a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain, is the story of a very long walk. In the waning months of the Civil War, a wounded Confederate veteran named Inman gets up from his hospital bed and begins the long journey back to his home in the remote hills of North Carolina. Along the way he meets rogues and outlaws, Good Samaritans and vigilantes, people who help and others who hinder, but through it all Inman's aim is true: his one goal is to return to Cold Mountain and to Ada, the woman he left behind. The object of his affection, meanwhile, has problems of her own. Raised in the rarified air of Charleston society, Ada was brought to the backwoods of Cold Mountain by her father, a preacher who came to the country for his health. Even after her father's death, Ada remains there, partly to wait for Inman, but partly because she senses her destiny lies not in the city but in the North Carolina Blue Ridge.

Cold Mountain is the story of two parallel journeys: Inman's physical trek across the American landscape and Ada's internal odyssey toward an understanding of herself. What makes Frazier's novel so satisfying is the depth of detail surrounding both journeys. Frazier based this story on family history, and in the characters of Inman and Ada he has paid a rich compliment to their historical counterparts. Cold Mountain is, quite simply, a wonderful book.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain, is the story of a very long walk. In the waning months of the Civil War, a wounded Confederate veteran named Inman gets up from his hospital bed and begins the long journey back to his home in the remote hills of North Carolina. Along the way he meets rogues and outlaws, Good Samaritans and vigilantes, people who help and others who hinder, but through it all Inman's aim is true: his one goal is to return to Cold Mountain and to Ada, the woman he left behind. The object of his affection, meanwhile, has problems of her own. Raised in the rarified air of Charleston society, Ada was brought to the backwoods of Cold Mountain by her father, a preacher who came to the country for his health. Even after her father's death, Ada remains there, partly to wait for Inman, but partly because she senses her destiny lies not in the city but in the North Carolina Blue Ridge.

Cold Mountain is the story of two parallel journeys: Inman's physical trek across the American landscape and Ada's internal odyssey toward an understanding of herself. What makes Frazier's novel so satisfying is the depth of detail surrounding both journeys. Frazier based this story on family history, and in the characters of Inman and Ada he has paid a rich compliment to their historical counterparts. Cold Mountain is, quite simply, a wonderful book.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain, is the story of a very long walk. In the waning months of the Civil War, a wounded Confederate veteran named Inman gets up from his hospital bed and begins the long journey back to his home in the remote hills of North Carolina. Along the way he meets rogues and outlaws, Good Samaritans and vigilantes, people who help and others who hinder, but through it all Inman's aim is true: his one goal is to return to Cold Mountain and to Ada, the woman he left behind. The object of his affection, meanwhile, has problems of her own. Raised in the rarified air of Charleston society, Ada was brought to the backwoods of Cold Mountain by her father, a preacher who came to the country for his health. Even after her father's death, Ada remains there, partly to wait for Inman, but partly because she senses her destiny lies not in the city but in the North Carolina Blue Ridge.

Cold Mountain is the story of two parallel journeys: Inman's physical trek across the American landscape and Ada's internal odyssey toward an understanding of herself. What makes Frazier's novel so satisfying is the depth of detail surrounding both journeys. Frazier based this story on family history, and in the characters of Inman and Ada he has paid a rich compliment to their historical counterparts. Cold Mountain is, quite simply, a wonderful book.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain, is the story of a very long walk. In the waning months of the Civil War, a wounded Confederate veteran named Inman gets up from his hospital bed and begins the long journey back to his home in the remote hills of North Carolina. Along the way he meets rogues and outlaws, Good Samaritans and vigilantes, people who help and others who hinder, but through it all Inman's aim is true: his one goal is to return to Cold Mountain and to Ada, the woman he left behind. The object of his affection, meanwhile, has problems of her own. Raised in the rarified air of Charleston society, Ada was brought to the backwoods of Cold Mountain by her father, a preacher who came to the country for his health. Even after her father's death, Ada remains there, partly to wait for Inman, but partly because she senses her destiny lies not in the city but in the North Carolina Blue Ridge.

Cold Mountain is the story of two parallel journeys: Inman's physical trek across the American landscape and Ada's internal odyssey toward an understanding of herself. What makes Frazier's novel so satisfying is the depth of detail surrounding both journeys. Frazier based this story on family history, and in the characters of Inman and Ada he has paid a rich compliment to their historical counterparts. Cold Mountain is, quite simply, a wonderful book.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain, is the story of a very long walk. In the waning months of the Civil War, a wounded Confederate veteran named Inman gets up from his hospital bed and begins the long journey back to his home in the remote hills of North Carolina. Along the way he meets rogues and outlaws, Good Samaritans and vigilantes, people who help and others who hinder, but through it all Inman's aim is true: his one goal is to return to Cold Mountain and to Ada, the woman he left behind. The object of his affection, meanwhile, has problems of her own. Raised in the rarified air of Charleston society, Ada was brought to the backwoods of Cold Mountain by her father, a preacher who came to the country for his health. Even after her father's death, Ada remains there, partly to wait for Inman, but partly because she senses her destiny lies not in the city but in the North Carolina Blue Ridge.

