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Book reviews for "Cooper,_Charles" sorted by average review score:

Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations: Understanding Personality Differences in the Workplace
Published in Paperback by Telos Publications (15 February, 2002)
Authors: Linda V. Berens, Sue A. Cooper, Linda K. Ernst, Charles R. Martin, Steve Myers, Dario Nardi, Roger R. Pearman, Marci Segal, and Melissa A. Smith
Amazon base price: $8.95
Average review score:

A Great Desk Reference
This is a perfect book for someone to keep as a desk reference for the personality types. I found the information very valuable even though I own most other books on this subject. It is an outstanding reference for the types in an organizational setting.

Comprehensive and Concise---Perfect for Organizations
I found this booklet to be of extreme value compared to similar products. I used to buy a whole text to give to my clients before this came along. It contains some of the best material I have seen on the Myers-Briggs types. The fact that it has so many great contributors is a value-add. I would recommend this booklet to anyone using Myers-Briggs types in a professional setting. The booklet covers multiple topics including leadership, career development, creativity, stress, problem-solving, personal development, and learning. At first I was overwhelmed with the page count for the types, but after reading the content I was pleasantly excited and couldn't wait to show them to my customers. The book also includes some interesting new information about a new model---MTR-i---which is a team role model based on Jungian type. A very good value for the low price.


Talleyrand
Published in Paperback by Fromm Intl (1986)
Author: Duff Cooper
Amazon base price: $9.95
Average review score:

A superb read!
An even-handed, page-turner that enables the reader to begin to understand an enigmatic statesman who exercised profound influence during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. In studying Talleyrand, one appreciates his unestimable intellect and rhetorical gifts; and his contribution to the stability of Europe and the greater world both during his time and through the early 20th Century. Mr. Cooper's book paints a concise, yet illustrative, portrait of a legend with his tumultuous times as a scenic, but undistracting, background.

Prince of Diplomats
The best condensed book on " The Prince of Napoleonic Diplomacy", and the last one hundred days of the emperor's reign. Like Fouche a great visioner of the future and " Bon vivant ", who also knew when to keep a low profile at the right time . He sorted successfully his ups and downs and survived all the french revolution storm, from the reign of terror to the Vienna Congress.


Robin Hood: A Classic Illustrated Edition
Published in Hardcover by Chronicle Books (2002)
Authors: Evelyn Charles Vivian and Cooper Edens
Amazon base price: $13.97
List price: $19.95 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

A PRINCELY TALE
Robin Hood
E. Charles Vivian, Compiled by Cooper Edens
The exciting and timeless tale about "the prince of thieves" is more beautiful than ever in this special "Classic Illustrated Edition" title. As with the series' previous titles -- "Peter Pan," "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "Pinocchio" and "Aesop's Fables" -- "Robin Hood" is illustrated with a virtual best-of variety of color and black-and-white images from a collection of archival sources. There are more than 100 splendid images in all, dating from the 12th to the 20th century and created by artists as diverse as N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Walter Crane and Honor C. Appleton. The range is considerable, the fine-detail of the works is immensely impressive, the art restoration is impeccable, and each antique image is uniquely charming. The lack of a consistent visual style is initially jarring, but quickly it becomes apparent that this inconsistency is the very source of the book's appeal, particularly for retro fans attracted to ye olde graphics. The text itself remains loyal to E. Charles Vivian's classic version of the story -- with most of the content, spelling and grammar intact from the 1906 edition, making this respectful tribute to an old masterpiece worth its weight in gold marks.


Pump Handbook
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Professional (27 September, 2000)
Authors: Igor J. Karassik, Joseph P. Messina, Paul Cooper, and Charles C. Heald
Amazon base price: $135.00
Average review score:

Third Edition Builds on Success of First and Second
As an owner of the second edition, I looked forward to the revised update. The quality of the information is high. However, I was disappointed in the quality of the publication. Some of the graphs and charts seemed "muddy" with hard to read notations. Also, the binding and paper quality seemed to have slipped a little. This seems to be a trend. I own a number of texts from the 1950's. Their binding and paper quality is much better than that used today.

