Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper

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What can readers of the Leatherstocking Tales expect to find in these two novels of the American Revolution? In both novels, he experimented with narratives that slowly revealed deeply hidden truths about the motives and means of the revolutionaries and their foes. LOA: Cooper wrote these novels in the s, at a moment when the Revolution was rapidly receding from living memory. From their stories, he lost faith in the conventional story that simplified the revolution into a melodrama pitting good Patriots against bad Loyalists. Cooper could find plenty of misdeeds and heroism on both sides, although he reserved his highest praise for George Washington.

Library of America James Fenimore Cooper Edition

Cooper sought to persuade Americans that they should cherish a conservative revolution that cast aside radicals in favor of empowering gentlemen like Jay and Washington. Such a revolution would seek reconciliation with genteel Loyalists. LOA: As you note in your introduction to the new volume, Cooper took as his model the historical romances of Sir Walter Scott, which had lately caused a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.

We note that the titular hero of The Spy is a humble peddler, for instance. Taylor: Cooper tended to create two sorts of heroes.

The first, more conventional and less interesting were honorable gentlemen of complete integrity, like Washington. The second were common men with innate, natural senses of morality.

He cast the latter as rarities of the lower class. In concluding these novels, Cooper has these common men of noble spirits accept subordination to men of a higher class, Washington in The Spy and the Effinghams in The Pioneers. In this way, Cooper acknowledged the democratic dimension of the revolution while ultimately seeking to contain it. The sudden death of the patriarch was devastating and the family soon began to unravel. During the years to , Cooper lost four brothers to tragic deaths. Overlapping this period of sorrow was yet more hardship for those who were left.

Financial ruin began to run its course in and continued through , virtually wiping out the once substantial holdings of the Coopers. Their wealth dwindled away as a series of judgments against the estate, along with the apparently poor management by the surviving brothers who in turn acted as executors, all took their toll. Eventually, only James and a sister were left, the sole survivors of a family whose fortune was rapidly transformed into misfortune.

The Leatherstocking Tales

The dynastic legacy that once seemed so certain was not to be. The resulting void was painfully felt by James and soon became a dominant theme in his life, one which would permeate his thoughts and later, his novels.

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Despite the enormity of the successive tragedies, Cooper was spared total ruin through the accidental discovery of his literary talents. This new twist of fate couldn't have come at a better time.

The Early Years

As heir to what was left of the family's possessions, Cooper also inherited the huge debt that accompanied it. Faced with the impossible demands of creditors and having very little income, the gentleman farmer had the good luck of reading a bad book. His dislike of the novel so irritated him that he boasted to his wife that he could do better.

Her response was that he should prove it, and consequently, James Cooper, at the age of thirty, unexpectedly embarked upon a successful literary career. James Cooper's first book, Precaution , was a failure. His second, The Spy , was published a year later and fortunately for James who not only carried the burden of debt and care of his own family, but had also assumed responsibility for his brothers' widows and children , became an instant success. Published both in the U. Though his books were printed in English, French, and German, were adapted for the stage, and frequently reprinted as new editions, Cooper was unable to escape the strangling debt.

While it is obvious that Cooper enjoyed writing, he labored as much from necessity as he did for pleasure. His prolific output was the result of an almost frenzied pace of book after book, a pace which was taking its toll on Cooper's health. Early in his career, Cooper enjoyed immense popularity at home.

His Leatherstocking Tales were especially well liked, each a continuation of the adventures of Natty Bumppo and the American frontier. He continued his career as a writer while he served as U. Consul at Lyons, France from to Upon his return to the U. The book was published in and immediately unleashed a furor in the press. Cooper's name appeared in newspaper editorials almost daily as a villain who sought to undermine democracy. So bitter were the accusations against him that James Fenimore Cooper soon found himself spending an inordinate amount of time in courthouses defending himself against what he saw as libelous allegations.

While many people find fault with Cooper's style, it must be remembered that he and his works were products of their own time. Generally, European authors have held a favorable view of Cooper's talent while Americans have been more critical. Lawrence and Joseph Conrad have held him in high regard, while Mark Twain ridiculed his character development. However one assesses Cooper's skills, it should at least be recognized that he was brilliant. An avid reader, he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a strong desire to share what he knew with his readers.

This hunger is revealed at times in the dialogue of his characters as well as in his somewhat excessive usage of footnotes.

Cooper spent his later years in Cooperstown, where he continued writing until a few years prior to his death. Perhaps the return to his boyhood home where he first experienced his love for the wilderness was an attempt to find peace and tranquility in a world that Cooper saw slipping away. While there is much disagreement regarding Cooper's talents, few could fault him for his lamentations for an unspoiled wilderness. James Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, at his home, one day shy of his 62nd birthday. For samples of LOTM and their corresponding scenes in the film, use these links:.

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