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Jack Tier or The Florida Reef
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.
222 pages, Paperback
Published November 15, 2014
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51 people want to read
About the author
James Fenimore Cooper
4,423 books1,139 followersJames 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.
Series:
* The Leatherstocking Tales
* The Littlepage Manuscripts
* Afloat and Ashore
* Homeward Bound
Series:
* The Leatherstocking Tales
* The Littlepage Manuscripts
* Afloat and Ashore
* Homeward Bound
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 2, 2022
I know folks like to drag Cooper for not being as much of a prose stylist as his contemporaries, but I didn't mind this. Was it dry and overly technical at times? Yes. Repetitive? Absolutely. Overly reliant on gender stereotypes, even considering the time it was written? Uh huh—but then, wait, it subverts them by the end—but then reiterates them in the next heartbeat—but then subverts them again, working backwards, as soon as you step away from the novel. Interesting!
The morally murky characters here are given more weight and development than the upright ones, a fact that serves to undercut the occasionally preachy tone of Cooper's narrator. In the end, this is a fascinating bit of early adventure fiction—more than its trappings might suggest. I'm glad I read it.
The morally murky characters here are given more weight and development than the upright ones, a fact that serves to undercut the occasionally preachy tone of Cooper's narrator. In the end, this is a fascinating bit of early adventure fiction—more than its trappings might suggest. I'm glad I read it.
May 4, 2013
2 stars because I had a terrible time getting into this book and I wanted to read it being interested in the Dry Tortugas. The entire book is VERY heavy in nautical terms which made it difficult at times for someone without much of that knowledge to understand what was happening. The second half of the book went much better as the story action unfolded, was this because I had started to understand the nautical or it didn't interfere as much with the story, I couldn't say. Cooper's writing style is very unique compared to contemporary books as he employs the narrator to keep the story moving.
May 13, 2025
Exiting adventure story. With attitudes of it's time.
January 19, 2015
1 star is being charitable. Perhaps too charitable. Suffice it to say that this is not one of Cooper's gems.
The story has plenty going for it. A ship is running away from an American revenue cutter. There are clandestine smuggling operations to treasonous enemy sympathizers. There is not one, not two, but at least three ship sinkings (I kept losing count). Marooning on deserted islands. And .
So, in theory anyway, as a general fan of nautical fiction I should have been sold on this story from the beginning. But alas.
First of all Cooper lets his pretentious desire to show off his robust nautical vocabulary get the best of him. He is constantly describing the benefits of this ship over another, complex tacking maneuvers, and likewise sailing terminology with nauseating detail. I enjoy a well-documented sea-story that uses proper terms, but this is not it.
Second, Cooper bludgeons his reader with his view on the stupidity of females. I understand that this reflects his period. I also understand that it bogged down the story. He has a character explain to two women passengers that due to differing lines of longitude the hour in GMT is necessarily different than that in New York, which the women refuse to accept as plausible. This happens TWICE within the story, with no reason for the repetition. And on he goes with more nautical trivia which the women (as is their station as the weaker and more imbecilic sex) could not possibly comprehend.
Third, there is no narrative arc. We are following one line of conflict, and then another. When finally in the end where the climax should have been there was a set of bewildering revelations and confusing transformations among the main characters. I am still not entirely sure what happened the last ten pages or so.
All told, unless you are a glutton for punishment or particularly interested in Cooper, I wouldn't attempt this story. Like weevil-infested hard tack, it's just too difficult to swallow.
http://joshuarigsby.com
The story has plenty going for it. A ship is running away from an American revenue cutter. There are clandestine smuggling operations to treasonous enemy sympathizers. There is not one, not two, but at least three ship sinkings (I kept losing count). Marooning on deserted islands. And .
So, in theory anyway, as a general fan of nautical fiction I should have been sold on this story from the beginning. But alas.
First of all Cooper lets his pretentious desire to show off his robust nautical vocabulary get the best of him. He is constantly describing the benefits of this ship over another, complex tacking maneuvers, and likewise sailing terminology with nauseating detail. I enjoy a well-documented sea-story that uses proper terms, but this is not it.
Second, Cooper bludgeons his reader with his view on the stupidity of females. I understand that this reflects his period. I also understand that it bogged down the story. He has a character explain to two women passengers that due to differing lines of longitude the hour in GMT is necessarily different than that in New York, which the women refuse to accept as plausible. This happens TWICE within the story, with no reason for the repetition. And on he goes with more nautical trivia which the women (as is their station as the weaker and more imbecilic sex) could not possibly comprehend.
Third, there is no narrative arc. We are following one line of conflict, and then another. When finally in the end where the climax should have been there was a set of bewildering revelations and confusing transformations among the main characters. I am still not entirely sure what happened the last ten pages or so.
All told, unless you are a glutton for punishment or particularly interested in Cooper, I wouldn't attempt this story. Like weevil-infested hard tack, it's just too difficult to swallow.
http://joshuarigsby.com
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews