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Jan 15, 2012

Amanda rated it:

Cold Mountain is quite possibly the most beautiful book that I've ever read. It's not for the faint of heart, however, as it's time consuming and requires a great deal of patience as Frazier takes his time with his descriptions of the landscape and the people as Inman, a soldier broken in spirit by the futility and waste of the Civil War, decides to walk home to Ada and his beloved Cold Mountain. That is not to say that Frazier wastes the reader's time or goes off on unnecessary tangents (alth More...

13 comments like (20 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Luthien rated it:

Considering the widespread acclaim this book and its subsequent film adaptation have received, I'm reluctant to write a negative review. Still, a dissenting opinion at least makes for an interesting read.

This was absolutely the most boring book I have ever read. It took me about a year to finish it, because every time I tried to pick it up, day or night, I was asleep in minutes. Though the descriptions of the picturesque mountainous landscape are often beautiful, I fail to see t More...

21 comments like (36 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Heidi rated it:

You've probably seen the movie made from this book.

It was a fine movie. It won Oscars.

But it cannot begin to capture the truly spectacular parts of this story because they are not the surface level narratives that make it onto the big screen.

Before you can truly appreciate the quality of this book, you need to be familiar with at least Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, and parts of the Bible. You need to be on guard for a depth of symbolism and complexity of f More...

1 comment like (26 people liked it)

Oct 03, 2007

Tyler rated it:

I really shouldn't like this book as much as I do. A historical romance? Come on.

Frazier's prose is in the tradition of that poetic backwoods style that you might find in some Faulkner or in the films of Terrence Malick and David Gordon Green. Definitely the product of a learned man trying to sound like he's from the sticks, equal parts Old Testament fire-and-brimstone and rootsy colloquialism. His story is ambitious in its attempts to convey feelings of the grandeur of America, smo More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2009

Alison rated it:

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9 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 18, 2007

Ali rated it:

Is it long? Yes. Does it sometimes take entire paragraphs or chapters to describe the scope of the landscape? Yes. Is it entirely worth it? Yes. This book is best described as an epic...for those that felt it was too long or boring, have you ever read The Odyssey? The comparison is made for a reason. This is not a book you take to the beach and read on vacation...this is a book you pick up on a rainy day when you call in sick in the middle of the week. This is a book that becomes like a return t More...

1 comment like (19 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2010

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

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3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Kristen rated it:

Just loved this book. I always enjoy books that do a good job of creating atmosphere through descriptive writing. This book is one of the best of that sort. The story itself is enjoyable, but what I liked even more was the detailed description of life in the civil war era. We have the idea from many movies and books that the south in the Civil War was all plantations and cotton, lovely ladies and dashing gentlemen. This south is something that Margaret Mitchell simply did not acknowledge, and it More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Tim rated it:

Wow...did not enjoy this book. The writing was masturbatory and the plotline was stupid. It had all the elements of a greek tragedy (the inevitability and almost cheesily coincidental misunderstandings) an yet it felt supremely unsatisfying. Charles Frazier crapped and this came out.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2008

Josh rated it:

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1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2008

Rosamund rated it:

What an absolute abomination. The only thing that saves this from the doom of getting just one star is... well, at present I am even unable to think of that. Actually, I did laugh when Ada got attacked by a rooster. The books lacks a real story, is over-long, and whoever gave Mr Frazier a thesaurus should seriously reconsider their actions, because the excessive descriptions cause the reader to lose the will to live. Moreover: why, oh why, is it compared to The Odyssey? I fail to see how anyone More...

3 comments like (9 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2008

John rated it:

This book far exceeded my expectations. It was grim and beautiful. It's a historical novel that brings you to the time and place with such an easy touch...no awkward passages setting the stage, just outstanding storytelling. The characters are well developed and authentic in their complexity. Also, it rang true with my experience of life, meaning that not everything ended satisfyingly for the characters. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Mack rated it:

Cold Mountain was absolutely beautiful. Charles Frazier has written a masterpiece that captures the country of America in all its beauty and its corruption.

Cold Mountain follows a war-ravaged Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman. While recovering from a wound everyone thought was fatal, Inman makes the decision to desert his regiment and travel to Cold Mountain in pursuit of Ada Monroe, the woman he loves. Along the way, he encounters many challenges, especially from the Home Guar More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2009

Alaine rated it:

I read this book for a book to movie challenge that I'm participating in. I didn't really know what I'd think of the book and was curious to see how closely the movie followed it. I'd read some reviews that weren't overly favourable especially with regards to the love story between Ada and Inman but I was pleasantly surprised.

