Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cold Mountain
Book Review: Lyrical, small history
Summary: 4 Stars
I am realy coming to appreciate the modern trend to approach historical fiction from the standpoint of the small, personal history rather than the large, sweeping saga. Cold Mountain takes you down to the grassroots of the Civil War, a view you won't find in Gone with the Wind. (no offense intended - I enjoy those epic novels as well!) Frazier's language draws clear pictures that draw you into his protaganist's journey. I actually had no desire to see the movie, as the book had been so well brought to life in my mind by Frazier's words.Book Review: MARVELOUS HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most romantic books I have ever read, Cold Mountain is a slow, sweeping epic of a slice of American history. Heartsick and disillusioned, Inman, a Confederate soldier gravely wounded at Petersburg, decides to walk home to the Blue Ridge Mountains. He longs for Ada, the preacher's daughter he left behind. He longs for healing from the war's physical and spiritual ravages. His trip takes him through the turmoil and insanity of the time. While Inman makes the almost impossible journey home, Ada fights for her life. Raised to make polite conversation and sketch, she must find the means for survival within herself. Winner of the National Book Award. National Best Seller.Book Review: Modern literature
Summary: 5 Stars
I like to read books that have been made into movies to see how well it was adapted to the screen. Didn't watch the movie but thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. This is modern literature at its finest. BEAUTIFULLY written. I think it should be required reading in high school and/or college to give students a glimpse into life during the U. S. Civil War.Book Review: More than just a 'heroe's quest'
Summary: 5 Stars
I started reading this book four years ago, during winter break, and put it down fifty pages in, swearing that I would finish reading it as soon as projects, homework, and life let up. During the four years that I let the book sit, those fifty pages haunted me. I'd already seen the movie, knew how it would end up, more or less - but what I wanted to know was what Frazier said about it. What was the lesson about life, the aphorism I could pack up and take away with me at the story's end? When I finished reading it this time, I found it.
Some people say that this is just a regular old 'heroe's quest': man sets out on a journey to return to the woman he loves, and encounters a lot of obstacles and temptations (think: The Odyssey) along the way. And sure, Inman comes across as a hero; flawless, brave, repentant, ever-loving.
But the real hardships for him happen on the inside. His problem is not that he's being shot at during his journey home, his problem is that he himself has done shooting. Killed. That he himself has participated in the war machine, taken lives, broken some part of himself. The real question - for Inman at least - is how to recover his damaged soul. How can you love or be loved after you've done the unthinkable?
Dealing with that question, providing some sort of answer, consolation, hope, is what this story does best. If you've ever done something you think was irrevocably wrong, think you've ruined whatever chance at happiness you may have had, hurt your beloved, hurt yourself, wasted years: no matter what you've done, there is some sort of redemption for you. You can 'grieve endlessly for the loss of time and for the damage done therein. For the dead, and for your own lost self,' but in the end you can overcome it,. you can find a purpose, you can become whole again. The most powerful message of the book, the one that makes this book worth reading, that might, if you're hurting, put you back on track, is this: 'People can be mended.'
Book Review: Not really about "the war"; Not really supposed to be.
Summary: 5 Stars
I want to say for the record - I'm not a "love story" reader. However, this is one of the best ways to describe this book. Not just a love between two people, but the love of a place.
I read this book when it was first published and to this day, it has touched me like no other literary work. I read through some of the 1-star reviews with interest as well as the opinions of many other reviewers who found fault after fault - the plot, the historical accuracy and so forth down to the punctuation (no marks to set off dialogue) and whether or not Ada could have prevented her sole remaining cow from going dry while the chickens ran feral and the gardens grew over with weeds, etc. etc. bleh bleh bleh.
In fact, when I came to one review titled, "The South Lost, Get Over It," after laughing out loud, I knew it was time, after all these years, to weigh in.
Essentially, "Cold Mountain" is a classic love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War - not a story written to gain the approval of historians. No, it is not a book about the Civil War. Although in my opinion, Frazier does an excellent job of depicting the reality of the effects of the war on rural communities in the south.
Further, it's the story of a man's long and difficult journey home. It has all the elements of a great adventure driven by the prevailing theme of an undying love and overall, it is one of the most heartbreaking books I've read - not just because of the love story, i.e., the love between Ada and Inman, but if you have ever been far away from a home you love, and felt you might never get back, it is a sinking and sickening feeling that Frazier gets across to the reader with amazing skill.
It's not a book I'd recommend to just anyone. I can see how many would be "bored" or frustrated. I think it's a story to which one may have had to have had certain parallels in their own experiences in order to appreciate. Does that make sense? :p
Janey (Long Live the South!!) Jonze
(Just Kidding....)