Pump Handbook
Handbook is a term which implies comprehensive coverage of a given subject, so often a term which is misapplied. Not so in this case however, this book is without a doubt one of the best sources of information on pumps and related system components currently in print. For anyone requiring a comprehensive pump resource, this is it. I would definitely recommend this one for the engineering library.

Description corrections
I am one of the four editors of this handbook. Please note the correct number of pages is 1765. The 2nd edition has the 1280 pages presently described. After the name Charles Heald add that he is an editor also. The 2nd and 3rd reviewers are referring to the 2nd edition of the handbook as they are dated before the 3rd edition was printed.


Desperate Times
Published in Paperback by Writers Club Press (2001)
Author: Charles Cooper
Amazon base price: $18.95
Average review score:

Life is Poetry and Poetry is this author's life
Reviewer: S.A. Roe Desperate Times is a collection of poetry by Charles Cooper written and assembled over more than 8 years of his life, which does indeed read as a journey. Mr. Cooper is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic College and the originator of the PBAC Poetry Society. Currently pursuing his graduate education at Old Dominion University, he spends his time with family and continues his writing.

While journeying through this book, the reader is skillfully led from one poem to the next in anticipation. This skillful direction can be seen in "Declared Love" which concludes:
"We would be married on the morrow,
"No later," she said
And our separate lives would end."
Leading subtly to "In Holy Matrimony"
"The morrow came with the night far away
Expectancy grew for the marriage today,...."

What appeals most to the reader is the depth of emotion evoked in this poetry. The reader cannot avoid becoming emotionally involved in this search for self. This emotional connection is apparent in "Finding Peace":

Would the journey was the goal,
Would the fountain was my soul,
Forever spouting the words of the universal night.

Or "Introspection of a Loner"

I am destroying my own self,
From the inside to the outside,
No man could defeat me,
So to myself I bring demise.

Many references are made to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Roger Waters, Dylan Thomas, Robert Browning and other great poets throughout this work and the influence of these great men is evident in the poetry of Charles Cooper.

Desperate Times is full of diversity in both structure and content. The words and patterns hold the attention and keep the reader focused. In the author's poetry, anxiety and concern over lost love, faith undone, and a search for the soul are balanced with the power of truth and love. It reflects desperate times indeed for this poet, who has expressed his spiritual journey in a well-written, inspirational collection that leaves the reader believing poetry is his life and all of life is poetry.

good stuff here, and plenty of it!
American poetry is HUGE - everywhere one looks there are readings, contests,"slams" etc. Of course, just because there's a lot of poetry out there doesn't mean any of it is any good. So I thought until I came across Desperate Times. Definitely a breed apart from the average "slammer", Cooper seems to have an enthusiastic grasp of the classics, and uses this enthusiasm to good effect. It is plain that he worships his influences (especially in his earlier poems included in this volume), but never lets his admiration degenerate into mere imitation.
That said, what caught my attention about Cooper's work was his unique turn of phrase which captures complex ideas and releases them to the reader with an elegant simplicity. For example, in "Every Man Within", the great mystery of Adam and Eve is summed up neatly thus: "The rib that was taken left him empty inside/the emptiness that would only be fulfilled by a bride." All over Desperate Times there are instances where an otherwise-average poem is electrified and elevated by such concise yet universal ideas.

Charles Cooper's is a unique voice in American poetry - by staying true to his influences he creates a new truth all his own. He is one to watch!

Poet's Book Gets High Marks
Combining free verse with traditional rhyme schemes and experimental formats, Charles Cooper's Desperate Times is the work of a writer at the height of his poetic skill. Dividing his book into twelve sections, Cooper takes the reader along with him on a perilous psychological journey through love, madness, and pain.

Though the poet's mastery of his craft is enhanced by numerous references to great writers of the past, notably Ralph Waldo Emerson, A.E. Housman, and T.S. Eliot, clearly it is Cooper's own poetic gift that carries the day. Often varying his writing style from one poem to another, and even stanza-to-stanza, Cooper makes excellent use of rhythm in a number of offerings, particularly his beatnik-inspired effort, "The Black Bleeding Heart Beats Alone," and provides readers with searing portrayals of the human condition in eloquently rendered poems like "Failure" and "The Wastrel."

