Rating: 
Summary: Slow with no Flow
Review: The story behind the book was very good. I love the hidden romance behind the whole war scene. The book itself was boring and drug out, with too much description. There were chunks of exciting parts that made you accually want to pick the book up. After that there could be 50 pages that have nothing scignificant in them what so ever. The story was good but all the description, well... enough is enough.
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Summary: Cold Mountain - Miles of torture
Review: I had to read this book for my Honors English 11 class, and it was pages and pages of torture. It was probably more torturous due to the fact that i was reading it in school, but i wouldn't have read it out of school. Expect pages and pages of the most vivid descriptions of nature and civil war, i think the author could fill a chapter describing some dirt under his chair. The writing is so dense that it takes three times longer than usual to read one page. I'm giving it three stars simply because i'm amazed at the amount of description the author can cram into one sentence. If you have alot of time to kill, this book will probably do it.
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Summary: The Ada chapters put me to sleep.
Review: This book was pretty good. I gave it three stars because it was soo slow at the beginning. I would usually try to read at night before i went to bed, and i ended up falling asleep reading. All the Ada chapters were all pretty boring for me. At the end when they started to meet up, the chapters stared getting alot better. The parts of the book I liked most were the Inman chapters. For the most part they were alot faster paced and easier reading then the Ada chapters. The only thing I didnt like that much about the Inman chapters was that in every chapter something happened. It wasn't bad but it was just really unrealistic. Overall it wasnt that bad. I liked the ending alot, because it was one of those endings that you didnt expect at all. That was the best part. Then at the very end of the book with the plates, that was great. But, i think the Ada chapters wrecked the book.
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Summary: A piece of literature that feels like LIFE
Review: Cold Mountain is a rare piece of ART of literature. It is not just a novel; It's almost as magnificent as LIFE itself. The story is simple; a man and a woman, struggling for survival and love. But what is told beneath the words is much bigger than that. It is the traits of human nature, the society, the world, and life. Some readers have commented that this book is boring, that its story line or plot is flat. I partly agree with it. At some points in the book, I was bored by the lengthy descriptions of plants and especially foods. Nevertheless, if you keep reading it and try to feel it and savour it, you will find yourself being sucked into the world of INMAN. The greatest parts about this book are the mood and style. Many reviewers have discussed about this book in detail and focused on parts and bits of it, such as the plot, the theme, the character. But they seemed forgot the whole picture; how does it feel; or perhaps they couldn't feel it at all. To me, the novel makes me feel COLD and sad. It makes me think about the world, my life and life in general. The novel feels so real and true. It is hardly with any dramatizing. Death is death, killing is killing. Some reviewers called it "monotonous". But in my eyes that's the beauty of it. "Truth is beauty, beauty is truth". I love the way the author tells the story. Life in the real world is some what monotonous; for most people we eat, sleep, work everyday, and do the same things again the next day. Real life is not like life in the Hollywood movies, full of ups and downs, twists and turns, dramatic moments and happy endings. The beauty of life lies in small ordinary things, things we see and feel so often that we may not notice. Cold Mountain leads you to find those small bits of life that makes life so precious. Cold Mountain is like a good wine, you must savour it for it is subtle, and the after-taste will make you drunk for weeks. I DO NOT recommend this book for anyone who is insensitive or just looking for an action packed "bus read". I strongly recommend this book for people who are really interested in Literature. I read this book in grade 11 on my own, and it is one of the best book I ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly provides a life lesson
Review: I chose this book out of many recommended by my English teacher, so I naturally expected to find loads of themes, metaphors, motifs, development, etc. In that regard, I was surprised to find few of those above. Instead there were possibly overly lengthy descriptions of the environment and a seemingly bland following of some characters. Yet I kept up my search for classic literary elements, and ventured to find bird and celestial motifs and fire metaphors. As I unfocused my eyes a little and drew upon the larger picture, I found Inman and particularly Ada undergoing a metamorphism. By the end of the story, that character development fit into a theme that I proudly discovered while reading Kaffir Boy in 9th grade. That theme quite directly applied to my own life and self-discovery through the past two years to 11th grade. The theme applies to anyone who finds themselves misfits (or in Cold Mountain - "outliers") to a society, but become absorbed by good and beauty of the situation. And from the bad aspects of the society, a person will learn to not absorb those attributes and continually look for the good. I believe that theme was the complete house in which this story was born and continued to live. Ada was a city girl who found herself lost and ridiculed in a rural land with eventually no control over her home or self. Then Ruby entered to focus her eyes on the beauty of the world around her and helped Ada become more down to earth (mentally and physically). There are acclaims and dismissals for the same attributes of the book, and my critique lies somewhere in-between. Despite any praise or disgust, I feel readers should AT LEAST respect the book for its workings on different depths of development and discovery.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Novel
Review: After reading this magical novel, I sat stunned--not just because of the storyline, but because of the incredible artistry of Charles Frazier's writing. Visiting this novel became less and less like reading and more like breathing. It is a treasure, a work of art, a masterpiece, and the standard by which I will judge all future books. It is far and above my favorite book of all time. I can only thank Charles Frazier for the privilege of reading his work, and wait impatiently for his next.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Story;Not well Written
Review: Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier, is a heartening account of one man's long walk. Inman, an injured Confederate veteran, rose from his hospital bed to set out on a journey to return to the woman that he left behind, Ada. As Inman trekked across the Appalachian hills of North Carolina he encountered many different trials along the way. Due to his serious wounds from the war, he had to keep himself healthy with nature's offerings and gifts from the generous travelers he met along his way. His final goal was to be back at home with his one and only love. After Ada's father died, she was busy tending to the land that was left to her. She was continually searching for herself and what she was meant for her in life. She is from Charleston and believes that it was her calling to remain in the remote mountains than to be in the city. The story is a parallel of the two journeys. Frazier captures the true meaning that surrounds the two separate journeys and allows the readers to indulge in the subtle, mysterious attraction the two characters posses for each other. I would suggest this book to anyone who has no trouble reading books. It requires much patience and would not be good for someone who is constantly looking for action in a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Like finding a roach at the end of a great meal !
