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Cold Mountain
 

Cold Mountain

by Charles Frazier

In 1997, Charles Frazier’s debut novel Cold Mountain made publishing history when it sailed to the top of The New York Times best-seller list for sixty-one weeks, won numerous literary awards, including the National Book Award, and went on to sell over three million copies. Now, the beloved American epic returns, reissued by Grove Press to coincide with the publication of Frazier’s... (read more)

Top tags: historical fiction,  civil war,  fiction,  war,  national book award (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
sthurner
  • Rated 5 stars

“"At the first gesture of morning, flies began stirring."

So begins one of my favorite reads of the past few years. I loved the characters, the language, the setting. I found it to be funny in places, horrifying in others, and altogether memorable to the end. I was also intrigued by the parallels to other hero stories like The Odyssey. Thumbs up from this reader.”

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Didn’t Like It

MamaEdmund
  • Rated 1 stars

“Hated this book.”

MamaEdmund’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 3.840324 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 3.708333 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Barbara M

    barbara m said:

    “Listening to this book took a little adjustment since Mr. Frazier's voice is a slow southern voice. Once I got used to his cadence, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. His voice was perfect for the characters. There was one character they couldn't portray in the movie that was so real for me in the book - the land of Cold Mountain. I figured it for a fictious place that Frazier had made alive. About a year after I read the book, my husband and I, and a couple of friends, were on a road trip through the Blue Ridge. We were up near Mount Pisgah. I told my friends, who had also read the book, that I could just feel that this was where the real Cold Mountain would have been. Within 5 minutes we passed a small blue highway sign that said "Cold Mountain!" It was goosebumps time! We stopped at a state tourist info center and looked at a map - Cold Mountain is real. That's how good this book was - I recognized the place from the book.”

    posted Tuesday, May 13 2008
  • Shanin

    shanin said:

    “This book had me cheering the characters on thru the entire book. I couldn't put the book down. I just wanted to know if everything would turn out ok in the end. I am not into romance, but I really was going for the happily ever after. I loved every heart wrenching second with fingers crossed.”

    posted Thursday, May 1 2008
  • Leslie E

    leslie e said:

    “This is one of my all-time favorite books, wrenching though it was. To me, it had the pace it needed to tell the story, and I think Frazier did it brilliantly. I fell into Inman's slow pace as he makes his way homeward with his bruised body. Ada's hardscrabble struggles to survive before Ruby came--trying to get eggs from the chickens and her terror of this nightmare world she's now forced to try to make her way in. As a reader, I needed time to become engulfed in this world and Frazier's beautiful language gave me that time. Exquisite prose, I thought, which often approaches poetry. The opening passage with the light and the window--he hooked me right there. ”

    posted Wednesday, February 6 2008
  • homeinthehills

    homeinthehills said:

    “This is not a novel that lends itself to speed reading. The details of surviving horrific wounds, learning to create a garden for food--not aesthetics--heading "home" at a crawl, if necessary; these slowed me down to the pace of the characters. I learned more history here than in the texts called America History. Homeinthehills”

    posted Wednesday, February 6 2008
  • terabear

    terabear said:

    “Good book but slow read if you have seen the movie
    ”

    posted Monday, February 4 2008
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