Cold Mountain

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful love story and travelogue
Review: This is the first book I've read in a long time where I've felt real anxiety about what was going to happen to the characters at the end. Inman and Ada had gone through so much, they deserved a happy ending. As a love story , the book charmed me- "thistlish" Ada warmed so sweetly to Inman. I liked the scene at the party where she "wound up in his lap through no mechanism she could later recall". Otherwise, best aspects of the book were the evocation of place and the characters Inman encountered on his long walk.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading!
Review: I rated this book as less than the best because (1) I prefer those rare books that invite the reader to think along with and argue with the author and (2) because I thought that he gave in to the beginner's inclination to kill off an attractive character just for dramatic effect. What I liked best about the book isn't often mentioned - his powerful evocation of scenes. His descriptions of the violinist and banjoist were beautiful; I didn't need a movie to "see" or "hear" the musicians. I also appreciated his mostly subtle descriptions of attraction to Ada - I don't need a graphic description of a roll in the hay. Some of the younger reviewers apparently can't place themselves in the era that this book represents. He also made frequent reference to one of my favoite books - Bartram's Travels. His descriptions of flora and fauna were, again, evocative of Bartram. I would recommend this book to any reader who is beyond the gothic and romance novel stage.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story, beautifully told.
Review: The most amazing thing about Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain" is that it excels at so many levels. As an anti-war novel that exposes the waste and foolishness of armed conflict, it ranks with William March's "Company K" and Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bells Toll." As a magician with words, it contains passages about the preparation of meals, scenery, people's emotions and dozens of other topics that will be cited in literature classes throughout the world for at least the next several decades. And as a storyteller, Frazier shapes characters and incidents that are as real and compelling as any that have enhanced the written word. Reading "Cold Mountain" was a miraculous, enriching experience. Re-reading passages and talking about the book with friends will be equally rewarding.

Rating:
Summary: Great foreplay, disappointing climax.
Review: Cold Mountain is not an easy book to get through. You can't pick it up and rush it. You have to take time with the words and images which Frazier uses like a poet. Very little is wasted in this book. Although the language is lyrical, it is not flowery. It is sparse, terse, and reflects beautifully the inner life of Inman, numbed by the horrors of the world he lives in. There is a harshness that runs throughout this book, both in the unforgiving terrain and in the war Inman is fleeing. I was disappointed with the ending, however. The book was unbalanced; the last third or so should have been about his life with Ada and his attempt to make peace with his past and carve out a new future. I kept waiting to get to this, the place where I thought his REAL struggle would begin. He never really did. The journey was simply too long, plotwise, although it was described in beautiful detail. Toward the end, I found myself very conscious of how many pages remained in the book, thinking how on earth this story could end in the time remaining. The language was something akin to Twain's; Frazier knew and used his regional vernacular powerfully and effectively. But the story the language told - two parallel stories converging in the end - left me a little flat. After so much foreplay, the climax was sudden and disappointing. I work with many veterans scarred by war so his description of the burned out, combat-weary soldier rang true for me. What did not ring true, however, was the unrelenting EVIL and petty meanness of virtually all the male characters. I do not believe the 19th century was any more violent than our own - there is plenty of evidence it was less so - but of course what is remembered are violent, dramatic tales. I found myself distracted by this overloading of evil. It also struck me as too politically correct that almost all the virtuous characters were women. The tremendous attention to the tiniest details of nineteenth century life - how food was prepared, when the main meal of the day was eaten, how people went through the mechanics of washing their clothes on the trail - really brought the novel to life for me, pulling me into this other world, but the little spasms of 20th century moralizing (men bad, women good; Home Guard bad, deserters good; generals bad, soldiers good) reminded me this was written 130 years after the Civil War. I also don't think the war could have lasted as long as it did if there were not at least ONE character along the way who believed in states rights and "the Cause." Not to justify either but simply to paint the historical landscape more accurately. Gibbons compared the book to Killer Angels, but the beauty of that novel was the balanced portrayal of the passionately held beliefs of all of the protagonists in the war. Although in retrospect, the War Between the States was a tremendous, pointless slaughter, at the time - as with any war - it was certainly not universally seen that way. I also think the Home Guard was tremendously overdone in its cruelty. Perhaps these events are representative of what might have occurred, but Teague and his band reminded me more of something out of Deliverance - the stereotyped "red neck" rural southerner, primitive, cruel, and mean - than out of anything I have read about the Civil War or anyone I have ever met. What motivated them? Was it simply the lust for money (if so, why did they murder all their prisoners before bringing them in for a bounty?) or was it just plain old-fashioned sociopathy? They didn't strike me as real, and in that sense were a contrivance, a necessary evil essential to the climax, the final, ultimate obstacle to Inman's homecoming. The final problem I had with the book was the glorification of violence despite the main character's ruminations to the contrary. The violence of war, especially the war Inman came from, is random. Any combat veteran knows those who survive are not in any way more special or gifted than those who don't. That's John Wayne machismo nonsense. It's a coin flip whether a shell lands in your rifle pit or the next guy's (or if you catch malaria or diphtheria and the other guy doesn't). The idea that Inman is "good" at fighting and therefore able to survive repeated violent encounters struck me as tremendously unrealistic and counter to the book's apparent underlying theme about the pointlessness, unpredictability, and violence of the things life throws our way. That Inman spent so much energy fighting external enemies and not enough making peace with internal ones was disappointing and detracted from Inman as a character. Despite these shortcomings, the book was a powerful read. Evocative and moving, it rings true, both emotionally and historically. Like so many Southern writers, Frazier has a tremendous sense of place and time. I highly recommend the book; it is so much better written and less stereotyped than most of the toilet seat reading that passes for fiction these days. Don't take it to the beach, though, or you'll never appreciate it. Take it to the mountains. Be prepared to slow down and spend some time with it. It will be well worth it, even if the ending disappoints.

