F Cooper works. Fenimore Cooper: biography

Soon after his birth, his father, a fairly wealthy landowner, moved to New York State and founded the village of Cooperstown there, which turned into a town. Having received his initial education at a local school, Cooper went to the University of Alabama, but without completing the course, he entered the naval service (1806-1811); was appointed to participate in the construction of a warship on Lake Ontario.

We owe this circumstance to the magnificent description of Ontario found in his famous novel “The Pathfinder”. In 1811, he married a Frenchwoman, Delana, who came from a family that sympathized with England during the War of Independence; its influence explains those comparatively soft reviews about the English and the English government, who meet in early novels Cooper. Chance made him a writer. Once reading a novel aloud to his wife, Cooper noticed that it was not difficult to write better. His wife took him at his word: in order not to seem like a braggart, he wrote his first novel, “Precaution” (1820), in a few weeks.

Novels

Assuming that, in view of the already begun competition between English and American authors, English criticism would react unfavorably to his work, Cooper did not sign his name and transferred the action of his novel to England. The latter circumstance could only harm the book, which revealed the author’s poor acquaintance with English life and which caused very unfavorable reviews in English. critics. Cooper's second novel, already from American life, there was the famous “The Spy, or the Tale of the Neutral Ground” (“The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground”, 1821), which had a huge success not only in America, but also in Europe.

Then Cooper wrote a whole series of novels from American life ("Pioneers", 1823; "The Last of the Mohicans", 1826; "The Barrens", otherwise "Prairie", 1827; "The Discoverer of Trace", otherwise "Pathfinder", 1840; "The Hunter for deer”, otherwise “St. John’s Wort, or the First Warpath”, 1841), in which he depicted the struggle of European aliens with the American Indians. The hero of these novels is the hunter Natty (Nathaniel) Bumpo, who performs under different names(St. John's wort, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Leather Stocking, Long Carbine), energetic and handsome, soon became a favorite of the European public. Not only this representative is idealized by Cooper European civilization, but also some of the Indians (Chingachgook, Uncas).

The mastery of the story and its ever-increasing interest, the brightness of the descriptions of nature, which emanate the primeval freshness of the virgin forests of America, the relief in the depiction of characters who stand before the reader as if alive - these are Cooper’s virtues as a novelist. He also wrote maritime novels “The Pilot” (1823) and “The Red Corsair” (1828).

After Europe

Upon his return from Europe, Cooper wrote the political allegory "Monikins" (1835), five volumes travel notes(1836-1838), several novels from American life (“Satanstowe”; 1845 and others), the pamphlet “The American Democrat” (The American Democrat, 1838). In addition, he also wrote “History of the United States Navy”, 1839. The desire for complete impartiality revealed in this work did not satisfy either his compatriots or the British; the controversy it caused poisoned the last years of Cooper's life. Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, 1851 from sclerosis of the liver.

Cooper in Russia

In the early 1840s, Cooper's novels were very popular in Russia. In particular, “The Pathfinder, or Lake-Sea”, “The Pathfinder”, Russian translation 1841, published in “Domestic Notes”, was read in great demand, about which V. G. Belinsky expressed that it was a Shakespearean drama in the form novel (Works. vol. XII, p. 306).

Bibliography

1820 composes a traditional novel of morals, Precaution, for his daughters.

1821 historical novel"The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground", based on local legends. The novel poeticizes the era of the American Revolution and its ordinary heroes. "Spy" receives international recognition. Cooper moved with his family to New York, where he soon became a prominent literary figure and leader of writers who advocated for national identity American literature.

The first novel is published, later the fourth part of the pentalogy about Leatherstocking - “The Pioneers, or The sources of the Susquehanna”.

short stories (Tales for Fifteen: or Imagination and Heart)

the novel "The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea", the first of Cooper's many works about adventures at sea.

novel "Lionel Lincoln, or The Siege of Boston" (Lionel Lincoln, or The leaguer of Boston).

