And while I would not lable Hawk-eye an outright racist, he does ridicule and dehumanize his Indian foes. And as for exterminating them, he has no scruple about that. He'd shoot every one of them given the chance. Say this for Magua -- he is no racist. He offers his wigwam (albeit in forced circumstances) to Colonel Munro's eldest daughter, Cora, whose dark hair and dusky complexion are traceable to her Caribbean slave ancestry. As Slatkin points out in his essay, the commingling of their blood would unite the three great races of our nation's history. Such an amalgamation is unthinkable to Hawk-eye. In the final scene of the book, Colonel Monroe asks Hawk-eye to translate for the Delaware maidens the hope that one day all of God's children, regardless of color, will assemble around his throne. What is Hawk-eye's response? "To tell them this, would be to tell them that the snows come not in winter..." Perhaps Hawk-eye's response is his cold calculus that our country could never become part white/part red, and that the latter must inevitably fade away. Magua understands this all too well. Native Americans are playing a losing hand, especially when they end up fighting one another. Afterall, notwithstanding the honor of saving Cora and Alice, what's really in it for Hawk-eye's Mohican allies in their battle with the Hurons? In a word, extinction. In some ways, Magua is spiritually akin to the real-life Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa Nation, who asked his tribesmen if they knew what happened to the Great Narragansett? I'll tell the reader. More than one hundred years before Cooper's haunting tale, the Puritans exterminated the Rhode Island tribe, and the Iroquois hunted down the few ragged survivors.
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