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The Deerslayer (The Leatherstocking Tales #1)

by James Fenimore Cooper, Bruce L.R. Smith (Introduction)

3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 · rating details · 5,060 ratings · 175 reviews

The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classicsseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
All editions are beautifully designe...more

Paperback, 608 pages

Published July 1st 2005 by Barnes & Noble Classics (first published 1841)

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Oct 20, 2008 dead letter office rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mark Twain: "Cooper’s art has some defects. In one place in ‘Deerslayer,’ and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record."

I'll refer you to Mark Twain's essay "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses":

Now I feel sure, deep down in my heart, that Cooper wrote about the poorest English that exists in our language, and that the English of "Deerslayer" is the very worst that even Cooper ever wrote.

I may...more

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Aug 19, 2007 Belinda rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: timeless, stinkers, western

I hate you for all those hours of my life I'll never get back, James Fenimore Cooper.

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Feb 09, 2012 Rich rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

This book receives quite a bit of vitriolic language about how it's the "worst book ever written" and other predictably trite rantings of those who have different expectations than the book satisfies. I began this book with an open mind and with an interest in the writing style of an author I hadn't read before. Although I freely admit the prose is a bit longwinded, it contains some eloquent passages among the numerous pithy and dry paragraphs (think Romantic Period of literature and nature writ...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Libby rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you've seen my booklists and read my reviews, you'll know I'm usually a great lover of classic novels. When I was about 11 or 12, my Dad got me a big stack of paperback classics and I spent an entire summer with Ivanhoe and Sidney Carton and Jane Eyre. I mean, I munched them up! Then I got to James Fenimore Cooper. Oh bad. Oh really, really bad. The stories themselves were pretty good, as witness the fact that they have been made into many successful movies. However, to read the stories, you...more

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Jun 09, 2007 Sarah Sammis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: released

Back in December I had fun reading Mark Twain's infamous review of Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper. Before Christmas when I had some time off from work we bought a copy to see if the book is as bad as the essay would imply. The short answer is yes and no. It was bad enough that I gave up on reading it seriously at about page 150, but did skim to the end

Twain cites an abuse of language, a lack of plot and impossible action scenes for his reason for hating the book. Yes; Cooper's use of langua...more

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Jan 29, 2013 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rated: B+

He uses the reason that God has given him, and he uses it with a fellin' of his being ordered to look at, and consider things as they are, and not as he wants them to be. It's easy enough to find them who call themselves just; but it's wonderfully oncommon to find them that are the very thing, in fact. (ChapterXII)

"God has been kind to me, and lifted a burden off my heart. Mother had many such burdens, she used to tell me, and she always took them off in this way. 'Tis the only way, sis...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book "The Deerslayer" was by James Fenimore Cooper. This book was about "The First War Path". This book was just about to people going through this insane journey across the country. The two people were two men who did not agree with each other but they knew that they needed to protect each other incase indians attack them from out of the nowhere. The two characters in this book there names are "Natty Bumppo", and "Hurry Harry". These two guys arn't the bestest friend's but they will do ju...more

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Jul 30, 2011 James (JD) Dittes added it

I actually liked this book better than Last of the Mohicans. Subtitled, "The First War-Path," it covers the rise of Natty Bumppo--named "Deerslayer" by his Delaware friends--to manhood. He takes his first life, but like a respectful, Christian man, he foregoes the scalp of his victim, who renames him "Hawkeye" with his dying breath. There is a love interest, a vivid embrace of Romanticism, and Nature above all else.

I'm planning a trip to upstate New York, and this book has sealed the need to see...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Justin Kemppainen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I understand that this is an oooold book written by the standards of people who died a very long time ago, but it is simply dull.

Instead of reading the more common Natty Bumppo tale in "The Last of the Mohicans" I wanted to start this series in its chronological beginning, and I haven't read Cooper since. I don't intend to ever again.

Deerslayer was desperately boring for a novel which contained the murder and mayhem of developing America. Yes, it's a classic. Yes, it's one of the first instances...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This was a very tedious read. While I normally like older books, something about Cooper's writing style just didn't grab me.

The Deerslayer is mainly a story about a man named Nathaniel Bumppus, or as he is better known by in this novel, Deerslayer. He is headed with a friend commonly referred to as "Hurry" to a lake where he will later meet another friend of his, a Delaware Indian he calls the "Sarpent" to rescue the Sarpent's betrothed from a group of Hurons. When they reach their destination t...more This was a very tedious read. While I normally like older books, something about Cooper's writing style just didn't grab me.

