The Prairie: A Tale (Classic Reprint)

The book came quickly. The story excellent and completes my collection of the Leatherstocking Tales.

Well written bookI liked it , JFC is a great author and this book is an evident for that!

The last of the Leatherstocking Tales and, surprisingly, one of the best. I would say that it is almost as good as "Last of the Mohicans". Natty Bumpo, now a trapper, no longer a hunter, given his age, is nevertheless a powerful presence throughout, so very different from the almost non-existent role he had in "The Pioneers". This time he has left his favourite woods of the East to rove in the prairies as they are the last stronghold of wild nature free of the influence of settlers, woodcutters and people who don't know how to connect to the wilderness.He is now an old man, in his eighties, but still strong and fit enough to surprise the younger men he meets in this story. This novel is also one of the few of the series where characters from one book are mentioned in the present case. However, in general Cooper has stuck to making the story self contained with little influence of previous characters and most of the people are new and display aspects which are quite different from other characters.As mentioned by other reviewers the story told has much to do with how, by the time of the early 1800's, the frontier was being pushed back by settlers from the east seeking their own land. This was also the subject of The Pioneers although not to the degree as described here. Most of this commentary is centred on Natty's view of the world and how it is being fundamentally altered for the worse in his view.All round an excellent read.

Having read this book, I completed the 5 book series about Natty Bumpo, a hunter and a trapper, who manages to find himself always helping other people out so they won’t be killed or scalped by the Indians. James Fenimore Cooper writes so as to keep you “on the edge of your seat” to see what happens next. I loved the series and highly recommend them. In “The Prairie”, we see the end of Natty’s long life, but his uprightness and honesty lives after him.

I was very happy with the product and the timely manner in which I received it. I'm an American Literature teacher and I needed "The Prairie" to complete the set of James Fenimore Cooper's five volume set of the Leatherstocking Tales. I had a student waiting for the book and now he's well into it. Thanks!