[a:Charles Frazier|7130|Charles Frazier|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1316568662p2/7130.jpg]'s writing in this book is full of contradictions: elegant yet warm, heartfelt yet stepped back, full of period vernacular yet smooth-flowing and immersive. I remember seeing the film adaptation a few years ago and I really loved it. usually that means I won't go back to the book. I'm so glad I broke my rule. Recommended. ( )

Excellent book. Felt like you were along side the soldier. KIRKUS REVIEWA grim story about a tough, resourceful Southern family in the Civil War is somewhat submerged by the weight of lyrical detail piled on the tale, and by the slow pace of the telling. There's no doubt that Frazier can write; the problem is that he stops so often to savor the sheer pleasure of the act of writing in this debut effort. Inman, seeing that the end of the war is near, decides to leave his regiment and go back home to Ada, the bright, stubborn woman he loves. His adventures traversing a chaotic, impoverished land, Ada's struggles to preserve her father's farm, and the harsh, often powerful tales of the rough-hewn individuals they encounter take up most of the narrative. The tragic climax is convincing but somewhat rushed, given the many dilatory scenes that have preceded it. Frazier has Cormac McCarthy's gift for rendering the pitch and tang of regional speech, and for catching some of the true oddity of human nature, but he doesn't yet possess McCarthy's ferocious focus. A promising but overlong, uneven debut. (First printing of 40,000; author tour)

Re-read of classic just before release of movie on Christmas. Very good tale of Civil War soldier making odyssey back to his sweetheart.

Excellent novel set at time of Civil War about a man & woman's journey to find more meaningful lives. Sad ending but in a way the only way it could end.

Fantastic novel. Terrible, terrible movie. This novel almost had me believing I was there with Inman in the Blue Ridge mountains at the end of the Civil War. Contains one of the best written battle scenes I've ever read. ( )

There is something about Civil War period novels that turns me off, so I may have missed what this book was really about. ( )

Read this because of all the hype. Think it is overrated ( )

This was a disappointing description of life, lovee, and challenges during the Civil War. There were many positive statements regarding the futility of war and the joy of sharing a life, but they were buried in the tediousness of the details, most either repeated ad infinitum or with too much detail. I cared about the characters, but not the presentation. The feelings that were present in the past are also relevant today. ( )

In September 1864, wounded Confederate soldier W. P. Inman leaves the rural Virginia hospital where he’s been convalescing and lights out for home, without furlough papers. It’s a risky move. Irregulars comb the countryside for deserters, and if they catch him, the only question is whether they’ll kill him immediately or bring him to the nearest town for execution. But he hates the war, which he feels never had purpose, aside from protecting wealthy slaveholders’ property, and combat has scarred his psyche so badly, he’s ready to take his chances.

He hopes to meet up with Ada Monroe, a woman back in Cold Mountain, western North Carolina, whom he hasn’t seen since the war began. They’ve exchanged letters, but Inman doesn’t know whether they ever had an “understanding,” or, if they did, whether Ada will care for him now, in his emotionally damaged state.

But Ada has her own troubles—and a journey to make. Her father, a preacher, has just died, leaving her with a farm gone to seed because of wartime labor shortages and no skills or resources to maintain the place. The late Monroe encouraged—nay, required—his daughter to cultivate her mind and sense of gentility, so that she must never lift a finger in anything remotely resembling physical labor.

As a consequence, Ada’s extremely literate, plays the piano (stolidly), and can draw, but she hasn’t a clue about raising crops or animals, or about the natural environment on which her existence would depend if she operated the farm. However, she has only one alternative: returning to Charleston, where she was born, throwing herself on the mercy of relatives she never liked, and settling for a husband who’d probably not appreciate her independent mind.

Cold Mountain bears a slight resemblance to the Odyssey, in that Inman, as Odysseus, must endure myriad misadventures and combats to return to Penelope, whom he dares not presume is waiting for him. His narrative is therefore episodic, full of reversals and derring-do. Like Odysseus, he’s clever and needs to be; unlike him, though, he’s not malign. Not ever. Rather, he assists people in distress as he meets them and never surrenders to temptation. He’s more of a knight-errant than an adventurer, and maybe too good to be true.