It is probably safe to assume that some readers who come to Cooper's book with a built-in faith presupposition will not like every line they read. A few of his jabs at religion are rather irreverent to be sure, although it would be unfair to say his book devalues religious thought entirely. In the end, Desperate Times is a stellar effort for Cooper, a literary work true to its author's vision and triumphant in its poetic craftsmanship.


Reading Critical, Writing Well: A Reader and Guide
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Press (2000)
Authors: Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper
Amazon base price: $37.65
Average review score:

Excellent Composition Reader!
I instruct a first year composition class at a northeastern university. I have tried several other readers--including Outlook and Insights, Models for Writers, and Ten on Ten. While I think those books are full of good content, none is as carefully structured and presented as Reading Critically, Writing Well.

From the very first page, it presents important information clearly and concisely. Beginning with examples of autobiographical writing and ending, predictably, with information on research strategies and documentation, it is perfect for a first year composition student whose primary goals is to learn the most effective and evocative techniques for expository writing.

I love the way each segment ends with ideas and strategies to drive home the main topic of that section. Each chapter concludes with an emphasis on the necessary skills of editing and proofreading. While this might seem gratuitous, this repetition is very effective in raising the students' awareness of these issues.

Overall, I found the selected essays engaging, evocative, and thought-provoking. My class is fascinated by the discussion of topics as wide-ranging as early 20th century courtship rituals and reincarnation. I highly recommend this to composition instructors looking for a clear concise text.

A Great Textbook
This is the best writing textbook I've ever used. I bought it for my college writing class, but had a hard time giving it up after my class was over. Not something you hear a lot about a textbook.


Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind
Published in Paperback by The William James Center for Consciousness Studies (20 August, 1999)
Authors: Kenneth Ring, Sharon Cooper, and Charles T. Tart
Amazon base price: $12.95
Average review score:

Nice stories, but little to back them up
The NDE stories of the blind in this book are not that strong, such as a blind person saying, "I was this person do [something unique]," and having that story backed up. Most of the stories are old and could only be loosely verified. In one story, a man had his sight before the NDE or incident, but subsequently lost his sight just before the NDE or afterwards. Perhaps the strongest story was one of a blind woman who saw her friend throwing up in a bathroom in another house. However, as with all the stories in the book, the authors attempt to verify the stories many years after the incident happened when some of the witness aren't even alive, so they take the person's word for what happened.

All in all, I would say this is a quick attempt to make a buck, and jump on the NDE-Death-Reincarnation bandwagon. The book only has value if you are looking for a book on NDEs of the blind which cannot be verified thoroughly.

an important contribution to an evolving subject
The book is an important contribution to the subject for a number of reasons, one of which is that some of the so-called skeptics have dismissed NDEs as evidence in favour of the survival hypothesis on the grounds that the NDEs of the blind differ from those of the sighted. This book firmly puts that myth to rest.

The book consists mostly of reviews of various cases of OBEs and NDEs in the blind, and one of the strongest concerns a woman blinded during surgery who apparently left her body while she was dying on a gurney with a breathing apparatus over her face. She seems to have seen her boyfriend and former husband standing speachless some distance away down the hallway. Seperate interviews with the two me support her story.

I predict more cases like this being made public in this decade. We could use a book on the cases of NDEs occuring during times when the patient's EEG recording was flat.

Positively Stunning!
If you are even remotely interested in the NDE, this book will not only provide you with thorough evidence and annecdotal science, but the descriptions of the study participants' NDEs will leave you breathless. This book is superbly written and reads like a novel, although it is definitely a scientific text. The participants in the study are presented with the dignity and professionalism they deserve - not as freaks being prodded in the name of science. Quite seriously parts of this book made me want to cry out with joy for the potential it lays at the feet of humankind. I was so taken by this book that I finished it in a few hours in one sitting. Although the authors steer clear of sentimentality and "lessons from the light", etc., this book will provide riveting and rich lessons to anyone who dare pick it up. Highly recommended for ALL readers, especially the bereaved or those facing terminal illness and their families.