1826 – the second part of the pentalogy about Natti Bumpo, the most popular novel Cooper, whose title has become a household name - “The Last of the Mohicans”.

1827 - the fifth part of the pentalogy of the novel “The Steppes”, otherwise “The Prairie”.

maritime novel “The Red Corsair” (The Red Rover).

Notions of the Americans: Picked up by a Traveling Bachelor

1829 – novel “The Valley of Wish-ton-Wish”, dedicated to the Indian theme - the battles of the American colonists of the 17th century. with the Indians.

the fantastic story of the brigantine of the same name “The Water-Witch: or the Skimmer of the Seas”.

Letter to General Lafayette politics

1831 - the first part of a trilogy from the history of European feudalism "Bravo, Or In Venice" (The bravo) - a novel from the distant past of Venice.

the second part of the trilogy “The Heidenmauer, or the Benedictines” (The Heidenmauer: or, The Benedictines, A Legend of the Rhine) is a historical novel from the time of the early Reformation in Germany.

short stories (No Steamboats)

1833 – the third part of the trilogy “The headsman, or The Abbaye des vignerons” – a legend of the 18th century. about the hereditary executioners of the Swiss canton of Bern.

1834 (A Letter to His Countrymen)

1835 – criticism of American reality in the political allegory “The Monikins”, written in the tradition of educational allegorism and satire of J. Swift.

memoirs (The Eclipse)

Gleanings in Europe: Switzerland (Sketches of Switzerland)

Gleanings in Europe: The Rhine

A Residence in France: With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland

Gleanings in Europe: France travel

Gleanings in Europe: England travel

pamphlet “The American Democrat: or Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America.”

Gleanings in Europe: Italy travel

The Chronicles of Cooperstown

Homeward Bound: or The Chase: A Tale of the Sea

Home as Found: Sequel to Homeward Bound

“The History of the Navy of the United States of America”, testifying to an excellent mastery of the material and love for navigation.

“The Pathfinder, or The Lake-Sea” (The Pathfinder, or The inland sea) – the third part of the pentalogy about Natty Bumppo

a novel about the discovery of America by Columbus, Mercedes of Castile: or, The Voyage to Cathay.

1841 – “The Deerslayer: or The First Warpath” – the first part of the pentalogy.

The novel The Two Admirals, which tells an episode from the history of the British fleet leading in 1745. war with France

a novel about French privateering, “Will-and-Wisp” (Wing-and-Wing, or Le feu-follet).

1843 – novel “Wyandotté: or The Hutted Knoll. A Tale” about the American Revolution in the remote corners of America.

biography (Ned Myers: or Life before the Mast)

(Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief or Le Mouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance or The French Governess: or The Embroidered Handkerchief or Die franzosischer Erzieheren: oder das gestickte Taschentuch)

novel “Afloat and Ashore: or The Adventures of Miles Wallingford. A Sea Tale”

and its sequel “Miles Wallingford” (Miles Wallingford: Sequel to Afloat and Ashore), where the image of the main character has autobiographical features.

Proceedings of the Naval Court-Martial in the Case of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, &c.

1845 - two parts of the “trilogy in defense of land rent”: “Satanstoe” (Satanstoe: or The Littlepage Manuscripts, a Tale of the Colony) and “The Land Surveyor” (The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts).

1846 - the third part of the trilogy - the novel “The Redskins” (or, Indian and Injin: Being the Conclusion of the Littlepage Manuscripts). In this trilogy, Cooper portrays three generations of landowners (from the mid-18th century to the struggle against land rent in the 1840s).

Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers biography

1847 - the pessimism of the late Cooper is expressed in the utopia “The Crater” (or, Vulcan's Peak: A Tale of the Pacific), which is an allegorical history of the United States.

novel " Oak Grove"or "The Oak Openings: or the Bee-Hunter" - from the history of the Anglo-American War of 1812.