Meanwhile, Ada has received a tremendous stroke of luck in the form of Ruby Thewes, who shows up because a friend has said Ada needs help. Ruby has no refinement, book learning, or soft feelings but knows all there is to know about the soil, the barnyard, and how to read the seasons. I like that Ada’s tutelage comes hard and that her journey is both internal and external, unlike Inman’s, who seems fully formed. Rather, Ada must shed her old life, and this minute wouldn’t be too soon. I also like how she reads to Ruby, her turn to pass on what she knows, and how they disagree as to what happiness is, or whether it’s even worth bothering about.

Her story moves me more than Inman’s, by far. Ada grows as a character, whereas he doesn’t, and whatever changes he’s gone through, you see them hazily in aftermath rather than in transition. During his odyssey, one physical conflict is much like another, and none stand out for me, either in themselves or what he learns from them. Conversely, her narrative feels more cohesive, and she transforms before your eyes—not without a struggle, which adds to her portrayal. Her obstacles, though daunting, seldom feel ridiculously insurmountable, so she seems more human, less larger-than-life.

Maybe the greatest pleasure of Cold Mountain is the prose, which has been justly celebrated, and which conveys the characters’ physical and emotional realms with vividness and precision. I also admire Frazier’s refusal to sugarcoat human nature, and his depiction of lawless, bloodthirsty, and greedy behavior is both real and appalling. If ever a novel did justice to the brutality Americans visited upon each other during those years, this one does. This is a vision of the Civil War that has rarely, if ever, appeared in fictional form.

Nevertheless, the narrative compromises that vision with a romantic underlay, and Cold Mountain is less satisfying for it. As with Varina, Frazier appears to argue that nobody really wanted secession or believed in the war except for a slim majority who held wealth and power. Somehow, I don’t think that’s how the Civil War lasted that long. But in any case, Frazier’s perspective whitewashes his characters while trivializing the history. ( )

Good Civil War epic. Story of endurance and striving to get home, kind of like the Odyssey. ( )

Set in 1864 near the end of the American Civil War, Inman has been traumatized by his experiences in battle. After being wounded, he deserts his hospital bed to travel home to North Carolina’s Cold Mountain, to reconnect with a woman he met before leaving to join the Confederacy. The woman, Ada Monroe, has led a privileged life, but the war takes its toll, and she is left to fend for herself on her father’s farm. Inman journeys hundreds of miles by foot, encountering an assortment of people and trying to avoid the Confederate Home Guard. Ada transforms her life with help of Ruby, a woman who knows how to work the land. The storyline shifts back and forth between Inman and Ada.

The book is somewhat slow in developing and episodic in nature. The characters are well-developed and believable. I pictured Ruby as a person of mixed-race, though it is not stated directly, and I believe this added to my appreciation of the story. One of the primary strengths is the writing. Frazier has a wonderful way with words in describing the beauty of the natural environment and its impact upon the characters. I enjoyed the setup of the two connected characters struggling with their separate challenges and the way the author portrays their motivations to live when it would be easy to give up.

There are dark and disturbing scenes in this book involving harm to people and animals. The novel is loosely based on the author’s family history. Frazier does a fabulous job of evoking the era –showing the horrible impact of the war, how it tore families apart, and how people longed for a sense of stability. The last quarter of the book is a brilliant piece of writing.

4.5 ( )

Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "Very nice read, and nicely recalled by reading online reviews. Many kudo's for this author and his first novel. Soldier returning home to his mountain from the Civil War, where his struggling-to-survive love awaits." ( )

Cold Mountain took me a while to read but not from lack of enjoyment. All I can say is that I always love the bittersweet endings the best. ( )

The story of a wounded/deserted Confederate soldier from his escape from a hospital back to his beloved, which he will not see for 4 years. It was a perilous journey. Very sentimental and very coincidental. The author read his own book--and he was fairly bad! 14 hours 57 mins=366 pages.

That ending gah!

