Bill_Slocum
"The Undiscovered Country"
A Lunch Community
Rating:
-4
I had to read this book as part of my course when I was in school and although I definitely think the experience has painted a negative image of this book for me I don't think it is simply the bias speaking when I say that this is a bad book. It was apparently worthy of a movie tie-in but I really don't see why.
The story is of a man who is on his way back home to the Appalachian mountains after the American Civil War and the things he goes through along the way. It really paints a picture of America at that time as being a very cold and lawless place which, straight after the Civil War, it probably was. He meets many people along the way both good and bad and encounters rape, murder and pillaging. The book is written in such a boring style however and the characterisation, which switches between the main character and a woman called Ada every other chapter, is so lacklustre that it's almost a chore to carry on reading it.
I wouldn't really recommend this book to others but it's on the required reading lists of a few schools such as mine so maybe having to read, analyse and answer questions over the minutae of the happenings has ruined it for me. Then again I've recovered from being forced to read Shakespeare at school and I like it now, so maybe not.
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More Cold Mountain reviews
When I started Cold Mountain I wasn't entirely sure how much I might like it (full disclosure: I have not yet seen the movie version starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellwegger). It seemed from what I had read in the movie reviews and on the back cover that there was a great chance that the book might be too modern and precious to be good. I am glad to admit my mistake, and boy was I wrong. Frazier's narrative, dialogue, and description is as spare, dry, and … more
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This book was set in civil-war North Carolina, during a time where men were hauled off to war and the deserters were shot. Ada Monroe learned things the hard way. After the death of her father and the love of her life, Inman's departure, she was left to fend for herself on the farm that she lived her whole life on. If not for Ruby's appearance one day at her doorstep to help, Ada was withering away in despair. Their friendship allows them to work together to produce crops … more
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The book is excellently written and captivating. The movie adaptation is terrible. Why can they not follow a good plot in a movie is beyond me.
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Much better than the movie but a rather conventional historical romance.
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A decent book about a hrading working women. It moved a little slow for me.
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A very good book that takes place during the Civil War.
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I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about. I have to admit it was somewhat disappointing.
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Even rustic Cold Mountain, NC feels the cold embrace of the Civil War and most of its young men answer the call to fight. Some of the more hardened stay behind and form the Home Guard, which amounts to nothing more than a group of violent men intent on delivering their own brand of justice to those they call outliers, deserters of the war. This is the story of two people in Cold Mountain who meet, are separated by the war, and meet again, both drastically changed by the hardships … more
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review by cecilbothwell.
November 19, 2007
I wrote this review when the book was brand new, but am just now getting around to posting some of my older stuff. My take then: "It's time for GONE WITH THE WIND to move over, the Civil War has finally produced a great novel. This story of a perilous journey across North Carolina and an equally difficult journey of the heart rings far truer than other accounts of the era, and affirms ones faith in modern readers (many months a best seller) and the literary establishment (National Book Award). My … more
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review by Bill_Slocum.
March 17, 2007
Immense and reaching in its ambition, dense in its verbiage and sense of character and place, chilly in its view of life and man's fate, "Cold Mountain" is aptly titled, even if most of it weren't set on a steep North Carolina promontory of that name. Inman, a soldier in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States, has had enough. Wounded, he escapes from the hospital rather than return to action for a cause he doesn't especially believe in and knows to be lost. … more
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Jul 1, 2010
Last Login: Apr 17, 2011 01:12 PM UTC
Last Login: Apr 17, 2011 01:12 PM UTC
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About this book
This unabridged audio version ofCold Mountain, read by author Charles Frazier, deserves at least as much acclaim as thebestselling print edition, which won the National Book Award. The tale chronicles a Confederate army deserter's search for home and love in the last days of the Civil War.
Much has been made of the story's homage to The Odyssey, the origins of which are found in an oral tradition. One can't help but hear echoes of Homer when listening to Frazier's soft, deliberate voice give life to his lyrical writing and to his understated, yet convincing rendering of the overwhelming events of war. Both Frazier's prose and reading are leisurely, recalling a slow foot pace. His delivery is uniquely suited to Innman's arduous, adventure-filled walk toward home and to the possibility of a reunion with Ada, the woman he loves. The author's reading does equal justice to Ada, who is being transformed by her struggle for survival on her father's farm. There is precious little dialogue, and Frazier makes no effort at acting out the characters.
One small irritation in the production is a beeping noise at the end of each side. Another minor complaint is that the tapes don't have individual boxes, which was perhaps an attempt to make the overall package appear more booklike. The recording does, however, make deft use of two brief musical interludes. In a subtle twist, the fiddle music that opens the first cassette, when repeated as an ...
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The fact that other people did not think the same way as I did is not going to suddenly make me think it is a good book. I stand by my review.