Cold Mountain

By: Charles Frazier

Narrated by: Charles Frazier

Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain is a masterpiece that is at once an enthralling adventure, a stirring love story, and a luminous evocation of a vanished American in all its savagery, solitude, and splendor. Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, Inman, 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 trek across the disintegrating 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, majestically lovely, and keenly moving.

©1997 Charles Frazier (P)1998 Random House, Inc., Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Charles Frazier delivers a soulful reading of his novel....His writing reveals the fluidity of a storyteller, and the audiobook becomes a natural extension of his skill." (AudioFile)
"Charles Frazier has taken on a daunting task, and has done extraordinarily well by it....A Whitmanesque foray into America; into its hugeness, its freshness, its scope and its soul. Such a memorable book." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A rare and extraordinary book....Heart-stopping....Spellbinding." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Novelists are never in short supply. Natural-born storytellers come along only rarely. Charles Frazier joins the ranks of that elite cadre on the first page of his astonishing debut." (Newsweek)

Appreciated the second time

I read this novel first after it was written. Many years have passed so I listened to it again. Such a wonderful depiction of nineteen century, during the civil war. Characters run the range of heroic to villain and all sorts in between. You won’t forget this memorable story.

I loved this book

I originally tried to return this book but was unable. I then listened to it and I loved it so much. Give it a chance.

Extraordinary

I loved listening to this book. Every detail of nature, regional accent, so bittersweet & melodic, that the author read it was special to me. I’m a Pacific Islander so am unfamiliar with so much of what CF has written, this book transcends my limited experience & was transported like a time traveler… thoroughly entertained & immersed in great storytelling. Thank you.

An easy favorite

This is such a fantastic book. The detail is so incredible that you feel like you’re on the journey too. I have read other reviews that say they didn’t like Charles Frazier as the narrator but I disagree. It was nice to hear the book with the creators intention and feeling behind it. This is a heavy story. It’s brutal and painful and sad. Charles’ monotone seeming voice to me come across as wary and melancholy. I can appreciate how a different narrator could have breathed a different energy into it but then the integrity of the story wouldn’t be the same.
Thanks you Mr. Frazier for sharing this story. It’s been a pleasure.

I greatly enjoyed the story & I LOVE his voice!

I usually don?t go back to re-read reviews - but I was looking for another book to read and since I loved this book and fell in love with Charles Fraziers voice - soft and southern. I thought I would see if he has done any other work.
I saw people saying he didn?t do a good job, I wholeheartedly disagree - I love his voice and would love to hear anything else he chooses to read.

Good Choice

This Audible recording was my first exposure to Cold Mountain. I haven?t seen the movie, but it is difficult to imagine that it has the same power to create ?lasting memories.? Our tragic tale is woven from two parallel tellings of the latter days of the Civil War: the survival of a well-borne southern girl left to fend on a rural farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and a young Confederate soldier who abandons the war to journey back to his mountain home and sweetheart. While reunion of these not-quite lovers is the obvious cause for Inman?s odyssey, this is not a love story. If you?re expecting a highbrow Harlequin fantasy, you may be disappointed. The gift of Ada?s tale is our rediscovery of an ancient way of life where sustenance is ensured only by blisters, lore and an appreciation of the natural world. Inman?s tale is far darker: full of the savagery within and without. At times, Death and Evil are brought so near we can feel their chill, smell their breath. Unforgettable.

As others have noted, the author reads his novel. The operative word here is ?reads?; not to be confused with ?interprets,? the performance we expect from our favorite professional readers. Even so, the authenticity of the accent can?t be denied and Frazier?s voice is pleasant and it's cadence relaxed. Very pleasant and relaxed. I found myself losing consciousness from time to time. That may be why I never understood the icy cruelty of the ?home guard? or even how, exactly, the story ends. I?m looking forward to listening to the book again in the near future. No doubt I?ll know then.

Watch the movie

I'm not usually one to watch the film first, however, in my defence, I had never planned on reading the book. In the end I enjoyed the film so much I couldn't wait to read the book as I expected it be even more enjoyable. Not the case. The film was very faithful to the overall story and even more dramatic and (dare I say, romantic) than the book was. While I didn't dislike the book, reading it didn't add anything to my overall experience of the film. This is one instance where watching the film was actually more enjoyable.

Fraizer not a narrator

Interesting story but Charles Fraizer needs to stick to writing and leave narration to someone else. I would have enjoyed it so much more if it wasn’t for his monotone narration.

A little disapointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

At times the story bogged down.

What about Charles Frazier’s performance did you like?

This was rather unique as the author was the narrator, he did a good job.

Any additional comments?

I preferred Charles Frazier's other works Thirteen Moon's and Nightwoods to Cold Mountain.

Great story but…

This story is amazing - and it’s a good thing. Because if the story were half as bad as the narration, I would’ve had to put it in my DNF pile. The narration was flat and glib. I understand that the story was set during a time of struggle & strife but the was NO emotion in this performance. If the author narrates all of his own audiobooks, I’ll not listen to another. I’d rather read it myself.