Review: Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain" has great imagery,spellbinding stories, beautiful metaphors and delightful chatacters. However I can NOT recommend it as a good read. It is like eating a great meal at a fine restaurant and finding a roach in the dessert (last chapter). I read for pleasure, not for a Alfred Hitchcock shock ending. I challenge Frazier to rewrite the ending and place it ONLINE so I can change the 2 stars to 5 plus.
Rating:
Summary: Summary and Opinion
Review: In the opening of Charles Frazier's novel, Cold Mountain, Inman, a wounded soldier who fought in the battle at Petersburg, is recovering from his injuries in a hospital with other wounded fighters. During this time he reflects on his war experiences and the love of his life, Ada, who still lives in Black Cove near Cold Mountain. In the next chapter the reader finds Ada struggling to keep up her deceased fathers farm and home all by herself. Inman begins his journey back to his home in Cold Mountain and hopes that upon returning home, Ada will accept the proposal that keeps him motivated to continue. Throughout this passage of time, the reader is also involved in Ada's life, as she meets Ruby, a hard working black lady that keeps Ada and herself busy in the maintenance of the farm. While Ada is struggling to keep busy, Inman rescues a pregnant woman from being murdered by her desperate preacher husband, and then later meets up with this preacher, named Veasey, who tags along with him for a while. Inman also meets a woman who lost her husband in the war and is left with the baby that he never got to see. He stays with the woman and retrieves her stolen hog from the men that stole it. Eventually Inman and Ada reunite by following footprints in the snow and all seems to slowly be returning to normal. But unfortunately Inman is shot by a boy that was enemy to Stobbrod, Ruby's father, who was being accompanied by Inman back to safety after being injured. By the close of the book the reader knows that Ada, Ruby, Ruby's husband, and their children will live together without Inman and maintain the farm. Cold Mountain is written with great detail and is very slow. It could have easily been condensed into two hundred pages and made much more interesting. This book is definitely for a person who likes detail and is into survival stories.
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Summary: Starts off brilliantly, but definitely not for everyone!
Review: Cold Mountain, yet another incredibly successful first novel, is a prime example of a book that begins brilliantly, yet still manages to disappoint. For those interested in the South during the Civil War and like to read travel books, this is definitely for you. Others might want to beware. The book follows the story of Inman, a confederate soldier in the American Civil War who is sick of fighting and decides to hike hundreds of miles back to his home and the woman he left behind. The chapters alternate between Inman's long and rather uneventful journey and the domestic life of Ada, the woman he is returning to, as she struggles to survive on her father's farm. Neither of their stories is at all eventful, relating mostly to detailed explanations of the flora and fauna of the American South, and the entire plot for this 436 page book is centred around the suspense of what will happen when our two protagonists are at last reunited. Since they did not openly declare their love for each other before Inman set off for the war, the questions abound: Will she accept him after all these years? Will the Home Guard catch him before he reaches her? More importantly, by page 390 when it finally happens, will we even care? With such a thin plot and no sub-plots at all, it is an amazing tribute to Frazier's skill that he can maintain any interest at all. He could have done it by creating vivid, exciting characters for readers to care about. But he didn't. Inman and Ada are about as insipid and two-dimensional as it gets, seemingly lifted straight out of a low-budget Western film. Neither has the slightest spark of personality (which hints that they are perfect for each other) and Inman in particular tends to speak in monosyllabic grunts (his favourite utterance is the poignant 'No'), whereas Ada chooses not to speak much at all. When Inman gets into a fight, he slaughters his many foes with the improbable ease and recklessness of Clint Eastwood, but with none of the disdainful panache or witty dialogue. So how does Frazier do it? Are the tens of thousands buying this book simply mad? Not quite. Frazier's success stems from his meticulous attention to the details of setting. From the first page onward, the reader is sucked into the world of the South during the Civil War, created by a continual, unrelenting bombardment of details and nuance. The voice of narration, the speech of the characters, the vivid descriptionsÂ-all these create a gripping atmosphere. Inman doesn't say 'Good idea!' but rather things like 'I'd say that suggestion has much to recommend it'. The book is indeed 'a sustained flight of imagination' as The Daily Telegraph claims, but you have to be willing to suspend your disbelief for a really long time. If you love reading about the struggle to survive in nature, the Wild West, and don't mind reading endless pages of description with no plot movement, then you will relish this book. Unfortunately, for many, atmospheric prose doesn't stand on its own two feet when it comes to writing novels, and endless description can become just plain boring. For those without a strong interest in the setting, there is not enough in this book to keep it moving; for example, there is almost no humour, there are too few characters, and the reader is given very little to wonder or worry about besides the central premise (which is basically Homeward Bound without the animals). The reader waits in vain for a stunning plot twist that never comes; the book is ruthlessly predictable right up to its contrived ending. Cold Mountain stands close in my mind to the film The English Patient-visually stunning but disappointing in most other respects.
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