What readers think of Cold Mountain, plus links to write your own review.

The author is very poetic in his writing style and has created a novel that surpasses most writing available nowadays. I would have liked to have seen more development in the characters themseves and less time spent on scenery description. I also felt that to choose a story line and central character that presents such a dismal perspective on life must reflect on the writer`s feeling about his own existence.

I gave this book a 4 due to it's occasionally dull portions. I hardly ever read novels. This one was forced on me for a school project, and I could not put it down ( for the most part ). Frazier gets a little more descriptive than my tastes would prefer when describing the scenery. Otherwise, this story is an amazing tale that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys adventure stories. I especially enjoy the fight scenes between Inman and his adversaries. Hats off to you, Mr. Frazier.

i give this book a 4 because i really liked the way frazier ended the novel. instead of making it sappingly sweet by giving it the expected happy ending he took the chance of angering the reader by giving it a not so happy ending for ada, although she at least had a child by inman. frazier did a great job of telling the story of inman's long journey home, and i would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories like homer's odyssey. the only reason i did not give this novel a 5, lies in the fact that frazier spends a little too much time describing the various plants and wildlife of north carolina.

Beautifully written, good command of the language. Frazier's telling of the story is very well done. Look forward to his second book.

I really liked the book until i got to the end. The ending was, in short unsatisfying. The rest of the book flowed very well back and forth from diffrent main characters. It also was adiquate in explaining the historys of the character just enough to make you feel you could undersand what the characters where doing and why. I would recomend this book to anyone that doesn't mind a very... unsatisfying ending. But the rest of the book was quite enjoyable.

It was horrible and very boring. The love story was okay but there was little action.
All in all it sucked and wouldn't recommend my grandma reading it cause it is a waste of time

Written in a slightly elegant, almost poetic tone, the book is not really a story so much as a collection of small vignettes. It has been said that the book is "based on local history and family stories passed down by the author's great great grandfather." These stories are tenuously connected to a homeward bound Civil War journey made by a Confederate deserter named Inman. The events along the way are mostly dangerous and are more or less interesting with an air of factuality about them. While Inman is having his encounters, his love object, Ada (whom he met about three weeks before going off to war) remains at home on her inherited farm learning to, well, farm; since her preacher father had taught her nothing about crops or animals before he died. Ada is taught farming by her friend Ruby, a forceful and very practical hillbilly. Unlike Inman, Ada changes and grows during the book. Also unlike Inman she never actually faces any real danger. Sure, initially she does not know how to cook or farm, but the food is there to be had. Ada just does not know what to do with it, and would prefer to read books anyway. So, Ruby is quite handy. Cold Mountain seems almost designed to be inoffensive. So much so, that I wondered if the author was intentionally being "politically correct." All of the bad guys are, in fact, guys -- white guys. Making sure to be fair, some of the bad men are Rebels, others are Yankees. The plot is simple. The main characters are not the least bit complex. But predictability is a big problem. Nonetheless, Cold Mountain is pleasant to read. I have seen a recommendation that the book should be read only one chapter at a time. That way the reader can savor each of Inman's adventures one at a time. Also, concentrate on the author's descriptions of the flora and fauna of North Carolina. He seems to know of what he writes. His knowledge of Civil War history seems similarly solid.

I would recommend this novel to gardening or cooking enthusiast. Frazier devotes 25% of this book on how to plant, grow, and harvest crops. Then, he devotes another 25% of this book on how to kill, milk,prepare,can,cook, and eat food. The other 50% of this novel tells a love story that wouldn't even interest a desparate mid-aged women who lives her love life through fictional characters.
Fraziers had a great setting (time, place, enviroment) to create a wonderful novel. But, I think he came well short of reaching this plateau. Frazier, I think, was so caught up in the setting that he forgot to write a solid story line. But, this is only my opinion. I recommend reading to anyone, even Cold Mountain. I just think there's better reading out there.