Rating: 
Summary: Bad Read for a Teen
Review: "Cold Mountain" is a depressing novel of how the love between two people can bring together. Charles Frazier the author of this book depicts that love can break through any obstacle even war. The book is a very in depth showing of love. The book drags on so be able to be bored at points with this specific novel. It can be seen why this novel is well respected but even that did not persuade many people to like. There have been many good and bad reviews for this book. This particular novel is directed for an older audience and most teens will find it interesting yet boring.
Most of this novel is set in a back country, around the end of the Civil War, in a mountainous town of Cold Mountain. The book shows the way love can not be overthrown by any obstacle such as geographic or emotional. Although most of this book is set in Cold Mountain a lot of this novel is set in many other towns one of which is Black Cove.
The struggle for love is never ending in humanity but Inman and Ada have found a way for them to overcome this struggle. They start by being separated by a great distance. This distance is a void that needs to be filled by Inman and he will find Ada without a doubt. He overcomes many hardships and helps a few people out on the way there.
Overall this novel was not very impressing; although it is a critically acclaimed novel it had its flaws that affected the reading of it very much. It could have been a little less repetitious in that every where he went he saved someone. Also it was dragged on a little too much without much action. There were some high points in it but they came and went, after them there was much of a void, boring spot. It had a good story line but did not have enough oomph, action, to captivate a teen audience.
So this novel had its ups and downs its boring parts and its climax types parts. In my opinion it could have been a very decent book but it did not have the key element need to capture my type of audience, action. Don't get me wrong I can see why it was so highly decorated as a great novel, but that type of novel is not my type of novel. It does drag on and on at points but that's stuff that must be dealt with by many reader's of many books. In my opinion there are other very good novels on the Civil War period such as, "The Killer Angels" and "We Were Soldiers.....Once and Young." But for me this novel of love and war doesn't work in my mind but maybe it would be your type of a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Erm... I didn't find it particularly special.
Review: I'll refrain from listing a synopsis because the review's long enough as it is. I have always fascinated by the emotions and psychology of people in situations as the main characters in COLD MOUNTAIN. However, I must say that I was disappointed. To his credit, Frazier has a fine talent for description (albeit in need of refinement, as he tends to droll on or has a habit of focusing on even the most mundane and gratuitous of things/events so that I became quite bored or irritated), and that the proposed plot seemed a most interesting premise. Also there were times (very few of them) that something thought provoking did show through: my favorite being the goat-woman's preference to be ravaged by the ravens than the worms. However, he failed to execute beyond that. While being able to describe the landscapes in great detail, he failed to provide emotion - a necessary element to all things both inanimate and otherwise - to either the atmosphere, or his characters. I felt very apathetic towards all the characters (save the "goat-woman" that Inman met. I believed her to be the most intriguing character, even though she has maybe just a chapter to herself), and grew tired of the nearly endless clichés. I suspect Frazier was just a tad too ambitious to "make a point", but an abundance of "sub-themes" and tangents gave me a very muddled view of what Frazier wanted out of this story. Upon retrospect, - and in my very most humble opinion - this should have been a highly character-driven story centered around these converging journeys. The characters remain one-dimensional, and I am irritated beyond belief at some of the [failed] attempts to flesh them out (some of which impossible to happen in real life anyway.), or the lost opportunities where he could have humanized the characters. I constantly felt as though Frazier put a sign in front of my face that said "You must feel such-and-such way about these characters." (I.e. feel for Ruby's past, cheer when Inman defeats the evil Federals, etc.) In fact, it all seemed contrived and forced. I must have rambled on far beyond what most people care for, so I'll depart with the following question/comment: When Stobrod describes how he came about his "redemption", did it seem at all as if the fiddle were a personified Christ? I found it odd that his whole "conversion" - if you will - centered around this device. And then if you toy with the words still more, you could say an "Instrument of God", and I suppose you could say he was "saved". Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but if anyone else noticed, perhaps you could contact me via email (assuming it's available)?
