Cold Mountain

Rating:
Summary: It was AGONY getting through this book. . .
Review: I really hate to give the book a 3 but the well crafted paragraph sentences did not compensate for the tedium of this story. There was not enough character development but having struggled to the end I felt very gipped by the ending. I did have a positive outlook when I started, especially aftering having seen a Sunday CBS This Morning segment about the location. A well written book and an extreme disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: People! The Emperor has no clothes!
Review: Those rushing to praise Cold Mountain are probably just glad to be up and about after reading this boulder of a book. Everything and everyone in it is cold: The weather is frightfully wet, the land muddy; Inman, whom Frazier never deigns to descibe for the reader besides his deftness at killing and his stern, grim visage; Ada, who is flighty and thin, which is a real trick for Frazier, considering she is described in language heavy and daunting; Ruby, a country savant who cares for nothing but the land and her next meal; and a cast of cliches, as though the writer absolutely lacked imagination beyond what he claims is a true story. This is a book of form devastating function. The writing is, when taken sentence by sentence, magnificent. But when arrayed into book length, Frazier displays his inability at simply telling a story. Cold Mountain is Monty Python in North Carolina, without the humor, without the color, without the humanity, but with the mud. Frazier needs to learn to write short stories before he tries another long format effort, the reviews and awards notwithstanding. I am disappointed that the literati have embraced this poorly cobbled together manuscript. Don't read it. Don't encourage them.

Rating:
Summary: Harlequin romance in Ulysses' clothing
Review: Okay, the man can write -- every review gives him that -- but the plot is thin, tedious and vapid. Only in America in 1997 could a deserter become a hero -- this thing is PC to the extreme --"war is bad, Indians are noble beings living in harmony with the land" -- and the soupcon of lesbianism does nothing for the plot or prose. Read carefully this thing is really a womans' book -- a Harlequin romance -- though it is gussied up in some masculine trappings. Despite the groundswell of approval, skip this turkey -- wish I had, and saved my money.

Rating:
Summary: cold mountain
Review: I thought it would be an interesting book to read, however I was wrong. This author needs to learn how to write sentences. His story telling leaves a lot to be desired. The sentence structure is long winded and is unecessary. Get to the point!

Rating:
Summary: Life sucks and then you die - thanks for reminding me
Review: Excellent descriptions of man's inhumanity to man and women's humanity to women. Ada and Ruby were much more interesting characters than Inman I thought. I'm not going to dog the ending, but I will say it didn't leave me crying. I hadn't developed enough sympathy for Inman throughout the book to "feel" for his death. Two things that really bothered me: 1) the time-span regarding the ice-cream making was completely impractical; I remember cranking those old ice-cream machines - 2) there was a watermark or typographical error in my copy of the book that kept reappearing every few pages and was very irritating to read around. (I'm sorry if these objections seem trite.) Basically, I felt about this book much as I did about the academy award winning movie Leaving Las Vegas. Great acting, cool photography - but isn't there supposed to be a story somewhere?

Rating:
Summary: Represents the current state of American literature
Review: Some reviewers treat this book like it was written by God, and others conclude that it pretends to be literary. If you expect greatness, the first half will dissappoint you--it is overly descriptive of physical conditions, while still not quite getting you there. Read on, though, because the last third is fine, truly literary writing.

Rating:
Summary: Great writing but some pulp plot turns
Review: Some of the best fictional American nature writing put out in years, maybe ever. I agree with those who had problems with the ending. I think his major themes would have benefitted from at least a more ambiguous ending. There are a few other plot turns in the book that seemed forced, and at times I felt I was watching the plot happen rather than living in it. Having said that, this is a master writer - just not yet a master storyteller. His National Book Award was exceedingly well deserved.

Rating:
Summary: I don't think so...
Review: Wow. So everyone but me thinks this is a masterpiece. I thought it was elegantly written but boring. I give the guy a six (why is it everyone is either a "10" or a "2"?) because it's his first novel and it seems he's pleased a huge number of people. He can write but in his next novel he needs to pay attention to the story and make something happen. Not bad for a first book and I give him credit for trying to rise above the silly commercial novels (See: "The Alienist") that are so prevalent today. Give it a try, read it---but definitely get it from the library! (Sorry, Amazon.com)

Rating:
Summary: A great novel, worthy of National Book Award
Review: As the New Yorker said recently: this is a great "slow read". I recommend a chapter at a time. This is fine wine and you will want to treasure the pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous literature!
Review: Cold Mountain is achingly beautiful! Frazier's choices of words and descriptions make this a book to be read slowly, savoring every particle. This is not a book to be raced through; it one to be absorbed. Even as slowly as I went, Cold Mountain ended all too soon.