Audiobook · read by volunteers
Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences
Mark Twain (1835–1910)
Read by Gesine · 1 chapter · 32 min
About the book
James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer, and for a long time he was among the most admired American novelists. Mark Twain did not agree. In this short and gleefully merciless essay, he reads Cooper's work with the eye of a writer who has practised the craft, and he draws up a list of the rules that Cooper broke: clumsy plots, unlikely dialogue, careless descriptions and improbable feats of woodcraft. The blows land one after another, with perfect comic timing. Whether or not you share Twain's verdict, the essay is a masterpiece of mock-solemn criticism and a lesson in how to write well by showing how not to. A single chapter and about half an hour of sharp wit.
Introduction
Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens in 1835, died in 1910. Famous for Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he was also a prolific essayist and satirist, with a talent for puncturing pretension. Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses was published in 1895, and it remains one of the best known pieces of literary criticism in American writing.
Fenimore Cooper, the author of The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans and other novels, has often been praised, but just as often criticised for his writing. Twain's essay is a funny and vicious little attack in which he states that, in one place in The Deerslayer, in the restricted space of two thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115. He then lists the rules that he says govern a tale of this kind, and shows how often Cooper breaks them.
How fair is Twain? Readers disagree, and the essay is often read less as a verdict on Cooper than as an expression of Twain's own ideals of realism, economy and truthfulness to life. It is a lively demonstration of the way a writer thinks about craft.
The recording was made by a LibriVox volunteer. It is a single chapter and lasts about half an hour. Why listen? Because it is very funny, and because it sharpens your ear for good prose. It is a short, quick pleasure, and it may send you back to Cooper with fresh eyes.
Public domain
Mark Twain died in 1910: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text