Here's my full review:
http://www.sholee.net/2018/03/mpov-cold-mountain.html ( )

Charles Frazier's writing style is poetic. I love his female characters, particularly his development of Ada from a sheltered young woman to one forced to struggle for survival. ( )

In my top 5 ( )

Confederate soldier tries to return to his home, a Ada waits for him and becomes a woman with Ruby's help

I watched the movie first and I think it ruined the book for me. I found the book to be slow moving once I had watched the movie and so many things were changed that it was confusing. I do not recommend watching the movie and then reading the book. ( )

Set during the Civil War a wounded soldier tired of war walks to his home in the mountains. A privileged woman has to learn how to support herself when her father dies leaving her alone and penniless in the mountains. Oh. yeah. They may be in love with each other. Somehow compelling despite the endless descriptions of the wilderness and their meals - mainly wild animals. One of those books that makes me think "wow it would have sucked to have to live through/like that". ( )

A story based primarily in North Carolina, I enjoyed reading about my home state. I also thoroughly enjoyed some of the characters. Inman, a very capable and yet unpretentious man, and Ruby, the independent and self-sufficient woman, were my favorites. Ruby reminds me of Sayward, the lead character in Richter's The Awakening Land trilogy. I did not, however, like that much of the book was a traveling story, like Don Quixote, or a traveling home story, like The Odyssey. While I loved Don Quixote and The Odyssey, the structure of those stories was basic the first time around. Inman's part of [b:Cold Mountain|10920|Cold Mountain|Charles Frazier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442416348l/10920._SY75_.jpg|1006369] is a conglomeration of funny anecdotes, amusing characters, challenging predicaments and occasional temptations. I find these types of travel stories a bit contrived. The structure of the novel seemed designed as the delivery method for a lot of smaller, often unrelated stories. The transitions into many of these back stories felt awkward.

[b:Cold Mountain|10920|Cold Mountain|Charles Frazier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442416348l/10920._SY75_.jpg|1006369] successfully captured much of what is unique about Appalachia. Lee Smith has accomplished painting this picture a few times in her career, as I am sure a few other authors have, but the accomplishment is still quite rare as are the people and culture described. ( )

This has been sitting on my shelf for years, I finally picked it up on the back of good reviews on this site. Beautiful writing, it is so understated, catching your attention unawares. A story of resilience and survival, Inman making his way slowly and tortuously back to Ada; Ada would have died if Ruby hasn't been sent to her. Inman's story is the more curious of the two, with him meeting rather weird characters in odd places. Finally, the two met in the woods. Inman didn't live but he left behind a daughter with Ada. ( )

Another book I had heard about but didn't really know anything about. It sat on my shelf for over five years. Sigh.

This is an excellent civil war story. Not just because of the depth of detail about the time but because the characters are beautifully drawn, and ultimately they drive the story.

It is a love story. But not like any other I've read. We learn very little about the interactions between the two main characters, except through their memories, and even then it's sketchy. We do, however, get to know them individually, as they cope with the situations they have inherited.

Inman is a confederate soldier who has been wounded badly. He finds himself in a hospital where patients do a lot of fending for themselves, and ultimately decides his better move is to get out, away from the fighting, away from the war, and back to Cold Mountain, where he grew up. To Ada. Ada, raised in Charleston, educated, sophisticated, finds herself in Cold Mountain alone, with no real skills, coping with a farm her father took on more as a hobby than as a functioning concern. Many ask her when she is going to return to Charleston, because they can't imagine her staying on.

And so Inman leaves the hospital and hits the trail. Knowing little about where he is or where anything is, really, he works his way back toward Cold Mountain over a period of many weeks. Weeks when he might get caught and sent back into battle. Weeks when he meets up with others who may be of help or may be the death of him. Weeks without money or goods to trade. Other reviewers call is an American Odyssey, a Whitmanesque foray. Yes, those terms fit.

Meanwhile, Ada meets her savior, Ruby, a rough country woman who knows nothing of books but plenty about getting by.

I was about a third of the way into it when I realized I loved this book. It met all of my expectations. ( )

Most descriptive account of the south that I've read - the author has a fine brush - really teleports you back there. The convergence of the protagonists stories makes for a tidy love story. ( )

I love this novel, and its characters. Especially Ada and Ruby. It teaches you things you would never know, about farming, animals, plants, and being destitute in a time of great change, unless you lived in the Southern states during the time of the Civil War. The characters are totally self-reliant, and completely without pride or laziness - there just isn't any time, they are all trying to keep alive. They traded and bartered a lot more than I thought, and had some crazy ideas about religion, home-cures, and animal care. lol
It's somewhat like the book, in some ways, and completely different in others. Hardly any romance at all, which may appeal to some. And still, it's fascinating, beautiful, and totally captivating. I wish there were more! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning things they didn't know, such as the old-fashioned way of curing tobacco, storing crops for the winter, self-preservation, and curing horses of worms. =P ( )