Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
On the theory of “better late than never” having just read
and reviewed Frazier’s Verona and duly impressed with his writing skillsm I
checked our local library to see what else he had written. Thus, I came upon Cold Mountain. I recognized
the title from an Academy Award winning movie I had missed seeing…..
Published twenty some years ago, this now widely read debut
novel was at the top of best seller lists for over a year. It also won many
literary awards.
Badly
wounded and disillusioned finally realizing the war was mainly to preserve
slavery for the rich, a Confederate soldier named Inman decides to walk back to
his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to Ada, the woman he loves. His trek
across the disintegrating South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal
converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and eccentrics some helpful and
others dangerous. At the same time,
highly educated for the times Ada is trying to revive her father’s derelict
farm and learning to survive in a changing world she is ill prepare to deal with. Alternating chapters connect their stories. The lyrical descriptions of the Appalachians set
the scenes as the author gives us a
powerful story of real life circumstances. It might not be too far of a stretch
to say that Ulysses and Penelope came to mind as I was drawn into this
wonderful book. I highly recommend it.....
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@Barrie Summy
I will get it!
ReplyDeleteThey didn’t review it on tv but I did see the ads for it.
ReplyDeleteI read the audio version some years ago. It was engrossing. I liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnother must read. I have finally got round to purchasing your last recommendation - Sue Monk's The Invention of Wings.
ReplyDeleteI also liked and admired it.
ReplyDeleteDear Troutbirder, I read this book when it first came out and was driving along a main thoroughfare in Minneapolis--can't remember it's name but I see it clearly in my mind--when the audio tape was coming to the ending of the novel. I was so overwhelmed by the book and that ending that I had to pull the car over to the curb and finish listening. Thanks for bringing that memory back. Peace.
ReplyDeleteOur family loves civil war books. I'll put this on our list.
ReplyDeleteSounds inviting, I love the theme and time
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me to read this book. My son loved Cold Mountain too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a book I might like. In college I was a history major with one of my three areas of emphasis on the civil war. - Margy
ReplyDeleteCold Mountain is a gap in my reading education, too. Glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteHi Troutbirder ... I'd learn about that part of the USA - as well as have an excellent book to read - it will go on my to be remembered list!! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWhat movie? I was on the road 10 years ago and saw a movie once in awhile in Laredo where there's an empty lot the size of a city block where trucks park so I now have as my first impression your craft work here.
ReplyDeleteI liked the movie, but you know...the book is always better. I shall add it to my "must read" list!
ReplyDeleteWe took our grandkids to see the premiere performance of "Cold Mountain" as an opera at the Santa Fe Opera three summers ago, Being a rather dark story with ultimate redemption, the set was consistently dark and probably the story didn't translate well into opera. http://theclassicalreview.com/2015/08/cold-mountain-is-a-long-bleak-night-in-santa-fe-opera-premiere/ My grandkids, the only children there in that beautiful open opera house, stayed awake and engaged I am happy to report.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful book. I read it several years ago.
ReplyDeleteI loved the book and hated the movie. BTW: we live within a few miles of the Cold Mountain for which the book is titled.
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