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Summary: Haunting, Thrilling and Full of Wonder
Review: Seldom have I read a novel with the power to fill nearly all my waking thoughts for days. This novel of dedication, hard work and hard times brings to light a era in our history when the disparity of the classes was extreme (like today?). The actions of two educated people (Inman and Ada) sometimes goes contrary to their education but always tends toward the common goal of survival. A novel of our past and for our times. Having often tread upon the trails of the Appliachian Mountains I felt every step Inman took and saw every hardship and shared every bit of loneliness Ada endured
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Summary: A book without peer
Review: This is the finest modern American novel I have read to date. The language, the recurring themes of identity, of loss, of nature viewed by man and how it reveals itself, all are powerful and haunting. I finished this book over two weeks ago and find myself unable to read other works of fiction - they pale by comparison. I agree that this is a modern classic and belongs in curricula across the country
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Summary: Cold Mountain
Review: This novel is compelling and fascinating
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Summary: Write your name and address in this one.....
Review: ...or you won't get it back. This is one I will keep in my bookcase and give away copies of the paperback (when it comes out).
I read this as I sat at my home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a wonderful book. Frazier's use of the language of the time, and the jargon caught the flavor of the mountain people so well. I felt compelled to read a chapter and then would have to stop and think about what I had experienced.
Living in these mountains I have met these people. Ruby's father lived up the road from our place. His daughter was so like Ruby. The genteel Ada, the resourceful Innman - they ring so true.
And I so liked Charles Frazier's style - it reminded me of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Each character's travel - one physical, one more spiritual going from scene to scene, story to story; much same the way Mussorgsky take you from picture to picture.
I anxiously await Charles Frazier's next book, along news of his Pulitzer Prize.
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Summary: The finest novel I've read in a decade
Review: It's hard to believe that this fine book is a first novel; Charles Frazier not only writes with power and grace, his riveting story is a 19th-century American Odyssey
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Summary: Underwhelmed
Review: I know I'm in a tiny minority when considering the tsunami of effusive reviews for this book, but I must sheepishly admit that I agree with the reader from Virginia. Maybe I don't recognize a masterpiece when I see it, but I just found the book slow going
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Summary: Lyrical and literate
Review: I knew nothing of this book when I read it. By the second page, I knew it would be one of my favorites. Frazier's writing manages to be lyrical yet spare, and the story is gripping. Imagine my shock when, upon finishing what I thought was my own "find", I discovered it was on the bestseller list at #1
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Summary: Haunting
Review: This one grows on you. Without being aware of its impact and intensity you find yourself caught up in the richness of the language and the story's methodical but unstoppable pace. Though slow to start, once you get caught in the world of the inhabitants of Cold Mountain, the real world becomes less real and the world of Ada, Ruby, and Inman overwhelm you. Not a book to be skimmed or glossed over for every word has meaning and forms part of the web that engulfs the reader in its awesome detail of nature and the beauty and bestiality of mankind. A book not easily forgotten
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Summary: Boring
Review: After Inman and Ada are introduced the only issues of interest are whether he will he make it home and whether they will get together. Skip the middle one/third of the book and you have a good Civil War love story
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Summary: Required reading for American History and/or social sciences
Review: I agree with many of the reviewers who have already reviewed Cold Mountain. However, many have mentioned Mr. Frazier's use of our language. True, it is quite descriptive, and he clearly paints word pictures of the Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains in my mind. I have vacationed there, and he brings me back. But, I think Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides) paints even more evocative mind pictures. I found some of the description and side stories here similar to Pat Conroy but I only became "captivated" about page 200.....
I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer above who, along with his wife, found an anti-war theme. I did too. Especially, page 240: " Inman sat silent for a minute, thinking that every man that died in that war on either side might just as soon have put a pistol against the soft of his palate.....for all the meaning it [the war] had".
I felt that if we all read this book prior to Vietnam, many lives could have been saved. Certainly all those that label themselves "hawks" and glorify war should read this novel.
I've not thought about our Civil War since high school history and I usually don't read historical novels. But, this novel sure brought my history lessons to life (I was an "A" history student). I agree with the reviewer above who plans to use the novel in his teaching. I hope many more teachers do. Some of the sexual overtones and the violence involving animals will need to be dealt with by teachers of younger students. I think younger readers might get hung up on the details of a bull being sawed into pieces in a stream to reconstitute the tainted drinking water and may dwell on some of the sordid, and most certainly, necessary details, but miss the jist of the tale. Positioning the "gross parts" with younger readers may help them get through the long descriptive parts by motivating them to read on
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