The Last of the Mohicans

This story is set in 1750 in the area around what is now modern day New York State during the French & Indian War.  Two sisters, Cora and Alice, set off from Fort Edward to meet up with their father, the English commander in charge of Fort William Henry.  Along the way, their Indian guide reveals himself as a traitor and engineers the kidnapping of the two sisters.  Nearby, two Indians – a father and son – along with their companion, a white scout with a fearsome reputation, become embroiled in rescuing the sisters. 

This wasn’t necessarily a “hard read” but the prose was sometimes overwhelming.  For example, here’s the first sentence:

“It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet.”

Although I’m used to reading lots of different kinds of books, I’ve never had trouble reading a novel before now.  It wasn’t the difficulty of the words, but rather their intensity and the way they are put together that made me have to read some sentences, like that first one, a couple of times to really take it in and understand it. 

The story was captivating – the action, the detail, the beauty and wildness captured perfectly, or at least what I think may be perfect.   Ok, I confess.  I know close to zilch about the early French, English and Dutch settlers is close.  Ditto for the northern tribes of Native Americans.   So, I was sometimes confused.  Where they in Michigan?  Canada?  New York?   Then I did some research at http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/french-indian.htm and the setting became clear and the story ever more engrossing because I could better understand some the important subtext of the story like the profound distrust between the English and the French, as well the Indians for both nations, and the constant changing of sides of the Native American tribes to protect their hunting and sacred grounds being a prime factor in the changing of native and traditional allegiances between tribes, eventually causing their destruction both through external fighting against the "pale faces" but also amongst themselves.   (How’s that for academic?!) 

The characters were rich and deep, interestingly so, since at first read, one could accuse Cooper of using stereotypes – the untamed frontiersman, the noble savage, the honorable military man.   Except that his characters are like uncut diamonds - while embodying at the core some of those simple stereotypical characteristics, their many facets are cut through the hardships and trials of the story, ultimately revealing their brilliance.   

Now that I’ve read the book, I guess I should see the movie.  The problem is that while reading this book, sometimes I had to take breaks just to move around and make myself relax and let go of some of the tension and to digest what was happening.  You can’t do that with a movie.  The battle scenes will be hard to watch, too.  And, I'm notoriously picky when it comes to film adaptations - just ask my son about Harry Potter.  

Hmmmm……Daniel Day-Lewis?! Nevermind, the book and my imagination's more than enough for me!