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Summary: A modern day Cervantes...
Review: I found this to be a wonderful book, beautifully crafted by a great storyteller. I am from the UK and the American Civil War is not a subject we learn a lot about at school so books like this are an education as well as a joy to read. Much of Cold Mountain reminded me of Don Quixote: the long journey, meeting a variety of characters on the way, the telling of their individual stories. Frazier is a modern day Cervantes! Recommended for those who enjoy a cracking yarn. A vivid story of love and war. Enjoy.
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Summary: Each chapter, a poem...
Review: First, if you have an underdeveloped intellect and/or short attention span, please avoid Cold Mountain as this book is not for you. Second, if you were forced against your will to read this book (for class) please refrain from writing a review. If you read a book in a pissy mood from the start you probably won't enjoy it no matter how good it is. Third, this book is not ABOUT the Civil War. It is SET during the civil war years but is about the journeys (both spiritual and physical) of individual people during a time of great change. It is depressing that this masterpiece currently has a measily 3.5 star rating here. Cold Mountain is beautifully written, with each chapter (and often paragraph or sentence) being a poem unto itself. Extraordinary use of detail creates such vivid imagery that colors, sounds, smells, and tastes seem to leap from the pages. Charles Frazier superbly captures the quest of the two main characters as they search to find their true selves amidst the crazy world that tries to hide it from them. A modern classic.
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Summary: hard beauty
Review: I am not a fan of military history and did not approach this book expecting to read about battles, but I expect that there is plenty in Cold Mountain to interest the military buff, while it gives someone like me a look at history the way I like to see it--from a civilian perspective. I was fascinated by the descriptions of folk remedies, clothing, cooking, and farming, and I learned how the war scarred the South. Frazier tells the story through minutiae and with elegant language gives significance to common details, which often disclose life's cruelty. I was persuaded to think at a different pace, and I think that even if I had visited the North Carolina mountains during the Civil War, I would not feel so familiar with the place.
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Summary: Incredible depth, vivid detail
Review: Most of the books I read are "cozy" mysteries, so this was quite a different genre for me. The story is beautifully written. As a reader, I found myself walking along with Inman on his journey home, all the details running clearly through my head and investing myself emotionally to this character I grew to like as the journey went along. I don't cry at movies, I most certainly don't cry at the end of a book, but I cried at the end of this one. This is not an easy book to read - a depressing time with depressing characters, but this story is too well written to pass up. If you want to be swept up into another world and time for awhile, I would recommend picking this one up.
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Summary: It took my breath away
Review: As an artist, I have come across many paintings that literally took my breath away. I have read hundreds of books and this is the very first time, that I can say this about a book. It took my breath away.
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Summary: Cold Mountain, a vivid look at life during the Civil War
Review: I would have to say that Cold Mountain is one of the best books I have ever read. It gives a very detailed look at the life of a Confederate deserter. The beautiful landscapes and characters almost come alive with Charles Fraziers in depth descriptions. I enjoy reading war stories and even though Cold Mountain is not all about the Civil War the action parts in the book were more than enough to keep me reading. The book does a really good job of looking passed the mask of glory on war and shows the truth of the suffering it brings. I highly reccomend this book to everyone even if your not a fan of war stories you are able to ignore the battle parts of the story and pay more attention to the journey of Inman.
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Summary: "Cold Mountain" leaves me in the cold
Review: The book is a very good read. In fact, having grown up in that region of the South, Frazier's descriptions of things Southern brought back memories and gave my senses a fond tour through my childhood. BUT, I have one question for anyone who has also read this book... in the end (the epilogue) is Inman, alive or dead?
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Summary: Book Award?
Review: The National Book Award? For Cold Mountain? The writing style will make you hurl. Can I have my ten bucks back please? Lines like:the teacher was "pink of face," and the grasses were yellow "from need of cutting" will make you sick. I gave up after forty pages. The Book Award people must have had too much wine and cheese, jeez. Hey Frazier, what happened to the friggen war? You know, burned out cities, stuff like that. Inman goes shopping in Carolina? Give us a break! Get Strunk's book and read it.
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Summary: An addition to the American Canon of Literature
Review: I've often wondered what books written in my lifetime would be studied 100 years from now. Is there a modern "Moby Dick" or "Scarlet Letter" on the shelves of the bookstore right now? Our society has become so hurried and so plot-oriented that the most popular books these days are non-stop action with interchangable characters (Steele, Grisham, et al.). I'm not saying that that is bad. I'm just saying that the classics were built on character, and character can be boring, if you are expecting plot. I've read the book, "Cold Mountain" and I've read the reviews here and other places. It is apparent that this book polarizes people. The biggest complaints are weak plot and the fact that it is slow. I must point to Melville or Thoreau. You want slow? Read "Walden." As for plot, this plot is as good as any that Hemmingway brought us. Don't read the story, people, read the words. They flow into you like Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", very poetic. Love it or hate it, this book will become a piece of long-lasting American literature and for that reason alone, I give it 5 stars.
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Summary: Hard going
Review: I started reading this book with a tremendous amount of anticipation. I didn't really get what I was expecting. To start with the actual reading of the book is fairly heavy going. The style of the text, with its arbitrary puctuation, takes some getting used to. Secondly, the story is almost unrelentingly bleak. Fair enough it was a dark time in the world, but even the flashback memories fail to offer any enlightenment to the story. And the ending! Well, I shan't give that away, but it left me very let down. All in all it is an interesting book. The story is worth reading, and it is a fascinating time in history where men and women did amazing things just to survive. But it is not a pleasant story, and reading it is hard work.
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