"The Deerslayer"

Hutter's "Muskrat Castle"

In Chapter 19, there is some of Cooper's finest descriptions. While Deerslayer is being held captive by the Hurons, Hutter, Harry, Hist, and Chingachook head back to the castle, but are by some concealed Hurons. A fight ensues, but prior to it, the author does a wonderful job of describing the lake as the sun rises. Simply beautiful writing.

"The Deerslayer"

Chapter 18 contained still more fascinating descriptions of Hetty's behavior, which is among the most interesting I've read in a long time. If great writers create interesting characters, than Cooper might qualify, at least in that regard, as a great writer.

These sentences are also examples of the author's ability to write with both grace and dignity:
"Judith was expert in the management of a bark canoe, the lightness of which demanded skill rather than strength; and she forced her own little vessel swiftly over the water, the moment she had ended her conference with Hetty, and had come to the determination to return. Still no ark was seen. Several times the sisters fancied they saw it, looming up in the obscurity, like a low black rock; but on each occasion it was found to be either an optical illusion, or some swell of the foliage on the shore." 
 Unfortunately Cooper also occasionally writes with clumsiness and a great lack of clarity!

"The Deerslayer"

Oil painting by Stephen Magsig

In Chapter 17, Chingachook rescues Hist from the Huron camp, but Deerslayer (now called Hawkeye by the Hurons) is captured. One of Hurons, Rivenoak, tries to get Deerslayer to betray his friends, but, in a dignified and long explanation, her replies that it's impossible for him to treat friends that way. I was thinking about irony as I read this chapter (actually the book is filled with ironies) -- especially the irony of a so-called "savage" acting with greater dignity and respectfulness than many a supposedly "civilized" white person. Hetty, too, appears in this chapter -- ironically, a mentally handicapped person who has more wisdom and good sense than most of the "non-handicapped" characters.

"The Deerslayer"

oil by Takeyce Walter

Chapter 16 was an exciting one, filled with the adventures of the rescue of Chingachcook's betrothed from the camp of the Hurons. I especially enjoyed this description of Deerslayer's love of the forest, which again portrays him as a sensitive and spiritually minded person: 

    "We have written much, but in vain, concerning this extraordinary being, if the reader requires now to be told, that, untutored as he was in the learning of the world, and simple as he ever showed himself to be in all matters touching the subtleties of conventional taste, he was a man of strong, native, poetical feeling. He loved the woods for their freshness, their sublime solitudes, their vastness, and the impress that they everywhere bore of the divine hand of their creator. He seldom moved through them, without pausing to dwell on some peculiar beauty that gave him pleasure, though seldom attempting to investigate the causes; and never did a day pass without his communing in spirit, and this, too, without the aid of forms or language, with the infinite source of all he saw, felt, and beheld."

"The Deerslayer"

In Chapter 15, Cooper clearly and dramatically describes Hutter, Hurry, and Chingachook going off in search of Mingo scalps, and also portrays a touching scene in which Judith tells Deerslayer (now sometimes called Hawkeye) that she longs to live in a settlement, and Deerslayer responds by eloquently describing his love for the open forest. There's much fine imagery here, as well as many graceful sentences.


Painting by Tim Gagnon
http://gagnonstudio.blogspot.com

"The Deerslayer"

Chingachook and Judith Hutter on the Castle

In Chapter 15, which I read on this first slightly sunny day after days of rain, Deerslayer works out a negotiation with the Mingos for the release of Hutter and Harry. The dialogue was excellent, I thought, and once again the characters seemed very believable.

Here is a favorite quote from the chapter. Deerslayer is speaking to Judith Hutter:

"I don't know whether a white man ought to be ashamed, or not, to own he can't read, but such is my case, Judith. You are skilful, I find, in all such matters, while I have only studied the hand of God as it is seen in the hills and the valleys, the mountain-tops, the streams, the forests and the springs. Much l'arning may be got in this way, as well as out of books; and, yet, I sometimes think it is a white man's gift to read! When I hear from the mouths of the Moravians the words of which Hetty speaks, they raise a longing in my mind, and I then think I will know how to read 'em myself; but the game in summer, and the traditions, and lessons in war, and other matters, have always kept me behind hand."

"The Deerslayer"

I continue to be impressed with Cooper's ability to create very interesting characters. Hetty Hutter is quite fascinating to me -- full of suprising thoughts and statements. In this chapter, she makes some almost Buddhist-like remarks, and what she says sounds oompletely real and true. Cooper also creates interesting but believable twists in the plot, like Hetty's returning to the Castle with a young Iroquois.

"The Deerslayer"

On my Kindle, I stopped reading at location 3177, just after a long chapter in which Cooper carefully described the opening and searching of Hutter's old chest. I found it interesting that the author took so much time to describe this relatively unexciting event -- and he did a fine job of it. I've always thought that one sign of a good writer is the ability to make the most commonplace events and scenes seem extraordinary -- and Cooper did that here.   

"The Deerslayer"

I just finished Chapter 12, and am very impressed with the writing style of this chapter. Cooper is not always a great writer, but in this chapter his writing ranks very high on my list. It's clear, direct, and also very smooth and easy to enjoy. I also liked his continued references to Deerslayer's utter honesty. It's beginning to make him, perhaps, a very memorable character for me. His sincere and simple praise of Judith when she was wearing the dress from her father's trunk was impressive, indeed.

"The Deerslayer"

"Muskrat Castle", the Hutters' home in the middle of Glimmerglass

 The reading today told of an amazing incident in which Hetty Hutter steals away at night in one of the canoes, apparently to try to reach her father and Hurry Harry, who have been kidnapped by the Iroquois. Cooper described it beautifully -- Hetty standing in the canoe away off in the darkness and Deerslayer, Judith, and Chingachook too far away to catch her and bring her back.

I am continuing to enjoy this too-much-maligned classic. Sure, Cooper overdoes the writing sometimes, but every great writer has faults, and I find more to love in this story than to criticize. Judith Hutter, for example, is a very interesting and multi-dimensional character. This sentence is just one example of what makes here so intriguing: "I have have known you but a day, Deerslayer, but it has awakened the confidence of a year."

THE DEERSLAYER

I've been reading this old, long-forgotten classic this summer, and enjoying it immensely. The book is scoffed at by college professors and other "sophisticated" readers, but I love if for its sincerity. Somehow I get the feeling that Cooper, while not being the most talented writer I've read, is one of the most genuine. It feels like he loved his characters, and especially loved his settings -- and I admire authors with that kind of devotion and genuineness. Plus, since my recent move to a home in the dark forests of northeast Connecticut, I feel right at home as I read the chapters in the shadows of the great trees. I almost expect to see Natty and Hurry and Hutter and Chingachook come out of the woods nearby.