If you're interested in reading this book thinking you'll be getting the same hustle and bustle as the audacious Michael Mann film accompanied by a rousing soundtrack, think again. Though the descriptions are pictorial and painstaking (if that's what you're looking for), they are too long-winded and tedious to the point that they lose their effect and fail to enchant the reader. The plot is a bit silly at times, though it pretends to be serious, with all the captures, recaptures, back-stabbings and melodramatic death sequences that seem to happen at random and just don't seem to satisfy the way the film does (though it be just as exaggerated, it does so knowing it's being cheesy). This book may have been considered "adventuresome" in the early 1800s, but it just doesn't hold well today. ( )

This is Cooper's second entry in the five volume Leatherstocking series. Hawkeye, the fearless warrior, trapper and guide along with his Mohican friend, Chingachgook, fights bad Indians represented in this novel by the Hurons and their chief, Magua. The tile comes from the fact that Chingachgook's son, Uncas, is the last Mohican if he or his father is killed.

While the descriptions of terrain and people are lengthy and in some instances of action, I had to read some paragraphs several times to be sure I understood what actually had taken place. The famous massacre at Fort William Henry was graphically described and Cooper lays the blame at the feet of General Montcalm for not controlling his native allies. ( )

L-A-XXVII

I read this one so long ago that I don't recall any details. ( )

Watch the movie! For once, I think the film versions (none of which are completely true to the book) are better than the original novel. Cooper has written an exciting adventure story in such a way that it is a struggle to read. It is tempting to blame that on the early date it was written (1826) except that Jane Austen wrote even earlier and in a much easier style!

This audiobook edition also has some problems. This digital audiobook from Recorded Books has chapter markers but they bear no relation to the chapters in the text! I suspect that they represent the sides of cassette tapes -- but at least there wasn't any "This is the end of..." bits. The narrator was okay. Unfortunately, his voice, instead of compelling my attention, caused my mind to wander. For some sections, I had to resort to reading my Kindle edition after repeated attempts to listen left me unable to comprehend what was happening. ( )