The Physicists
Published in Paperback by House of Stratus Inc (2002)
Authors: William Cooper and Charles Percy Snow
Amazon base price: $10.49
List price: $14.99 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

A terrific overview of great science in the 20th century.
Physics in the 20th century has become something that even non-scientists know something about. Albert Einstein and some of the other greats have become household names, invoked almost as often as the names of deities. On the other hand, the purity and innocence of physics was forever changed by the development of the atomic bomb, causing a kind of dreadful fear of science in mainstream culture. C.P. Snow gives a wonderful picture of how it all came about, up to 1980. His anecdotes and personal sketches of the major figures read like short biographies of old friends. He shows how atomic weapons were developed, each step building on the previous ones, until the ultimate destruction became inevitable. He also writes of hope for the future: hope in new minds and new discoveries. The book is well-illustrated with black and white photographs and drawings and it is not too long to read in a couple of evenings.


James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans
Published in Paperback by Hungry Minds, Inc (1989)
Authors: Cooper and Charles Leavitt
Amazon base price: $3.95
Average review score:

Still one of the Classics
Set in upstate New York in colonial times, Cooper here tells the tale of the stolid colonial scout Hawkeye, nee Natty Bumppo (don't ask), who, with his two Indian companions Chingachgook (the Big Snake) and his son Uncas (apparently newly come to manhood), stumble on a party of British soldiers conducting two fair maidens to their father, the commander of British Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War. Under the watchful eyes of the young British officer who has the girls in his charge and led by a Huron scout, Magua, the party appears, to the indomitable Hawkeye, to be at greater risk than they realize as they trek through the wilderness toward the safety of the girls' father's garrison. And, indeed, Hawkeye's judgement is soon proved right as the scout Magua treacherously betrays the hapless girls in repayment, it seems, for a stint of corporal punishment inflicted on him previously by their absent parent. Since the Hurons, Magua's native tribe, are culturally akin to the Iroquois who are the herditary enemies of the Algonquin Delawares, from whom Chingachgook and his son hail and among whom Hawkeye has made his home and friendships, a natural antagonism arises almost at once between Hawkeye's party and the Huron and this proves salutary, when danger finally strikes. The tale quickly becomes a matter of flight and pursuit through thickly overgrown primeval forests, over rough mountains and across broad open lakes as the beleagured travelers first elude and then flee the dreaded Iroquois (allies of the French) who have joined the renegade Huron in an effort to seize the two girls. After a brief respite within the safety of William Henry however, the tables are once again turned as Magua's perfidy puts the girls once more at risk. And now the story shifts to a manic pursuit of the fleeing Magua who means to carry off his human prey in order to finally have his revenge on the girls' father, on the British and on the Europeans, generally, whose presence in his native country he blames (not altogether unjustifiably) for his myriad travails. Written in the fine tradition of the 19th century romance (which, of course, is what this book is), Cooper picked up where Sir Walter Scott (the venerable founder of this novelistic tradition) left off, creating a rich historical tale of adventure, nobility and marvelously sketched characters set against a brilliantly detailed natural landscape. If his characters are less keenly drawn than Scott's they are no less memorable for, in the quiet nobility of the scout Hawkeye lies the strong, silent hero of the wilderness which has become the archetypical protagonist in our own American westerns. And the Indians, Chingachgook and Uncas, are the very prototypes of the noble savage, so much used, and over-used, today. This is a tale of action first and foremost without much plot but so well told that you barely notice, as our heroes flee and pursue their enemies in turn -- until the very quickness of the prose seems to mirror and embody the speed of the action. Nor is this book only to be read for its rapid-fire rendition of flight and pursuit, for it touches the reader on another level as well, as the bold young Uncas moves out ahead of his comrades to place himself at risk for the others and the woman he loves. Although we never see Uncas at anything but a distance and never get to know the man he is supposed to be, he is yet a symbol of that people of whom he is the last chiefly descendant, the Delaware Mohicans. Nobly born into the finest of Mohican bloodlines, Uncas faces his final trial with heroic energy and resolve in order to defeat the nefarious and twisted Magua. Yet this struggle is also the final footnote in the story of a people, marking the closing chapter for all those Indians who, with the Mohicans, have, in Cooper's own words, seen the morning of their nation and the inevitable nightfall which must follow. If you give this book a chance and bear with some of the heavy nineteenth century prose, it will prove out in the end. An exciting and worthwhile read.

