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Avg. Rating: 3.71
A great read!!
Even though it's about the civil war, it's not a bore. Frazier sucks you into the world of Inman, a Union soldier, and Ada, a girl trying to get by after her father dies. The book is about Inman's long, hard journey to and over Cold Mountain, where he lived before his world was changed forever. After deciding fighting in the war isn't worth it and leaving the hospital ward, he plans to go back to Ada, whom he had loved five years before. He can only hope that she feels the same way. The book switches back and forth from Inman to Ada, living on her father's farm. This book is very well written and thought out. The characters' emotions are your own, and you are living the story with them. The subject is complex, dark, and gloomy, but I couldn't stop reading. If you want a happy book with a predictable ending, don't bother even reading page one. Frazier's novel is about the pains of war, hardship, and despair. The end is definitely the best part, since it is the result of what the characters have been working hard for since the beginning of the story. A little slow at the start, but don't give up reading. The movie of this book comes out in December with Jude Law playing Inman. Personally, there's no way the movie could top the book, or even come close. "Cold Mountain" is the best book I have ever read. If you have some time, want to take on a challenge, and want something new, this book is for you. Frazier has a great talent for writing. (You can read this review and say that the book's all mushy, but until you read it, you won't know about the action or how gory it is.)
Middle-of-the-Road Long Road Home Story
I read this work by Frazier with much anticipation, given the lavish praise by the critics as the National Book Award winner. The fact that Cold Mountain was showing strong staying power on the bestseller list should have dampened my expectations. Cold Mountain is an interesting story, but it is neither classic nor a masterpiece. It is popular because it plays on the simple emotions and escapist tendencies of our times - while not asking too much thought from the reader. It is not a definitive work on the Civil War - towards that end it is, at best, a PC commentary on pernicious antebellum southern institutions - and contains a least one historical inaccuracy (which invalidates the "historical" fiction label being passed around concerning this work). Cold Mountain is certainly at the top of the heap in literary value for books on the bestseller lists - but that's pretty short praise. National Book Award? Not even close. Written after the manner of McCarthy or McMurtry, but with far less effect. The tale of Ada and Inman is well told, but is all on the surface. Worth reading, but only just. P.S. What is the historical inaccuracy? There were no South Carolina regiments that participated in the Confederate assault focused on the Copse of Trees on Cemetery Ridge on the third day at Gettysburg. Perrin's brigade was nearby, but never advanced. A simple reference to Coddington's great work The Gettysburg Campaign would have corrected this erroneous reference.
Literature or lackluster story telling?
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.
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