Jack Tier: or the Florida Reefs

1849 - Cooper's last sea novel, The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers, about a shipwreck that befell seal hunters in the ice of Antarctica.

last book Cooper “New Trends” (The ways of the hour) – social novel about American legal proceedings.

play (Upside Down: or Philosophy in Petticoats), satirization of socialism

short story (The Lake Gun)

James Fenimore Cooper, one of the most famous American writers, is considered the first to write about the then American reality. To some extent, he can also be called my fellow countryman, because he grew up in the state of New York, in a town named after him, or more precisely, the name of his father. This town is located about three hours away from where I live. In general, not so far. Next week I have to go to New Jersey on business, and I'll try to stop by Cooperstown on the way and see the place with my own eyes.

Shortly after Fenimore's birth, he was born on September 15, 1789, his father, a wealthy landowner, moved to New York State and founded the village of Cooperstown there, which turned into a town. Having received his initial education at a local school, Cooper went to Yale University, but without completing the course, he entered the naval service; was appointed to participate in the construction of a warship on Lake Ontario.

Fenimore Cooper House in Cooperstown

We owe this circumstance to the magnificent descriptions of Ontario found in his famous novel “The Pathfinder.” In 1811, Cooper married a Frenchwoman, Delana, who came from a family that sympathized with England during the Revolutionary War; its influence explains those relatively mild reviews of the English and the English government that are found in Cooper's early novels. Chance made him a writer. Once reading a novel aloud to his wife, Cooper noticed that it was not difficult to write better. His wife took him at his word: in order not to seem like a braggart, he wrote his first novel, “Precaution” (1820), in a few weeks.
Assuming that, in view of the already begun competition between English and American authors, English criticism would react unfavorably to his work, Cooper did not sign his name and transferred the action of his novel to England. The latter circumstance could only harm the book, which revealed the author’s poor familiarity with English life and caused very unfavorable reviews from English critics. Cooper’s second novel, already from American life, was the famous “The Spy, or the Tale of the Neutral Ground” (1821), which had enormous success not only in America, but also in Europe.
Then Cooper wrote a whole series of novels from American life ("Pioneers", 1823; "The Last of the Mohicans", 1826; "The Barrens", otherwise "Prairie", 1827; "The Discoverer of Trace", otherwise "Pathfinder", 1840; "The Hunter for deer”, otherwise “St. John’s Wort, or the First Warpath”, 1841), in which he depicted the struggle of European aliens with the American Indians. The hero of these novels is the hunter Natty (Nathanael) Bumppo, who appears under various names (St. John's Wort, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Leather Stocking, Long Carbine), energetic and handsome, and soon became a favorite of the European public.

The success of this series of novels was so great that even English critics had to recognize Cooper's talent and called him the American Walter Scott. In 1826 Cooper went to Europe, where he spent seven years. The fruit of this journey was several novels (Bravo, The Headsman, Mercedes of Castile), set in Europe.
The mastery of the story and its ever-increasing interest, the vividness of the descriptions of nature, which emanate the primeval freshness of the virgin forests of America, the relief in the depiction of characters who stand before the reader as if alive - these are Cooper’s advantages as a novelist. He also wrote maritime novels “The Pilot” (1823) and “The Red Corsair” (1828).

Upon returning from Europe, Cooper wrote the political allegory “Monikins” (1835), five volumes of travel notes (1836-1838), several novels from American life (“Satanstowe”; 1845 and others), the pamphlet “The American Democrat” (The American Democrat, 1838). In addition, he also wrote “History of the United States Navy”, 1839. The desire for complete impartiality revealed in this work did not satisfy either his compatriots or the British; the controversy it caused poisoned the last years of Cooper's life. Fenimore Cooper died on September 14, 1851 in Cooperstown from cirrhosis of the liver.