An American classic that's still got it!
Set in upstate New York in colonial times, Cooper here tells the story of the stolid colonial scout Hawkeye, nee Natty Bumppo (don't ask), who, with his two Indian companions Chingachgook (the Big Snake) and his son Uncas (apparently newly come to manhood), stumble on a party of British soldiers conducting two fair maidens to their father, the commander of British Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War. Under the watchful eyes of the young British officer who has the girls in his charge and led by a Huron scout, Magua, the party appears, to the indomitable Hawkeye, to be at greater risk than they realize as they trek through the wilderness toward the safety of the girls' father's garrison. And, indeed, Hawkeye's judgement is soon proved right as the scout Magua treacherously betrays the hapless girls in repayment, it seems, for a stint of corporal punishment inflicted on him previously by their absent parent. Since the Hurons, Magua's native tribe, are culturally akin to the Iroquois who are the herditary enemies of the Algonquin Delawares, from whom Chingachgook and his son hail and among whom Hawkeye has made his home and friendships, a natural antagonism has arisen almost at once between Hawkeye's party and the Huron and this proves salutary, when danger finally strikes. The tale quickly becomes a matter of flight and pursuit through thickly overgrown primeval forests, over rough mountains and across broad open lakes as the beleagured travelers first elude and then flee the dreaded Iroquois (allies of the French) who have joined the renegade Huron in an effort to seize the two girls. After a brief respite within the safety of William Henry however, the tables are once again turned as Magua's perfidy puts the girls once more at risk. And now the story shifts to a manic pursuit of the fleeing Magua who means to carry off his human prey in order to finally have his revenge on the girls' father, on the British and on the Europeans, generally, whose presence in his native country he blames (not altogether unjustifiably) for his myriad travails. Written in the fine tradition of the 19th century romance (which, of course, is what this book is), Cooper picked up where Sir Walter Scott (the venerable founder of this novelistic tradition) left off, creating a rich historical tale of adventure, nobility and marvelously sketched characters set against a brilliantly detailed natural landscape. If his characters are less keenly drawn than Scott's they are no less memorable for, in the quiet nobility of the scout Hawkeye lies the strong, silent hero of the wilderness which has become the archetypical protagonist in our own American westerns. And the Indians, Chingachgook and Uncas, are the very prototypes of the noble savage, so much used and over-used today. This is a tale of action first and foremost without much plot but so well told that you barely notice, as our heroes flee and pursue their enemies in turn until the very quickness of the prose seems to mirror and embody the speed of the action. Nor is this book only to be read for its rapid-fire rendition of flight and pursuit, for it touches the reader on another level as well, as the bold young Uncas moves out ahead of his comrades to place himself at risk for the others and the woman he loves. Although we never see Uncas at anything but a distance and never get to know the man he is supposed to be, he is yet a symbol of that people of whom he is the last chiefly descendant, the Delaware Mohicans. Nobly born into the finest of Mohican bloodlines, Uncas faces his final trial with heroic energy and resolve in order to defeat the nefarious and twisted Magua. Yet this struggle is also the final footnote in the story of a people, marking the closing chapter for all those Indians who, with the Mohicans, have seen, in Cooper's own words, the morning of their nation and the inevitable nightfall which must follow. -- Stuart W. Mirsky (mirsky@ix.netcom.com

