Cold Mountain (1997)

A story based primarily in North Carolina, I enjoyed reading about my home state. I also thoroughly enjoyed some of the characters. Inman, a very capable and yet unpretentious man, and Ruby, the independent and self-sufficient woman, were my favorites. Ruby reminds me of Sayward, the lead character in Richter's The Awakening Land trilogy. I did not, however, like that much of the book was a traveling story, like Don Quixote, or a traveling home story, like The Odyssey. While I loved Don Quixote and The Odyssey, the structure of those stories was basic the first time around. Inman's part of [b:Cold Mountain|10920|Cold Mountain|Charles Frazier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442416348l/10920._SY75_.jpg|1006369] is a conglomeration of funny anecdotes, amusing characters, challenging predicaments and occasional temptations. I find these types of travel stories a bit contrived. The structure of the novel seemed designed as the delivery method for a lot of smaller, often unrelated stories. The transitions into many of these back stories felt awkward.

[b:Cold Mountain|10920|Cold Mountain|Charles Frazier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442416348l/10920._SY75_.jpg|1006369] successfully captured much of what is unique about Appalachia. Lee Smith has accomplished painting this picture a few times in her career, as I am sure a few other authors have, but the accomplishment is still quite rare as are the people and culture described. ( )

This has been sitting on my shelf for years, I finally picked it up on the back of good reviews on this site. Beautiful writing, it is so understated, catching your attention unawares. A story of resilience and survival, Inman making his way slowly and tortuously back to Ada; Ada would have died if Ruby hasn't been sent to her. Inman's story is the more curious of the two, with him meeting rather weird characters in odd places. Finally, the two met in the woods. Inman didn't live but he left behind a daughter with Ada. ( )

Another book I had heard about but didn't really know anything about. It sat on my shelf for over five years. Sigh.

This is an excellent civil war story. Not just because of the depth of detail about the time but because the characters are beautifully drawn, and ultimately they drive the story.

It is a love story. But not like any other I've read. We learn very little about the interactions between the two main characters, except through their memories, and even then it's sketchy. We do, however, get to know them individually, as they cope with the situations they have inherited.

Inman is a confederate soldier who has been wounded badly. He finds himself in a hospital where patients do a lot of fending for themselves, and ultimately decides his better move is to get out, away from the fighting, away from the war, and back to Cold Mountain, where he grew up. To Ada. Ada, raised in Charleston, educated, sophisticated, finds herself in Cold Mountain alone, with no real skills, coping with a farm her father took on more as a hobby than as a functioning concern. Many ask her when she is going to return to Charleston, because they can't imagine her staying on.

And so Inman leaves the hospital and hits the trail. Knowing little about where he is or where anything is, really, he works his way back toward Cold Mountain over a period of many weeks. Weeks when he might get caught and sent back into battle. Weeks when he meets up with others who may be of help or may be the death of him. Weeks without money or goods to trade. Other reviewers call is an American Odyssey, a Whitmanesque foray. Yes, those terms fit.

Meanwhile, Ada meets her savior, Ruby, a rough country woman who knows nothing of books but plenty about getting by.

I was about a third of the way into it when I realized I loved this book. It met all of my expectations. ( )

Most descriptive account of the south that I've read - the author has a fine brush - really teleports you back there. The convergence of the protagonists stories makes for a tidy love story. ( )

I love this novel, and its characters. Especially Ada and Ruby. It teaches you things you would never know, about farming, animals, plants, and being destitute in a time of great change, unless you lived in the Southern states during the time of the Civil War. The characters are totally self-reliant, and completely without pride or laziness - there just isn't any time, they are all trying to keep alive. They traded and bartered a lot more than I thought, and had some crazy ideas about religion, home-cures, and animal care. lol
It's somewhat like the book, in some ways, and completely different in others. Hardly any romance at all, which may appeal to some. And still, it's fascinating, beautiful, and totally captivating. I wish there were more! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning things they didn't know, such as the old-fashioned way of curing tobacco, storing crops for the winter, self-preservation, and curing horses of worms. =P ( )