Cold Mountain
2 journalers for this copy...
From my friend DMA on a biz trip to New Jersey :)
There is no back-of-the-book description, so I'll just say that it takes place in the South, near the end of the Civil War. The main characters are Inman, a wounded soldier trying to make his way home to Cold Mountain; Ada, a grown-up orphan with no farm skills but lots of "accomplished lady" skills; and Ruby, an unschooled but land-educated "hired girl who isn't a hired girl" who presents herself to Ada to help around the place.
There are MANY ancillary characters, whose lives intersect one or more of the three main people, lots of land, food, and killing descriptions, and one can imagine that the cinematography in the movie is amazing, given the author's descriptions.
This is the kind of book that certainly gives one an appreciation for big and little conveniences in life -- fridge, oven, blankets, etc.
There is no back-of-the-book description, so I'll just say that it takes place in the South, near the end of the Civil War. The main characters are Inman, a wounded soldier trying to make his way home to Cold Mountain; Ada, a grown-up orphan with no farm skills but lots of "accomplished lady" skills; and Ruby, an unschooled but land-educated "hired girl who isn't a hired girl" who presents herself to Ada to help around the place.
There are MANY ancillary characters, whose lives intersect one or more of the three main people, lots of land, food, and killing descriptions, and one can imagine that the cinematography in the movie is amazing, given the author's descriptions.
This is the kind of book that certainly gives one an appreciation for big and little conveniences in life -- fridge, oven, blankets, etc.
First, don't ever read this while eating. There are way too many (well-written) descriptions of wounds, deaths, animals, etc. in this book to read it while eating. Consider yourself warned.
Second, wrinkled pages are from reading this in the tub. Sorry about that!
And so, my journal entry. . .
The friend who gave me this book said she just couldn't get into it. I finished it last night, and realized that I never did get into it! The title for this book is actually very apt, as it is definitely "cold". There is little warmth or beauty in this book. I wasn't particularly moved, nor entertained, and I didn't really care about any of the characters. Even though I spent a whole book with them, I still didn't really feel like I knew any of them very well.
One of my criterion for good writing is if the author's descriptions are "descriptive" to me. And these definitely were! I could smell the campfire, see the fog on the mountainside, and definitely felt cold during the snowstorm. But as descriptively awesome as it was, I still didn't really like it.
I liked Inman MUCH better than Ada. There was little sympathetic about her character, and I would have liked to have known Ruby better.
The interesting thing to me is that I've been waiting and waiting to watch this movie until I read the book, but now that I have, I'm not sure I want to bother. I also forced myself not to check the IMDB database on this movie to see who played what parts, so I wouldn't picture those actors in my head, rather than the characters the author drew. I can't describe the disappointment when I went to the website (click on "movie" in this paragraph) and found who had played which character. Jude Law as Inman?! Nicole Kidman as Ada? I could maybe -- just maybe -- see Renée Zellweger as Ruby, but even that was a stretch. And so, I think I won't bother with the movie. I've spent enough time as it is on this book!
Because I don't want my negative thoughts on this book to be the only thing posted here, click here for bookczuk's journal entry. She's from this area, and really enjoyed the mountain descriptions. Her journal entry pictures add a lot, too (as always).
As I wrote this, I was thinking of the "descriptive" part, and how by my definition, I'd call this a well-written book. Unfortunately, though, I don't think it is, really. As a reader who loves books, an author has to try hard for me NOT to like their work. In this case, I just couldn't get into it, and so have to score it low. Back to my previous thoughts: I was thinking about my friend fsr44, and how much I enjoyed her novel. It's not in "official book" form yet, but it had amazing, draw-you-in descriptions, sympathetic people (and each chapter was a different vignette! I didn't even have a whole book to know them!), and in the end, it moved me, it contained beauty, it entertained me, and I continue to feel drawn to it. . .months after putting it down. I know this doesn't have a thing to do with Cold Mountain, but they are thoughts that went through my head as I wrote this journal entry. This book, on the other hand, will be gone from my head in about another 4 hours. Interesting.
I'm sending this on to fulfill a wish on someone's wishlist.
Second, wrinkled pages are from reading this in the tub. Sorry about that!
And so, my journal entry. . .
The friend who gave me this book said she just couldn't get into it. I finished it last night, and realized that I never did get into it! The title for this book is actually very apt, as it is definitely "cold". There is little warmth or beauty in this book. I wasn't particularly moved, nor entertained, and I didn't really care about any of the characters. Even though I spent a whole book with them, I still didn't really feel like I knew any of them very well.
One of my criterion for good writing is if the author's descriptions are "descriptive" to me. And these definitely were! I could smell the campfire, see the fog on the mountainside, and definitely felt cold during the snowstorm. But as descriptively awesome as it was, I still didn't really like it.
I liked Inman MUCH better than Ada. There was little sympathetic about her character, and I would have liked to have known Ruby better.
The interesting thing to me is that I've been waiting and waiting to watch this movie until I read the book, but now that I have, I'm not sure I want to bother. I also forced myself not to check the IMDB database on this movie to see who played what parts, so I wouldn't picture those actors in my head, rather than the characters the author drew. I can't describe the disappointment when I went to the website (click on "movie" in this paragraph) and found who had played which character. Jude Law as Inman?! Nicole Kidman as Ada? I could maybe -- just maybe -- see Renée Zellweger as Ruby, but even that was a stretch. And so, I think I won't bother with the movie. I've spent enough time as it is on this book!
Because I don't want my negative thoughts on this book to be the only thing posted here, click here for bookczuk's journal entry. She's from this area, and really enjoyed the mountain descriptions. Her journal entry pictures add a lot, too (as always).
As I wrote this, I was thinking of the "descriptive" part, and how by my definition, I'd call this a well-written book. Unfortunately, though, I don't think it is, really. As a reader who loves books, an author has to try hard for me NOT to like their work. In this case, I just couldn't get into it, and so have to score it low. Back to my previous thoughts: I was thinking about my friend fsr44, and how much I enjoyed her novel. It's not in "official book" form yet, but it had amazing, draw-you-in descriptions, sympathetic people (and each chapter was a different vignette! I didn't even have a whole book to know them!), and in the end, it moved me, it contained beauty, it entertained me, and I continue to feel drawn to it. . .months after putting it down. I know this doesn't have a thing to do with Cold Mountain, but they are thoughts that went through my head as I wrote this journal entry. This book, on the other hand, will be gone from my head in about another 4 hours. Interesting.
I'm sending this on to fulfill a wish on someone's wishlist.
Just got this in the mail today- and thank you, Antof9 for the RABCK! You saw it on my wish list and just HAD to do something about it, huh?!? ;-) You're wonderful!
I'm looking forward to reading it. Not sure if I'll catch the movie or not- but I've heard the book was better anyway (aren't they always?!).
Thank you again, Antof9! :-D You gave me perma-grin again.
I'm looking forward to reading it. Not sure if I'll catch the movie or not- but I've heard the book was better anyway (aren't they always?!).
Thank you again, Antof9! :-D You gave me perma-grin again.
