Rating: 
Summary: More opportunity for character depth and emotional scope
Review: Ada's chararacter could have been developed more.
Ada and Ruby do not endure any particular hardships. Once Ruby enters the picture, all goes well for the two of them. This does not include the end where things get really good for Ruby and really bad for Ada. Ada does not struggle or resist too much in her new life with Ruby where I think she could have. It was difficult to find what Inman and Ada saw in each other besides physical attraction which is perhaps reason enough for love. But the bond between the two could have been better understood had there been more depth to it. Although there is comic relief in the book, it does not seem so much intended as simply descriptive. The reader must therefore use his or her own sense of humor to laugh. The loose women with the drugged Inman, Veasy with the big black harlot, Stobrod and Pangley running off into the bushes to relieve their bowel pains evoked funny images. But mostly the book was cold except around fires and in thin autumnal sunlight. A good novel makes you laugh and cry.
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Summary: The march to heaven or hell
Review: Inman is a character that is already dead even before he starts his long journey home. His body is wasted away by the ravages of his injury. His spirit has seen the long lines of youthful dead upon the fields of this country. His journey is to find his place in the afterlife. He meets those other dead souls along the path to eternity. Each represents a type of person we encounter in our own lives. The final chapter is not the end of his life, that's already over, but the begining of his afterlife.
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Summary: Don't believe the hype about this book!
Review: I love to read about the Civil War so I was very excited to have received Cold Mountain for Christmas (even though I had hinted about wanting it). I had a really hard time getting into the characters, especially the parallel story line about Ada and Ruby. They just never seemed "real" to me. The sex in the book surprised me. I guess that is for the benefit of the movie that will probably be based on the story, but it seemed out of place to me. The ending was abrupt and very disappointing. It felt to me that the author decided he had written enough and quit. I did think this book gave an interesting perspective on what life in these times was like.
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Summary: The view of a semi professional historian
Review: I am a phd candidate in American History with an emphasis on 19th century America. It was with anticipation that I undertook to read COLD MOUNTAIN last summer. Frankly, I got bogged down with it and did not finish it until New Years. I found the book extremely slow reading. There were parts that were interesting and some good descriptions but frankly, I have not recommended the books to friends. Maybe it just wasn't my kind of book. In my opinion, this book reflects the changing views of history. Thirty or forty years ago Americans were reading Irving Stone - historical novels about famous people. COLD MOUNTAIN reflects the new "bottoms up" view of history where historians look at average people, little people to see how wars and events effected them. In a nut shell, I think that COLD MOUTAIN could be subtitled, how the Civil War changed the lives of little people. The view of women has certainly chnaged from Scarlett O'Hara and Melanie Wilks. Ada and Ruby are hard working women, as well 19th century women were. The book shows how tough 19th century life was, the real cruelty that existed. Babies and children died, people were not always kind to animals, war was hell. When I completed the book, I actually thought more of it especially after I considered the changing view of history. Seen in that light, its a signficant change from historical novels of the past and well help to eventually change people's view that everything in the past was great.
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Summary: Relative Redemption of my own
Review: After spending countless hours trying to determine why my own great-great-grandfather was a deserter in the Civil War, I no longer feel the need to know. After spending a week with Frazier's masterpiece, Cold Mountain, I now comprehend the burden that was placed upon those soldiers. Inman's search for self-redemption was spectacular and it brought me to peace with my own ancestry as well. I am now afraid to open another book.....fearful that it will not compare to this legendary work of art.
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Summary: Similarity to Huck Finn?
Review: Did any other readers remember the characters met by Huck Finn on his journey? The commentary on society, the subtle humor, the backwoodsy flavor of the story reminded me of Mark Twain's story. Cold Mountain was difficult to put down. I savored it slowly until the last several pages when I had to rush. I tried using the dictionary at first but when I failed to find most words I looked for, I just made up a meaning from the context. It was probably more fun that way. I have read everything I can find on the book and the author.
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Summary: A new way to punctuate dialogue
Review: I love a good man against nature tale. Anyway, what's up with the punctuation in this book? There are NO QUOTATION MARKS. Instead, a quote is within a sentence is designated simply by a comma and a cap letter. A second speaker gets a long dash in front of his words. This style works for me. I recommend it as a new standard. Has anyone seen this style before?
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Summary: Good Book, Beautiful Cover
Review: I think Disney has a similar story about a dog ... nevertheless, "Cold Mountain" was a pleasant reading experience. The main characters were well developed and the writing was refreshing. My only complaint was the ending ... oh, by the way, the ending of the Disney story was better.
Rating:
Summary: The most consuming novel I have read in years.
Review: In Mr. Frazier's Cold Mountain, I was so brought into the persona of his characters, so into the story that I wished it had never ended. I have backpacked the Cold Mountain region and have listened to some of the stories about the area. I cannot think of a way to have portrayed this area and that time any better than Frazier has. His writing gives the mind's eye a detailed, exact picture of what is unfolding, and it you closed your eyes after reading a few paragraphs, you would feel as if you were actually in Black Cove and hear the fiddle playing. I gave this novel a 10, and only because Amazon doesn't have any higher rating. Thank you, Charles Frazier, for giving me a glimpse into the soul of Cold Mountain that several backpacking trips never gave.
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Summary: Riddle: Why is this book like a Nehru Jacket?
Review: Answer: Because the popularity of both is an example of what cognitive psychologists call herd behavior.I am a late comer to this book and I just don't get it. The book is depressing (where's my zoloft?), plodding, and the ending (I skipped ahead) is enigmatic to the point of absurdity. I think the hoopla over this book is an example of the herd behavior phenomenon at work. Herd behavior is the tendency to imitate the actions of others, ignoring one's own information and judgment with regard to the merits of the underlying decision. Think of lemmings running of a cliff or cattle stampeded into a corral. People also engage in herd behavior. Most fads, for example, occur because of herd behavior. But why? Herd behavior is partly attributable to cognitive biases, especially the conformity effect. When one's decisions are publicly observable by peers, conformity has a positive psychic pay-off, whose existence has been experimentally demonstrated. But herd behavior is also attributable to what economists call agency costs: Following the crowd may have a pay-off even if the chosen course of action fails. Because even a good decisionmaker can make decisions resulting in a bad outcome, outsiders look at both the decision and the outcome before forming a judgment about the decisionmaker. If a bad outcome occurs, but the decision was consistent with approved conventional wisdom, the hit to our reputation is reduced. When we follow the crowd, we are buying insurance against a bad outcome. Buying into the conventional wisdom about this book has both payoffs. We get the psychic payoff of being with the "in" crowd. Lemmings must feel good about themselves except for the final second or two. And even though we've wasted our time plowing through it, no one will question our literary good judgment.
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