Rating: 
Summary: A Civil War Odyssey
Review: Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain is a book about a deserter from the civil war who walks his way home to his beloved sweetheart Ada, who awaits him as she tries to survive on a farm she learns to manage with her hired hand Ruby. The tale is generally one about survival. The deserter, Inman, is walking back amid the danger of being picked up to go back to the front again. There are also roving bandits who will rob and kill "outliers" hiding from the war. That's not to say that there isn't any humor. The most memorable character and funniest was Veasey, a lecherous preacher Inman travels with for awhile. I particularly liked the scenes when he attempts to capture a catfish with his bare hands and he tries to remove a rotting carcass of a horse from a stream with some help from a local cracker who complains about the water being spoiled. The humor in the book is as gritty, outlandish, and lewd as any other good southern tale, but this being a more serious book, the overall tone is gloomier. Ada, on the other hand, is a somewhat sheltered young woman who has recently lost her father who was minister and does not know how to run the farm alone. Along comes Ruby, who has lived through an underprotected and abused childhood, but somehow she knows how to manage a farm. Her no-nonsense practicality and industriousness help the two survive during the war. Inman displays a cynicism about the war that he does not believe in from either side and does not care about. He just wants to get back home to his lost love in a world gone mad with hatred and violence. The author is very good at developing characters, even minor ones, into something that is living and believable. There is not much dialogue in the book, but despite that, the author is able to hold interest with descriptions of what is going on in his characters' heads. The writer writes with an elegant, but unpretentious style. The pace of the book is slow and does not offer much suspense. The ending was more grim that I thought it would be, so I was somewhat disappointed, but this is the civil war so what do I expect?
Rating: 
Summary: A writer with enormous talent for prose and storytelling
Review: I received "Cold Mountain" as a gift (Thanks, MOM!) and didn't really know anything about the book. So I decided to try a sort of test I do on fiction--I opened the book at random and read a sample of the prose to get a feel for the style. Here's what I read: >>One of the things Inman marked as a comfort was that he could put a name to the brightest star in Orion. He had shared that fact with a Tennessee boy on the night after Fredricksburg.... Before them was the battlefield falling away to the town and the river. The land lay bleak as nightmare and seemed to have been recast to fit a new and horrible model, all littered with bodies and churned up by artillery. Hell's newground, one man had called it. To turn his mind from such a place that night, Inman had looked toward Orion and said the name he know. The Tennessee boy had peered up at the star so indicated and said, How do you know its name is Rigel?
--I read it in a book, Inman said.
--Then that's just a name we give it, the boy said. It ain't God's name.
Inman had though on the issue a minute and then said, How would you ever come to know God's name for that star?
--You wouldn't, He holds it close, the boy said. It's a thing you'll never know. It's a lesson that sometimes we're meant to settle for ignorance. << Within seconds I was totally drawn in to the interaction of the characters and at the same time my jaw was dropping open because the prose style was so wonderful. This debut novel of Charles Frazier is amazing. HOWEVER...if you expect this to be a Civil War novel, complete with battles, or the machinations of frothy Southern Belles, you will be sadly disappointed. So don't read "Cold Mountain" for what it is not. It is really about journeys through trials, both external and internal. The main character Inman is wounded in a Civil War battle. His wound should have been mortal, but wasn't. He begins a long walk back to his home in the mountains of North Carolina, not only to avoid being drawn back into the horrors of the war but also to find his soul again, wounded as deeply by what he saw as by the ball that gashed his neck. He's also coming back to Ada, who is traveling her own journey from a life of gentility and refusal to face reality, to scraping a survival living on her amateurishly managed farm. Her savior is Ruby, a woman whose raw drive and will to survive floats the hopeless Ada along in her inexorable wake. The story of the three characters (Ada, Ruby and Inman) is woven so skillfully that I found it almost impossible to put the book down. But I forced myself to read it in segments because I didn't want to miss savoring the exquisite prose. This is the best novel I've read in years. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A literary treat
Review: Not too often do I read a book that I never want to end. When it does end, it haunts. Makes you think about the characters you've so recently gotten to know.
