Product Description

Angered by the values of his materialistic society, Hawk-eye lives apart from the other white men, sharing the solitude and sublimity of the wilderness with his Mohican Indian friend, Chingachgook. As the savageries of war test these exiled men, they agree to guide two sisters in search of their father through hostile Indian country – even if it means risking everything. An enduring American classic, The Last of the Mohicans is a fast-paced portrait of fierce individualism and courage, set against massacres, raids, battles and a doomed love affair. It is also the unforgettable story of the friendship between two men.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84909 in Books
• Published on: 1986-11-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
John P. McWilliams is Professor of American Literature at Middlebury College, Vermont.

Customer Reviews

Worth the wait
First a confession: 'The Last of the Mohicans' had been on my bookshelf for four years and I'd never got past the third chapter. But with a five week break between jobs, I knew that if I didn't read it now, I never would. The first half of the book is slow, and Cooper's language is not easy on the modern eye. As other reviewers have pointed out, the plot does seem in places tenuous and the narrative over descriptive, but the book's strength is the brilliant characterisation. Despite the setting, as the story develops, the reader can identify strongly with the hopes and fears of the main characters. My fear on first opening this book that it would be irrelevant to my life proved wrong.

This book may be hard-going, but it's worth reading. You need to take some time over it and persevere with the first half, but when you finish the book you'll feel it was worth it.

Glimpse of REAL adventure, itellectual;not for movie addicts
This is a masterpiece that not only narrates action but explores minds and motives. If you have never read and enjoyed Dickens and Melville; don't bother with this one; it requires a reader with a brain. I was shocked by the first reviews here, and thought: "Are these readers so egotistical as to think that people prior to the baby boom and going back 200 years didn't really talk like that, reason fluently in a crisis, or have deep thoughts about the meaning of life?" People facing death do actually THINK (a lot) during the calm moments. This book is not always politically correct, but it is honest to a fault. It is not designed to be a romance novel; rather a novel in which romance (not sex) occurs. I HATED the movie because it tried to do a lot of anti-war, anti-imperialist moralizing.(Hollywood has no sense of history.) Did you ever read a story and think:"This story is not believable. Like--when did these characters ever go to the toilet?" This story is not like that. Yes it does slow down sometimes but so does life!

Disappointing yet Endearing
If you're looking for the literary equivalent of the Daniel Day-Lewis epic then look elsewhere. The story is at times stiflingly boring and some events seem unlikely despite the era in which the book was written. However, staying-power won't have been mis-appropriated if you just stick with it. In fact towards the end it becomes heart-breakingly beautiful to the point of becoming a tear-jerker. Worth the wade through boring descriptions and confusing characters.