Well I finally finished the book. If I had to listen to Natty Bumpo talk anymore about red gifts and white man gifts and being a white Christian, I think I would have thrown the book across the room. Was it a bad book? Not necessarily. Was it a good book? No. Do I know that I should take in to account the time period when it was written? I do know that. But still! It doesn't mean you can separate your present day thoughts and understanding from the story. If I could take all that out and just focus on the descriptions of the natural setting, the action scenes, and anything else.. it wouldn't be a bad book. It would also be a lot shorter. Read this book with a grain of salt.

The question now, for me as a reader, is do I go on and read The Last of the Mohicans to see if the movie with Daniel Day-Lewis is actually better than the book? That my friends is the question. ( )

I picked up this book because I loved the setting and concept, as a fan of historical fiction broadly, I'm very able to compartmentalize the 18th-century attitudes of the characters as written by a 19th-century white male author that do not align with my own 21st century views, so this was not an issue for me. Ultimately, I didn't like the book that much, however, because, like many others before me, I found it rather slow-paced for an adventure novel, and often too verbiose. I'd often find my eyes glazing over as I read the prose. While the novel did have an overall interesting tale to tell, and some of the prose was quite nice, the pacing and style simply did not work for me. I intend to read "Last of the Mohicans" in any case, as I adore the film, and want to give the book a chance - though I would not recommend the Deerslayer. ( )

Handlingen utspelar sig vid 1700-talets mitt då kolonialkriget rasade mellan England och Frankrike.
The Deerslayer tells the story of a young Natty Bumppo, most famously known as `Hawkeye', and his Mohican `brother' Chingachgook, as they attempt to rescue Chingachgook's betrothed, Wah-ta-Wah, from the Hurons. When Bumppo's friends Harry March and Tom Hutter are also captured, Bumppo must go on his first warpath in order to rescue them.Cooper's final addition to his classic Leatherstocking series is one of the earliest novels to be considered truly `American', due in no small part to the novel's protagonist, who embodied the popular American ideals of individualism and liberty.

Here's what I wrote after reading in 1987: "Chronologically, the first Leatherstocking Tales. Deerslayer and his friend Chingachgook are on their first warpath in order to rescue Wah-ta-wah, Chingachgook's bethrothed. Deerslayer quickly earns his new name, Hawkeye. The tale is full of insights into Indian customs and beliefs. Most interesting to learn was the Indians' view of those who "fall short of their proper share of reason. The redskins honor and respect those who are so gifted, knowing that the Evil Spirit delights more to dwell in an artful body, than in one that has no cunning to work upon". Still like (a lot) that view of those with less reason :-) Reading through some of the world's favorite quotes, appreciate the homespun wisdom and faith-filled approach to living and appreciating. ( )

I thought this was the first story to feature Natty Bumpo aka Hawkeye but is actually the last written, its a prequel.
Its pretty good adventure story stuff, except Natty is not really the character i most connected with and his actions towards this other character make him come across as a bit of a tool. ( )