Rating: 
Summary: The point of this book was?
Review: I was reqired to read a civil war book for History, and I chose Cold Mountain. A civil war novel (supposedly) and at the top of the recommended books list that was passed around in class. It is also a winner of the National Book Award. As I began reading it, I wondered why it was such a piece of work? The plot of this story involves Inman, a wounded soldier, and his trek back to his hometown of Cold Mountain to his lover, Ada. We here about the civil war maybe three times throughout the entire book, and that is when Inman tells and retells the story of his fight at Petersburg to travelers he meets along the road. We may hear about the war, but it is the same gruesome and bloody story over and over again. My first impression of the book was that Frazier, the writer, needed to take grade-school creative writing again. My sixth grade English teacher would have been apalled if I had turned something like that in to her.
So, when we are not hearing the story of Inman's travels, we hear about the pathetic city girl Ada, Inman's lover. Her father was the local pastor/preacher but just passed away. Now Ada has to figure out how to actually use her own two hands to work the farm, or head back to Charleston. Lucky for her that Ruby, an independent black girl, steps in and pretty much takes over the farm. Periodically, we hear about how Ruby is turning Ada into a hardworking farmer, and how Ada misses Inman terribly. As the book drags through all of their boring and pathetic lives, Frazier abuses morality, soldiers, and worst of all, the English language. If a book is called "heart-stopping....spellbinding", you would expect it to use better sentences than "Ada sat for hours.." and "Then she looked at Inman." If you have nothing better to do or are a civil war fanatic, then this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Long winded and rather pointless
Review: This book is a long, drawn out, meandering, and ultimately disappointing narrative about two people who happen to be living during the American Civil War. The book's best quality is the way it brings to life the forgotten details of life 130 years ago, such as how to churn butter and manually run a farm. But for heaven's sake, if I want to know that kind of trivia, I'll read a non-fiction historical reference. Some have called the narrative "timelessly romantic." Well, I have another word for this book's plotline: "Throwaway." Strip off the facade of irrelevant details about life in the 1800's, and what's left is a relatively shallow soap opera romance. How boring. (As an aside, I can't help but think that the author's depiction of the Confederacy is way off base. We know the northern states opposed secession; according to this narrative, most people in the south despised it even more (southern soldiers included.) Well, gee... There was SOMEONE in the Confederacy in favor of doing some seceding at some point... wasn't there??? You'd never know it by reading this book.)
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Mountain, a Civil War Love Story
Review: Cold Mountain takes place in Virginia during the Civil War. The book is about one man's quest to be reunited with his love, Ada. The title Cold Mountain refers to the town in which Ada lives.
Inman had been fighting for the Confederate Army for several years. At the start of the book, Inman has an injured neck and is staying in a hospital. Inman hates the war and misses Ada, who he barely knows, but feels he is in love. One day Inman decides to escape from the hospital and return home.
Meanwhile, Ada's father has passed away and she is in charge of his farm. She becomes friends with Ruby who helps her on the farm. Ada reads The Odyssey to Ruby. This is significant because The Odyssey is very similar to Cold Mountain in that both stories are about a man attempting to reunite with his love.
Inman's journey is an exciting one. There are many tense moments and he encounters several people who assist him in his venture. Inman has nightmares about the war and is disgusted by it. As Inman gets closer to Ada, the book focuses more on the characters' thoughts and feelings. During the journey Inman becomes cynical and feels unworthy for Ada.
Eventually, Inman is reunited with Ada. Everything is going great until there is an unexpected turn of events. To find out what happens you must read the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories involving war, a journey, and love. Personally I don't like books that are centered on love. I think the entire plot is slightly far-fetched but Frazier does an excellent job of making it work. Cold Mountain is fairly long at 449 pages. I think the book could have been shortened to about 350 pages. The beginning caught my attention by talking about battle. When I realized the whole story was about Inman getting back together with Ada, I lost some interest but decided to keep reading. The plot would have made more sense if Inman was returning home because someone was ill rather than he was tired of the war and missed Ada. I enjoyed Inman's adventure very much and the ending took me by surprise. Overall I give Cold Mountain four out of five stars because although it was a very enjoyable book there was some room for improvement.
Rating:
Summary: A mythic and brutal odyessy through the civil war South
Review: It does take a while to really get into this book. For me, it was between 80 and a 100 pages before I was at the point of continually being drawn back to the book. I think this was the point where I started realizing and appreciating the mythic quality of the story. As Inman makes his painful journey, he meets many people, each of which have a story to tell. In the alternate chapters following Ada and Ruby, there are flashbacks. Through the stories and the flashbacks, one gets more and more of the feel of the times. This certainly isn't the glamorized South being depicted. For those reading this book during the Iraqui war, there is much to think about. Times haven't changed all that much. Apparantly, there were those who felt that the war was being fought for economic reasons, not for moral reasons. This is no fast read. Rather, it is a book to spend a bit of time with. There's a bit of fancy in it which contrasts with stark and brutal reality. It's being made into a movie, and it is quite obvious that the producers are looking for a chance to win some Oscars. You don't take a best-selling civil war novel, hire an academy award winning director and acting talent like Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweiger & Jude Law, then set it to open Christmas Day if you're not thinking Oscar. However, the screenwriter has a challenge ahead of him, and if he turns out a script that is reasonably true to the book and yet satisfying as a movie, he will definitely deserve an Oscar. So the question is should you who are reading my review read this book? Very difficult question. It's not a real easy book. It's not packed with adventure, though there is adventure in it. It may have too much romance in it if you're looking for adventure, and too much adventure in it if you're looking for romance. However, if you are patient and don't come to the book with a lot of expectations but just allow it to work on you, I would say give it a try. If you like it, you'll probably consider it one of the best you've read. And if you don't like it...well, put it aside and give it another try in a year or so.