The Deerslayer is mainly a story about a man named Nathaniel Bumppus, or as he is better known by in this novel, Deerslayer. He is headed with a friend commonly referred to as "Hurry" to a lake where he will later meet another friend of his, a Delaware Indian he calls the "Sarpent" to rescue the Sarpent's betrothed from a group of Hurons. When they reach their destination they meet a man and his two daughters who live on an island in the lake.

The older daughter Judith, is quite taken with the Deerslayer and the younger, who is described as feeble-minded is as sweet a person as could be met. Their father is a bit rougher than them and after the death of his wife has been raising them himself.

When Hurry and Thomas Hutter (the father) decide to go scalping Indians for fun and profit, Deerslayer doesn't go. Then when they are kidnapped, it is up to Deerslayer and the girls to ransom them and bring them home safely. Unfortunately, as soon as the men are returned home, Deerslayer is captured in the rescue of the Sarpent's betrothed. The rest of the novel deals with his capture.

The characters in this story were hard for me to like. Hurry is a racist, which during the times, a little could be expected, but he regards anyone of skin other than white as no more than animals. Judith, while the author tries to paint her as vain, never appears that way in the novel to me, in fact, she seems very down to earth. The younger daughter, Hetty, is said to be feeble minded but I also didn't get that impression from the book. She seemed to be more just naive. Lastly, our main character, the Deerslayer, while he is supposed to be a wonderful man, not boastful, but not handsome either, is annoying. He continually goes on about "white-man's gifts" and "red-man's gifts" and repeats himself. He also is self described to go on long soliloquies which it seems as if he just likes to hear himself talk and somewhat pretentiously at that.

The writing style is very tedious. There is a lot of conversation, which normally wouldn't be so bad, but Cooper seems to have them have different variations of the same conversation over and over. There is always mentions of red-man's ways and white-man's ways and the beauty of Judith in almost every conversation. I just wasn't as impressed with this as much as I am with some of the classics. While I know the book is very popular and has been around a long time, I guess I just don't think that's enough to make it outstanding to me. I probably won't pursue the rest of the books of "the Leatherstocking Tales" that this novel begins.

The language is very authentic for the time and I do give Cooper credit for that. It was easy to imagine these characers talking with the dialect they were written in. Drawn out vowels and backwoods names for things are tastefully used for some of the characters and other characters to show a difference in upbringing and education have a more refined speech. It was well done.

It was a nice tale, but just stretched out far too much with Cooper's stylistic writing.

The Deerslayer
Copyright 1841
548 pages

There is also a bunch of prefaces that accompany the novel as well. (less)

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May 29, 2011 Babs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This it the story of Deerslayer and his best buddy Chingachgook (which I still have not figured out how to say) as they go on their first "warpath" together. I looked for a movie version of this story after I finished it because I was interested to see how it would play out in modern times, but there is no movie made since 1920 (silent movie). I shouldn't be surprised. Let me say from the onset that I consider James Fenimore Cooper one of the finest writers I have read. That being said, the time...more This it the story of Deerslayer and his best buddy Chingachgook (which I still have not figured out how to say) as they go on their first "warpath" together. I looked for a movie version of this story after I finished it because I was interested to see how it would play out in modern times, but there is no movie made since 1920 (silent movie). I shouldn't be surprised. Let me say from the onset that I consider James Fenimore Cooper one of the finest writers I have read. That being said, the time and circumstances in which he lived seem to have made him a judgemental and unforgiving man. And from what I hear, in his time, he was considered to be a little bit "lax" in the accepted moral deportment of the day. WOW!
This story was very exciting and certainly held my interest even as I navigated the verbose style of the 19th century writing. A bit wordy, why use 2 words when 20 will do. But the words he chose were of such beauty and description that it made it worthwhile - a feat not managed by all the authors of his time. I skipped over nothing. Also, each chapter began with a quote from some antiquated author that was lovely and foretold a bit of what was to come. I enjoyed this rather than finding it cumbersome as I sometimes do.
Never has there been a hero as virtuous as Deerslayer. In this day and age it is pure fantasy to imagine that he could exist. He is brave, honest, kind...but here we come to my problem....a little too judgemental for my taste.
The reason I could not give this wonderfully written and exciting story 5 stars is that I feel the author too harsh on his characters. I cannot believe that the world is so black and white. I cannot allow the author that - even taking into consideration the times in which he lived. And I could not embrace the bigotry expressed in the characters. This is why, I am sure, you cannot find a modern portrayal of this story. Taking out the bigotry would destoy the story. Ironically, the bigotry and judgementalism are what destroy an otherwise timeless tale.
I recommend reading this book simply for the wonderful descriptive prose and historical knowledge it possesses. Cooper WAS a genius of a writer. And for his time, he may even have had a more kind and open mind than I am giving him credit for. But don't expect to feel particularly good when you finish the book.
I will say that the closing lines of the book do attempt a bit of redemption of the predjudices within:

