The Spy

The style is very dated. I found it hard to read. The treatment and view of the slaves is very much a product of the time in which it was written

Mark Twain was right about James Fenimore Cooper- he is not the best writer, and I really wished while reading this book that Cooper had had a stubborn and talented editor to help him polish his writing. The Spy is a great story, but told with a lack of grace that leaves the reader feeling a bit lost, disconnected and dissatisfied. Still, there are many modern authors who write just about as badly and become bestsellers, so there are always readers who will enjoy the story and not mind the poor craftsmanship in this novel.

"The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground" was first published in 1821 and was the second of Cooper's published works and his first commercial success. The action of the novel takes place in Westchester ("West Chester") County, NY in 1780 not long after the defection of Benedict Arnold to the British and the capture and execution of his British contact, Major Andre.

As espionage tales go this is actually pretty thin on the activities of the protagonist as a spy. The hero is in fact a double agent who is apparently a spy working in the service of Sir Henry Clinton and wanted desperately for hanging by the Americans who are unaware that, in fact, he is an agent of George Washington. The plot, in so far as it chronicles the activities of the show more hero, consists of his efforts to elude the American forces or to escape his captors when taken prisoner. Along the way he distinguishes himself through services rendered to members of the Wharton family, whose only son is a British serving officer, taken while in civilian disguise, during a family visit and doomed to the same fate as Major Andre and our hero.

The Wharton family symbolizes the American people writ large. As is often the case in a civil conflict the family members are divided in their loyalties. The son, Henry, is a serving British officer. The loyalties of his sisters Sarah and Frances are divided between the King (Sarah) and native country (Frances). Their father strives to maintain a public facing neutrality while privately leaning toward the British cause. Their aunt Jeanette Peyton, a Virginia transplant, who is the younger sister of Mr. Wharton's late wife. It turns out that her relative, Peyton Dunwoodie, is a major in the American army and the ranking local commander of a troop of dragoons stationed in the area.

Major Dunwoodie is a childhood friend of Captain Henry Wharton, the British officer who is threatened with execution by hanging after his capture in civilian disguise by Dunwoodie's subordinate, Captain Lawton. Dunwoodie's difficulties are further complicated by his affections for young Frances.

The supporting cast of characters includes a Colonel Wellmere, a British officer, much admired by Sarah Wharton; a Captain Singleton who is seriously wounded during a battle that takes place near the Whartons' home, his sister Isabella who is transported to the scene to attend to her brother during his convalescence; Dr. Sitgreaves , a surgeon attached to the American army; Katy Haynes, the housekeeper to John Birch and his son Harvey (our protagonist); Betty Flanagan,a female sutler and perhaps camp follower of the American dragoons; the Wharton family's black slave, Caesar, and a mysterious gentleman named Harper who kicks off the story, but then disappears until near the end of the narrative.

Cooper writes in a style reminiscent of Jane Austen. His heroes and heroines are exemplars of manliness and the feminine virtues, and their dialogue is formal and moderate in tone at least as it concerns the Wharton family, the officers and Harvey Birch. The men are animated by honor, patriotism, loyalty (to their brethren and their duty), courage and regard for reputation. The ladies are modest, tender hearted, devoted to their family, and virtuous in love.

Like a good movie serial the action involves one near miraculous escape after another, romance, heroism above and beyond, and the threat to safety and happiness posed by cads, cowards and blackguards. This is clearly a tale that is out of fashion and is not for those readers who strive to be politically correct and as such consider concepts such as "gentlemen" and "ladies' to be modes of oppression. If you belong to the 1619 Project school of American history this is not for you.

For the rest of us, Cooper's "Tale of the Neutral Ground" is highly recommended. show less

It's important to remember the time period that a book was written in when delving into a work of classical literature. For example, The Spy came out in 1821 when American novelists were still focused on telling stories about their brethren over the pond. It was quite revolutionary (pun sooo intended) to focus a story on American soil. The story is set during the American Revolution and opens at the end of 1780. Slavery clearly still practiced and attitudes about the slaves themselves were not altogether complimentary. If you go into a work of classic literature without remembering the context of the story itself then you are doomed to find the entire body of work unpalatable. With that being said, I must say I really enjoyed The Spy. show more True to the style of the time there was a lot of focus on unimportant details which made a majority of the tale drag on somewhat. I felt that it didn't really pick up steam (or grab my interest) until about 3/4 of the way through. There are two fantastic characters, however, which kept me turning those pages: Captain John Lawton (of the Continental Army who is fierce, brave, and impetuous) and Harvey Birch (the spy himself who is always full of wit and intensity). These two indomitable spirits are what make this story a classic piece of American literature. show less

A total struggle for me from the first page to the 350th! Convoluted flowery language, loads of slang, multiple names for the same character, confusion over people names and horse names, nicknames for the 2 enemies fighting the revolutionary war difficult to keep straight in my head....and a wee bit more of a sappy love saga than i was expecting. In addition to the linguistic challenges already mentioned, each chapter (35 of them!) had introductory poetry quotes......I read the first 3.....passed over the rest......I don't like poetry......I cannot ever understand it. Finally, the final chapter was just like....."Getting tired of writing this tale......let's just leap forward 30+years and give a closing report....." They all just show more vanished.....very awkward..... Just changed my 2-1/2 stars to 2 stars having read what came to mind as i wrote this. It did not defeat me, but i advise all to proceed with caution...... show less

It was a wonderful historically representative book of the Revolutionary War however, verbose, very detailed, and expressive. I found the pace of the book to be like waiting for a wave to appear and a brief ride of excitement while riding in, until I had to labor my paddle back out to catch another exciting section of the book. The pace was slow at times and the story appeared to be more of a random romp around the NY country side then a historical spy novel.

It kept me reading even though I got bored half way through. The story between the lines made me really feel I was back in time.

A good story and Cooper did a great job presenting it in a compelling way. A good dose of adventure and intrigue, but I'd recommend any of the leatherstocking tales before this.