This Book Changed My Life
What can I really say about Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier? So much, but also so little because you really must read it for yourself. I dragged the last 50 or so pages out over way too many days (sometimes even denying myself my nightly reading) because I couldn’t bear to reach the end. Then I reached the end, and all I wanted to do was flip back to the beginning and start all over again. It is beautifully written with a captivating plot - and by captivating I mean that it created in me a general sense of “oh no - it’s so good, I feel like something bad is going to happen any minute now” in the best way possible? My level of investment in the plot sometimes made me feel like I was rushing through, when all I wanted to was soak up each and every word. It is a poem and an Odyssey and one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever read.
I’m getting ahead of myself though. Cold Mountain is set in the late days of the Civil War, in Western North Carolina. The story follows two characters, Inman and Ada, as Inman moves through a country at war towards Ada, who stays (mostly) put at home at her father’s farm, Black Cove, in Cold Mountain. Inman is a deserter from the confederate army, undertaking a treacherous journey through the Southern Appalachian Mountains in building winter. As he journeys, long stretches of solitude and inward reflection are punctuated by interactions with characters that feel mythic or folkloric. Some are good, some are evil, and it’s not always easy to tell which way things will go until they’re already going. All are captivating. It is hard not to think of the Odyssey when reading Inman’s sections of the novel - the sense of vast distance covered, the otherworldly force beckoning him onward, the scattered interactions with a varied cast - setbacks and forward motion in alternation.
If so inclined, the parallel to the Odyssey could be carried over to Ada’s portion of the novel as well, but I didn’t feel it quite as much while reading. Ada didn’t feel much like Penelope to me, but I will concede that I am overdue for a reread of said epic. More to the point, originally from South Carolina, Ada’s Southern Belle lifestyle was left behind when she moved with her father to Cold Mountain. Now her father is dead, the few hired men they had on the farm are gone, still fighting or already dead, and she must figure out how to survive. Onto the scene comes Ruby, a fiercely independent woman who knows the area like the back of her hand. With Ruby’s help, Ada begins to learn the secret rhythms and natural laws of the pocket of mountain she inhabits. Ada and Ruby’s relationship is built on the strong foundation of mutual respect and though it progresses somewhat silently, it is a testament to the different ways in which we can take care of each other.
Which brings me to the most powerful part of this novel - the portrait it paints of humanity. Set in the final years of the Civil War, Frazier does not allow the reader to forget the atrocity of the war. Most importantly, Frazier sheds light on the fact that that many soldiers like Inman felt as though they had no dog in the fight. The high ideals of great generals and the motivations of the rich and powerful meant nothing to those who lived on the fringes of society, on the frontier, in the isolation of Appalachia. And yet, they had to fight anyway, and the only way out was victory or death. To flee was an enormous risk, and generally speaking deserters ended up right back where they started if they weren’t killed first by the patrols who’s job it was to find them and return them to the front lines.
What I’m saying may sound obvious to some, but as one whose Civil War related reading is essentially limited to Gone With the Wind (still one of the GOATs - read it if you haven’t), this book was a good reminder to me - these things happened in our country. The general population’s lack of connection with a period of our history that is so deeply important is a conversation for another day. The point I’m trying to get around to is this: Charles Frazier’s ability to make his reader love humanity is impressive. Humans can be thoughtless and selfish and cruel, but also so strong and capable and deeply good. The way to make sure that those better qualities win out is to love one another. When I finished reading Cold Mountain that was all I could think about: humanity is redeemed by the love we give and the love we receive.
Speaking of love, Charles Frazier’s ability to weave a love story between Inman and Ada without them being in the same place - and with about 3, maybe 4 scenes of former interaction described - is pretty next level. I don’t want to get too deep into it because I don’t want to give a single thing away. I’m forever a sucker for romance - high brow, “low-brow” (which I don’t believe is actually a distinction that can be made, but more on that later). This romance is not like any other romance I’ve read. This love is cosmic; it is the driving force and the crux of everything, which is saying a lot in a book that covers a wide range of intensely powerful ideas.
To put it simply, I was deeply affected by this book. Deeply. Ordinarily, I would throw an absolute temper tantrum about a book ending the way that this book ends, and you can take from that what you want. In this case however, I cannot imagine it ending any other way. I recommend it to everyone who has eyes to read this and also to anyone with ears to listen because I can’t and won’t shut up about it.