Cold Mountain

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Masterpeice!
Review: "Cold Mountain" is such a deep and emotional book. Charles Frazier writes with such passion, detail and soul. There are great characters in this novel and they seem like real people. This is a great read and I encourage you to spend time and read this amazing novel. On December 2003, the film will be released and it is also titled "Cold Mountain". It is garnering great buzz and is predicted to be a BIG Oscar contender this year. Jude Law stars as Inman, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman stars as Ada, and Rennee Zellweger stars as Ruby. The book was awesome and I'm really looking forward to seeing the film. Definetley a 5 star novel!

Rating:
Summary: Anything he can do, she can do better
Review: Not bad - but so politically correct I nearly threw up. All the men (except for the hero) are idiots; all the women are self-sufficient (eventually) and the last thing they need is a man, except for the bare essentials (which is symbolically illustrated in the lovers one-and-only tryst, which spawns a lovely little girl). Your move.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Style, Disturbing Language
Review: I found Cold Mountain an interesting read for the romance novel reader. I loved the easy to understand writing style of Charles Frazier. His writing with dashes to indicate dialogue made me feel as if I were reading a book written in the Civil War era. He also changes characters and scenes every chapter. This gave the book a change of plot and tone. I was saddened that the author felt he needed to include inappropriate language and descriptions in his masterpiece. I would have to warn readers my age and adults for that matter. They might be offended as I was. Overall, I thought this was a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Good, But Not For Me
Review: Cold Mountain was a very deep, thoughtful novel and I enjoyed it a alot. However, whenever I got to a really good part, some inappropriate dialogue or scene descrption would come up. I think that this is a very good book for an older reader because of all the adult content.
As much as I enjoyed following the characters' journey, I did not like all the names that they threw in for no reason; it made the book very confusing. The trips made on Cold Mountain were all very nice, but there were alot of long periods of nothingness, but for the adult,romantic novel reader, I would recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Struggle to Live Unmolested
Review: Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier

The novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is a tale of two ordinary people (Inman, and Ada) searching for meaning and or peace under extraordinary circumstances (the Civil War). Inman in the beginning of the novel is a wounded confederate soldier, demoralized by the cruelty his fellow man have inflicted upon each other. Inman desserts the confederate hospital seeking peace and solitude in his home on Cold mountain. Making his journey to Cold Mountain Inman encounters many obstacles, a sense of his loss of hope is found in every situation he encounters. Inman even determines the only thing worth fighting for, his right to live unmolested. When he ditched a boat because of being shot at by a band of southerners he thinks 'Any minute he figured to see the white be-whiskered maw of the monster catfish rise from the water and suck him in. All his life adding up to no more than catfish droppings on the bottom of this swill trough of a river.' (Frazier, 90) Meanwhile while Inman is making his journey to cold mountain, the female protagonist Ada is at cold mountain encountering problems of her own. She needs to tend to her farm even though she has no skills in farming. Her situation improves when Ruby agrees to help with the farm. In the end Inman dies at the hands of the home guard, the irony of the situation is that Inman could have killed the vary person that ended up killing him. Inman did fight when he felt his right to live unmolested was threatened; however he was not an aggressive type of man that would kill anyone who at the time served no threat to his interests, and it was that fact that did him in at the end. Six years after Inman's death an image of Ada is given along with her daughter, apparently conceived with Inman. Cold Mountain is a beautiful novel, well written in all aspects, especially the setting of the Civil war. Frazier included such exquisite detail about the Civil War, that the reader gets a vary good image of the conditions that Inman and Ada where, and overall a clearer more concise picture of the war itself. Frazier included Witworth sniper rifles to social conditions found in the south. Frazier's portrayal of the south was so was so exemplarily that Frazier even received a reward for his depiction by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Frazier's response is as follows 'One day six or seven years ago, shortly before I began writing 'Cold Mountain', I drove across a ridge and switchbacked into a valley of the Smokey mountains' Eventually I found the marker-- a flat riverstone --on a shelf of land cut into a steep hillside. Two men occupy the same hole, civilians killed in the last day's of the Civil war by Federals' I was not then thinking about writing a Civil War novel, and though I am triply qualified for acceptance into the Sons of Confederate veterans, I remain largely uninterested in the great movements of troops, the famous personality traits of the noble Generals and tragic presidents. What I am interested in are those two double graves and what they seem to represent.' Frazier's motive in creating this novel is to present the struggles of Inman and Ada while the Civil war is ravaging the country. While Frazier's excellent use of factual information from the civil war stands out, the story of Inman and Ada shines. There struggle and hope amongst death is romantic and beautiful, as Frazier said he was more interested in what those people represented, which was sacrifice and death by a larger cause. I recommend Cold Mountain to everybody regardless of what type of novels you/they like, Cold Mountain is such a good novel that everyone will find at least one thing that they like.

