Cold Mountain (novel)

Cold Mountain
Recent edition cover
Author(s)	Charles Frazier
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Historical novel
Publisher	Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication date	1997
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	356 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-87113-679-1 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number	36352242
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 21
LC Classification	PS3556.R3599 C6 1997

Cold Mountain is a 1997 historical fiction novel by Charles Frazier. It tells the story of W. P. Inman, a wounded deserter from the Confederate army near the end of the American Civil War who walks for months to return to Ada Monroe, the love of his life; the story shares several similarities with Homer's The Odyssey.^[1] The novel alternates chapter-by-chapter between Inman's and Ada's stories. It was Charles Frazier's first novel and a major bestseller, selling roughly three million copies worldwide. It was also adapted into an award-winning film of the same name.

Cold Mountain is a real mountain located within the Pisgah National Forest, Haywood County, North Carolina.

Plot summary

The novel opens in a Confederate military hospital where the protagonist, Inman, is recovering from a recent battle wound. Tired of fighting for a cause he never believed in and longing for his home at Cold Mountain, North Carolina, he decides to desert from the Confederate Army and sets out on an epic journey home.

The narrative alternates between the story of Inman and that of Ada Monroe, a minister's daughter recently relocated from Charleston to the rural mountain community of Cold Mountain. Though they only knew each other for a brief time before Inman departed for the war, it is largely the hope of seeing Ada again that drives Inman to desert the army and make the dangerous journey back to Cold Mountain. Details of their brief history together are told at intervals in flashback over the course of the novel.

At Cold Mountain, Ada's father soon dies and the farm where the genteel city-bred Ada lives, named Black Cove, is soon reduced to a state of disrepair. A young woman named Ruby, outspoken and resourceful, soon moves in and begins to help Ada to overcome her circumstances and the two of them form a close friendship as they attempt to survive in this harsh war-torn environment.

Inman's journey to return to Ada is perilous. He faces starvation, extreme weather, the constant harassment of the Home Guard sent to track down deserters, and the treachery of other desperate individuals. He is at times aided in his journey by strangers equally affected by the horrors of war. The story is beautifully told, the characters rich and memorable, and Frazier's narrative renders a vivid and bleak landscape of a Civil War America that left scars upon a nation that were greater than anyone had ever imagined.

Awards and nominations

The novel won the 1997 National Book Award^[2], the 1998 Boeke Prize and the W.D. Weatherford Award in 1997.^[3]

Film adaptation

It was later adapted for the screen by director Anthony Minghella in the 2003 film Cold Mountain, starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renée Zellweger. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Jude Law, and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Renée Zellweger.

References

1. ^ Polk, James (July 13, 1997). "American Odyssey". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/07/13/reviews/970713.13polklt.html. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
2. ^ Smith, Dinitia (November 19, 1997). "Civil War Novelist Wins the National Book Award". nytimes.org. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E7DB163BF93AA25752C1A961958260. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
3. ^ "Weatherford Award". http://www.berea.edu/appalachiancenter/weatherford/pastwinners.asp. Retrieved August 12, 2007.