Cooper Monument in Cooperstown

In the early 1840s, Cooper's novels were very popular in Russia. The first translations into Russian were made by children's writer A. O. Ishimova. In particular, “The Pathfinder, or On the Shores of Ontario”, “The Pathfinder”, Russian translation 1841, published in “Domestic Notes”, was read in great demand, about which V. G. Belinsky expressed that it was a Shakespearean drama in the form novel.

Bibliography

1820 composes a traditional novel of morals, Precaution, for his daughters.
1821 historical novel The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground, based on local legends. The novel poeticizes the era of the American Revolution and its ordinary heroes. "Spy" receives international recognition. Cooper moved with his family to New York, where he soon became a prominent literary figure and leader of writers who advocated for the national identity of American literature.
1823:
The first novel is published, later the fourth part of the pentalogy about Leatherstocking - “The Pioneers, or The sources of the Susquehanna”.
short stories (Tales for Fifteen: or Imagination and Heart)
the novel "The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea", the first of Cooper's many works about adventures at sea.
1825:
novel "Lionel Lincoln, or The Siege of Boston" (Lionel Lincoln, or The leaguer of Boston).
1826 - the second part of the pentalogy about Natty Bumppo, Cooper's most popular novel, the name of which became a household name - The Last of the Mohicans.
1827 - the fifth part of the pentalogy novel “The Steppes”, otherwise “The Prairie”.
1828:
maritime novel “The Red Corsair” (The Red Rover).
Notions of the Americans: Picked up by a Traveling Bachelor
1829 - novel “The Valley of Wish-ton-Wish”, dedicated to the Indian theme - the battles of the American colonists of the 17th century. with the Indians.
1830:
the fantastic story of the brigantine of the same name “The Water-Witch: or the Skimmer of the Seas”.
Letter to General Lafayette politics
1831 - the first part of a trilogy from the history of European feudalism "Bravo, Or In Venice" (The bravo) - a novel from the distant past of Venice.
1832:
the second part of the trilogy “The Heidenmauer, or the Benedictines” (The Heidenmauer: or, The Benedictines, A Legend of the Rhine) is a historical novel from the time of the early Reformation in Germany.
short stories (No Steamboats)
1833 - the third part of the trilogy “The headsman, or The Abbaye des vignerons” - a legend of the 18th century. about the hereditary executioners of the Swiss canton of Bern.
1834 (A Letter to His Countrymen)
1835 - criticism of American reality in the political allegory “The Monikins”, written in the tradition of educational allegorism and satire of J. Swift.
1836:
memoirs (The Eclipse)
Gleanings in Europe: Switzerland (Sketches of Switzerland)
Gleanings in Europe: The Rhine
A Residence in France: With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland
1837:
Gleanings in Europe: France travel
Gleanings in Europe: England travel
1838:
pamphlet “The American Democrat: or Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America.”
Gleanings in Europe: Italy travel
The Chronicles of Cooperstown
Homeward Bound: or The Chase: A Tale of the Sea
Home as Found: Sequel to Homeward Bound
1839:
“The History of the Navy of the United States of America”, testifying to an excellent mastery of the material and love for navigation.
Old Ironsides
1840:
“The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea” - the third part of the pentalogy about Natty Bumppo
a novel about the discovery of America by Columbus, Mercedes of Castile: or, The Voyage to Cathay.
1841 - “The Deerslayer: or The First Warpath” - the first part of the pentalogy.
1842:
the novel “The Two Admirals”, telling an episode from the history of the British fleet waging war with France in 1745
a novel about French privateering, “Will-and-Wisp” (Wing-and-Wing, or Le feu-follet).
1843 - novel “Wyandotté: or The Hutted Knoll. A Tale” about the American Revolution in the remote corners of America.
Richard Dale
biography (Ned Myers: or Life before the Mast)
(Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief or Le Mouchoir: An Autobiographical Romance or The French Governess: or The Embroidered Handkerchief or Die franzosischer Erzieheren: oder das gestickte Taschentuch)
1844:
novel “Afloat and Ashore: or The Adventures of Miles Wallingford. A Sea Tale”
and its sequel “Miles Wallingford” (Miles Wallingford: Sequel to Afloat and Ashore), where the image of the main character has autobiographical features.
Proceedings of the Naval Court-Martial in the Case of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, &c.
1845 - two parts of the “trilogy in defense of land rent”: “Satanstoe” (Satanstoe: or The Littlepage Manuscripts, a Tale of the Colony) and “The Land Surveyor” (The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts).
1846 - the third part of the trilogy - the novel “The Redskins” (or, Indian and Injin: Being the Conclusion of the Littlepage Manuscripts). In this trilogy, Cooper portrays three generations of landowners (from the mid-18th century to the struggle against land rent in the 1840s).
Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers biography
1847 - The pessimism of the late Cooper is expressed in the utopia "The Crater" (or, Vulcan's Peak: A Tale of the Pacific), which is an allegorical history of the United States.
1848:
the novel “The Oak Grove” or “Clearings in the Oak Groves, or the Bee-Hunter” (The Oak Openings: or the Bee-Hunter) - from the history of the Anglo-American War of 1812.
Jack Tier: or the Florida Reefs
1849 - Cooper's last sea novel, The Sea Lions: The Lost Sealers, about a shipwreck that befell seal hunters in the ice of Antarctica.
1850
Cooper's latest book, The Ways of the Hour, is a social novel about American legal proceedings.
play (Upside Down: or Philosophy in Petticoats), satirization of socialism
1851
short story (The Lake Gun)
(New York: or The Towns of Manhattan) - an unfinished work on the history of New York City.

