Rating: 
Summary: Not so thrilled
Review: Although I thought the book was very well written, I found it to be completely unsatisfying. The ending is ambiguous and if you are an optomist you sometimes need to think about the epilogue. I would not reccommend this book to anyone who is depressed because almost the whole novel is depressing and will probably make your condition worse.
Rating: 
Summary: superb
Review: I do not remember the last time I enjoyed a novel this much.
Rating:
Summary: readers missing the point
Review: While it is true Cold Mountain does little to validate our western world view, I believe that is precisely the point. Inman may have not had a large impact on the world, but he had a very real impact on the lives of the people with whom he came in contact along his journey. The book is philosophically eastern in its point of view. I would suggest that those thinking of reading this wonderful book for the first or even second time, familiarize themselves, if with only the basics of eastern philosophy.
Rating: 
Summary: A profile in courage
Review: First off, I must admit that Cold Mountain is not for everybody. I was not quite sure as to what exact dynamic to expect when undertaking Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain is by no means a war book. Nor is it, however, a romance novel - by any stretch. It is, as most great works are, difficult to categorize. Due to its unique writing style it, invariably, breaks the mold of your typical war or love drama genre. For those Civil War buffs looking for bloody detail into the battle of Fredricksburg or insight into the life of a soldier, look elsewhere. For those looking for love and romance, look elsewhwere as well. For those, however, looking for an extraordinarily well-crafted work of ingenuity and originality, look here. The book, while slow developing, gathers intrigue & momentum as it progresses through the weaving and meandering tale of Cold Mountain residents Ada, Inman, Ruby, and their many encounters with a rather eclectic, if not downtrodden, group of individuals. Although morose and macabre at times with its themes of death and despondency in the present interspersed with hopeful peace and love on the horizon, Cold Mountain remains profound and luminous throughout - not unlike the central characters. Fittingly, while the South is on the proverbial cusp of the most vastly transformational epoch in its history, Ada, Inman, and Ruby undergo similarly arduous travails while overcoming immeasurable adversity - in what amounts to their very own transformation - each one singular in its own regard. Cold Mountain, much like Ada, Inman, & Ruby, proves itself a true profile in courage, resilience, and perseverance. "To Ada, though, it seemed akin to miracle that Stobrod, of all people, should offer himself up as proof positive that no matter what a waste one has made of one's life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial."
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but the movie is far better
Review: This book has it interesting, insightful, and soulful moments, but it also has a number of weaknesses. I think first and foremost, it is filled with detailed descriptions of the physical world of the story that go on much too tediously. This story could have been told in 150 pages, rather than 449. Terse and quick paced it is not. Also, the two leading characters are rather blandly drawn and the author doesn't give us a strong sense of them as individuals. That said, it does tell a believable story in a very unsentimentalized fashion--an important story about war and how in our country at that time pretty much all men were slaves, white as well as black. So, I would say over all this book is a worthwhile read. However, I have just recently seen the movie, and the movie is much more effective. Actually, one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Minghella tightened up the story, and gave it some of the dynamics the book lacked.
Rating: 
Summary: why?
Review: why is this book so boring? i don't need to know how wet and brown and chocolatey and soggy and damp and moist and dark and marshy the marsh was. i feel allowing room for the reader to infer a few details with their own imagination might have been nice. the national book award...really? i was afraid for inman to take his next step or wake from slumber in dread of being subjected to another 5 pages of how dirty and brown and chalky and dry the dirt beneath his black, heavy, worn, creased, leathery boots were. through frazier's superfluous descriptions i was waiting to read about how foul inman smelled, but no such luck. what did i learn from reading this book? quotation marks are our friends.
Rating:
Summary: Worthless
Review: This book was just trying too hard. Trying to be poetic, but it wasn't. Trying to be introspective, but it wasn't. It was pointless. I am very disappointed in the calibre of judging for the National Book Award. When compared to our other great American classics - e.g. To Kill A Mockingbird, Gone with the Wind, etc - this book is nothing.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: i just finished cold mountain today, and consider it the best fiction book i've ever read. it is not a pastoral fairy tale, but real and honest, awful at times...as is life. cold mountain will one day be considered a literary classic. i recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. one must have the whole story before witnessing the hollywood chop-job, no matter how cinematically brilliant.
Rating: 
Summary: What's the hype all about?
Review: I am a voracious reader and I was looking forward to "Cold Mountain" because I had heard so many wonderful things about it and I am always looking for good novels about the Civil War. This book was quite a disappointment! Getting used to Frazier's literary style was not an easy task (what's the point of not using quotation marks?) and I found myself wanting to rush through the book just so I could finish it, not because any of the characters were at all compelling. The topper was the ending! To have spent so much time getting through this book, waiting for the reunion, etc., and to be so jarringly disappointed was just ridiculous; it felt false and contrived and I put the book away feeling like I'd been robbed. I gave it 2 stars because it's not like it was a piece of trash, but I can't reccomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: If Barbara Cartland had written "The Painted Bird"
Review: You get to wishing that some aggressive infection had killed Inman in the hospital and spared you this read. Most first time authors burn this kind of thing and move on, learning from the mistakes. The fact that this slight, tedious romance novel wins awards is a testament to how terrible writing has become these days. I can't wait to not see the movie.
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