Frazier, Charles: Cold Mountain

[calico_reaction]

Comments

[madwriter]

This became one of the extraordinarily rare occasions where I liked the movie better than the book.

I do want to pick up his new one, as it's another subject I'm interested in--I just hope he actually uses quotation marks this time. The lack of them has always made it more difficult for me to read even a book I enjoy.

Can't Spell...

[calico_reaction]

I'll drink to that. In terms of favorites, I think Fight Club was a stronger movie than book, and same for LOTR (which is blasphemy for some people, sorry *grins*).

Ah, lack of quotations...I can work with it in a short story, even though it bothers me, cause short stories are short. But for a whole novel? Ouch. Granted, there was hardly any dialogue in this one, but still...my poor eyes... :)

Re: Can't Spell...

[gruyere]

I agree on LotR - I saw the films first and loved them, but found the novels to be terribly dull. The movie was essentially the "abridged 'Good Parts' version," to borrow a phrase from William Goldman.

Re: Can't Spell...

[calico_reaction]

Same here. I saw the first film four times, read the entire trilogy the following summer, and then saw the rest of the films as they were released. Had I not had "Fellowship" engrained in my brain, I don't think I could've gotten through the book itself.

[calico_reaction]

Thanks for the rec! I'll keep it in mind. :)

[calico_reaction]

Ah, reccing doesn't take much time at all. :) Thanks again!

[gruyere]

Hated Cold Mountain. HATED it.

[calico_reaction]

I can't say I hated it, but I didn't like it either. But I'm glad to hear others had problems and I'm not an oddball. :)

[gruyere]

I disliked it enough that I included it on my list of "Notably Lousy Books" at the bottom of my 2005 tally.

[calico_reaction]

Interesting. I wasn't fond of Haunted either, because it drove home the fact that every book is the same voice, Palahnuik's voice. When you consider the number of short stories in that book, and each short is a different narrator, there should've been some variation, but there wasn't. That realization alone ripped the gloss of his prose away, and I started noticing more and more of his flaws. Oh well. :) I'll still read his books when they come out. :)

[postcard_life]

I did like Cold Mountain, though it seems that I am the only one. I remember starting it and not being able to get into it. Then I picked it back up and enjoyed it considerably. That was right before the movie came out, about three years ago, so I don't remember exactly why I liked it. I'm glad I started keeping a list of the books I read, so now maybe I can keep better track of the books I love.

Do you like the booksnob community? I just dumped book_club for booksalon. I'm trying to find a good place for reading recommendations, since I can't rely on you exclusively. :) Someone on my friends list starting a book club, but no one ever posts to it. I've been disappointed in most of the reading/book communities on livejournal.

[calico_reaction]

I remember you really liking the book, so I figured I'd enjoy it. But it just didn't jive with me, unfortunately. Oh well, it happens. :)

I don't read the posts at booksnob, because a long time ago when I did, every one seemed bent on making introduction posts where they affirmed how much they hated science fiction (which is blatantly stated in the user info). Pissed me the hell off: I don't mind them excluding a certain genre, but it was hypocritical in that if the book was considered literary, like 1984 or Brave New World or Never Let Me Go, they'd discuss it, and all I wanted to do was yell, "THAT'S SCIENCE FICTION, DAMN IT!!"

Anyway, you obviously know why it pisses me off. I don't consider them snobby in any other regard, but it all depends on your tastes. Check them out for a while, see what you think.

One of the comms I do follow is bookish. You may find recs there that you enjoy. OH!! Here's a good one: thedailybook. Every day a poll is posted about whether people have read a certain book or not, and the comments are for discussion. That might be a

bookshare

[eeyorelovers]

Sorry to jump in the conversation but I thought you might like bookshare. And please forgive me if that link didn't work. I've done it a few times but I have to look up how to do it everytime. Anyway bookshare was one of the featured comm about a month or two ago and got more traffic. Now there are posts everyday and you might be interested in the reccomendations they give..

[calico_reaction]

Here's another comm recommended to me that you may enjoy. :)

bookshare

[_starkiss]

Followed you here from Bookish...

When there is dialogue, Frazier does the “artsy” thing by NOT USING QUOTATION MARKS.

For the love of everything pure and good, what is WITH this trend? I have yet to see it in fiction where the lack of quotations do ANYTHING save for annoy the hell out of me.

I have to agree. It drives me crazy when writers do this and only a very good book can rise above it, IMO. I adored Cold Mountain, though. I loved the incredible details, and I thought Inman was a compelling character, at once shy and self-assured. But I can definitely see your points.

[calico_reaction]

I'm glad there's people who enjoy it. Obviously, lots of people did for it to get the acclaim it did. :) I guess I'm desensitized to what the writer was trying to do, cause I can see where it had the potential to be powerful.