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Summary: Pollyanna would not have appreciated COLD MOUNTAIN
Review: Do not come near this book if you claim a shred of Pollyannaish sensibilities. Cold Mountain is a manly, unromantic, relentless accounting of a time and lives of despair. While the language is compelling the story and characters are not. I have no desire to ever meet again with Inman whose idea of love is to pine for a woman he barely knows or to meet with Ada a pathetic, dependent woman. The goat woman is the sole character with character.The description of the countryside and vegetation is more uplifting that any member of the cast of characters. Stay away from this book if you expect to be uplifted like you were with Angela's Ashes.But jump in with both feet if you dare to see humanity at its worst and dare to feel it through the writer's compelling style
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Summary: Heartbreakingly real, breathtakingly written
Review: A beautifully written account of humanity tested to its limits and yet surviving
against the odds. A finely told tale. More than the story, however, is the writing.
Those of us who often appreciate the telling of a tale more than the tale itself will find
ourselves rereading sentences, paragraphs, even whole pages in awe of the power of Frasier's
ability and insight into these magnificent characters.
This is a book that you regret finishing but rejoice at having read.
Rating:
Summary: a perfectly realized vision of love and war
Review: Just about every sentence in this vivid novel is perfectly rendered. There is no piling up of detail, as in David Guterson's over-rated Snow Falling on Cedars. Frazier knows his terrain intimately, and treads upon it tenderly. His use of dialogue is pitch-perfect, like that of his fellow North Carolinian, the incomparable story-teller Fred Chappell. Readers will return to Frazier's work again and again
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Summary: Cold Mountain is one of the best books I have yet read.
Review: Cold Mountain is one of the best books I have yet read. The story concerns two main characters, Inman, an injured Confederate soldier who decides to find his own way home, and Ada, a southern belle left to manage her fathers' farm in the mountains after he passes away. Ada and Inman knew each other before the Civil War ; Inman had even considered marrying Ada. How Inman finds his way home to Cold Mountain and how Ada loses her dependence on material wealth and gains her strength from the simple power of nature and hard work makes for wonderful reading. Throughout the story, we meet such a fantastic and fascinating array of people, from Veasey, a misguided preacher that Inman comes upon as he is trying to kill the girl who is pregnant with his child, to Ruby, a somewhat wild girl that teaches Ada the ways of nature and of living, and so many others. The writing in this novel is at times overwhelmingly moving, at others is some of the best nature writing that I have ever encountered. Filled with Native American mysticism, wonderful characters, and remarkable writing, I would recommend Cold Mountain as a must read book
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Summary: A beautiful and haunting story.
Review: This is a quest novel with a twist. Inman, a battered Confederate veteran, walks out of the hospital where he is healing for a return to the front and begins the long trek home to the mountains of North Carolina. Ada, raised in the pampered society of Charleston, is left on her own on a farm in the mountains after her father's death and begins a long journey of learning how to live on her own. Their stories come together in a way that is both compelling and surprising. The power of this story comes not only from its lyricism, but from its willingness to engage the reader in an exploration of themes that are as old as literature. Inman, like Odysseus, wonders not only whether he will ever reach home again but whether his experiences have changed him beyond all recognition. Is his craftiness a means to an end or has it obliterated his ability to open himself up to another person
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Summary: A PERFECT READING
Review: One would be hard pressed to think of any words of praise that have not already been heaped upon Charles Frazier's Civil War masterpiece "Cold Mountain." Winner of the National Book Award, it has been called "Magnificent," "Impressive and enthralling," "Magnetic." These views were shared by millions of readers who bought the book and eagerly shared it with friends.Fortunately, my task is not to amplify the accolades that "Cold Mountain" has already received but to focus on the unabridged audio version read by the author. Many have called Mr. Frazier a born storyteller, that appellation proves true in his sometimes intense, always understanding reading. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he brings appropriate voice to the saga of Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier who leaves his regiment to begin a trek home to Ada, the woman he loves, and a farm on Cold Mountain. Set against a backdrop of the last days of the Civil War and the changes that will bring much drama is found in the people Inman meets along the way and in his relationship to the ravaged land he encounters. The recent release of "Cold Mountain" as a major motion picture starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellweger will undoubtedly win this popular novel countless new fans.
