Cold Mountain : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: After Inman and Ada are introduced the only issues of interest are whether he will he make it home and whether they will get together. Skip the middle one/third of the book and you have a good Civil War love story

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Summary: Required reading for American History and/or social sciences
Review: I agree with many of the reviewers who have already reviewed Cold Mountain. However, many have mentioned Mr. Frazier's use of our language. True, it is quite descriptive, and he clearly paints word pictures of the Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains in my mind. I have vacationed there, and he brings me back. But, I think Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides) paints even more evocative mind pictures. I found some of the description and side stories here similar to Pat Conroy but I only became "captivated" about page 200..... I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer above who, along with his wife, found an anti-war theme. I did too. Especially, page 240: " Inman sat silent for a minute, thinking that every man that died in that war on either side might just as soon have put a pistol against the soft of his palate.....for all the meaning it [the war] had". I felt that if we all read this book prior to Vietnam, many lives could have been saved. Certainly all those that label themselves "hawks" and glorify war should read this novel. I've not thought about our Civil War since high school history and I usually don't read historical novels. But, this novel sure brought my history lessons to life (I was an "A" history student). I agree with the reviewer above who plans to use the novel in his teaching. I hope many more teachers do. Some of the sexual overtones and the violence involving animals will need to be dealt with by teachers of younger students. I think younger readers might get hung up on the details of a bull being sawed into pieces in a stream to reconstitute the tainted drinking water and may dwell on some of the sordid, and most certainly, necessary details, but miss the jist of the tale. Positioning the "gross parts" with younger readers may help them get through the long descriptive parts by motivating them to read on

Rating:
Summary: Cold Mountain as an anti-war lesson.
Review: Almost every reviewer provides us with a summary of the story's essential structure and the glorious use of descriptive language. It is completely true that the story of Inman and Ada is one of the most deeply moving novels that I have read in many years. It stands at, or above, many of our other current literary stars. Yet, my wife and I find something missing in most of the reviews we have read. My wife read the novel first. When I finished she asked for my judgment. I unhesitatingly said that Frazier's Cold Mountain was a modern anti-war experience. My wife was excited since she had arrived at the same conclusion. I went on to praise the love story, the descriptions that took me into my beloved Smokie Mountains, and the in-depth instruction in many aspects of the Civil War. Yet, I also found this novel to teach those aspects of human nature that can take us into incredulous violence during war-any war. Cold Mountain teaches us about those aspects of human nature that are "released" when the power of social culture is lost or distorted. I feel that reading of this powerful novel is essential for the Generation Xers and the New Boomers. I am giving serious consideration to using Cold Mountain in my graduate course in Advanced Social Psychology and Personality for discussion of human violence, group dynamics, nature of love, and evolutionary psychology. An amazing work that is in one of our "must be kept" bookcases

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Summary: A great personal story of epic proportions.
Review: What a remarkable book! It's tempting to rave on and on about the original and memorable characters, the heroic journeys of the body and the heart, the comic moments, the practical lessons in wilderness survival -- all written in the most expressive language, simple, beautiful, and exactly right. For casual readers, who might be put off by words like "heroic" or "epic" and who simply want a good, exciting adventure story, Cold Mountain more than fills the bill. Set in the American Civil War, it could be about any time of hardship, separation, struggle, and survival. There's also a very special love story. This book will be part of our literary heritage for a long, long time

Rating:
Summary: This book is a future classic
Review: This was probably the best book I have ever read. I loved it so much that when I finished the last page I started in again at the beginning. Each paragraph is like poetry. I felt completely immersed in Frazier's language. I cannot recall having such an emotional reaction to a book

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Civil War story about war and its impacts.
Review: Both as a piece of literature and as a story about the Civil War, Cold Mountain is entertaining and interesting for those who have an interest in the impacts of the Civil War on the lives of those who lived through it. This is a thoughtful tale about the obstacles young people faced during the war between the states. Frazier's descriptions of daily life in the rural south is most intriguing. This book does not gloss over the physical and emotional obstacles which confronted those who lived during this period of american history

Rating:
Summary: Sublime
Review: This novel is extraordinary. Although it has been compared to Hemingway's Farewell to Arms, Shaara's Killer Angels, and Cormac McCarthy's work, the novel stands on its own as one of the most beautiful written works of this century. Each paragraph is in its conception and execution a precious gem, structured as tightly as a short poem. The plot (like the character Stobrod's fiddle) is akin to a jazz composition, discordant and lyrical, hopeful and despairing. Keep your first edition of this novel for future generations; they will thank you for it

Rating:
Summary: A powerful rendition of human yearning
Review: What an incredible breath of fresh air to read literature again. The pages of this novel have so much energy, pain, triumph, and yearning that one quickly foregoes the silent act of reading and searches out somebody, anybody to read this book out loud to. The characterization is intimate, the action palpable, and the story tragic in its many gyrations. I normally will not read a book twice, but this is much more than a normal book. Superb

Rating:
Summary: Delightful story that you will want to share with others
Review: I absolutely loved reading this book. The people were incredibly real and their stories spoke to my heart. It was also an excellent acount of the Civil War and its affect. I was raised in the mountains of North Carolina. There is a feeling about living there that is hard to explain. Charles Frazier captures that feeling and the people . I hope that this is the first of many more books for Charles Frazier

Rating:
Summary: Must be read
Review: Make this the next book you read-true entertainment, plus an excellent literary work. Its great to have a new author on the scene.