On the way to Cold Mountain

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On the way to Cold Mountain (Original title: Cold Mountain ) is a novel by Charles Frazier , for which he received the National Book Award in 1997 .

action

The novel tells the story of an odyssey during the final months of the American Civil War in the 1860s .

Shortly before the outbreak of civil war, the educated pastor's daughter Ada Monroe and the simple craftsman Inman get to know each other. But the beginning of the war tears the unlikely couple apart, Inman goes to war.

Inman fought for three years in the war, where he saw countless of his friends die. He keeps the book and the photo of Ada that keep him alive like a treasure. After one of his comrades is fatally wounded on the battlefield, he wants to transport him away. However, right now he is shot in the neck and taken to a military hospital.

In the hospital he received a letter from Ada asking Inman to return as soon as possible. When Inman's wounds are halfway healed, he dares to escape from the hospital. As a deserter , he is released for shooting and on his journey through a land of desolation - always with the aim of getting back to his beloved in Cold Mountain - he meets again and again unexpected enemies.

Meanwhile, after the death of her father, Ada sinks into lethargy and is about to starve. Neighbors send the girl Ruby over, who has fought herself for years with minimal resources. Ruby's practical advice and energetic drive, as well as the hard work of both women, allow the rundown farm to grow slowly. The plot follows the life path of these three people, who were all uprooted in their own way by the turmoil of the war.

filming

After the Oscar-winning melodrama The English Patient and the literary film adaptation The talented Mr. Ripley , director Anthony Minghella filmed this book, also under the title On the Road to Cold Mountain . For his adaptation of Charles Frazier's bestseller, the Briton won the following cast: Oscar winner Nicole Kidman plays the educated Ada; Renée Zellweger is the down-to-earth, self-confident friend Ruby. The Briton Jude Law embodies the soldier Inman, who discovers that love is the only thing worth living and dying for.

expenditure

The original Cold Mountain edition was published in June 1997 by Avalon Travel Publishing, Emeryville, California ( ISBN 0-8711-3679-1 ), and in September 1998 as a paperback by Vintage Books, New York ( ISBN 0-3757-0075-7 ), since then in various other paperback editions.

The German translation by Karina Of was published in 1997 by List-Verlag Munich ( ISBN 3-4717-7555-2 ), in 1999 as Diana-Taschenbuch by Heyne-Verlag ( ISBN 3-4531-5252-2 ), and again in 2004 as Heyne paperback ( ISBN 3-4538-7522-2 ).

In 2003 the photo book Cold Mountain: The Journey from Book to Film was published by Newmarket Press, New York ( ISBN 1-5570-4593-3 ), edited by Linda Sunshine, with photos by Phil Bray and Demmie Todd, about the shooting.