Cold Mountain : A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

by Charles Frazier | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0375700757 Global Overview for this book
Registered by phoenixfeather of München, Bayern Germany on 10/19/2005
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
12 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by phoenixfeather from München, Bayern Germany on Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, Imman, a Confederate soldier, decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Ada, the woman he loved there years before.His treck across the disintegrated South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign. At the same time, Ada is trying to revive her father's derelict farm and learn to survive in a world where the old certainties have been swept away. As it interweaves their stories, Cold Mountain asserts itself as an authentic American Odyssey - hugely powerful, majestally lovely, and keenly moving.

I saved this book from the bin, when a friend's exchange partner from the states threw it away (!) after having read it. Never got around to reading it myself.

Journal Entry 2 by phoenixfeather from München, Bayern Germany on Friday, January 27, 2006
... on its way to samulli to save her ring :-)

Journal Entry 3 by samulli from Weimar, Thüringen Germany on Wednesday, February 1, 2006
The book was in the mail yesterday.
Thanks to phoenixfeather I can now try to revive my ring that was stalled ages ago in Brazil. I will contact the remaining participants and set up a new list.

Journal Entry 4 by samulli from Weimar, Thüringen Germany on Sunday, February 5, 2006
I have contacted the remaining people on the list for the other bookring, but so far nobody wanted to join again (probably understandable after such a long time). Instead I got some new participants:

dark-draco
NatGilder
PinkManager
pepita-di-Corfu
Aisling78
saidenuj
16stepper (skipped, couldn't be reached by PM)
abismithy
froggirlwendy (Oz)

And since I have decided to change this into a ray instead, the last person on the list can keep the book.

Journal Entry 5 by samulli at By Mail in Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Released 18 yrs ago (2/15/2006 UTC) at By Mail in Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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Sent to the first participant of the bookring. I hope this time it will make it to the end of the ring...
;-) Happy reading!

Journal Entry 6 by wingdark-dracowing from Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Friday, February 17, 2006
Received today. The movie has been in my want-to-watch list for a while, but I always prefer to read the book first. Now I can! It looks really good. I've put it to the top of my TBR list and will let you know what I think. Thanks.

Journal Entry 7 by wingdark-dracowing from Ledbury, Herefordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, February 23, 2006
Finished reading this today. Have to admit that I found it a bit hard going to start with, but soon got into it. I loved the descriptions of the country and felt for all the characters. It's a big book, but seemed to fly by. Did't like the ending, but then wasn't that surprised by it. Still going to have to rent the film though! Thanks for releasing this and organising the ray.

Released 18 yrs ago (3/1/2006 UTC) at posted to a fellow bookcrosser in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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Journal Entry 9 by NatGilder from Durham, County Durham United Kingdom on Monday, March 6, 2006
Received today. Look forward to reading it right away.

Journal Entry 10 by NatGilder from Durham, County Durham United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Finished reading this. It wasn't really my kind of book, but it wasn't bad either. It has been sent on to PinkManager today. Enjoy and happy bookcrossing!

Journal Entry 11 by PinkManager from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Sunday, April 2, 2006
Arrived yesterday,but I had a problem with my connection.Thank you NatGilder!I'll try to read it as fast as I can although I've got some rings before this one.

Journal Entry 12 by PinkManager from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Monday, May 29, 2006
I'm very close to the end.Sorry for the delay but there were other rings,exams for a certificate and now Final Exams at school..I work really hard this period.

Journal Entry 13 by PinkManager from Athens - Αθήνα, Attica Greece on Tuesday, June 13, 2006
What an amazing book!I really loved Frazier's style,the descriptions,the very strong feelings,the excellent depicted characters..Thanks for letting me read it and sorry for the delay!I'm going to send the book to pepita the day after tomorrow.

Journal Entry 14 by pepita-di-Corfu from Thessaloniki - Θεσσαλονίκη, Thessaloniki Greece on Sunday, July 16, 2006
PinkManager gave me the book yesterday during our 1st Greek Bookcrossing Convention. There are some books that have to be read first, i hope it won't take me too long to get down to it..

the photo uploaded is a scene from the movie, starring Jude Law (cutting my wrists for him :p) and Nicole Kidman

Released 17 yrs ago (8/31/2006 UTC) at To the next participant in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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this is a really busy period for me and i have already kept the book for a while so i decided to let it travel to the next participant. I hope our roads will cross again in the future...

Journal Entry 16 by Aisling78 from Essex, Massachusetts USA on Thursday, September 7, 2006
This book arrived yesterday, and I read the first few chapters today on my lunch break. I can't wait to get home from work & curl up on the couch to read more.

