The Last of the Mohicans

Several months ago I watch the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" with my wife. After watching the movie I expressed a desire to read the book. Subsequently, for a Christmas present or an anniversary present I received the book. It's not by any means what one would call an easy read. It was originally written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. Although the book is filled with amazing imagery, we don't talk the same as we did in 1826. There are words that would be considered misspelled in today's English and the conversations between the different characters holds more imagery than we speak with today. While reading a current author may take me a week or 10 days to finish a similar novel, this one took me 6 weeks or so. It's not an easy read but very well worth it.

Of course the movie deviated from the book but kept the major portion of the story line intact. In the movie as in the book, in the end the bad guy dies after he killed a good guy, but the book and the movie are different in how this all played out. The book and movie are both set in the 1750's during the French and Indian War. Although technically it's fiction, there is also a lot of history in the book. A segment of the book is centered on the Fort William Henry Massacre of 1757. An iteration of this massacre can be found here. Although I site this work for the history provided on the massacre, his interpretation of the book seems rather childlike or juvenile. I don't blame him for not putting his name on that work and I sincerely wonder if the author actually read the book. As I said before, it's not an easy read and maybe this person hasn't developed the ability to enjoy this type of work.

Another segment of history in this book is the Mohican Indian tribe. Mohicans were part of a tribe called the Lenni Lenape (or simply Lenape) and are believed to be the first inhabitants of the United States. Before the end of the last ice age, around 15,000 years ago these people came here from Asia making a home around the Delaware River. From this, once the Europeans arrived, they become referred to as Delaware Indians (after the Europeans named the river). At one point in the book these "ancient ones" that originally settled the area play an important role when Uncas, one of the Mohicans, is about to be executed by torture by his fellow Delaware tribesman.

This is a good book. I'll say it again, it's not an easy read but it's well worth it. Some of us have the ability to imagine the story line as we read it, much like watching a movie. If you can do this, this book will fill your mind with as much imagery as you can imagine.