Rating: 
Summary: grindingly depressing
Review: The author is a very gifted writer but I found the story grindingly depressing with endless detailed descriptions of violence, death and destruction.
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Mountain was... cold
Review: I had the constant impression as I read this book, that it was always night. This book was extremely dark and depressing. The beginning was interesting but right when it got to Ada I knew I was in for a sleeper. Most of the reviewers said they liked Ada better- in a way I did, I actually knew more about her, but I was thankful when it switched to Inman's side of the story. At least things actually happened. I was very dissapointed by this book. Once again a writer who can write well, but just can't get a story. Overrated. I've been to that area of the US and while Frazier said in his text it was beautiful, he never showed us it was. It was dark, dark, dark! Unless he had a goal of us all buying anti-depressants while reading this, the book was not a sucess. Well, I expected that. Award winning books NEVER are any good.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written romantic novel
Review: This novel was a joy to read. Mr. Frazier should be very proud. The hero(ine)s were people that the reader grew to truly care about. Not only were the lead characters extremely well developed, but the people that passed through their lives along the way were believable people.I particularly enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the daily lives of Inman, Ada, and Ruby. The hard work and planning that was required of them to simply survive as well as the details of their labors were fascinating. Walking though the woods with Inman, while nervously watching out for the search parties became a real worry for me. Would he find a hiding place in time? I worried about him and cheered him on. Congratulations, Mr. Frazier!
Rating:
Summary: Cool Man!
Review: I have never encountered a contemporary novel that so descriptively portrays the emotional journey of a tired soldier through the ruins of his homelands. As a Russian, I can fully sympathize with the experience the protagonist encounters.
Rating: 
Summary: a good novel
Review: Cold Mountain is a story of everything. Love, Civil War, journey, and adventure. I found all of these in the novel of Charles Frazier. Overall I liked the story. Cold Mountain deserves the national book award. However, I noticed some negative parts of this novel. Perhaps the most important of these is the ending of the novel which I believe disappointed many readers. When I started to read this book, I thought this novel would not attract me very much. First few chapters were somewhat boring. After I kept reading, I understood why this novel won the award. The author's descriptions are great. Maybe this is the most important reason that I was really impressed. His description of Appalachian landscape is really magnificent. As another example, he wrote about the impression of the mouth shape of a salamander in the creek where he drank some water. His descriptions of the nature, people whom Inman encountered on his way, the overall state of the South during the devastating Civil War, and the main characters show the author's great ability to write. On the other hand people might think that the novel was too detailed. This is a good point for the success of a novel. Although the novel was full of magnificent descriptions, Frazier kept it somewhat detailed. I think this may result in the distraction of the novel that some people might quit reading because of the length of the book. Nevertheless, I like details about such things like nature and people. The overall work of the author is really good. The planning and the structure of his work made this novel such prosperous. Throughout the story Inman walks and Ada learns. There are two stories. First story is about Inman's struggle through the way back to his home Cold Mountain and his beloved Ada. Second story is about Ada's learning the farm life with her best friend in the world, our most interesting character in the novel, Ruby. After we read a chapter about Inman, we read one about Ada and Ruby. Therefore we wonder what is Ada or Inman going to do in the next chapter. This structure really made me stick with the book. The rising point of the story and the best part of the work of the author is the chapter about Stobrod's and Pangle's encounter with Teague. This chapter becomes the intersection of the novel's two stories which I mentioned above. On the other hand Inman's walking and Ada's learning might be distractive to some people. Frazier kept it too long, slow and detailed. This is really a long journey. Even though I liked Frazier's style, as I said before this may be distractive to some other people. There are some mistakes that I noticed in the book. These might not be really important, but they took my attention. For example in one chapter Inman had vowed never to eat bear because of his spiritual connection to them. However, he ate bear cubs later. Another example is about the bears that Inman encountered. I really wonder if bears can jump off the cliffs. One other thing is about the number of