Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain is another book I skipped by in high school and always vaguely meant to come back to. When I saw it at a used book sale last summer I picked it up without really thinking about it. My friends all read it in AP English our senior year, while I slept my way through Hamlet. It might not have made much mark on my memory at all except that the movie also came out that year.
Specifically, the movie was in theaters when I was in Mexico for Spring Break, and I went to see it with my host family. At the time I was mostly eager to be able to sit for two hours without having to think and speak in Spanish. The movie was dubbed, rather than subbed, and would therefore be easy for me to understand. I left the theater with a million thoughts buzzing through my brain, but the only one I was able to express to my host mother was "that was sad", and she didn't seem eager to discuss it beyond that. Over time, those thoughts faded until I was left with nothing more than the impression of sadness with something more meaningful under the surface and a vague desire to read the book should I stumble across it.
The first surprise was that Ruby, played in the movie by Renee Zellweger, is black in the book, which changes her whole entire character. Changing Ada's hair from brown to blonde makes some sort of sense because it's not that important. Changing Ruby from a free black woman in the south trying to cut ties with her father to a homeless white woman is pretty significant. Especially in a Civil War book.
I was also surprised by the structure of the book, which is almost episodic. The chapters alternate between Inman's journey home and Ada and Ruby's attempts to get the farm in working order to get the through the winter. Each chapter felt like a complete short story. Inman would meet some person who either helped or hurt him. Ada would learn something new and become more self-reliant.
Honestly, I probably could have done without Inman's story at all. Many of the people he met were awful in a way that I didn't want to read about. They seemed to be presented to make Inman look better, but Inman's honestly not such a great person either. When the person was genuinely kind and generous, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The romance between him and Ada failed to ever interest me, and I was actually relieved when he died at the end.
On the other hand, I loved everything about Ada and Ruby and their growing friendship. Learning the workings of them farm and how their pasts shaped these two women and seeing the struggles they faced made this book for me. If the entire thing had just been the two of them, I would have been ecstatic. At least it was the two of them in the end. And the random dude who showed up so Ruby could have some kids.
Specifically, the movie was in theaters when I was in Mexico for Spring Break, and I went to see it with my host family. At the time I was mostly eager to be able to sit for two hours without having to think and speak in Spanish. The movie was dubbed, rather than subbed, and would therefore be easy for me to understand. I left the theater with a million thoughts buzzing through my brain, but the only one I was able to express to my host mother was "that was sad", and she didn't seem eager to discuss it beyond that. Over time, those thoughts faded until I was left with nothing more than the impression of sadness with something more meaningful under the surface and a vague desire to read the book should I stumble across it.
The first surprise was that Ruby, played in the movie by Renee Zellweger, is black in the book, which changes her whole entire character. Changing Ada's hair from brown to blonde makes some sort of sense because it's not that important. Changing Ruby from a free black woman in the south trying to cut ties with her father to a homeless white woman is pretty significant. Especially in a Civil War book.
I was also surprised by the structure of the book, which is almost episodic. The chapters alternate between Inman's journey home and Ada and Ruby's attempts to get the farm in working order to get the through the winter. Each chapter felt like a complete short story. Inman would meet some person who either helped or hurt him. Ada would learn something new and become more self-reliant.
Honestly, I probably could have done without Inman's story at all. Many of the people he met were awful in a way that I didn't want to read about. They seemed to be presented to make Inman look better, but Inman's honestly not such a great person either. When the person was genuinely kind and generous, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The romance between him and Ada failed to ever interest me, and I was actually relieved when he died at the end.
On the other hand, I loved everything about Ada and Ruby and their growing friendship. Learning the workings of them farm and how their pasts shaped these two women and seeing the struggles they faced made this book for me. If the entire thing had just been the two of them, I would have been ecstatic. At least it was the two of them in the end. And the random dude who showed up so Ruby could have some kids.
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