Cold Mountain

Books | Fiction / Historical / Civil War Era

4.1

(803)

Charles Frazier

A wounded Confederate soldier treks across the ruins of America in this National Book Award–winning novel: “A stirring Civil War tale told with epic sweep.” —People Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, a Confederate soldier named Inman decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge mountains to Ada, the woman he loves. His journey across the disintegrating South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign. Meanwhile, the intrepid Ada is trying to revive her father’s derelict farm and learning to survive in a world where the old certainties have been swept away. As it interweaves their stories, Cold Mountain asserts itself as an authentic odyssey, hugely powerful, majestically lovely, and keenly moving.

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Author

Charles Frazier

Pages

366

Publisher

Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Published Date

2007-12-01

ISBN

0802197175 9780802197177

Ratings

Google: 3.5

Community ReviewsSee all

"6/10. Slow start, great in the middle, unhappy ending. It’s also a movie. "

Brittany Johnson

"Takes an accurate look at what real war is like. Characters are memorable and sense of place (Civil War in the South) is outstanding. "

M P

Marilyn Parkinson

"Just a great book about survival and love"

Shannon McManus

"I cannot necessarily say that I enjoyed reading this book. It took me a long, long time to slough through it, almost all of three months. At times, it is painfully boring and slow. It is also mind-numbingly depressing. That being said, though, there were some passages that were beautiful and extremely thought-provoking. There is constant symbolism and foreshadowing that things are not going to end well (a bit heavy-handed at times I might add), yet I found myself still hoping against hope that there might be some redeeming factor or peace found at the end for the characters. This book reminded me of The Grapes of Wrath, which also presents a dismal, never-ending litany of pain, suffering, and tedium. Charles Frazier presents a worldview that humans are innately evil and exist only to mindlessly cause suffering to others. At least that seems to be his opinion of the Civil War. I'm not saying it's not an accurate worldview, but it is hard to read at times. The main female character Ada is not well-developed at all, in fact, I found myself wanting to skip her chapters entirely at times."

R T

Rebekah Travis

"Longing for romance? Love books set in the tragedy of war and wanting to see different sides to it? This is the one for you! "

Alicia Fassio

"This is the most entertaining novel I've read in the past 20 years."

Stephen Fleming

"Way too long with rambling content and very little forward movement. "

C P

Christine Peralta

"This is one of my favorite books."

R R

Rose Robinson

"Great narrative historical fiction. Characters jump out of the pages and the reader is transformed back in time."

Sudie Jacques

"I LOVE this book. It is one of my favorites! I love a book that sticks with me as fodder for thought , and this one has done that. I love daydreaming about this mountain life. Such a good book! "