Inman, civil war soldier, wounded and weary of the world around him. Ada the spoiled society girl from Charleston, standoffish and a bit sharp when we are introduced. Moved to Cold Mountain and a lonely existence with her overindulgent widowed father. And Ruby, unloved from birth, neglected. In tune with nature and capable of surviving in the most hostile of worlds.
Mr. Fraisers command of the language, his descriptive background narative and his introspection provide a vivid colorful continuity to a tale of survival, love, forgiveness,tenacity and pragmatism. It is an accurate historical portrayal of the end of the civil war and the desolate land.
Although not prepared for the ending, upon reflection it is the only possible and perfect way for these three lives to stay intertwined and at peace.
I certainly look forward to any other books by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: ZZZZZZzzzzzz humph! ZZZzzzzzzz
Review: Wake me when it's over! This is the L-O-N-G-E-S-T walk ever! What you feel in the first few pages, is what you will feel at the last few pages. Move over "NyQuil"...if people read this, your stock will definetly go down. The book was over-hyped, and 'literary' classic, it is NOT. The author is however great at description. Never before have I known a description of a leaf could cover four pages of print! This is the typical book we were instructed to read in high school and have to report as to what we thought this person was feeling, or how they would react to a certain scenario, etc. etc. A real snoozer! Sorry! Save your money and if you feel it is a must read for you, get it at the library so you can return it and not be out any money. Unless, of course, you fall asleep and don't wake up in time to return it and you incur overdue fees! The book does not take a literary genious to read it, and should be classified in the book club that offers monthly romance paperbacks at best. Not a great read!
Rating:
Summary: Cold Mountain A Novel
Review: I purchased this book a few days after moving to the foot hills of North Carolina. Alone in a dorm room I traced Inmans journey wondering what it would have been like to travel on foot through those mountains when there were no roads! Frazier develops deep and difficult characters who are flawed but very human. I was unprepared for the ending....but not every story needs a happy ending.
Although this is a novel, Cold Mountain is a real place and worthy of having such a story as it's name sake. This is a book worth the time it takes to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Mountain
Review: Inescapably significant, undeniably influential, and definitely intelligent, this book still has qualities that just...bug me. To start with, I, personally, didn't like that Inman's a deserter. I'd rather read about someone who kept his word and did his duty. The book seems to me over-intellectualized and wordy, and the nasty-twist ending a bit too cruel. Mentalities sometimes seem questionably period. But it's not a bad book. Descriptions, particularly descriptions of music (which few writers can pull off), are strong. Frazier knows how to use the English language, and though sometimes I think he overdoes it, sometimes his prose is beautiful. One does become drawn into the story, and come to care about the outcome. I'll be curious to see what the upcoming movie does, for good or ill.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice.
Review: Charles Frazier knows how to write. The breathtaking imagery in Cold Mountain outweighs any slowness of plot (this book isn't for restless readers); nature, emotion, and music truly jump to life. If the novel has any weaknesses, it's the poor character development: Inman often seems like a mere action figure making his way across a map, than he does a real human with a believable personality. Frazier makes some strong philosophical points through Inman's adventures, but don't expect much from the character himself. Cold Mountain is otherwise extremely rewarding. There is little frivolity; Frazier doesn't rely on trashy sex scenes or seamless cussing or gore galore to attract readers. The book is heavy, and it requires a lot of focus (the saga's purpose will be lost on those with little patience for "boring" works of literature); but historically, it is accurate, and emotionally, it is engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful beyond words
Review: I believe books, much like people, come into our lives at certain times for a reason. This book was no different. I bought this book several years ago, but for one reason or another, I did not pick it up to read until I was on my own journey to a cold mountain. It only seemed fitting. All I can say is that I think it's brilliant. A delicacy in a land of fast food. The rich wording is like a dessert so sweet it makes you tongue tingle. I felt as though I was on the journey -- one of coming home and one of self-discovery. I felt a range of emotions as I read, but most of all -- anticipation. It was absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend it. I'm not a literary scholar... Just a lover of books.
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