"The Last of the Mohicans" by James Fenimore Cooper - Done

I have not had enough time to post because I have been using every free moment to read. That’s how much I enjoyed this book.

It taught me a new respect for the strengths, behaviors, and customs of Native Americans, in large part because it was not polluted with the shaming of whites that so often accompanies such teaching.

I loved the character of Hawkeye and can see why that made its way into M*A*S*H legend.

I loved the footnotes, in which Cooper seemed to magically anticipate questions I may have had while reading, and went ahead and answered them for me right there on the page.

I love that he had an understandable and lamentable bad guy…not completely black, but having many shades of grey.

The most striking aspect of the book, though, was the number of close shaves, last minute saves, and almost got the bad guy, but didn’t, that the book had without ever being cliché, trite, or repetitive. And just when you think that you are going to get Hollywood ending…well, Cooper lived long before Hollywood. I can tell.