Sir Walter Scott Appreciation discussion

Please comment here for this section and final thoughts.
How does this book compare to the author's other works, if you have read any?
Would you read another book by this author?

I read Last of the Mohicans in another group last year. I think I liked The Pioneers better, much better. Pioneers goes deeper into social issues than LotM. LotM has more adventure but, without giving away spoilers, it was a repetitive book. I think Cooper really poured his heart into this book (as Rosemarie said in another thread, this book was largely based on his own experiences) and it shows. I might read more books by him later, but they'd be a long way down on the list (just too many other books to read!).

So, now everything comes together and is explained.

Richard is a descendant of Cromwell. OF COURSE, Richard is a descendant of Cromwell! And it cracked me up that they were using Yankee Doodle (it had a history of being an insult).

I was really annoyed with Cooper's portrayal of Louisa. Sure, she's naive. There's nothing wrong with that. But towards the end he made her downright stupid. It seems that Cooper went out of his way to show her as deficient in comparison with Elizabeth (I'm also remembering his note, near the beginning, of Louisa's artwork and needlepoint). And then she's sent away at the end, ostensibly so her father can have easier work and so she can meet a potential husband. I hope those were the real reasons.

Billy Kirby is still great comic relief. He is an overgrown 5-year-old. :-)

The Fire-Eating is Major Effingham, the father of Marmaduke's Tory friend (who is now deceased) and the grandfather of Edwards (Edwards being the son of the Tory friend had been my first guess, but later I wasn't so sure after they were talking about him having Native blood). Major Effingham is an honorary Delaware chief.

This is usually the point of the story where, in the case of Victorian and pre-Victorian British novels, the hero is discovered to be a high-ranking nobleman in disguise, and therefore in a position to marry the leading lady. In this early American novel, it's the point where we discover that Edwards, our hero, is... white. Aaaaaaannnnnnnnd so, he is magically free to marry Elizabeth. Excuse the sarcasm, I do know that it's not fair to judge the customs of those times by the values of 2016, but I can't help it.

Hiram Doolittle leaves Templeton (good riddance), Le Quoi also leaves after proposing to both Elizabeth and Louisa, and John/Chingachgook dies. I wonder how Christian readers in Cooper's time felt about the way John passed. Natty seems to say (I may have misunderstood) that all races will be together in Heaven but will be given white skin. I found that a bit strange. And, finally, Natty also leaves. I don't think it could have ended any other way. Natty is a forest man; he wouldn't be happy spending his last years in a town, even in good company.

After finishing this book, I switched to another one. When I came to the word "certain," I saw "sartain!"

Lori, I agree with your assessment of the book. I thought the scene with the forest fire exciting. However, when Cooper was talking about the flimsy clothes of Elizabeth being flammable, my first thought was - well take them off silly girl. It was very melo-dramatic, and I am glad that Natty rescued them.
The scene with the posse was annoying, but I am really glad that Billy turned out to be such a sympathetic character, and that Hiram got out of town, probably very quietly with no farewells. I am also glad that the Judge found a way to silence Richard(the mining scheme that indirectly caused the forest fire).

Lori wrote: "I read Last of the Mohicans in another group last year. I think I liked The Pioneers better, much better. Pioneers goes deeper into social issues than LotM. LotM has more adventure but, without giv..."

I too agree with your comments and think you discussed the issues in the book well. I loved the book and enjoyed reading it and am glad I did.
I found Cooper was best at writing about nature and scenery than about people's actions and motives; there seemed to be a lot of quick changes in behaviour: one moment a person was against hunting/killing game and the next wrapped up in it as if they had forgotten their own principles. Elizabeth especially was described as having very changeable behaviour that wasn't realistic. But apart from this I loved his writing.
I felt Chingagook's view of heaven was a Christian view even though Cooper stated that Christian readers would not see it that way, but then he could not have possibly imagined a Christian English woman reading the book 200 years later.
Definitely telling of the time it was written that Elizabeth and Oliver would not have married if Oliver had 'biological' Indian blood rather than spiritually adopted blood. Yes Louisa was a pale character compared to Elizabeth and I would like to have seen her character better developed (and maybe if one was to write a sequel I would write about the Grant's move to Canada and there they meet up with Leatherstocking again...what do you think? Would this be a good modern day sequel? Louisa this time does find love and the man is of Indian heritage and a true worthy noble and husband.

Cooper's description of the mountain fire had a not at the bottom in my addition how he believed such fires could occur because of the way man left behind debris from chopping down the trees that was combustible. The recent fires in North America prove his prophetic words. Just this a whole town was nearly totally destroyed here in Alberta (Fort Macmurray) by the forests around being consumed by a raging fire. I think just for it's environmental warnings alone this book should be more read in schools and discussed.

Tracey, I agree that Cooper had foresight regarding the environment. We lived in St. Albert Alta in the 80's and at one point we could smell the smoke of a forest fire a few hundred kilometers away. There was also a period of two or three weeks when we had to deal with a sour gas leak ( rotten egg smell ), nasty.

Rosemarie wrote: "Tracey, I agree that Cooper had foresight regarding the environment. We lived in St. Albert Alta in the 80's and at one point we could smell the smoke of a forest fire a few hundred kilometers away..."

If we don't learn from history we are doomed to keep repeating it. I am beginning to wonder if at the next elections I should ask the candidates what their reading choices are and how many works they have read that are more than a hundred years old.

Rosemarie wrote: "Tracey, I agree that Cooper had foresight regarding the environment. We lived in St. Albert Alta in the 80's and at one point we could smell the smoke of a forest fire a few hundred kilometers away..."

Tracey wrote: "Cooper's description of the mountain fire had a not at the bottom in my addition how he believed such fires could occur because of the way man left behind debris from chopping down the trees that w..."
I worked in St Albert. A nice place when not in the midst of man's destructive behaviour. Alberta is suffering a lot because of oil refining/production and fires/drought. Not expecting any changes any time soon looking at the world leaders we have.

Tracey, regarding leaders' reading choices, I wonder how many of them actually read for pleasure or education. It would be interesting to know which authors they like.
Our problem in Toronto is not the civic government, who are all for conservation, but the aggressive developers who go to the provincial planning board, which is incredibly short sighted and easily influenced by big money.

Rosemarie wrote: "Tracey, regarding leaders' reading choices, I wonder how many of them actually read for pleasure or education. It would be interesting to know which authors they like.
Our problem in Toronto is no..."

If we allow those who do things just for short-term monetary gain to make decisions then the outcome is always going to be the same. Unfortunately the 'love of money is the root of all evil' is an eternal truth. If we had leaders who loved the people they serve and thought of those to come after us, we would have better government. I feel questioning a person's reading may be one way of defining character and intent. What we read by choice does define us.