Rating: 
Summary: Soon to be required high school reading?
Review: This book doesn't fit in the category of one I'd usually go out and purchase -- the book was given to me as a gift. I found the first several chapters tedious and kept telling myself "it has to get better". Well, it did, but not because I was thoroughly engrossed by the story, but because I learned about a topic and era I wouldn't ordinarily explore. Not unlike the feeling I had after reading Lord of the Flies or A Separate Peace in high school.
Rating: 
Summary: Fluff, and average fluff at that...
Review: I must admit a quick glance at the reviews on this forum would have sold me on Cold Mountain. However, further review of the forum's messages struck me as quite similar to reading the book itself -- I was confronted with an obvious attempt at sounding highfalutin, but there was little under the surface. The use of "trodding" as if it were a real verb or the teacher misspelling "tryst" clued me in to this book's potential audience just as the multiple exclamation points in reviews of shlock swords-and-sorcery novels shout "read me if you're under 15!!!" -- the overblown prose and sense of self-importance one finds in Cold Mountain make it a perfect fit for those who wouldn't deign to read bodice-rippers but, despite their professed interest in and yearning for more intelligent writing, are really just searching for the escapism that pulp fiction offers.Cold Mountain is indeed well-written, but hardly on the level of great literature. It is interesting, to some extent, but hardly riveting. My main complaint was a lack of depth -- depth of character, depth of plot, depth of thought. I never really felt I knew Inman or Ada and the book never really made me stop and think. And, yes, the ending was pathetic, grinding the book to a screeching halt when a well-wrought ending might actually have made the book worth a 7 or 8 for me. Instead, the author may as well have thrown up his hands and admitted defeat. All in all, not a bad read, but I challenge those who call it a classic to read the greats of American literature, or even modern authors like Irving, Updike, and their peers. Works of those writers are worthy of the title "literature" -- this isn't really that different from the mass-market fiction of Grisham and the rest. More descriptive, sure, but no deeper. A romance novel for the educated, Cold Mountain is a fairly enjoyable read, nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: A great story that leads to a disapointment
Review: The discription of nature in this book is astounding. I could almost see the mountain he was headed for in my mind. The story was humorous in some parts and interesting, but I was disapointed with the ending. I felt like the book was leading up to a great climax, but, when I got to the point where it should have been, there was nothing but a little fizzle of an ending. And another thing about the author, he seemed to like to use the word sh-t on almost every other page. Perhaps in the authors next book, he will use less of this word and make an ending that we are all expecting..
Rating:
Summary: A great book meant to be read with the TV OFF!
Review: When I first bought this books months ago and started reading it, I would have given it a 3. It was Christmas time and with all the distractions that brings, plus I tried to read at night with the TV on in the background. I just couldn't get it and I put it aside. I picked it up again with resolve about 10 days ago and decided that I am an adult and will FINISH this book, but without distractions. What a difference! The book sang. I slowed my thoughts and patiently read and re-read sentences so I understood it. The people who are bashing this book have every right too, but they should remember that not every novel has to be "bubble-gum" for the brain. Don't get me wrong. I love that kind of book for quick reads too. They are fun and effortless. But, when you get a book like "Cold Mountain," you have to understand what you have and adjust your reading style. If you refuse to do that, don't buy it. Kind of like art. I love impressionism and cubism, and I dont care for modern art, but I try to appreciate it. I just wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to go to a showing of it.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected, until the end.
Review: I resisted reading this book for a long time since it seemed to be so mainstream, and because it was referred to as a love story. It turned out to be much better than I expected. And it didn't seem to me to be so much about love as about Ada's becoming responsible and self-sufficient, and about what Inman was willing to go through to leave behind a situation that was violent and pointless. The epilogue was horrible! It was like the author just all of a sudden got tired of the effort of writing a worthwhile book, and decided to just throw in a cheap and easy ending to have it all over with.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing
Review: Believe the hype ; it really is special.How refreshing to read a writer who makes the reader work.Frazier is subtle and avoids sentimentality.I rarely read a book twice but this is a worthy exception.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Mountain is a great read
Review: The book was great, and I feel it will stand the test of time and become an American classic. I have a first edition copy of the book and even though it's unsigned, I am saving it because I feel it will be a collector's item one day.
Rating:
Summary: Sit back, relax, and enjoy - a spa for the mind.
Review: This is not a book for the train on the way to work - it should be cherished and enjoyed. I read "Into Thin Air" and loved every minute of it....I couldn't put it down. "Cold Mountain" is the kind of book you want to put down...the prose are so rich that you should only be able to take in so much in one sitting...and you should never want it to end. A friend's wife is a speed reader and finished the book in three days...why bother. This is folklore...not Hollywood. Relax and enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Humans trodding the Earth
Review: This was a very well written journey on several levels. The characters are archetypes. I am surprised at the number of unsatisfied readers who have used this forum. The pace is that of a human being walking close to the Earth. The rhythm seemed natural to me. Please note an extra dimension is available, a beautiful rendition of the song "Angel Band" mentioned on the last page. It can be found on Old And In The Way's "That High Lonesome Sound" on Acoustic Disc (ACD-19). I put the song on right after reading the last page. It fits the mood perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable, relaxing read about the agonies of the Civil War
Review: I was surprised by the effect Cold Mountain had on me. Instead of being horrified by the bloody images of the Civil War, I was mesmerized by the author's style of spinning the tales of tragic lives and all the accompanying agonies effected by the war. I found that I came back to reading the story more for relaxation than for an experience of suspense. Chaucer was brought to my mind quite often as Frazier weaved one character's tale within another's, especially in the context of journeying pilgrim-style. I have recommended this book to all my friends, and I plan on rereading it immediately.
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