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Posts from the ‘Re-read’ Category

4
Jul

Classic: James Fenimore Cooper

  • No, Daniel Day-Lewis did not appear in the movie version of Deerslayer
  • …but IMO he  is the best visual image I could find for
  • the main character….a  white scout who was raised by the Mohicans.

 

 

Introduction:

  1. I had to read this book in high school  English class.
  2. You luckily were spared this torment, I hope.
  3. I never shrink from a challenge and pledged Brona’s Books
  4. …I would try to re-read a book.
  5. Re-reading is against my literary religion.
  6. So I choose the only book I have actively blocked out of my memory.
  7. Now I will try to see what in heaven’s name made Mr Hughs
  8. select this book for my senior English exam.
  9. I graduated….so I must have read the book somehow!

 

Plot:

  1. Deerslayer and his Mohican blood-brother, Chingachgook
  2. stumble onto an old trapper Tom Hutter who asks for their help in
  3. ..protecting a crazy old man and  his two daughters from a Huron assault.
  4. Deerslayer reluctantly agrees and  meets the old
  5. …man on his floating fort in the middle of the river.
  6. The crazy codger hates Indians.
  7. This has brought the wrath of the Hurons down on him.
  8. Hutter flatters his oldest daughter (Judith) while
  9. …telling his youngest (Hetty)  that she’s feeble-minded.
  10. Deerslayer has suspicions about the whole set-up.
  11. (no spoilers)
  12. There is a love triangle:
  13. Deerslayer – Harry March – Judith Hutter

 

Setting:    Lake Otsego = Lake Glimmerglass in the book

 

Weak point:   class distinction (pg 30) – not a weak point…but hard to read.

  1. This is what people thought in 1846:
  2. White is the highest color and therefore the best man.
  3. Black is put to live in the neighborhood of the white man
  4. …and fit to be made use of.
  5. Red comes last…those that made them never
  6. …expected the Indian to be accounted as more than half human.

 

Notes:

28.06.2018 – #20BooksOfSummer #ReReadChallenge
If you buy the E-book version only choose Penguin Classic edition. Design and fonts are so important The cheaper books use a font that is ugly and embedded.

29.06.2018 – #20BooksOfSummer #ReReadChallenge
I need a good glass of Cru Bourgeois Chateau La Tour de Bessan Margaux 2010 to start The Deerslayer by J.F. Cooper. #ReReadChallenge.
Deerslayer must choose between uprightness of heart vs false pride and frontier boastfulness.

30.06.2018 – #20BooksOfSummer #ReReadChallenge
Making good progress and must read 5 chapters a day.
Busy morning in canoe with Chingachgook and Deerslayer on Glimmerglass Lake (Lake Otsego in upstate New York).

01.07.2018 – #20BooksOfSummer #ReReadChallenge
The book reflects the styles and attitudes of another time. Cooper wants his message of Christian morals to pervade. Revenge should be avoided and we should forgive…”turn the other cheek”. Who ever heard of a young girl (Hetty) fleeing from wild savages Huron Indians…stop after gathering dried leaves for a bed…and kneel to say The Lord’s Prayer. #HardToBelieve

03.07.2018 – #20BooksOfSummer #ReReadChallenge
Busy night: Mysterious floating moccasin found, Tom Hutter is scalped and left to die, Judith Hutter refuses Harry March’s proposal of marriage, Hetty Hutter is still reading the bible, Deerslayer is held captive by the Huron braves
…and England finally won a penalty shoot-out in World Championship Soccer 2018.
ENG-SWEDEN   1/4 final!  is this Saturday, don’t miss it!

 

Conclusion:

  1. This is a classic about the early America era.
  2. It is filled with adventures, violence and clever escapes
  3. …but most importantly a few dirty secrets emerges.
  4. Did I like the book after RE-READING it after  50 years?

 

Last Thoughts:
This book has stalked me for 50 years.
I had to read it for high school English.
I have wondered why Mr Hughes assigned
this book to a giddy group of teen-age girls.
Is there a message in this book that
will help us starting our lives?
I think it is in chapter 30:

  • “It’s true that you being female will most likely
  • save you from torments but it will not save your
  • liberty and may not save your scalp.”


James Fenimore Cooper was an enlightend man.
I am indebted to him
….because I still have my scalp!