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Summary: whatever
Review: I thought the book was wonderfully written but a little boring. When it won the National Book Award it seemed the equivalent of "Dances with Wolves" winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. Nice enough but there's better out there.
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Summary: Now I don't know what I think
Review: I just finished the book last night. It took me a while to get my taste for the book, but, once I did, about 100 pages in, I found it marvelous. The ending has confused me, as it apparently has done so with many others. At first, I thought Inman survived; then, I realized he hadn't. I honestly think it would have been a "better" ending if he had lived, and not because I'm one for happy endings. (My wife always bases her judgments of films and books on whether they have happy endings.) Most "endings" in life are not happy. Still, even purely as art, Frazier's book might have succeeded better, IMHO, with Inman surviving with Ada, Ruby, et al. After all, he had survived so many wounds before. Why not this one, too? I don't think the story gained anything in poignancy or meaning by his death. What I actually expected all along was for Ruby, at first begrudging towards Inman, to save him for Ada. I expected her to come back to shoot up some of the Home Guard herself. She should have shot that little blonde boy and saved Inman for Ada. Then, the epilogue, in 1874, would have worked, I believe, even better. I think there would have been more meaning in that ending, and I, for one, will prefer to think that was the ending of the book rather than the one Frazier wrote. I can't think of another book, that I've liked, that I feel this way about. Send me an e-mail if you agree.
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Summary: The best war-related novel I have read in years
Review: "Cold Mountain" is very well written and will hold your attention through out. Frazier's knowledge of everything from what people in that time ate, drank, or songs they sang is extensive. The story includes many colorful characters painted for the reader in detail. The ravages of war and how a society is torn apart by its effects is a major theme. I found myself going back and re-reading previous paragraphs because of his writing style. So at times it was a slow read. But it was all worth it. Read it you won't be disappointed
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Summary: A moving exploration of a land and people devastated by war
Review: Charles Frazier's COLD MOUNTAIN is a moving exploration of a land and a people devastated by war. It does not sentimentalize the Civil War, or the "lost cause" of the South -- nor does it demonize the white Southerners whose lives and land were shattered by war. Rather, in a quiet and nuanced prose style that will be the envy of novelists and historians alike, Charles Frazier takes us on two journeys through the landscape of the war's destruction. Inman, the book's nominal hero, abandons a cause that seems to him lost and hollow, hoping to return home to the woman he loves (Ada Monroe) and the life he hopes to rebuild. Ada in turn struggles to reshape her life in the wake of the death of her father and her plunge from privilege and comfort into want and self-sufficiency. These two stories emerge quietly, sympathetically, from intertwined narratives that often take the reader's breath away with a casual aside, a finely-wrought observation, or a crystallization of thought into words. What many readers may not expect, but what COLD MOUNTAIN so effectively presents, is the horror of the world the Civil War made -- the casual brutality and the shattered dreams, the ideals gone rancid and the struggle to survive. Frazier brings all this to life with patience and understanding. He does not dwell on violence, nor does he seek to shield us from it. It is simply there, a core element of the world he writes about and the people he so skillfully brings to life. COLD MOUNTAIN ranks with the great American historical novels, and with the greatest of the literature of the American South.
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Summary: A gloriously told chapter of a southern family history.
Review: I sit here stunned by the emotional impact I experience as I turn the last page of "Cold Mountain". Having been reared in Georgia, that "..state Stobrod held in low regard" and though the setting for this story is in North Carolina, even so, I can put names and faces to each of the characters in this well-told tale. Did Mr. Frazier stumble across my families' secrets after all of these years? This story of family, and if you are a southerner you know that all stories are about family, is perfectly told in the best of the southern myth building tradition. The ending was simply what it had to be, not the end of the story but the beginning of a long series of stories. Here, within this tale, if you listen carefully, you will begin to understand the character of the southerner; the horrors of war; and the ever intertwined threads of families and the choices they had to make. The growing strength of the women as they had to harden to the ever declining conditions around them and begin to look within themselves for the answers is one every granny has told as a lesson to frivolous southern daughters and granddaughters. The ever hopeful Inman and his abiding belief in people is as a hero should be and still be believable. And, Stobard, the bard who finally found his place in life; can't you hear his fiddle even now? I know the rest of the stories, the people and their choices..... I wonder when Mr. Frazier will decide to tell those? Will he help us see the horsemen in the flames from the fire yet again? Bring out the cider, gather around, and listen closely, there may be yet another lesson to learn as the fiddle and banjo keen around us.