"We live in a world of transgressions and selfishness, and no pictures that represent us otherwise can be true; though happily for human nature, gleamings of that pure spirit in whose likeness man has been fashioned, are to be seen, relieving its deformities, and mitigating, if not excusing its crimes"

This is the closest Cooper gets to admitting that "All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and that we should "Judge not, lest we be judged".(less)

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Jan 21, 2011 Pam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this at some point during high school as part of one of our yearly English projects. Despite being very interested in history and appreciative of a wide range of books and authors, I thought this book was pretty bad. One of the only things I still remember from this book (and liked) was the idea that Native Americans appreciated "simple" people like the character Hetty. I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but it was a nice concept to have put forth in a work of fiction.

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Sep 11, 2012 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did a book report on this novel when I was in high school. Despite my love of classic literature, I pretty much hated this book. Of course hating it and rating it are two seperate things. This is a book that drones on in the way books of that time often did. Granted, this one droned a bit more, but I was always able to enjoy Hemingway, Twain, Dickens and Fitzgerald, why not this.

First offense, the protagnist is the biggest chauvinist I ever remember encountering in a novel. He is so beyond na...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What can I say that Mark Twain didn't?
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns...

"Cooper's art has some defects. In one place in "Deerslayer," and in the restricted place of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record."

And

"I may be mistaken, but it does seem to me that "Deerslayer" is not a work of art in any sense; it does seem to me that it is destitute of every detail that goes to the making of a work of art; in truth, it...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Nathan Good rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of my all-time favorite novels. The author does a good job of developing the characters just enough to cause you to fall in love with them (or to hate them) but with enough mystery surrounding them to make them still seem like real people. It is amazing how short a period of time such a large book fills, but this is accounted for by the extensive detail given to scenery and depictions of events as well as extensive conversations which take place for seemingly no reason except charact...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Zachrobhan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this when I was 16 so I might of forgotten how good it was (I was also a hormonal teenager) but this book was a really fun read. It was really the first novel that I ever got into. Not a huge fan of the end though............

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May 20, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Ben

This book was pleasantly surprising. I picked it up for $1 a year ago since it is a classic. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. The characters, the plot, the writing; it all was very good. I loved Cooper’s descriptions of the untouched beauty of northern New York. It was well paced and held me in suspense and anticipation. It also is full of tender moments of interaction between the characters.

I was very interested in Cooper’s portrayal of the various views on Native Americans. Deer...more

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Feb 29, 2008 Nate rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: survivorman

really tedious prose, and the one dimensional characters keep getting captured by the fucking indians. why dont these assholes just go where the indians aren't? sounds like a logical solution to me

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Jul 04, 2012 Abigail Hartman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction

After reading "The Last of the Mohicans," it was good to go back and pick up this chronologically-first novel in the Leatherstocking Tales. It follows the adventures of Hawkeye (called Deerslayer at this point) and Chingachgook on their first warpath, as they seek to win back Chingachgook's betrothed from the Hurons who kidnapped her and to protect a white trapper and his two daughters.

It takes about a quarter of the book for the plot to really pick up, but one comes to expect that with Cooper....more

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Jan 24, 2012 Timothy Darling rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: men, precocious young men

Shelves: adventure, classic, epic, period-fiction, novel, war

I came to this book after being introduced to it by Ken Burns National Parks Television series. It lives up to the introduction. Here a more primeval America is introduced, a place whee the landscape is unspoiled but where humanity is less sensitive. War is the norm of the day and life is held in low esteem. the unspoiled landscape is contrasted to the completely depraved human condition. The relationships show none of the smooth, natural beauty of the lake's currents. The peace of the surroundi...more

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May 02, 2012 Aaron Cance rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If one can read books promiscuously, as I was reassured in graduate school that one could, I read all five of the books in this series like a complete whore, giving myself entirely over to the story - loved all five. A word of caution, however: They were written in a different order than the chronology of the narrative. Imagine my disappointment at the Deerslayer's death at the end of the third book out of five.