Cooperstown today

COOPER James Fenimore(1789-1851), American writer. He combined elements of enlightenment and romanticism. Historical and adventure novels about the War of Independence in the North. America, the frontier era, sea voyages (“Spy,” 1821; pentalogy about Leatherstocking, including “The Last of the Mohicans,” 1826, “St. John’s Wort,” 1841; “Pilot,” 1823). Social and political satire (the novel “The Monikins”, 1835) and journalism (the pamphlet treatise “The American Democrat”, 1838).
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COOPER James Fenimore (September 15, 1789, Burlington, New Jersey - September 14, 1851, Cooperstown, New York), American writer.
First steps in literature
The author of 33 novels, Fenimore Cooper became the first American writer to be unconditionally and widely recognized by the cultural environment of the Old World, including Russia. Balzac, reading his novels, by his own admission, roared with pleasure. Thackeray ranked Cooper higher than Walter Scott, repeating in this case the reviews of Lermontov and Belinsky, who generally likened him to Cervantes and even Homer. Pushkin noted Cooper's rich poetic imagination.
Professional literary activity he started working relatively late, already at the age of 30, and generally as if by accident. If you believe the legends that life inevitably acquires great personality, he wrote his first novel (“Precaution,” 1820) as a bet with his wife. And before that, the biography developed quite routinely. The son of a landowner who became rich during the struggle for independence, who managed to become a judge and then a congressman, James Fenimore Cooper grew up on the shores of Lake Otsego, about a hundred miles northwest of New York, where at that time the “frontier” was held - a concept in The New World is not only geographical, but to a large extent socio-psychological - between the already developed territories and the wild, pristine lands of the aborigines. Thus, from an early age he became a living witness to the dramatic, if not bloody, growth of American civilization, which was cutting further and further west. He knew the heroes of his future books - pioneer squatters, Indians, farmers who overnight became large planters - firsthand. In 1803, at the age of 14, Cooper entered Yale University, from where he was, however, expelled for some disciplinary offenses. This was followed by seven years of service in the navy - first in the merchant fleet, then in the military. Cooper, having already made a great name for himself as a writer, did not give up practical activities. In 1826-1833 he served as American consul in Lyon, although rather nominally. In any case, during these years he traveled through a considerable part of Europe, settling for a long time, in addition to France, in England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In the summer of 1828 he was preparing to go to Russia, but this plan was never destined to come true. All this varied life experience, one way or another, was reflected in his work, albeit with varying degrees of artistic persuasiveness.
Natty Bumppo
Cooper owes his worldwide fame not to the so-called trilogy about land rent (Devil's Finger, 1845, Land Surveyor, 1845, Redskins, 1846), where the old barons, land aristocrats, are opposed to greedy businessmen, not constrained by any moral prohibitions, and not another trilogy inspired by the legends and reality of the European Middle Ages (Bravo, 1831, Heidenmauer, 1832, Executioner, 1833), and not numerous sea novels (The Red Corsair, 1828, The Sea Sorceress, 1830 , etc.), and especially not satires like “Monicons” (1835), as well as the two journalistic novels “Home” (1838) and “Home” (1838) that are related to them in terms of issues. This is generally a topical polemic on internal American topics, the writer’s response to critics who accused him of a lack of patriotism, which really should have hurt him painfully - after all, The Spy (1821) - a clearly patriotic novel from the times of the American Revolution - was left behind. "Monicin" is even compared to "Gulliver's Travels", but Cooper clearly lacks either Swift's imagination or Swift's wit; a tendency that kills all artistry appears too clearly here. In general, oddly enough, Cooper more successfully confronted his enemies not as a writer, but simply as a citizen who, on occasion, could turn to the courts. Indeed, he won more than one case, defending his honor and dignity in court from indiscriminate newspaper pamphleteers and even fellow countrymen who decided at a meeting to remove his books from the library of his native Cooperstown. Cooper's reputation, a classic of national and world literature, rests firmly on the pentalogy of Natty Bumppo - Leather Stocking (he is called, however, differently - St. John's Wort, Hawkeye, Pathfinder, Long Carbine). Despite all the author's cursive writing, work on this work lasted, although with long interruptions, for seventeen years. Against a rich historical background, it traces the fate of a man who paved the paths and highways of American civilization and at the same time tragically experienced the major moral costs of this path. As Gorky astutely noted in his time, Cooper’s hero “unconsciously served the great cause ... of spreading material culture in the country wild people and - turned out to be unable to live in the conditions of this culture...”