Journal Entry 17 by Aisling78 from Essex, Massachusetts USA on Friday, October 13, 2006
I'm sorry I've had this book as long as I have, but this truly was not a book to speed-read. I had trouble getting into it at first, but am so glad I stuck with it. The language was so expressive, the descriptions so vivid, and the characters so fleshed out. I couldn't rush through this book. I found myself slowing down, savoring each paragraph, even rereading passages that really appealed to me. I haven't felt compelled to do that with any other book in recent memory. The ending I reread over and over -- I was stunned...heartbroken for two fictional characters who had become so real to me. This was an unforgettable book, and I feel I have been touched by it. Thank you so much for sharing it as a ring, samulli and phoenixfeather. I'm going to PM the next in line and send this book off on it's journey (Though I may thumb back through a few more passages before I seal the package!!)




Journal Entry 18 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Arrived safe & sound in Iowa today. I'm looking forward to this one! But I have to finish up one other book first and then this one is up next. Thanks for the chance to participate in this book's journey.

Journal Entry 19 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Friday, November 10, 2006
Six stars - "Decent, but not my type of book." I'm hard pressed to say just why though. There isn't anything specific I can put my finger on that caused me to not enjoy this more. All I know is that the first half took me what seemed like forever to get through and the second half was only marginally better. A book of this length would normally take me 3 or 4 days at most to read, but this one took more than twice that. I wasn't drawn to pick the book up again after setting it down, for one thing. The writing was *very* descriptive and the characters were engaging. I just couldn't get into it.

I did find a couple of quotes that I particularly liked. No spoilers I promise.

From page 277: "That's just pain, she said. It goes eventually. And when it's gone, there's no lasting memory. Not the worst of it, anyway. It fades. Our minds aren't made to hold on to the particulars of pain the way we do bliss. It's a gift God gives us, a sign of His care for us."

From pages 420-421: "He talked to her of the great waste of years between then and now. A long time gone. And it was pointless, he said, to think how those years could have been put to better use, for he could hardly have put them to worse. There was no recovering them now. You could grieve endlessly for the loss of time and for the damage done therein. For the dead, and for your own lost self. But what the wisdom of the ages says is that we do well not to grieve on and on. And those old ones knew a thing or two and had some truth to tell, [he] said, for you can grieve your heart out and in the end you are still where you were. All your grief hasn't changed a thing. What you have lost will not be returned to you. It will always be lost. You're left with only your scars to mark the void. All you can choose to do is go on or not. But if you go on, it's knowing you carry your scars with you."

Thanks for letting me participate. If nothing else, I do have a desire to see the movie now. (See, that tells me I liked the story overall, I just didn't particularly enjoy it in written form for some reason.)

Update: Dec 2 - After trying several times to reach 16stepper, I've gotten samulli's permission to skip to abismithy, next on the list.

Released 17 yrs ago (12/4/2006 UTC) at USPS in to a fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

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Mailed to abismithy. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 21 by abismithy from North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I'm sorry I didn't register this when it arrived, but I started reading it straight away - and finished it within a week.

I really enjoyed this book although I kind of wished I had read it before seeing the movie. I loved the use of description but also found that I was able to picture things better because of the movie and the scenery in the movie. I will PM the next and last person on the list and I hope to post this out shortly as I am currently waiting the arrival of my first child - due any day now!

Journal Entry 22 by froggirlwendy from Bracken Ridge, Queensland Australia on Monday, January 29, 2007
Arrived in hot humid Brisbane today. Thanks so much abismithy for sending it my way and samuli for adding me to the ring, which I notice changed to a ray - and I am last :o) At least I can take a bit of time getting though the other bookrings first before reading this one. On my TBR pile for a while then will release/RABCK it once read. Hugs :o)

Journal Entry 23 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Monday, October 15, 2007
Oh, I do love getting a well-travelled book and reading all the journal entries! Thanks froggirlwendy. I'll get to ASAP so that I can send it on its way.
I've seen the film so I'm looking forward to reading it.


Journal Entry 24 by livrecache at on Friday, January 4, 2008

Released 16 yrs ago (1/3/2008 UTC) at

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Sending to Gillg as part of house moving panic.

Journal Entry 25 by gillg from South Perth, Western Australia Australia on Saturday, January 12, 2008
Recieved this week, many thanks to livrecache, an unexpected bonus!

Released 16 yrs ago (2/21/2008 UTC) at Coode Street, near intersection of South Tce in Como, Western Australia Australia

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Phone box outside of clothing alteration shop. This is the books first wild release, I so hope it gets journalled!

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