If you read the book blurb it says that this is the story about a very long walk. As Inman gets out of his hospital bed and begins to walk home to Cold Mountai More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 22, 2008

Zalman rated it:

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Jeana rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 19, 2008

Megan rated it:

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6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2008

Cathy rated it:

When I was thinking of what to say about The Namesake, which I liked alot, I started thinking that maybe we need an asterisk for books that are truly special to us, that knock our socks off. I know that one reason why some books do that has to do with a certain time in our lives. Books that did that to me in the past, like the Alexandria Quartet, I haven't looked at again since I was in my 20's. Others I return to again and again. Cold Mountain is one of those. (Along with Bel Canto, The Fou More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

G rated it:

This is in my estimation one of the masterpieces of American fiction. I am surprised to be saying this, because I read it after I'd seen the film, and my expectations were not particularly high. Cold Mountain is the Odyssey retold in many respects not the least of which is its depiction of the horrors of violent expeditions far from home and the yet worse horrors of violence at home. It is a story of the Civil War as it affected those who were marginal to the state and had least to gain from th More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2008

Christy rated it:

Even rustic Cold Mountain, NC feels the cold embrace of the Civil War and most of its young men answer the call to fight. Some of the more hardened stay behind and form the Home Guard, which amounts to nothing more than a group of violent men intent on delivering their own brand of justice to those they call outliers, deserters of the war.

This is the story of two people in Cold Mountain who meet, are separated by the war, and meet again, both drastically changed by the hardships the More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2007

Sammy rated it:

I've refused to see the movie before I read the book. I've wanted to read Cold Mountain for a while after my junior year history teacher recommended it to me saying, "You better read it soon because they're making it into a Hollywood blockbuster." The hint of disgust in her voice was very much apparent.

It seems though that because of her and my mom both telling me how great this book I was, I was a little let down when I finally read it. I mean, it's good, don't get me wron More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2009

Sandy rated it:

amazing book. rich in language and imagery. Couldn't put it down and to this day, what....10 or more years later?... I remember it vividly. I loved it. The history of the real people in the civil war, of the Cherokee forced from their lands, of the deep penetrating wilderness of the mountains and the characters that struggled to survive there - the woman with the goats - and how, with a tender loving hold on one of her kits, while scratching its ears, she killed it so quickly it was probably ne More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2007

Betty rated it:

Charles Frazier's first book. He is a consummate storyteller. I loved every bit of this book, which was recomended by a writer friend. I asked what it was about and he said "Well, it takes place during the Civil War" and immediately my eyes began to glaze over. I start thinking about Red Badge of Courage (yuck). But then I read the first page and found myself compelled to buy it at the airport on the way home. It is a tale of love superimposed on the horror of war, the senselessness of More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Teri rated it:

I know, I know. The movie and all. As for the book, I have pushed it on several friends who did not love it as much as I did, so I'm aware my love may be a bit quirky. But there are paragraphs that were so beautiful I was forced to go back and read them aloud. When it ended I wept for the hero and for all of us humans.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Gphatty rated it:

This book came 3rd (or 4th) hand through my family. It was already becoming a wide-spread, word-of-mouth sensation, which was a red flag to me. When I discovered it to be a Civil War-era romance, I pretty much decided to ignore it.

But curiosity -- and the persistence of my relatives -- got the better of me. And you should ignore any preconceptions that you may have made of this novel. It's a wonderful travelogue; an ode to nature; a wry observance (and condemnation) on the folly More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2007

Felonious rated it:

Another book I put off reading. A love story during the time of the civil war, just didn't sound all that appealing to me. However, after reading it I have nothing but praise for Charles Frazier. The story is about a wounded and disheartened soldier (Inman), with love and determination he sets off on a journey to get back to the woman he loves (Ada). In his absence Ada has to struggle to survive and learn to become strong and independent. Charles Frazier is one of the most picturesque writers th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 02, 2008

Erin rated it:

The best experience I ever had reading a book. I recommend reading it in the winter, but whatever. The winter I read it was the coldest & saddest winter I have ever experienced. The book, taking place in the late 1800's, reminded me that some things cannot ever change with the times: Struggle. Heartbreak. Love. Adversity. Fear. Uncertainty. The human inclination to survive. To name a few. That said, though, this was not a depressing book. Somehow, it gave me an unexpected and strange kind of fai More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2007

Deborah rated it:

Cold Mountain by Charles Frasier is easily one of my favorite books. It is set in the mountains of NC during the civil war. Firstly, allow me to say that I rarely read period novels from this era because they tend to romanticize war with a heavy dose of gone with the wind thrown in.

This book is more of a human journey. One man's many discoveries into the gritty and unpredictable human psyche.

The movie wasn't so bad but it didn't cover the many encounters he had as he s More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 22, 2008

Christie rated it:

I am a SUCKER for these kinds of novels. An arresting historical backdrop... crusty and compelling characters at the brink of a cultural chasm... doomed love. It all lined up in Cold Mountain. But the unexpected surprise of this book was its artful craftsmanship and the musical nature of language. It is such a lyrical and haunting book - which is stunningly beautiful in scope without losing a shred of authenticity. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, and highly recommend it. More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 20, 2008

Molly rated it:

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)