Pentalogy
The sequence of events in this epic, the first on American soil, is confused. In the opening novel, “The Pioneers” (1823), the action takes place in 1793, and Natty Bumppo appears as a hunter already approaching the end of his life, who does not understand the language and customs of new times. In the next novel in the series, “The Last of the Mohicans” (1826), the action moves forward forty years ago. Behind it is “Prairie” (1827), chronologically directly adjacent to “Pioneers”. On the pages of this novel the hero dies, but in creative imagination The author continues to live, and after many years he returns to the years of his youth. The novels “The Pathfinder” (1840) and “St. John’s Wort” (1841) present pure pastoral, unalloyed poetry, which the author discovers in human types, and mainly in the very appearance of virgin nature, still almost untouched by the colonist’s ax. As Belinsky wrote, “Cooper cannot be surpassed when he introduces you to the beauties of American nature.”
In the critical essay “Enlightenment and Literature in America” (1828), couched in the form of a letter to the fictional Abbot Jiromachi, Cooper complained that the printer appeared in America before the writer, while the romantic writer was deprived of chronicles and dark legends. He himself compensated for this deficiency. Under his pen, the characters and customs of the frontier acquire an inexpressible poetic charm. Of course, Pushkin was right when he noted in the article “John Tenner” that Cooper’s Indians are covered with a romantic flair, depriving them of any clearly expressed individual properties. But the novelist, it seems, did not strive for an accurate portrait, preferring poetic fiction to the truth of fact, which, by the way, Mark Twain later ironically wrote about in the famous pamphlet “The Literary Sins of Fenimore Cooper.”
Nevertheless, he felt an obligation to historical reality, as he himself spoke about in the preface to “Pioneers.” Spicy internal conflict between a lofty dream and reality, between nature, which embodies the highest truth, and progress - a conflict of a characteristically romantic nature constitutes the main dramatic interest of the pentalogy.
With piercing sharpness, this conflict reveals itself on the pages of Leatherstocking, clearly the most powerful thing both in the pentalogy and in Cooper’s entire legacy. Having placed at the center of the story one of the episodes of the so-called Seven Years' War (1757-1763) between the British and the French for possessions in Canada, the author conducts it rapidly, saturates it with a lot of adventures, partly of a detective nature, which has made the novel a favorite children's reading for many generations. But this is not children's literature.
Chingachgook
Perhaps that is why the images of Indians, in in this case Chingachgook, one of the two main characters of the novel, Cooper turned out to be lyrically blurry, which was more important to him than faces general concepts- tribe, clan, history with its own mythology, way of life, language. It is this powerful layer of human culture, which is based on a family closeness to nature, that is disappearing, as evidenced by the death of Chingachgook's son Uncas, the last of the Mohicans. This loss is catastrophic. But not hopeless, which is generally not typical American romanticism. Cooper translates tragedy into a mythological plane, and myth, in fact, does not know a clear boundary between life and death, it is not for nothing that Leather Stocking is also not just a person, but a hero of a myth - an early myth American history, solemnly and confidently says that the young man Uncas is leaving only for a while.
Writer's Pain
Man before the court of nature - this is the internal theme of “The Last of the Mokigans.” It is not given to man to reach its greatness, even if it is sometimes unkind, but he is constantly forced to solve this unsolvable problem. Everything else is fights between Indians and pale-faced people, battles between the British and the French, colorful clothes, ritual dances, ambushes, caves, etc. - this is just the surroundings.
It was painful for Cooper to see how root America, embodied by his beloved hero, was leaving before his eyes, being replaced by a completely different America, where speculators and crooks ruled the roost. That is probably why the writer once said with bitterness: “I have parted ways with my country.” But over time, it became clear what his contemporaries and compatriots did not notice, reproaching the writer for his anti-patriotic sentiments: divergence is a form of moral self-esteem, and longing for the departed is secret faith into a continuation that has no end.

