Cold Mountain : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A page turner in every sense of the word.
Review: Cold Mountain wowed me. It pulled me through on the strength of its writing, story-line, emotional depth and characters. I finished it in a daze, needing a long walk in bare feet before considering what I could possibly read next. Cold Mountain is no more a book about the civil war than Moby Dick is a book about the whaling industry. It is a book about life and the magic of words. PollyAnna would have loved this book (though I don't recall her ever reading)because it is, after all, a book about love

Rating:
Summary: make room for Charles Frazier
Review: Make room on your bookshelf for this book. As a hillbilly and a war veteran, this is one of the best, most poignant books I have read in years. It is one of those rare books that you want to re-read again before you start a different book. I found myself re-reading something I just read just to savor the beauty of the writing. Thanks, Mr Frazier, a wonderfull book you have here

Rating:
Summary: Pollyanna would not have appreciated COLD MOUNTAIN
Review: Do not come near this book if you claim a shred of Pollyannaish sensibilities. Cold Mountain is a manly, unromantic, relentless accounting of a time and lives of despair. While the language is compelling the story and characters are not. I have no desire to ever meet again with Inman whose idea of love is to pine for a woman he barely knows or to meet with Ada a pathetic, dependent woman. The goat woman is the sole character with character.The description of the countryside and vegetation is more uplifting that any member of the cast of characters. Stay away from this book if you expect to be uplifted like you were with Angela's Ashes.But jump in with both feet if you dare to see humanity at its worst and dare to feel it through the writer's compelling style

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreakingly real, breathtakingly written
Review: A beautifully written account of humanity tested to its limits and yet surviving against the odds. A finely told tale. More than the story, however, is the writing. Those of us who often appreciate the telling of a tale more than the tale itself will find ourselves rereading sentences, paragraphs, even whole pages in awe of the power of Frasier's ability and insight into these magnificent characters. This is a book that you regret finishing but rejoice at having read.

Rating:
Summary: a perfectly realized vision of love and war
Review: Just about every sentence in this vivid novel is perfectly rendered. There is no piling up of detail, as in David Guterson's over-rated Snow Falling on Cedars. Frazier knows his terrain intimately, and treads upon it tenderly. His use of dialogue is pitch-perfect, like that of his fellow North Carolinian, the incomparable story-teller Fred Chappell. Readers will return to Frazier's work again and again

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Summary: Cold Mountain is one of the best books I have yet read.
Review: Cold Mountain is one of the best books I have yet read. The story concerns two main characters, Inman, an injured Confederate soldier who decides to find his own way home, and Ada, a southern belle left to manage her fathers' farm in the mountains after he passes away. Ada and Inman knew each other before the Civil War ; Inman had even considered marrying Ada. How Inman finds his way home to Cold Mountain and how Ada loses her dependence on material wealth and gains her strength from the simple power of nature and hard work makes for wonderful reading. Throughout the story, we meet such a fantastic and fascinating array of people, from Veasey, a misguided preacher that Inman comes upon as he is trying to kill the girl who is pregnant with his child, to Ruby, a somewhat wild girl that teaches Ada the ways of nature and of living, and so many others. The writing in this novel is at times overwhelmingly moving, at others is some of the best nature writing that I have ever encountered. Filled with Native American mysticism, wonderful characters, and remarkable writing, I would recommend Cold Mountain as a must read book

Rating:
Summary: Literature or lackluster story telling?
Review: I always read the 1 star ratings first - I did finish this book, and despite the negative comments, some with which I agree, there are some lyrical passages of imagery in this book that provide its saving grace. For example, I vividly pictured the window that Inman looks out of every morning while in the hospital. My relationship with the book was as if I looked through that window and watched the stories as they unfolded. I can not agree that the characters were flat, but rather the book is written so that one stands apart from the action and the characters as if in viewing a mountain from miles away, or through an open window. The explanations about the farm and seasonal chores, and Ada's transformation into a "functional" character of strength was inspiring. Historical accuracy? Well, if that is what one is reading for, sure, maybe the book isn't definitively researched, but then I was reading for enjoyment. For a first novel, Frazier is stylistically sound; probably wasn't writing for those movie rights, and for this reader, provided a nice vacation from daily toil. Besides, he has a best seller AND a movie; I don't. I saw the movie before I finished the book. Yuck. While Kidman to me is always lackluster in her performance, she played the blank, flat slate to the hilt. Zelleger is perfect as Ruby, with a fantastice supporting cast, BUT the book is still better than the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Intersting Story
Review: I am a civil war buff, but Cold Mountain took a little bit to get into. Once I kept plugging through the book, I then started to enjoy it. I think the book leaves you stranded in different directions. The movie has a lot of inaccuracies, but I find it very entertaining, and I love the mountain music. Over all, I think Cold Mountain is a good book and worth your time reading.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of action, great description, page-turning story
Review: I liked this book very much. I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next, but I had to slow down to enjoy the detailed description, setting, history, nature, and interesting vocabulary.

Here's a sample quote that I think reflects the quality of the writing:

"Ada and Ruby hoed and pulled weeds among the rows of young cabbages and turnips, collards and onions, the kind of coarse food they would mostly live on for the winter. Some weeks earlier they had prepared the garden carefully, plowing and sweetening the dirt with fireplace ashes and manure from the barn and then harrowing the cloddy ground, Ruby driving the horse while Ada rode the drag to add weight."

The author's use of verbs and specific description was an inspiration. This first time novelist was consistently great.

Some people may object to the vocabulary of the 1860's that was interspersed through out. I liked it very much.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: When I picked up this book I was really looking forward to a good read. Boy--was I fooled. I kept reading hoping that it would get better and it didn't. The author makes up words and describes stupid stuff--like an in-depth description of the food being eaten. The plot sucked and by the end of the book I really could care less if Inman ever got home! Let alone to his "true love." There was nothing going in that direction. First book I ever threw into the trash after I read it. I was so disappointed in it that I won't even see the movie.