Rating:
Summary: the Journey home
Review: Charles Frazier first novel Cold Mountain is a magnificent story describing life during Civil War. Frazier illustrates the struggles that people go through trying to survive. When reading Cold Mountain you experience what the characters are emotionally and physically going through. You also experience the changes and growth that the characters go through.
Cold Mountain starts off with the character Inman being wounded from battle. In the hospital, Inman has time to think about his life and his experiences from war. Inman is haunted by the deaths and killing of young men, so he decides that he is going to leave the war and go home to his love Ada. This is the beginning of Inman's Odyssey for home. Ada at home is facing her own problem trying to run her father's farm after his death. Ruby a stranger comes to Ada and offers her help to run the farm. As they fight to continue to survive and keep the farm running, there relationship develops into a beautiful friendship. As Inman, Ada, and Ruby continue on their journey, they face many obstacles to overcome.
Frazier description on everything is very realistic and beautiful. Frazier description on the characters thoughts and actions are very real and relatable. Here is a great descriptive quote on a day in battle:
"The fighting was in the way of a dream, one where your foes are ranked against you countless and mighty. And you so weak. And yet they fall and keep falling until they are crashed. Inman had fired until his right arm was weary from working the ramrod, his jaws sore from biting the ends off the paper cartridges. His rifle became so hot that the power would sometimes flash before he could ran home the ball. At the end of the day the faces of the men around him were caked with blown-back power so that they were various shades of blue, and they put Inman in mind of a great ape with a bulbous colorful ass he had seen in a traveling show once. ...Thousands of men lay dead and dying on the sloping field below the wall, and by dark the ones who could move had heaped up corpses to make shelter. All the night the aurora flamed and shimmered lurid colors across the sky to the north. ...The wounded Federals moaned and keened and hummed between gritted teeth on the frozen field and called out the names of loved ones. To this accompaniment, the poorly shod of Inman's party climbed over the wall to yank the boots off the dead" (7-9).
You can image being there and feel what the soldiers are experiencing. Frazier is also very descriptive about Cold Mountain and Ada's farmland. He presents a picture of the hardship and work it takes in running a farm. His wonderful description helps you image and feel everything the characters experience.
Cold Mountain is loved by many people. For example, John Berendt said, " Cold Mountain is a heartbreaking beautiful story, elegantly told and utterly convincing down to the last haunting detail." Willie Morris said, "Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain is the most impressive and enthralling first novel I have read in a long time. It is a magnetic story, ambitious in scope, with richly developed characters and beautiful evocations of landscape. Though set in an earlier time, it is contemporary in the profoundest sense, with resonance of A Farewell to Arms."
Cold Mountain is a great book to read. It is a great civil war and love story. However, the plot is very slow pace. It is also written beautifully. Cold Mountain shows that through hardship and misery, people can still find hope, love, and happiness.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! what a great book!
Review: Cold Montain by Charles Frazier was one of the best books I've read all year. It was recomended to me by many people, but I thought it would be a boring history of the Civil War. But, to my suprise, it wasn't. It was an exciting tale about Inmun and Ada and their struggles to survive. I do not know what to say to convince you to read this book, but you should read it. I am sure that you will enjoy it as much as I did, if not more. This book captivates its audience and leaves you wanting more. The ending leaves you to think what you will, and let's your imagination run wild. Everyone who is interested in literature or history would enjoy this book. I hope you do!

Rating:
Summary: Slowly Moving On....
Review: What to say about Cold Mountain. First off, it is a very desriptive, captivating, and interesting novel of romance in the time of the US Civil War. The book was very entertaining considering how much time it takes to move through it. The book is only 449 pages which isn't terribly long for a novel of this magnitude, but it seems to be something like 23,457 pages instead. Well maybe not that much, but the book moves slower than a sloth trying to scale a mountain. My overall feeling while reading the novel tended to waver between, "This is great" and "When is this going to be OVER!?" I was however amazed at the great amount of detail that goes in to Mr. Frazier's articulate writing. I could literally live parts of the book because of that. I really enjoyed reading writing such as that. Mr. Frazier does an excellent job of toying with your mood while reading the book. An example would be one of the main characters, Ada, back by herself on a farm out in the country waiting for her love, Inman who is fighting in the war, to be reunited with her. It will then sway to an epic battle scene between the confederates and federals fighting on an open field. Very few authors I have read can keep parallel worlds, that are quite different, together and be able to change so effectively to lives of the different characters. My overall opinion is that Cold Mountain is wonderful and worth the read. This book of course I have said is not paced well in my opinion, but the reader can certainly pull through.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece in Many Ways. Yet...
Review: Charles Frazier wrote a beautifully touching book, as well as a deeply reflective one about the things war can do to a man's heart. He has weaved a shining tale of the consequences of life lost, and of life completley changed. This book, for it's mortality alone deserved the award it won. It is a beautiful book. But...It is not very interesting. It reads through most of it like a case study of the human mind. We read of Inman's boggled thoughts and feelings. And sometimes. We do not care. This book has just as many dull moments as it does vividly splendid ones. Read this book. But do not expect it to be a roller coaster ride for the mind.

Rating:
Summary: weeewww Cold Mountain
Review: I was required to read a Civil War novel for my history class this quarter and from my experience last quarter I was very reluctant. Although, after I finished reading I was pleasantly surprised. The book, Cold Mountain, is the story of two young people in love. Inman, the main character, was a solider at Gettysburg but was wounded severely and therefore relieved of his duties to his country. Inman decides to leave the hospital and walk across the country to his one and only love, Ada. Ada is the other character in this book. Her father recently passed away and she is trying to manage his farm. She has no idea what she is doing but seeks help from a friend. My first thought was that it was very romantic to travel cross-country wounded with nothing but the clothes on his back to his love. This made me anxious to start reading. Inman relied utterly on the people he met along the way to help him and was not even sure if Ada would take him when he arrived. Several different things happened to him on his way, he got wounded again and met some very...interesting people. I think that this may have been one of the best books I have read this year. In the beginning it is very exciting, Inman first setting off on his journey and Ada, unaware, at home trying to fend for herself. Throughout the book I did get bored with the story. I feel Frazier dragged it out about five chapters longer than it should have been. I did not find several aspects of Inman's journey very interesting to read. When I finished a chapter about Inman I dreaded to hear Ada's story next. The book was action-packed but the action was spread out too much. Towards the middle of the book I had to force myself to continue reading. I am happy I did though because I liked the ending very much. The ending is what brought me to say it was one of the best books I've read. If the result had not been as it was I believe I would have felt like this book was a waste of my time. Everything fell together perfectly in the end and I was left feeling content. Cold Mountain is definetly worth reading and I absolutely loved it!