Rating: 
Summary: Not on the bandwagon
Review: I may be the only one in the universe to feel this way, especially considering Hollywood is making a movie, but I am shocked this book has received so much critical acclaim. Purchaced for the very reason the movie is being made, awards, I clawed my way through every boring page, if only to say I finished it. The biggest tragedy of this novel was after dragging myself through the dreary, overly romanticisized landscape, the characters do not even get a happy ending. Rather, they get a this-is-real-life dramatic ending designed to impress you with the authors grasp of reality.
Nedless to restate, I was not impressed and will not go see the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Mountain: In short, a masterpiece
Review: This is one of my favourite books A story of improbable,intermitant love between Ada (a preacher's daughter) and Inman (a soldier). The story is set during the latter part of the Civil War: replete with all the sacrifices and deprivation that accompanied this era of American history. Initially, this book was a little hard to get into; but then, so beautifully written and engrossing, it became hard to put down. I must tell you that there were a few occasions in this book that literally took my breath away: descriptions of some subtle unexpected event or scene that jolts the readers senses. There is one moment of such compassionate violence that I still think of, even though I read this book a couple of years ago. In short, a masterpiece of writing and story telling: one of these rare books you hate to see come to an end.
Rating:
Summary: A West Virginia Wood-hick
Review: I am 57 years old and this is the best book I have ever read. I sure hope that he has another novel or two in him. Anyone who would give this book 2 stars is a rumnut (my word) of the first order and should be ashamed.
Rating:
Summary: A simply beautiful novel...
Review: I normally don't read romantic novels and when I picked this book up, I thought it will be a journey novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was engrossing emotinally as well as riveting. The simple descriptions of the action scenes were perfectly described in a sentimental way and the way that he alternates the narrative point of view for each chapter created an uneasy tension that made you turn each page with expectation. Pick it up...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful novel
Review: The comparison of this book to Snow Falling on Cedars is inevitable. Both books read at times not so much like a novel but as a poem- a lyrical journey rather than a structured point A to point B format. This can be a mark of great writing, to be sure, but for that reason I note there has been criticism of Cold Mountain as slow reading. This was my first inclination, as well, as I began Cold Mountain- another over-written tome by an author striving to let us know how deep they are and how many words they can use to describe a shadow cast by a tree However, Snow Falling on Cedars sat on my bedstand for a month while I managed only several pages at any time. My mind was indeed fully engaged with the spirituality of the world of the characters and the dreamlike quality exhibited on each page. However, normally, with Snow Falling on Cedars, this was usually enough to put me to sleep. Not so with Cold Mountain. I raced through this book- literally could not put it down over a weekend. The book is lyrical- dreamlike is an apt description for the manner in which the author approaches the setting of each scene. However, you will care about the characters in Cold Mountain in a way that makes you want to know, as soon as possible, how it all turns out. Inman, a tortured soul, weary of war and of killing (although quite adept at both, as the novel bears out) leaves the hospital unwhole in body and spirit on a journey home, the Cold Mountain of the book's title. There he hopes to claim not only a respite from the travails of war, but also the love of Ada, who he left, as so many others did, on the threshold of a normal life to the killing fields of the Civil War. The story of a man embarking on a dangerous journey in a time of war back to the love of his life is a story as old as war itself. The Civil War is also an era which has been exhaustively written about in many forms. What the author does in this novel, however, is humanize the individuals who graced that time in a way that is truly remarkable. Thieves, liars, lapsed clergy, widows, mountain men and women, drunks, murderers, and common Southern folk- the author introduces us to them all and this, as much as the epic journey of Inman and Ada's struggles at the farm, make this novel one of the best I have ever read. While the story of Ada developing the farm may make for a difficult task when this movie is written for the screen (as it will be) the day to day life at the farm as described by the author effectively counters the meandering of Inman (is he ever really sure as to where he was at any time?). Ada is bound to the land as much as Inman feels bound to the journey. In this way, we as readers have a grounding in the story, a home base, rather than a story which focuses solely on Inman and a "what may lie around the next bend in the road" approach. This approach would surely have worked (see The Odyssey). But the author advances the story, rather than grinding it to a halt, by alternating Ada's story with that of her suitor. The violence in the novel can be bracing, but very well written and realistic for the times. Inman often lapsed in the novel into what I imagined as an Eastwood character, the Eastwood of his earlier, unapologetically violent movies and not his introspective "Unforgiven". Perhaps this will be the saving grace when the movie does hit the screen, at least for the box office. The journey does come to an end in Cold Mountain, with quick violence and a fast forward to many years after the war. The journey the author takes us on is one that is not easily forgotten, with characters one thinks about long after the book is placed on the shelf. A wonderful novel and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Mountain
Review: There are no other books after you have read this. It simply outshines everything written. I felt every emotion, shared every joy, shuttered at Inman's pain. I loved this & read it several times. The most simple things and recollections of everyday life seem anew,right down to the coat of a caterpiller, the color of grass, the smell of the earth and the wretch of a fresh wound.The love story is deeper than that of Rhett & Scarlett, without the melodrama of old Hollywood. The moods & memories of a broken man will haunt you !I love this !
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