- Paperback: 588 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (4 Nov 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192837257
- ISBN-13: 978-0192837257
- Product Dimensions: 19.5 x 16.4 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 630,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
The Deerslayer (1841) is the last-written of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, but the first in the development of the hero, Natty Bumppo. Here, Cooper returns Leatherstocking to his youth and to a pristine wilderness that D. H. Lawrence said was perhaps `lovelier than any place created in language'. This novel, and the contemporaneous The Pathfinder, mark Cooper's return to historical romance after more than a decade given largely to social and political commentary. Written during the period of Cooper's bitter legal battles with the Whig press, The Deerslayer reflects a retreat from his difficulties into a world of romance; but the novel also symbolically attacks Cooper's opponents and implicitly provides a critique of nineteenth-century American society. In the Introduction H. Daniel Peck offers an explanation for The Deerslayer's mysterious power over twentieth-century readers, showing how the novel's patterns of adventurous action dramatize issues of possession and loss. This edition provides the authoritative text of the novel.
About the Author
James Fenimore Cooper was born in 1789 in New Jersey, the son of a wealthy land agent who founded Cooperstown in New York State. Cooper attended Yale, but was expelled in 1805 and spent five years at sea on merchant then naval ships. He married in 1811, and eventually settled in New York. Precaution, Cooper's first novel, was written in 1820 as a study of English manners; its successors, The Spy and The Pilot, written within the next three years, were more characteristic of the vein of military or seagoing romance that was to become typical of him. In 1823 he began the Leatherstocking Tales series of novels, centred on a shared Native American character at different periods of his life, for which he is chiefly remembered. Cooper's reputation as one of America's leading authors was quickly established, and spread to Europe by a long stay there from 1826, making him one of the first American writers popular beyond that country. After his return to America in 1832, however, conservative political essays and novels dramatising similar views, as well as critiques of American society and abuses of democracy, led to a decline in his popularity. James Fenimore Cooper died in 1851.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"The Deerslayer" is the sequentially first in the Leatherstocking series of America's first, great, professional novelist, James Fenimore Cooper. I read it in preparation for a trip to Cooperstown, New York and I am glad that I did. Set in upstate New York in the 1740s, it provides the reader with an idolized introduction to the society of white and red of this colonial frontier.
The criticisms that the dialogue and actions are totally unbelievable, while justified, do not detract from the story. While the simple, faith-filled actions of the "Feeble Minded Hetty" and the dialogue between Deerslayer and Chingachgook seem highly improbable, the do hold the readers' interest. While I am generally not one to pick up readily on character development, this novel is an exception. The contrast between Deerslayer and Chingachgook, the romance between Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah
, the romantic web among Judith, Hurry Harry and Deerslayer, and the varying responses to changes in circumstance coming from sisters Judith and Hetty all contribute to the persistent popularity of this work.
Despite all the criticisms directed against Cooper as to form, the one thing that cannot be denied is that this book is very difficult to put down. I found myself always wondering what would come next and what would happen to the characters whom I had come to know. Whether you are looking for an insight into early American literature or just a good story, your search should lead to "The Deerslayer". "
The criticisms that the dialogue and actions are totally unbelievable, while justified, do not detract from the story. While the simple, faith-filled actions of the "Feeble Minded Hetty" and the dialogue between Deerslayer and Chingachgook seem highly improbable, the do hold the readers' interest. While I am generally not one to pick up readily on character development, this novel is an exception. The contrast between Deerslayer and Chingachgook, the romance between Chingachgook and Wah-ta-Wah
, the romantic web among Judith, Hurry Harry and Deerslayer, and the varying responses to changes in circumstance coming from sisters Judith and Hetty all contribute to the persistent popularity of this work.
Despite all the criticisms directed against Cooper as to form, the one thing that cannot be denied is that this book is very difficult to put down. I found myself always wondering what would come next and what would happen to the characters whom I had come to know. Whether you are looking for an insight into early American literature or just a good story, your search should lead to "The Deerslayer". "
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the first in the series of five Leatherstocking Tales from James Fenimore Cooper, meaning the one where the character of Natty Bumpo is introduced as a young man. I once received the whole set of the tales as a child but never managed to read them to completion and am now doing just that. This is why I chose to read The Deerslayer first of all in order to get the chronology right.
The young Deerslayer, as his Delaware friends call him, has not yet gone on his first warpath and is in the process of doing so with his friend Chingachkook. Both have not yet faught an enemy and the novel is a good deal about this introduction to what it means to be living with the Native Americans of this time. It is also a good deal about the differences between the "white man" and the "red man". Natty is constantly pressing home the point that these two peoples are very different in the way they live their lives and he stresses how he is white and that he possesses his own "gifts" as does his indian friend.
It's fascinating simply because of the outmoded language used throughout, written in the way that a story needed to be in the 1800's. Considering that Cooper had written his first tale in 1823 there were not so many intervening years between the the 1750's and the early 1800's. In other words, history lingered and was not so distant. In this sense Cooper must have captured a good deal of the way of life of the time that he writes about.
The book has some weaknesses, for example: the actions taking place are often discussed in a long-winded manner when in fact quick thinking and little talking would have been the way these things were done since danger was close at hand and no time for such discussion would have been available when the slightest sound could have meant death. I disagree with the some of the other reviewers in that I do not consider the action scenes to be unrealistic. Stories of the trappers and hunters often tell of running battles where your wits kept you alive. Even then, to say the least, remarkable steadiness of Deerslayer under extreme circumstances is not unheard of although close to unbelievable.
A good book but it doesn't have the flowing movement of "The Last of the Mohicans".
The young Deerslayer, as his Delaware friends call him, has not yet gone on his first warpath and is in the process of doing so with his friend Chingachkook. Both have not yet faught an enemy and the novel is a good deal about this introduction to what it means to be living with the Native Americans of this time. It is also a good deal about the differences between the "white man" and the "red man". Natty is constantly pressing home the point that these two peoples are very different in the way they live their lives and he stresses how he is white and that he possesses his own "gifts" as does his indian friend.
It's fascinating simply because of the outmoded language used throughout, written in the way that a story needed to be in the 1800's. Considering that Cooper had written his first tale in 1823 there were not so many intervening years between the the 1750's and the early 1800's. In other words, history lingered and was not so distant. In this sense Cooper must have captured a good deal of the way of life of the time that he writes about.
The book has some weaknesses, for example: the actions taking place are often discussed in a long-winded manner when in fact quick thinking and little talking would have been the way these things were done since danger was close at hand and no time for such discussion would have been available when the slightest sound could have meant death. I disagree with the some of the other reviewers in that I do not consider the action scenes to be unrealistic. Stories of the trappers and hunters often tell of running battles where your wits kept you alive. Even then, to say the least, remarkable steadiness of Deerslayer under extreme circumstances is not unheard of although close to unbelievable.
A good book but it doesn't have the flowing movement of "The Last of the Mohicans".
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Cooper's novel about the entrance into manhood of his hero Natty Bumppo (aka 'Leatherstocking' or 'Hawkeye') is no easy reading: the language is fairly obsolete, many of the morals and values Natty believes in and stands for are out-dated, and the action is at times incredible. But then again, there's no denying that this is also a well-written adventure story (one of the first), and has become part of the American heritage.
If you're looking for an entertaining book to read on some beach or other I'd suggest you look elsewhere, but if you have time on your hands and are interested in the origins of adventure literature this is a must read.
If you're looking for an entertaining book to read on some beach or other I'd suggest you look elsewhere, but if you have time on your hands and are interested in the origins of adventure literature this is a must read.
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