Cold Mountain is the story of two parallel journeys: Inman's physical trek across the American landscape and Ada's internal odyssey toward an understanding of herself. What makes Frazier's novel so satisfying is the depth of detail surrounding both journeys. Frazier based this story on family history, and in the characters of Inman and Ada he has paid a rich compliment to their historical counterparts. Cold Mountain is, quite simply, a wonderful book.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

a little bit of editing would not have gone amiss, 07 Sep 2008
This lacks the emotional depth of Cold Mountain but it is a story well told of Will Cooper, whose own life story he relates while waiting for the trains to go by his house. Will Cooper's tale is extraordinary and through him we get to understand the ethnic cleansing of the native American Indian. His rise to prominence and fall from grace are well depicted and Charles Frazier paints a vivid picture of the countryside steadily being stripped of its wildlife in the name of progress and of the local people being stripped of their own identity and status. A book which contains much to brood over even when it is finished.

Lost in another time, 05 Jan 2008
I loved it. I felt I was inside Will's head - I liked his rambles, and I longed for Claire to come back to him, but it wasn't to be and I cried at his loneliness. But most of all I loved the vision it gave of the last of the Cherokee and his and Bear's struggle to keep them in their own country. I've just ordered the biography of the real Will Thomas on whom I presume this is based so let's see how much of it is true.

An American Saga, 15 Dec 2007
An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.




beautifully written, but . . ., 06 Dec 2007
I couldn't get into this at all. It is beautifully written and certain descriptive passages are sublime, but it didn't seem to have any direction and I lost interest in it about a third of the way through (before that really, but I read on in the hope that things would improve). A great disappointment because I loved Cold Mountain.

Transformational, 27 Nov 2007
Must be the only person who hated Cold Mountain and loved Thirteen Moons which is down as my book of this year. It is a transformational story of a lonely outcast boy to a chieftain of Indians, Senator, bankrupt and lover. He has only three friends, and one is a horse; he has to betray friends for the greater good of the many; he has to learn to work with the media; he has to give up his love, or does he. The country is transforming at the same time, losing buffalo and elk, the indians losing their own identity, the government increasingly corrupt and self absorbed. The character and place are so magnificently drawn you could read it for ever. As an old man reflecting on his life, the only thing that remains is desire, desire never dies according to Will. I absolutely loved the close out of the old man taking pot shots at passing trains, the very latest in technology which brings about a revival of fortunes, by formal prearrangement. Excellent read, highly recommended.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.

Very good, 26 Jun 2008
Having studied this as an A-level text I have grown to love it, though when I began reading it I could not understand what all the hype was about, by the end I thought it was a fantastic novel; the beauty of some of the scenarios is absolutely cinematic. I am currently buying my own copy of it as my Lit teacher is demanding my copy back (very late!). A very good book.

this is literature?, 16 Apr 2008
i am currently studying this novel for english literature and am finding it to be one of the most tedious and pointless books i have ever encountered. frazier spent 10 years of his life perfecting this novel and it is obvious that it has been edited again and again to the extent that the story no longer flows, making it a very monotonous read.
the characters are dull and the description dreary and predictable. however, if you have trouble sleeping this book is garenteed to help.

Beautifully written, 22 Jan 2008
I've read this book twice, back when it was first published in paperback and again in recent months. Time has not faded my total enjoyment of this book, or the way the characters draw you into their world.

When I first read the book I was enthralled. Part of me was wary of re-reading the book in case those old memories were shattered. I'm glad I did, as I was drawn into the story in much the same way and lost in a world of civil war and hard lonely farming.

Cold Mountain is a beautiful and easy read which should appeal to any age of reader. One piece of advice, please read the book before watching the film - although a good film, the book is far more descriptive than anything the movie could manage to include.

Beautifully written, 12 Dec 2007
No doubt this book won many an acclaim from those who watched the film starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law amongst others. Its is however a very beautiful read. The emotion, colour and intensity of the story just show how amazing the authors imagination is and how true love can be portrayed so closely to the real thing. An excellent book that i'd highly recommend

Beautiful story, 08 Nov 2007
A beautiful story of heartbreak and broken times, COLD MOUNTAIN is by far the best Civil War story to come out of the U.S. While I love Gone With the Wind, it can't hold a candle to "Mountain."

What is so galling about the story and the characters are not the the north's treatment of the south during this era, but rather the treatment of Southerners against Southerners. I was reminded more than once of The Color Purple and the same one-on-one treatment. I would highly recommend this chilling tale of survival, along with the novel Bark of the Dogwood---funny and knowing like Pychon or Sedaris, yet set in the modern-day South.