His women are mediocre and conventional, of the type
described in the old Sunday school books. But when he leaves the haunts of
men and enters the forest, power comes naturally to his pen. His greatest
stage of action is the forest. He loved wild nature and the sea.
He often availed himself of the Gothic license of improbability, his
characters being frequently rescued from well-nigh impossible situations.
His plots were not carefully planned in advance; they often seem to have
been suggested by an inspiration of the moment. He wrote so rapidly that he
was careless about the construction of his sentences, which are sometimes
not even grammatical.
It is easy, however, to exaggerate Cooper's faults, which do not, after
all, seriously interfere with the enjoyment of his works. A teacher, who
was asked to edit critically _The Last of the Mohicans_, said that the
first time he read it, the narrative carried him forward with such a rush,
and bound him with such a spell, that he did not notice a single blemish in
plot or style. A boy reading the same book obeyed the order to retire at
eleven, but having reached the point where Uncas was taken prisoner by the
Hurons, found the suspense too great, and quietly got the book and read the
next four chapters in bed.
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