The Leatherstocking Tales-James Fenimore Cooper

For years I avoided James Fenimore Cooper, not being interested in Colonial America or frontier adventures. Maybe it was because of all the poorly done Disney serials from the 1950s and 1960s about Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. They always seemed to be geared to boys not girls and presented such a wholesome, patriotic stereotype of the brave frontier scouts and warriors that it was enough to make you wanna gag.
Little did I know that years later, a movie based on one of Cooper's novels would take me by storm and influence the direction of the rest of my life. Michael Mann's film "The Last of the Mohicans" did what well done movies should do, entertain, educate and inspire people to revisit the classics. This is just what happened to me and a multitude of other fans who saw this movie and fell in love with this action packed drama made in the 1990s (Daniel Day Lewis' machismo had a lot to do with it too).
Last of the Mohicans is the second or third book in a series about Nathaniel Bumbo aka Hawkeye and and his adventures on the American frontier. The first book was my favorite, entitled The Deerslayer and is about a young Hawkeye and his relationship with a ship's captain and his daughter who live on a large raft in the middle of Lake Glimerglass in Upstate New York. It is filled with action and some graphic violence and even a bit of romance.

Like every other book written in the early 19th Century, The Leatherstocking Tales are not easy reads and frequently you will see gargantuan differences between the movie screenplays and the books, but if you enjoy the action and adventure of a frontier setting, these are the novels for you. The Leatherstocking Tales are wonderful bits of Americana and fascinating chronicles of life on the Appalachian frontier.

Jane Austen

Jane Austen is "big" right now but I cannot jump on the band wagon in adoration of her books. I think they are difficult and tedious. I LOVE her stories. She is a master at drawing room dialogue and comedy, but I think her work translates better for me onto the silver screen. I am sure many people would say the same of Charles Dickens which I totally "get". He too is difficult to wade through, but I take my time with Dickens and enjoy savoring his lengthy descriptions.

With Jane Austen, I get confused about who is speaking, and the formal writing style of the day overwhelms me. I have not read Pride and Prejudice, in maybe twenty five years, so maybe it is time give it another shot but until then I will stick the wonderfully romantic and witty adaptations by Hollywood.

Life on the Mississippi-Mark Twain

Sometimes a writer becomes so a part of our culture and everyday existance that it is hard to step back and effectively evaluate his or her writing. Samuel Clemens is the quintessential example of this phenomenon. I would not attempt to review Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn because I cannot step back and give an objective opinion. I read these novels so many years ago that all I can say is that I like them.
Life on the Mississippi is another matter. Recently when I was researching my next novel, I decided to read this work. I was able to see with fresh eyes why Twain is considered our finest American author. Although he writes in a folksy Southern voice, as if he is just "one of the boys" working on the riverboat, he is indeed no yokel chronicling his adventures on the great river. This is not really a novel; it is more of a memoir.

Clemens brings to life the stories and the characters from his youth when he was an apprentice pilot on a Mississippi steamboat in the mid 19th Century. Some of the people we meet are seedy, some dangerous but every one of them was humorous. Probably the funniest character of all was Twain himself. He poked fun at himself throughout the book and his mishaps trying to learn the complicated and ever changing navigation of the mighty river.
Life on the Mississippi gives the reader an intimate look at life along the river and how it changes over the years from a great commercial trade route to a river mainly for pleasure boating due to the coming of the rails.
Life on the Mississippi is very different from the adventures of Tom and Huck, but this book gives you great insight into the great American author and humorist, Mark Twain.

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

Portnoy's Compliant is the humorous monologue of  Alex Portnoy, a neurotic and self absorbed Jewish American male living in New York City in the 1960s.

The entire book in a candid and funny confession to a psychiatrist about Alex's Oedipus Complex and sexual obsessions. I found it a quick light read which reminded me of a Woody Allen movie, although I am unsure why it made my Librarian's List of Most Influential Novels of the 20th Century. Perhaps it was because of it was one of the first sexually explicit and honest explorations of masturbation? Yoiks! I didn't hate it, but I would much rather watch Woody Allen's movie Annie Hall.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Ann Porter

I love short stories. They are the perfect fix when you cannot devote time to an entire novel. Early on I cut my teeth on the quick reads of O. Henry, but wow, this collection of short stories by Porter was anything but light and fluffy. Each story included in Pale Horse, Pale Rider deals with death and disappointment. As explained in the forward of the book, the title is borrowed from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Noon Wine, but I suggest you read all three and compare them. Her writing is beautiful, rich and thought provoking. With very few words, Porter gives life to her characters and you understand and care about them immediately, a skill difficult to accomplish in a short story. She writes in that early 20th Century style that I love, and if you too enjoy books of that era, do read Pale Horse, Pale Rider.

The Pale Rider representing death. Katherine Anne Porter has included in this collection three gripping tales of people driven to the brink of despair. The characters reactions differ from story to story, ranging from denial, to quiet resignation to suicide. My favorite of the three was Noon Wine.