The order that the author produced them:

The Pioneers
Last of the Mohicans
The Prairie
T...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Troy Johnson rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My least favorite book of all time. It about killed me reading it.

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May 07, 2012 Steven rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: home-inventory

I see no justification for reading Cooper whatsoever--not as a classic author of American literature and not as a record of the times in which he wrote. For context, Mary Rowlandson is a much more palatable read. Cooper was a bad writer, plain and simple. That his popularity among his own contemporaries has somehow wheedled its way into the twenty-first century reflects nothing of Cooper's inherent value, only the gross idolatry we continue to show for a body of historically poor writing cherish...more

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Apr 10, 2013 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As its title suggests, "The Deerslayer" is a meditation on the value of blood. Central to Cooper's novel are the ideas that wrongs are made right by the sacrifice of blood, and that blood lines form our strongest bonds. On the former count, it is little wonder that Cooper sets up Hetty -- the very symbol of Christian piety, the helpless lamb -- as a sacrifice. Deerslayer's open willingness to endure the torture of his captors also has its Biblical parallels. And on a metaphorical level, Judith,...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Benjamin Thomas rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, e-book, historical-fiction

I don't really want to rate this one at all...I'm tempted to give it only 1 star because I really didn't like it much at all. But I have a healthy respect for the classics and can certainly appreciate the time in which this was written. Cooper offers a distinctive voice from that era, I feel sure, and so I award the novel with a lofty 2 stars.

The story was a good one, and if written today by a gifted author would make for a fine historical fiction novel. But the style is just a flat-out turn-off...more

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Aug 06, 2008 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

I really enjoyed this book and plan to read all of the Leatherstocking Tales. I read "Last of the Mohicans" several years ago, and didn't realize there was a series of books based on the main character. I liked what Deerslayer had to say to his friends before he parted with them, expecting he would be killed and never see them again. P. 418, he says, "I've often thought there's moments when our words dwell longer on the mind than common, and when advice is remembered, just because the mouth that...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Candie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't get into this story and I really couldn't stand Natty Bumppo. He is TOO GOOD. I had to get away from his self-riotousness. I read many classics, but this style wasn't for me, I only made it half way through. One of my absolutely favorite movies is Last of the Mohicans, so it was a big let-down. That is perhaps the only Movie I have ever enjoyed more than the book.

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Aug 16, 2012 Matt rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The single best reason to read this (or any Fenimore): Mark Twain's devastating takedown in his essay The Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper. It's kind of like a FunnyOrDie critique of - say - The Phantom Menace, savagely kicking a sad piece of art while it's down. One of the things that will make even the worst day of your life just a little less full of fail.

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Jul 29, 2011 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book, if I could give half a star more I would. I didn't think it was one of the best ever written, such as the leather bound copy i read from my mom's collection of 100 Greatest Books Ever Written would have me believe. I think I would have liked the story much more if there wasn't so many lectures on whose "gifts" are what and how we use them and on and on and on. The plot...great. Classic...absolutely. Greatest Book ever...eh. I spose I'll go on to read more of the books but I'm...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Kevin Lierman is currently reading it · review of another edition

I understand why Mark Twain made fun of this book. The man takes three pages to say things that could be done in a small paragraph. His portrayal of Native Americans is somewhat ridiculous also. Not sure what I think of it over-all. I am far enough in that I feel obligated to finish. Would not necessarily recommend it. Way better frontier stories out there.

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About James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper was a popular and prolific American writer. He is best known for his historical novel The Last of the Mohicans, one of the Leatherstocking Tales stories, and he also wrote political fiction, maritime fiction, travelogues, and essays on the American politics of the time. His daughter Susan Fenimore Cooper was also a writer.

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* The Leatherstocking Tales
* The Littlepage Man ...more

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“God planted the seeds of all the trees," continued Hetty, after a moment's pause, "and you see to what a height and shade they have grown! So it is with the Bible. You may read a verse this year, and forget it, and it will come back to you a year hence, when you least expect to remember it.” — 5 people liked it

“tis hard to live in a world where all look upon you as below them.” — 4 people liked it

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