Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

3172

Title

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Mark Twain delivers a scathing critique of James Fenimore Cooper's romantic fiction, specifically *The Deerslayer*, arguing that the author's lack of accurate observation and adherence to rigid, artificial rules renders his works absurd and artistically flawed.

Summary up to 500 words

In his satirical essay "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences," Mark Twain systematically dismantles the high reputation of James Fenimore Cooper, the father of American romantic fiction. While critics like Professor Lounsbury and Wilkie Collins praised Cooper's works as pure art, Twain argues they are riddled with "literary offences." He contends that Cooper fails as an observer, inventing impossible scenarios that defy the laws of nature. Twain cites instances where a cannonball stops instantly in a fog or a canoe squeezes through a stream narrower than its own length, noting that Cooper's "delicate art of the forest" often involves characters stepping on dry twigs in absolute silence or finding hidden trails in slush against the laws of physics. Twain further exposes Cooper's inability to write natural dialogue, highlighting the jarring shift between high-flown poetry and crude dialect within the same character's speech. He illustrates this with Natty Bumppo, who alternates between majestic, winded melodrama and base dialect in the same paragraph. Additionally, Twain attacks Cooper's poor command of English, listing numerous instances where the author uses incorrect words, such as substituting "verbal" for "oral" or "precision" for "facility." Through detailed analysis of specific scenes, including a shooting match where a bullet drives through another and a canoe ambush involving impossible dimensions, Twain demonstrates that Cooper's "invention" is merely a collection of tricks and inaccuracies. Ultimately, the essay posits that Cooper's art is a "literary delirium tremens," lacking the invention, order, and lifelikeness required of true art. Twain concludes that while Cooper's characters are confusedly drawn and his humor is pathetic, his work is destitute of every detail that goes to the making of a genuine work of art, leaving the reader to question the sanity of those who continue to praise such fiction.

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4.5/5

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Categories

• American Literature
• Criticism
• Literature and Society