Boekverslag : James Fenimore Cooper - The Last Of The Mohicans
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 1537 woorden.
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 1537 woorden.
The last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper by Jessica de Vente.
Part 1. Story- analysis.
Complete title- description.
The book I am going to tell something about is The last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. The edition I used was published in 1993 by Wordsworth Editions Limited Cumberland House, Crib Street, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9ET.
The book was printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham.
Typeset in the UK by R&B Creative Services Ltd.
Cover design by Robert Mathias, Publishing Workshop.
Cover illustration is a scene from the movie The Last of the Mohicans by Thomas Cole(1802- 1848).
Some things about the author.
Cooper was born at Burlington, New Jersey in 1789 as the son of Quakers, Judge William Cooper and Elisabeth Fenimore Cooper. His father was a representative of the 4th and 6th Congress and had attained wealth by developing virgin land. The family moved to Cooperstown, New York, which Judge Cooper had founded. Cooper was expelled from Yale, because of a prank. He joined the navy and in 1808 he received a warrant as a midshipman. Upon his father’s death in 1809, Cooper became financially independent. Two years later he married Susan Augusta De Lancey. Cooper settled in Westchester, living on his wife’s land. Cooper’s first novel Precaution was an imitation of Jane Austen’s novels and his second The Spy was based in Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly Series, but brought him fame and wealth. After that he started his famous Leatherstocking series, about Hawk- eye. In chronological order: The Last of the Mohicans, 1826, The prairie, 1827 The Pathfinder, 1840, and The Deerslayer, 1841. In the beginning of the 1820s Cooper lived in New York. From 1826 to 1833 he lived in Europe. During the last decades of his life Cooper was earning less from his books but was forced to go on writing for income. In 1833 he returned to the States. He died at Otsego Hall, on September 14, 1851.
Title- explanation.
With The Last of the Mohicans Chingachgook, the Indian, is meant. He and his son Uncas are the last of the tribe of the Mohicans, and after Uncas was murdered Chingachgook was the last of the Mohicans.
Motto.
At the beginning of every chapter are a few lines, but since there are 33 chapters, I’ll only give the first five.
1. Mine ear is open and my heart prepared
The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfolld:
Say, is my kingdom lost? (Shakespeare)
2. Sola, sola, woha, ho, sola! (Shakespeare)
3. Before these fields were shorn and tilled
Full to the brim our rivers flowed
The melody of rivers filled
The fresh and boundless wood
And torrents dashed, and rivulets played
And fountains spouted in the shade (Bryant)
4. Well go thy way; thou shall not from this grove.
Till I torment thee for this injury. ( Shakespeare)
5. In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o’ertrip the dew,
And saw the lion’s shadow ere himself. (Merchant of Venice)
Summary.
In 1757, during the American wars between the French and the English, major Duncan Heyward is taking Cora and Alice to their father, the leader of Fort William Henry. The company is joined by David Gamut, a church singer. They were betrayed by their Indian guide Magua, Le Renard Subtil, and saved by Hawk-eye, Nattty Bumppo, and his Indian friends, Chingachgook and his son Uncas. Hawk-eye leads the party to a cave, were they are save. But when the group runs out of powder and they went to get some new, the rest of the company was captured and led to an Indian encampment. Magua wants Alice and Cora dead, because their father, captain Munro, killed Magua’s wife and children. At that point Hawk-eye, Uncas and Chingachgook intervene. In the ensuing fight all the Maqua’s were killed, except Magua. After that they continue their journey to Fort William Henry, were they arrive save and well. At the fort Heyward wants to marry Alice, but Alice doesn’t want to. In the mean while the fort was concurred by the French and their Indian followers, and the English surrender, so that they can go home safely. But the Indians do not want that and Magua kidnaps Alice, Cora and David Gamut. A few days later Munro, Hawk-eye, Uncas and Chingachgook search for the hostels. They found David Garmut and he tells them where Cora and Alice are. They go and get Cora, but Uncas was soon captured and Magua decides to execute him the next morning. Heyward and Hawk-eye save Alice and Hawk-eye went to help Uncas. He manages to save Uncas, but was soon discovered by Magua. Alice, Uncas and Hawk-eye were let free, but Cora had to stay there. Then they started a fight and Cora got killed by the Hurons and Uncas by Magua himself. Then Hawk-eye shoots Magua dead.
Genre.
The genre of the book is a war novel, with a psychological touch.
Theme.
The theme of the book is war and the way people cope with this.
Structure.
The book contains 329 pages and has 33 chapter, in Roman numbers. When you read 20 pages an hour, you can read the book in 16 hours. The told time is shorter then the telling time.
Characteristics.
The main characters in the book are Hawk-eye, Uncas, Chingachgook and Magua.
Hawk-eye is a white man. He is part of the Natty Bumppo family. He has black hair, a very honest character and uses a gun instead of a knife.
Chingachgook is an old and wise Indian, part of the Delaware tribe. He has one son, and after his son dies he is the last of the Mohicans.
Uncas is Chingachgook his son. He his still an immature man, but has every skills that an Indian should have.
Magua is part of the Huron tribe, but was adopted by the Maquas. He is very mean and clever and wants revenge for the death of his wife and kids.
The other characters in the book are Alice, Cora, major Heyward, captain Munro and David Garmut.
Time.
The told time is shorter then the telling time. The story is set in 1757.
The story is told on a chronological base.
Where I got my information from.
The book The Last of the Mohicans.
The book Op Niveau Literair.
The book De Laatste der Mohicanen.
The movie The Last of the Mohicans.
The internetpages http://www.konbib.nl/Scripts/cgi-bin/zoek and http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jfcooper.htm.
Personal perception.
I think that ‘The Last of the Mohicans” is a very good book. It is a very exciting book with lots of action. The only thing I did not like was the way the author described everything. He uses very difficult words, so I couldn’t understand what he meant most of the time. It is a very difficult book to read, because in the first place you have to know a lot about the history of the war and the place the scene takes place in. Secondly the author uses a lot of words that you do not understand in de first place, but when you read the whole, then it makes sense. But you fist have to read a lot of pages before you understand the meaning. But since I like history a lot and I do not like books that are very thin and do not have a plot, it was a challenge to read this book. In the beginning I needed a lot of help with translating, but further on in the book I managed myself.
The topic is very topical, because wars take place even now we speak and people haven’t learnt from it. It is well described how the characters feel and so very nice to read. I do not think that everybody can read this book. It is not easy literature and you have to be very motivated to start reading this book. But I can recommend it anyway to the advanced readers who like this topic.
Especially the parts in the book about the description of the scenery and the spoiled ladies in the woods, were funny to read. I also liked the description of Chingachgook. He is on old Indian, with old habits, and since I am very interested in old cultures, this was very interesting to read
I heard a lot about this book, so that is why I read it. I also heard that the book was about Natty Bumppo, but that name was only mentioned once in the book. So I didn’t understand what the connection was between Hawk- eye and Natty Bumppo. But it seems that Natty Bumppo is a character that symbolizes something, that I haven’t figured out yet, and that Hawk-eye is a person out of the Bumppo- family.
The book ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ is a part of the Leatherstocking- series, that is based on the figure Natty Bumppo. I couldn’t make up more out of the book and the series then this.
Although it is not a very easy book to read, I would recommend this book to everyone.
That’s all.
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