children in the Epilogue. I am confused about the number of children hat Ada has and Ruby has. If Ada has more than once, how that happened? Besides these there is a significance conflict that I noticed which is about Inman. As we know, Inman has a really good character. He ran out of the war because he doesn't like killing. Killing is not for him. Charles Frazier performed a really good view about Inman's character throughout the story. His morals were always important. He did not steal the food, he paid for it, he helped people. To make the long story short he was a model character for us. However he killed several people on his way, although those were bad people. I think this is a big conflict with his character. I asked myself these questions: Where is the morality here? , Did he really have to kill bad guys? , Weren't there other ways to get out of the situations which he had to kill the bad guys? , and Couldn't Frazier create different situations that our moral man, Inman would not kill anybody or at least a couple people considering the circumferences during the war time. I think these are bad scenes of the book. I think, due to her background Ruby is the most interesting character in the novel whom I am considering her one of the main characters. It was disappointing that her only development was given a paragraph in the Epilogue. Frazier should have written more about her. Her life is very interesting. Her father Stobrod is a drunk and he is interested in music rather than his daughter. Therefore Ruby had to learn the tough life when she was very young. She was without the love of a father in her whole life. Then she became the best friend of our unlikely farmer Ada and helped Ada with her great knowledge about farm life which she acquired when se was very young due to the hardships of her life. Her place in the novel is as important as Ada's or Inman's place. One other thing is about Ada's and Inman's love. I do not think neither Ada nor Inman told each other about their love before Inman went to battle fields. How did Inman think that Ada was waiting for him? He was not sure, but luckily Ada was waiting. I never felt any passionate connection between Inman and Ada except for the closeness at the end throughout the story. Eventually this closeness gave the fruit of their love, but I think this love was a platonic love until the very end of the story which was a huge disappointment for me. I think this is a disappointment for me and I believe for many people. I could estimate the end of the story almost fifty pages before. We are used to happy endings. At least this is the way it has been for a long time for literature, plays and cinema. I do not say that there shouldn't be sad endings. However, for this novel the end should be more optimistic. I think the ending of this novel shows the pessimism of Frazier. Probably film producers will make the movie of the Cold Mountain. I have no doubt that they will have to change the end of the novel to a good one and Inman will live, at least he will die later because of an illness or something like that. Eventually the end would be like the ones that people like to see. This is another point of a success of a novel. Although I criticized the novel too much, these are for the better novels and eventually masterpieces. These are all constructive critiques. To be honest I really liked the book. Overall it was a great success. Since nobody is a perfect writer, there may be some critiques about the works that the authors have done. The story was about rough lives, rough times, struggles of the people. We were happy when people were happy in the book. We were sad when people were sad. I think if an author can make his or readers think like this, he is almost at the end of the way which goes to the greatness of writings. Frazier, with his novel is almost there. He has really powerful storytelling ability. His pieces remind me great literature masters Cervantes, Dickens, De Foe, Dostoevski, and great American novelist Steinbeck. He is on their way. I believe he is going to be a great American novelist, too.
Rating:
Summary: The story follows an AWOL Confederate soldier's journey home
Review: Charles Frazier has a gift of using the English language in ways I have yet to see. He weaves a beautiful tale that allows you to picture every scene. I especially like the way he injected dialogue as a matter of fact part of the line. There were no quotations, just the statements and sometimes I had to read it over to realize that the character had spoken and not just thought it. The main characters, Inman and Ada, have lives which seemed so hopeless at the start. THey both were lost souls searching for meaning in a world gone mad. It made me think about my possible actions if the world that I knew were suddenly turned upside down. Did I have any survival skills? It spoke of war in the brutal terms that really describe it. The last chapters are so beautifully done, that I reread them to relive it. I would not want to give any plot away so I will say nothing further on it. THis is the best book I have ever read and I am recommending it to everyone I know.
Rating:
Summary: A rich reading experience that resonates in memory.
