Rating: 
Summary: More satisfying than a hot bowl of grits!
Review: I have seldom read a book so successful in taking me off on someone else's journey even compared to the great books that are within the travel genre (e.g. Old Patagonian Express) -- which this is not. I walked along side Inman every foot of the way through the pocked landscape of the South and Blue Ridge Mountains, as defeat looms for the Confederacy in the fall of 1864. The characters are almost Chaucerian in their representation, in extremis, of the deadly sins or even more deadly (for them) virtues of generosity - from the base preacher who would kill a young girl he impregnated to the aged goat-lady who is only one of several who save Inman from starvation and death. one walks a strange yet very believable path back to Cold Mountain. Walking with Inman, I wanted to be no more else for he too is an almost infallibly good man, receiving but also disbursing kindness amidst horror.All the while, in alternating chapters, is the story of how Inman's unrequited lover, Ada hoes her tough row, again with an almost but not quite unbelievably self-sufficient helper, Ruby. Ruby can't read but she could have written all the volumes of Foxfire, that rough repository of Appalachian know-how, so popular a couple of decades ago. In all Frazier patches together a wonderful and terrible quilt of all that is worst and best in humans, as brought to the surface by what remains America's most singularly traumatic time. I give four not five stars because, for some reason, it was often a little too easy to see what was coming next in this 19th century odyssey.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Book Ever
Review: I've read some bad books in my time, and this beats them all out. This book was long drawn out and boring. The useless details went on forever, and still provided a hazy picture. If you have to read it for school, get the Spark Notes.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, but Ugly
Review: Reading this book reminded me of meeting people that are very good looking on the outside, but have a bad attitude or negative personality on the inside. Cold Mountain is beautifully written, but I found the story and message rather ugly. While some enjoy the self-flagellation of tragedies, and reading about the horrors of war and the evil in men's hearts, I would rather not. Some might say I missed the point of the book--that it is not a tragedy, but tells of the triumph of the human spirit. To me, however, the author's heroine is Ruby. Her main goal in life is survival, and her attitude is characterized by superstition, pessimism, distrust, and a lack of emotion. To me, the ascendance of such traits in the human spirit does not constitute a "triumph." On the other hand, I would not condemn Cold Mountain for its supposed slowness, or lack of excitement or plot as others have. For those expecting a book to compete with the continuous emotional titillation provided by most movies and television, I can see why this novel would fall short. Appreciating the beauty of this book, and much of "good literature," requires a degree of patience, thought and reflection not encouraged by most popular media. I found Cold Mountain's pace, character development, and attention to detail very satisfying and relaxing. It was its overall "dark attitude" I had problems with.
Rating: 
Summary: Tired of it
Review: I found the story line to be the exactly the same as many other books I've read in the past. It was very well written, beautifully worded, and extremely dull. I felt as senior in high school that I am a pretty good judge on a good book, especially since the reading requirements for my high school over the past year have included some of the most incredible classics, but this book just never went anywhere. It was plain and simply boring, never picking up. I read as the soldier faced his challenges along his path home to his girlfriend and true love, who was also battling her own war home on her father's farm. Unfortunately what was recommended to me as a wonderful book never turned out to be. I wasn't really motivated to turn each page to find out what was going to happen. I just felt that the excitement that keeps a person on the edge of their seat waiting for the next death defying event to occur just wasn't there, and without even a touch of it there really was no point in reading this novel.
Rating:
Summary: What's the point?
Review: I thought that this book was extremely well written and beautifully worded, but it never went anywhere. Even thought the scenery changed from chapter to chapter the concept remained the same. An injured confederate soldier trying his best to get home to his girlfriend and all his stops along the way. I thought that while the book had its interesting moments it never truly picked up and got excited. I would have to say once you pick this book up you won't put it down until your done, because if you do it will sit in that same spot on your counter for a long, long time.I thought that this book was extremely well written and beautifully worded, but it never went anywhere. Even thought the scenery changed from chapter to chapter the concept remained the same. An injured confederate soldier trying his best to get home to his girlfriend and all his stops along the way. I thought that while the book had its interesting moments it never truly picked up and got excited. I would have to say once you pick this book up you won't put it down until your done, because if you do it will sit in that same spot on your counter for a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: When does this novel begin to pick up?
Review: Although I enjoy adventure novels, Cold Mountain was not one that I would suggest for the avid adventure readers out there. It seemed as though the story did not start to pick up until the fifth or sixth chapter. Even though there were spurts of predictable excitement here and there, the first two-hundred pages of the novel had me frustrated and curious as to "when will this novel begin to pick up?". It took much vigor to get into the novel and I feel that only the patient type could really get much out of this slow adventure.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: Set during the Civil War, we see the day-to-day struggles of the characters in this book as the impact of the fighting, whether near to them or far, changes their lives forever. Popular images of the antebellum South depict white mansions with wide, well tended lawns and gentlemen sipping Mint Juleps, where life was rich and easy. From the first page, this book discredits that idea, and, in it's place, gives the reader a glimpse of what was surely the more realistic life of an ordinary Southerner. Written in a generally dark tone which suits the subject matter, the book is so detailed that I found myself smelling the hay, rain, and mud where Inman slept in hayricks, hearing the emptiness of the house while Ada struggled to deal with her emotions and situations after her father's death. The book left me wondering how and why so many men were convinced to march to war and away from their peaceful and ordinary lives to fight a war that was in no way theirs. But even more, it left me inspired at the character's will to overcome extraordinary obstacles. A rich, detailed, fabulous tale!
Rating:
Summary: War is hell not just for the soldiers.
Review: This novel has an intense impact; its power is as much in its tone as its strong characters and setting. An injured Confederate soldier determines that war is just too pointless (not that he had ever been a hawk to begin with) and decides to trek home to Cold Mountain, perhaps to figure out the nature of his relationship with a woman named Ada. In his trek, Inman encounters some of the sleaziest and oddest characters I've read in a long time, but none of them fall into stereotype or cliched colloquialisms (I'll never feel the same way about goats again). Meanwhile on Cold Mountain, Ada struggles with being a former lady of leisure whose newly orphaned status renders her penniless and essentially useless for operating her father's farm--until task-oriented Ruby comes along and makes her toe the line.
Rating:
Summary: good book - I recommend it
Review: Despite the somewhat slow pace and myriad use of minute and detailed descriptions, I found this to be a rich story and a very moving tale and I was sorry when the novel was over. The author's reading of his novel in this audiobook was one of the best I've ever heard. I couldn't help but keep listening to find out what would happen next in Inman's adventurous journey home and to find out how Ada and Ruby were getting along on the farm. Someday when I have time, I hope to read the book in print.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful style, no plot.
Review: Baeutiful, lush style. Too bad there's no plot, just a long series of episodes that begin at the beginning and end at - well, that just end.
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