Cooper James Fenimore (15/9/1789, Burlington, New Jersey - 14/9/1851, Cooperstown), American writer. As soon as the future writer was one year old, his family moved to the shores of Lake Otsego, to the sources of the Susquehanna River; there young James first heard the harsh legends of the Indian wars. He studied at Yale College, from where he was expelled for mischief. In 1808 he entered the navy. He published his first book in 1820. It was a novel called "A Warning", which did not achieve success with the public.

In 1826 he left for England, where he spent a number of years and managed to quarrel with everyone in any way influential literary critics. Upon returning to America, it turned out that Cooper’s houses were also disliked because Political Views. Then he went to the family estate, where he died on September 14, 1851, not having lived a single day before his sixty-second birthday.

He gained worldwide fame with a series of novels (pentalogy), united by Natty (Nathaniel) Bumpo, appearing under the names: St. John's Wort, Pathfinder, Hawkeye, Leather Stocking, Long Carbine (“Pioneers”, 1823, Russian translation 1832; “The Last of the Mohicans”, 1826 , Russian translation 1833; “Prairie”, 1827, Russian translation 1829; “Pathfinder, or Lake-Sea”, 1840, Russian translation 1841; “St. John’s wort, or the First Warpath”, 1841, Russian translation 1848).

Cooper's maritime novels are also of great interest - “The Pilot” (1823), “The Red Corsair” (1828), etc. Starting with the praise of “American freedoms,” he moves on in the 2nd half of the 30s. to a sharp criticism of American reality (the socio-political satire “Monicins”, 1835, Russian translation 1953, etc.).