Review: Frazier's book has received a lot of notice and some hype. What seems to be lacking in some reviews is an appreciation of the underlying structure, along with Frazier's ear for language and good old-fashioned storytelling. Cold Mountain is a lot of book, with many themes running through it: it's part Greek tragedy, part coming-of-age story (Ada), part meditation on Darwinism, part evocation of Indian mysticism and American transcendental philosophy (Emerson quoted numerous times), part redemption story (Stobrod), part revelation of the healing power of art (Stobrod again),part anti-war manifesto, etc. I'm sure I've missed some, but you get the idea. Many readers have noted the overall parallel to the Odyssey. However, there's more to the tale's similarity to Greek myth than just the hero's journey. There are other figures of Greek legend: the old blind man in the first chapter could be the Greek prophet, Tiresias. The ill-fated canoe ferry across the Cape Fear River is like a trip across the River Styx, etc. More impressive is Frazier's interweaving of two types of classical story, the epic (Inman's walk) and the pastoral (Ada's growing into a real woman on the farm). There's not room to say all that deserves to be said about this. Frazier also echoes at least two distinctive American voices in his writing style. One of the most powerful set pieces in the book is the peddler Odell's story of his love for a slave girl. This reads a lot like Faulkner at his best. In fact, it was so powerful that some of the material right after seemed like a disappointment. Inman's travels with Veasey, on the other hand, often play like low comedy from Twain. Monroe's debacle with preaching to Esco and the other locals sounds like Twain's comedy too, with some points about arrogance and intolerance well made. There's a lot of foreshadowing in the book, starting with Balis's ominous translations of classical Greek passages in the first chapter. One of these passages, "the comeliest order on earth is but a heap of random sweepings," sets up the tension that runs through the whole novel between order and chaos. Inman's "exile and brute wandering" is continually set against the emerging order and harmony of the farm as Ruby and Ada rescue it from Monroe's neglect. Stobrod's whole life story is essentially one of art (music) bringing order to what was a wasted life in disarray. I found Stobrod's story to be one of the strongest parts of the novel. Frazier is careful not to overplay his transformation - he's still a drinker and an outlaw, but music has given him a purpose. Frazier again evokes a classical theme - the dying girl who asks him to play the fiddle is like a Muse who comes to inspire him. Stobrod and Pangle become the wandering minstrels chronicling the war and its depravity. Look below the surface of this book. There's enough there to keep a thoughtful, patient reader busy for a long time. Numerous images and themes that Frazier explores will resonate in memory. It's a good book to read with a circle of friends, particularly fans of Faulkner or the classics, and a good book for discussion and debate.
Rating:
Summary: With poetic writing, gives a new perspective of Civil War
Review: This fabulously written book gives a different perspective of the Civil War and perhaps all war at that. Although it's slow reading, the writing is so poetic and the characters well-drawn (except for Ada in the first chapter) that it's both an emotional and spiritual quest. A must for all Civil War buffs.
Rating:
Summary: The novel lasts almost as long as the war itself!
Review: Reading Cold Mountain was an exhausting exercise in self-discipline made none the easier by the fact that the author does not uses conventional puctuation for dialogue. This makes for densely written text with little white space for the reader to rest her eyes. While the descriptive language is beautifully written, I found the forward action of the story achingly slow. Would these two oddly matched lovers ever connect?
Rating:
Summary: Diminishing returns
Review: To be honest, I was initiallly captivated by this novel. A rich time of which to write dealt with in the apparently straightforward framework of a journey. Simple yet with plenty of scope. As a non-American, such matters as the Civil War have a certain exotic attraction that helped to add zest to the reading. However, as my reading progressed, my estimation of the book diminished and continued to do so after finishing. It feels a bit like my experience with restuarant meals advertised as "good old fashioned cooking": the stodge and fat is initially appetising but the downside becomes apparent by next morning. Maybe I am too suspicious, but did the ending strike anyone else as "written for the screen"? Frazier even gives camera directions as to the framing of the striken couple. I also get the feeling that the sad ending is really a happy one in disguise. Tragic enough to earn brownie points as a serious novel (or film to be) but let's add a bit of feel-good as life and fertility continues. The second irritant was the element of the super-hero in Inman. Frazier lugubriously details Inman's travails, but at just the right moment our hero arises and smites all the blackhats in sight. Even when he does meet his fate, it is only after despatching countless despicable foes against all the odds. Maybe Bruce Willis is available for the film? Apart from the improbability of successfully killing only bad guys, what is the morality here? Because Inman has suffered it is alright to resolve all problems in a blaze of gunfire? These actions have no impact on Inman's character, possibly because he has none as defined by the author.
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