Cold Mountain

Interesting read blending fictional characters and relationships into a back drop of historical events. Great descriptive writing that created realistic images and emotions.

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The tone can be sometimes a little flat, but I liked how slowly this goes. Once it got to faster pace, it was exciting

At times, the narrator was extremely flat. But other times, the flatness fit the tone of the book. Maybe that's how people are on cold mountain.

Charles Frazier can tell a story. It took me a disk to get into it but once I did I was hooked. The characters are interesting and the circumstances of the Civil War as a backdrop are fascinating. I'm not sure that he was the best choice for reading this book - maybe some dramatic flair would have helped but I was so interested in the story - the journey that I didn't mind.

It dragged. My friends raved about this book, but I found it very depressing.

This book was o.k., but not riveting. There was a lot of detail which could either be interesting at times, or annoying when I was trying to figure out what the author was getting at. It wasn't until several discs in that the reader finds out the two main characters have strong feelings for one another. But then there is not a lot of the author does to build up how the romance began. The way the author tells the story of the beginning romance makes it seem lame. I found myself thinking, this guy is going through all of this because of these first few encounters? It's almost like he had a fantasy about who she was. Like I said, it was o.k. but the romance part should have been more developed.

I am on the last of 12 disks and I am already dreading having to be finished with this book. At first the dull voice of the narrator was rather annoying to me, but later I realized that his voice is actually perfect for this sad, gloomy and beautiful story. It is obvious that the author did a great deal of research for this book. I would definitely recommend this book.

One of the most powerful and spellbinding books I've heard since becoming a member, up there with "Life of Pi," "Bel Canto" and few others. If you're interested in American history, or a powerful narrative story, I highly recommend it. The author reads it, and it would have been better served with a more dramatically capable reader. But it's a minor nuisance, the words carry the story.

Perhaps I should have listened to the unabridged version of this novel. With the abridged edition people and places flew at the listener in rapid succession and I didn't feel very much connection with any of them.

The skeptic in me couldn't help but question the depth of Inman's character and his musings on the world around him, but this took nothing away from a sweeping, romantic, and thoroughly fascinating story. Even though I saw the movie first, the book was full of suspense and shed much more light on the characters I had already met. Very well read by the author, whose voice is a perfect match for the text.