Rating:
Summary: Look deeper to understand the beauty of Cold Mountain
Review: We are becoming very spoiled indeed if we fail to see the simple magnificence of Cold Mountain. popular page-turners, not matter the author or subject, don't belong in the same bookstore as this classic-to-be. This book is phenomenal in almost every aspect. Just don't expect a mindless Grisham novel, for this is a rare literary treat.

Rating:
Summary: richly over-written
Review: Its been awhile since I have thought about a book during the day while I was reading it in the evenings. The structure of the book is enjoyable and works, and the two parallel journeys (with the various requisite symbolisms) are overall very satisfying. This is a very good book/story. However, although it is very richly written, I found it often to be over-written, with too much ancillary detail and seemingly pointless side-tracks. And the ending left me a little cold, especially after all the characters (and the reader!) have been through... Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Why a best seller?
Review: I must have missed something here, because I fail to understand why this book has been on the best seller list at all. I found the characters inspid, the descriptions poor and the story in general boring. I thought perhaps it was just me - but everyone I forced the book on had the same reaction. I feel the time spent reading this book was wasted. It could have been so much better.

Rating:
Summary: A walk into oblivion
Review: Although the author tried to paint a picture of these charactors, They weren't anybody I would like to meet or know. I found this very difficult to read and I was happy to be done with it.

Rating:
Summary: 300 pages to long!
Review: Cold Mountain is a disappointing read. The characters lacked depth, and the journey description was drab. A recent book just out, Miss Cornett's Courtship, is much better. It's charming, the characters are real, and it's a great love story. Miss Cornett's Courtship is what Cold Mountain should have aspired to be.

Rating:
Summary: It was very good with an interesting twist.
Review: In the begining of the book it was sad with the was but then as the book went on it was sweet that he went back to look for the woman he left behind.The end was kind of slow but it made sense and it didn't bore me.