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Loading... Cold Mountainby Charles Frazier
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. blondierocket | Jun 20, 2009 |  1   An epic novel indeed. Beautifully written, with the Californian landscape as much a character as the humans in the story, even if the poetic descriptions do sometimes need to be reread in order to fully conjure the scene in the imagination. The novels tells the intertwining stories of Inman, a wounded soldier who has deserted the army and is now battling the elements to make the long journey home, and Ada, his love, reduced to a labourer’s life (though with a little help from a knowledgeable local girl to aid her in her efforts) in her attempt to keep her home running and grow enough food to live on. The running cast of supporting characters gets a little confusing amongst all the adventure, but they also stop the narrative becoming too introverted and narrow. I don’t know if I’d read it again – it’s quite heavy going (partially because of those sweeping descriptions). The themes were well-handled, however, avoiding both excessive sentimentality and unwarranted blood and gore. The ending was, unfortunately, a big disappointment – rushed, inconclusive, anticlimactic and unclear. I actually had to look it up online to clarify what had happened! And, absolutely crucially, the much-anticipated reunion between Ada and Inman had no chemistry whatsoever. All I can recommend is that you read it for yourself and see how you fare… (  )elliepotten | Jun 11, 2009 | 1 The movie was decent, but the book is really top-notch. Descriptive, detailed but not dreary, and a touching love-story beneath it all. ( )nicholassunley | May 10, 2009 | Until Jim Harrison's Returning to Earth, this was Anne's least favorite book. The rest of the group didn't mind it as much, though people did get tired of long time it took the main character to get back home. Would be good read next to the Odyssey. RMLBookDiscussion | Apr 23, 2009 | I tried reading this novel a few years ago, after watching the movie for the first time, but abandoned it because I found it so dull. Looking back on this now, I can't believe I ever thought such a thing about it! I just loved it this time around. Cold Mountain tells the tale of Ada and Inman, two people just meeting and starting to fall in love when they are thorn apart by war. While Inman is fighting for his life in a war hospital, back home in Cold Mountain Ada is also fighting to survive, after the death of her father. Sick and tired of war, Inman becomes a deserter, and begins the long and hard journey home to Cold Mountain and his Ada. "Come back to me is my request." Sigh. A beautiful tale of love and war, told in a stunning way. At times Frazier took the descriptions of the mountains a bit too far and it became a tad tedious - however, this is done in such a beautiful way, that it doesn't draw the book down. Quiet, longing and passionate - just lovely. Reccomended for lovers of historical-fiction. (  )RedBowlingBallRuth | Apr 8, 2009 | 1 0.083 seconds to build listing
Amazon.com (ISBN 0375700757, Paperback)This unabridged audio version of Cold Mountain, read by author Charles Frazier, deserves at least as much acclaim as the bestselling print edition, which won the National Book Award. The tale chronicles a Confederate army deserter's search for home and love in the last days of the Civil War.Much has been made of the story's homage to The Odyssey, the origins of which are found in an oral tradition. One can't help but hear echoes of Homer when listening to Frazier's soft, deliberate voice give life to his lyrical writing and to his understated, yet convincing rendering of the overwhelming events of war. Both Frazier's prose and reading are leisurely, recalling a slow foot pace. His delivery is uniquely suited to Innman's arduous, adventure-filled walk toward home and to the possibility of a reunion with Ada, the woman he loves. The author's reading does equal justice to Ada, who is being transformed by her struggle for survival on her father's farm. There is precious little dialogue, and Frazier makes no effort at acting out the characters. One small irritation in the production is a beeping noise at the end of each side. Another minor complaint is that the tapes don't have individual boxes, which was perhaps an attempt to make the overall package appear more booklike. The recording does, however, make deft use of two brief musical interludes. In a subtle twist, the fiddle music that opens the first cassette, when repeated as an accompaniment to the epilogue, carries a bittersweet and unexpected resonance. By all means, forgive Random House Audio the tiny glitches, pass over that slender abridged version, and take home the real thing. This audiocassette is a journey that will leave few listeners unchanged by the experience. (Running time: 14.5 hours, 12 cassettes) --Naomi J. Cohn (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:24 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Having seen the movie when it was first released, I wasn’t fully remembering what happened when I started reading the book. I don’t believe Frazier’s style is my favorite. I’m unaccustomed to dialogue mixed in without the use of quotations. Once I finished the book I found I enjoyed it a little more than I started out, but I’m sad that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I really wanted to. (