Rating: 
Summary: SIMPLY OVERRATED
Review: Frasier is a genius with words but that's about it unfortunately. Folks go crazy over this tale because there aren't many good new books around these days. I worked sooo hard getting into the character Inman but it was a failure. He seems strangely one-dimensional while Ada is maybe two-dimensional. And Nature is three-dimentional. Frasier digs nature so much more than his characters that COLD MOUNTAIN should be classified as a "nature" book (not fiction).
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Summary: Very Anticlimactic
Review: I had to FORCE my way through two-thirds of the book because it was drawn out and aimless. I was hoping that after all of Inman's suffering and persistance to get back home to be with Ada that they would typically live happily ever after. BUT NNOOOO...This "romantic story" left me with the impression that they weren't even happy to see each other when they finally reunited. However, I did get a good sense of what the War was like and if the book would have been about just Inman's experience rather than giving it a romanic twist, then I wouldn't have expected a happier outcome because war is hell.
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Summary: Poignant to the point of grief.
Review: I just finished reading the reviews of this book listed, all 21 pages. One sign to indicate the value of a book, is it's ability to inspire conversation, speculation, and contradictions. Yet, another indicator of a superior book is your own reaction and personal aftermath. I yearned throughout the book to see Inman reach a satisfactory conclusion to his journey and for Ada to recognize her abilities and strength. I find myself brought to tears days after I have completed this tome. Is it fair of a reader to deny the worth of this story because the ending did not come to a conclusion we expected or desired? I, like others, found myself going back to read the last pages. Did what I think happened really happened? It did. Life is not full of happy endings and war never brings about a happy ending. The only thing that would make me happy now, is for Mr. Frazier to tell me the real life story passed on to him by his family of "Inman". Read this heartwrenching book.
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Summary: Frazier Captures The Heart of a Man and a Woman
Review: I've always felt that the way you view a novel or any other work of art is based upon where you currently are in life. I read this book while on deployment with the USAF in Bosnia. Frazier touched on some of the emotions that my wife and I have felt during this time of separation in our lives. Cold Mountain will leave you feeling cold, lonely and longing to go home. Frazier visually stimulates you with his accurate depiction on the Blue Ridge mountains. This is a must read for any history or Civil War fan. I would also recommend it for anyone who has ever been away from someone that they love.
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Summary: Slow your 20th century pace for this one!
Review: Cold Mountain was an enjoyable read for a number of reasons. The classic plot line of a man's odyssey, and the stories he encounters along the way, lended structure to a diversity of stories. The parallel story of Ada's odyssey into true adulthood also provided structure. The power of love and the destruction created in its absence is another sub theme in a novel simple in structure but complex in its many messages.
The descriptions of the natural wonders seen by Inman (and dreamed of) on his trek, and by Ada as she observed the details of the world around her were magnificent. But Frazier did not stop there; he also showed the reader the wonders of human nature, both very good and very bad.
But, what I was struck with most, was how demanding life was during the Civil War era. Inman's trip today would take about 3 hours in a car with no interference from other travellers, yet, with no interaction or enlightenment from fellow travellers. The Civil War has been so idealized that we loose sight of exactly how very difficult it was to just stay alive during those times let alone hang onto values.
Some writers here have criticized the end of Cold Mountain. Frazier's writing skill prepares the reader for Inman's death from his first introduction (birth). We know that this was a man for whom life (and death) was not going to be easy. But, in the end Inman was "redeemed" because he did get to experience some joy with Ada. This an allegorical story of man's and woman's travel through life toward the destination, death.
I do agree with writers here who said to savor this novel. It's a nice way leave the 20th century and experience true lives in the last century.
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