Cooper's pessimism was expressed in the anti-bourgeois utopia "The Crater" (1847). Largely related to educational literature of the 18th century. Cooper's work belongs to early period American romanticism.

Cooper's legacy is included in the golden fund of children's literature.

James Fenimore Cooper

American writer

Born September 15, 1789 in Burlington (New Jersey) in the family of a large landowner. He spent his childhood in frontier Cooperstown, founded by his father, W. Cooper.

Studying at Yale University.

1806-1811 - serves in the navy.

1811 - gets married.

1820 - composes the traditional novel of morals “Precaution” for his daughters.

1821 - writes the historical novel The Spy, based on local legends. The novel poeticizes the era of the American Revolution and its ordinary heroes. "Spy" receives international recognition. Cooper moved with his family to New York, where he soon became a prominent literary figure and leader of writers who advocated for the national identity of American literature.

1823 - the first novel is published, later the fourth part of the Leatherstocking pentalogy - “The Pioneers, or The Sources of the Susquehanna”.

1823 - the novel "The Pilot", the first of Cooper's many works about adventures at sea.

1825 - novel “Lionel Lincoln, or The Siege of Boston” (Lionel Lincoln, or The leaguer of Boston).

1826 - the second part of the pentalogy about Natty Bumppo, Cooper’s most popular novel, the name of which has become a household name, “The Last of the Mohicans”.

1827 - the fifth part of the pentalogy novel “The Prairie”.

1828 - naval novel “The Red Corsair” (The red rover).

1829 - novel “The Valley of Wish-ton-Wish”, dedicated to the Indian theme - the battles of the American colonists of the 17th century. with the Indians.

1830 - fantastic story of the brigantine of the same name “Sea Sorceress” ( The water witch).

1831 - the first part of a trilogy from the history of European feudalism "Bravo" (The bravo) - a novel from the distant past of Venice.

1832 - the second part of the trilogy “Heidenmauer, or The Benedictines” (Heidenmauer, or The Benedictines) - a historical novel from the time of the early Reformation in Germany.

1833 - the third part of the trilogy “The headsman, or The Abbaye des vignerons” - a legend of the 18th century. about the hereditary executioners of the Swiss canton of Bern.

1835 - criticism of American reality in the political allegory “The Monikins”, written in the tradition of educational allegorism and satire of J. Swift.

1838 - pamphlet “The American Democrat”.

1839 - “History of the Navy of the United States”, testifying to an excellent mastery of the material and love for navigation.

1840 - “The Pathfinder, or The inland sea” - the third part of the pentalogy about Natty Bumppo and the novel about the discovery of America by Columbus “Mercedes of Castile”.

1841 - “Deerslayer, or The first war-path” - the first part of the pentalogy.

1842 - novel “The Two Admirals”, telling an episode from the history of the British fleet leading in 1745. the war with France, and the novel about French privateering, “Will-o’-the-wisp” (Wing-and-Wing, or Le feu-follet).

1843 - novel "Wyandotte" about the American Revolution in the remote corners of America.

1844 - the novel “On Land and Sea” (Afloat and Ashore) and its sequel “Miles Wallingford”, where the image of the main character has autobiographical features.

1845 - two parts of the “trilogy in defense of ground rent”: Satanstoe and The Chainbearer.

1846 - the third part of the trilogy - the novel “Redskins”. In this trilogy, Cooper portrays three generations of landowners (from the mid-18th century to the struggle against land rent in the 1840s).

1848 - novel “The Oak Grove” (The oak openings) - from the history of the Anglo-American War of 1812.

1847 - the pessimism of the late Cooper is expressed in the utopia “The Crater”, which is an allegorical history of the United States.

1849 - Cooper's last sea novel, The Sea Lions, about a shipwreck that befell seal hunters in the ice of Antarctica.

1850 - Cooper's last book, The Ways of the Hour, is a social novel about American legal proceedings.