Flawed But Still a Classic
Set in upstate New York in colonial times, Cooper here tells the story of the stolid colonial scout Hawkeye, nee Natty Bumppo (don't ask), who, with his two Indian companions Chingachgook (the Big Snake) and his son Uncas (apparently newly come to manhood), stumble on a party of British soldiers conducting two fair maidens to their father, the commander of British Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War. Under the watchful eyes of the young British officer who has the girls in his charge and led by a Huron scout, Magua, the party appears, to the indomitable Hawkeye, to be at greater risk than they realize as they trek through the wilderness toward the safety of the girls' father's garrison. And, indeed, Hawkeye's judgement is soon proved right as the scout Magua treacherously betrays the hapless girls in repayment, it seems, for a stint of corporal punishment inflicted on him previously by their absent parent. Since the Hurons, Magua's native tribe, are culturally akin to the Iroquois who are the herditary enemies of the Algonquin Delawares, from whom Chingachgook and his son hail and among whom Hawkeye has made his home and friendships, a natural antagonism has arisen almost at once between Hawkeye's party and the Huron and this proves salutary, when danger finally strikes. The tale quickly becomes a matter of flight and pursuit through thickly overgrown primeval forests, over rough mountains and across broad open lakes as the beleagured travelers first elude and then flee the dreaded Iroquois (allies of the French) who have joined the renegade Huron in an effort to seize the two girls. After a brief respite within the safety of William Henry however, the tables are once again turned as Magua's perfidy puts the girls once more at risk. And now the story shifts to a manic pursuit of the fleeing Magua who means to carry off his human prey in order to finally have his revenge on the girls' father, on the British and on the Europeans, generally, whose presence in his native country he blames (not altogether unjustifiably) for his myriad travails. Written in the fine tradition of the 19th century romance (which, of course, is what this book is), Cooper picked up where Sir Walter Scott (the venerable founder of this particular novelistic tradition) left off, creating a rich historical tale of adventure, nobility and marvelously sketched characters set against a brilliantly detailed natural landscape. If his characters are less keenly drawn than Scott's they are no less memorable for, in the quiet nobility of the scout Hawkeye lies the strong, silent hero of the wilderness which was to become the archetypical protagonist of the American western. And the Indians, Chingachgook and Uncas, are the very prototypes of the noble savage, so much used and over-used today. This is a tale of action first and foremost without much plot but so well told that you barely notice, as our heroes flee and pursue their enemies in turn until the very quickness of the prose seems to mirror and embody the speed of the action. Nor is this book only to be read for its rapid-fire rendition of flight and pursuit, for it touches the reader on another level as well, as the bold young Uncas moves out ahead of his comrades to place himself at risk for the others and the woman he loves. Although we never see Uncas at anything but a distance and never get to know the man he is supposed to be, he is yet a symbol of that people of whom he is the last chiefly descendant, the Delaware Mohicans. Nobly born into the finest of Mohican bloodlines, Uncas faces his final trial with heroic energy and resolve in order to defeat the nefarious and twisted Magua. Yet this struggle is also the final footnote in the story of a people, marking the closing chapter for all those Indians who, with the Mohicans, have seen, in Cooper's words, the morning of their nation and the inevitable nightfall which must follow. The book is a bit short on characterization and plotting and the prose is heavy for modern tastes, but the action is richly visualized in the flow of the narrative and the images are compelling. In the end, despite its flaws, this book of Cooper's is, in fact, the classic we have been told it is. -- S. W. Mirsky


The Deerslayer (Charles Scribner's Sons Books for Young Readers)
Published in School & Library Binding by Atheneum (1990)
Authors: James Fenimore Cooper and N. C. Wyeth
Amazon base price: $18.90
List price: $27.00 (that's 30% off!)
Average review score:

Not The Last of the Mohicans, unfortunately...
Seeking to reprise his earlier success with The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper went on to write several other tales built around his heroic character Natty Bumppo (called "Hawkeye" in Mohicans and "Pathfinder" in the book of THAT name). In this one our hero is known as "Deerslayer" for his facility on the hunt and is shown as the younger incarnation of that paragon of frontier virtue we got to know in the earlier books. In this one, too, we see how he got his most famous appellation: "Hawkeye". But, this time out, our hero comes across as woefully tiresome (perhaps it's because we see too much of him in this book, where he's almost a side character in Mohicans). Yet some of Cooper's writing skills seem sharper here (he no longer avers that Natty is the taciturn type, for instance, while having the fellow forever running off at the mouth). But, while there are some good moments & excitement, this tale really doesn't go all that far...and its rife with cliches already overworked from the earlier books. The worst part is the verbose, simple-minded self-righteousness of our hero, himself, taken to the point of absolute unbelievability. He spurns the love of a beautiful young woman (though he obviously admires her) for the forester's life (as though he couldn't really have both), yet we're expected to believe he's a full-blooded young American male. And he's insufferably "moral", a veritable goody two-shoes of the woodlands. At the same time, the Indians huff & puff a lot on the shore of the lake where Deerslayer finds himself in this tale (in alliance with a settler, his two daughters, a boorish fellow woodsman, and Deerslayer's own erstwhile but loyal Indian companion Chingachgook -- "The Big Sarpent," as Natty translates his name). But the native Americans seem ultimately unable to overwhelm the less numerous settlers who have taken refuge from them in the middle of Lake Glimmerglass (inside a frontier house built of logs and set in the lake bed on stilts). There is much racing around the lake as Deerslayer and the others strive to keep the few canoes in the vicinity from falling into the hands of the tribe of marauding Hurons who have stopped in the nearby woods on their way back up to Canada (fleeing the American colonists and the British at the outbreak of English-French hostilities -- since these Hurons are allied with the French). And there are lots of dramatic encounters, with some deaths, but the Indians seem to take it all with relative equanimity, while trying to find a way to get at the whites who are precariously ensconced out on the lake. (It seems to take them the better part of two days, for instance, to figure out they can build rafts to make up for their lack of canoes -- and why couldn't they just build their own canoes, in any case -- and how is it they don't have any along with them since it's obvious they'll have to cross a number of waterways to successfully make it back to the homeland in Canada?) The settler and the boorish woodsman, for their part, do their stupid best to attack the Indians unnecessarily, getting captured then ransomed in the process, while Deerslayer and Chingachgook contrive to get the loyal Indian's betrothed free from the Hurons (it seems she has been kidnapped by them -- the reason Deerslayer and Chingachgook are in the vicinity in the first place). In the meantime the simple-minded younger daughter of the settler (Cooper seems to like this motif since he used a strong daughter and a simpler sister in Mohicans, as well) wanders in and out of the Indian's encampment without sustaining any hurt on the grounds that the noble red men recognize the "special" nature of this poor afflicted young woman (Cooper used this motif in Mohicans, too). In the end there's lots of sturm und drang but not much of a tale -- at least not one which rings true or touches the right chords for the modern reader. Cooper tried to give us more of Hawkeye in keeping with what he thought his readers wanted but, in this case, more is definately too much. --- Stuart W. Mirsk

Natty: The early years..........
Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, The Deerslayer, depicts young Natty Bumppo on his first warpath with lifelong friend-to-be, Chingachgook. The story centers around a lake used as the chronologically subsequent setting for Cooper's first Leatherstocking Tale, The Pioneers. Tom Hutter lives on the lake with his daughters and it is here that Deerslayer (Bumppo) intends to meet Chingachgook to rescue Chingachgook's betrothed from a band of roving Iroquois. A desperate battle for control of the lake and it's immediate environs ensues and consumes the remainder of the story.

Throughout this ultimate Leatherstocking Tale, Cooper provides Natty much to postulate upon. Seemingly desiring a comprehensive finality to the philosophy of Bumppo, Cooper has Natty "speechify" in The Deerslayer more so than in any other book, though the character could hardly be considered laconic in any. Though the reason for this is obvious and expected (it is, after all, Cooper's last book of the series), it still detracts a tad from the pace of the story as Natty picks some highly inappropriate moments within the plot to elaborate his position. And, thus, somewhat incongruently, Cooper is forced to award accumulated wisdom to Bummpo at the beginning of his career rather than have him achieve it through chronological accrual.

All things considered, however, The Deerslayer is not remarkably less fun than any other Leatherstalking Tale and deserves a similar rating. Thus, I award The Deerslayer 4+ stars and the entire Leatherstocking Tales series, one of the better examples of historical fiction of the romantic style, the ultimate rating of 5. It was well worth my time.

better for kids than adults
I just reread this book after 35 years. I loved it as a 15 year old and enjoyed it as an adult. The negatives? The hubrus of Cooper, the successful author, shows up in the form of undeveloped characters and a wandering plot. The positives are the rolicking adventure and the way it makes me remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I read it. If you are under 16 read this on first and the rest just get better. Over 16 read them in the order they were written and try not to be too disappointed in with this later effort.


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