Cold Mountain wasn’t one of my favorite books to read. For one it was pretty long and it took me a while to even get a little interested in it. I would only recommend this book to a person I know would enjoy this style of read. Though the novel is a narrative, it borders on the expository in that there is no true dialogue. When characters communicate, it is largely through the author’s explanation of what was said. Actual spoken words are offset from the text by dashes. No quotation marks or conventional indications of dialogue are used. The narrative follows current events, and then stories within the characters’ memories recount events of the past. The past then serves to explain the present. The chapters are of roughly even length and the story moves at a slow pace that suits the steady and enduring sense of purpose of the characters. This smooth tempo of plot movement creates a balance between Inman’s journey toward Ada and the mountain he loves, and Ada’s journey toward her sense of self and her connection with the mountain. The alternating focus of each chapter, first Inman, then Ada, then Inman, etc. allows the reader a greater depth of understanding of how the characters’ lives are transformed by the events of the war and the events of nature.
The themes of love, war, and homecoming give Frazier’s novel an epic quality reminiscent of Homer’s The Odyssey, but Inman is no favorite of the gods. An ordinary mortal, badly wounded in the battles of Petersburg and Fredericksburg, he struggles with physical hardship and despair during his long trek homeward. His sweetheart, Ada Monroe, must struggle as well to learn how to manage a mountain farm after her father’s death. Their two parallel stories and poignant reunion create an unforgettable story of mythic dimensions.
Frazier’s novel is carefully crafted in language, character, and style, with an almost palpable sense of place. Starting with the use of Cold Mountain (elevation 6,030 feet), a real place, Frazier creates an uncanny sense of time and place through close attention to physical details and a rich sense of authentic language and dialect, with many regional turns and phrases of speech. Himself a native of the North Carolina mountains, Frazier has a sense of geography and place that is unfailingly accurate, creating a sense of being in the physical world of nineteenth century America. Indeed, the novel evokes an almost an elegiac sense of loss of traditional American culture and regional distinctions. Cold Mountain gains additional authenticity from local history and family stories passed on by Frazier’s great-great-grandfather. The novel also is interlaced with white and Cherokee mountain folklore and traditional folk music motifs, which create a regional sensibility. Frazier acknowledges the influence of Appalachian “Jack Tales” on his narrative style.