Yet a very special pleasure is to be found in listening to the story read by its author. Mr. Frazier has said in an interview that Inman is based upon his great great uncle and his great grandfather, both of whom were soldiers in the Civil War. In effect, this is a family story beautifully imagined and related. Charles Frazier is the one man who could write it; he is the one man to give it voice. - Gail Cooke
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Summary: Please Mr. Frazier, write another!
Review: You high school and college kids who were "forced" to read this ... I hope you will look back when you are older and realize how fortunate you were to have such insightful teachers. I'm not a teacher, but I once was a student and I understand how you feel. But please read again! And *feel* it. I'm an editor, and I read a LOT every day. Various topics. Various styles of writing. "Cold Mountain" thrilled my soul at times. Mr. Frazier's detailed but never maudlin descriptions often put me right on that trail with Inman. And Ada's melancholy was palpable after Mr. Frazier detailed her day-to-day life for me, rather than just telling me "she's depressed." There were often spots in the book where I would back up and re-read a passage, and sometimes read aloud, just for the SOUND of it. The words and the way he put them together, like an intricate work in stained glass. I so admire Mr. Frazier's skill ... and the story he told with it. I read it months ago, and it still pops into my mind occasionally. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that I drive past the real Cold Mountain occasionally.) I think it's time for me to read it again.
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Summary: This is the best book I've read in 5 years! "Loved" it!
Review: This is the first book in five years of my frequent reading that I actually can say I "loved reading". It is rare for me to find a book that has such beautiful phrasing, powerful use of words, and stunning descriptions of the landscapes (both natural and human) that I want to read phrases, sentences, and whole paragrahs over and over again, just to feel them in my mouth and in my brain. But Charles Frazier is a wonderful writer and Cold Mountain is a superb book for readers who truly love language, richly-rendered characters, and enjoy probing nature's mysterious power over our lives. It is unfortunate that several members of our book club did not like this book enough to stay with it past the first few chapters. They wrote it off as being "too dark" a story. Too bad they didn't get to see the many shades of multi-colored light that this unforgetable story and the unforgetable writing brought to me. I just bought another copy (since the last person I loaned my first copy to hasn't returned it yet) and plan to reread it again in the coming months. I look forward to Mr. Frazier's next novel!
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Summary: Literature or lackluster story telling?
Review: I always read the 1 star ratings first - I did finish this book, and despite the negative comments, some with which I agree, there are some lyrical passages of imagery in this book that provide its saving grace. For example, I vividly pictured the window that Inman looks out of every morning while in the hospital. My relationship with the book was as if I looked through that window and watched the stories as they unfolded. I can not agree that the characters were flat, but rather the book is written so that one stands apart from the action and the characters as if in viewing a mountain from miles away, or through an open window. The explanations about the farm and seasonal chores, and Ada's transformation into a "functional" character of strength was inspiring. Historical accuracy? Well, if that is what one is reading for, sure, maybe the book isn't definitively researched, but then I was reading for enjoyment. For a first novel, Frazier is stylistically sound; probably wasn't writing for those movie rights, and for this reader, provided a nice vacation from daily toil. Besides, he has a best seller AND a movie; I don't. I saw the movie before I finished the book. Yuck. While Kidman to me is always lackluster in her performance, she played the blank, flat slate to the hilt. Zelleger is perfect as Ruby, with a fantastice supporting cast, BUT the book is still better than the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Intersting Story
Review: I am a civil war buff, but Cold Mountain took a little bit to get into. Once I kept plugging through the book, I then started to enjoy it. I think the book leaves you stranded in different directions. The movie has a lot of inaccuracies, but I find it very entertaining, and I love the mountain music. Over all, I think Cold Mountain is a good book and worth your time reading.
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