8 member(s) found this review helpful.
So many have given this book enthusiastic reviews and called it great literature. I did not like it, nor did I consider it great writing.
I know it is fiction, but I wonder how accurately it portrays the time of the Civil War. I think the author has taken a current worldview and applied it to that time. There is no authentic Christianity in it. All of the characters that Inman meets on his travels home are crude or criminals or primative. I know that is probably to set the mood of the times, but I think there was some (if not much) geniune Christianity, true religion that gave the hopeless hope during that desperate time. Look at how many in our country turned to religion (in some form or another) after the 9/11 attacks.
I read over three-fourths of the way through it, skimmed through the rest, then just decided to not finish reading it carefully. I thought the ending was unsatisfying.
I have read books that did not have happy, neatly wrapped up endings (such as Cancer Ward, The Chosen). I do not think this book in the same category as these.

Josephanie A. (
puppyfred) wrote on 6/5/2007...
8 member(s) found this review helpful.
Some people may just adore this book. For some reason, I have never been able to get into it. I've attempted to read this book several times, and just lose interest. Perhaps this book will do better in the hands of another reader.
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is about a man who is making is way home from the Civil War after being injured. (Through the North Carolina Mountains) His drive is behind a woman he barely knows. The story goes back and forth between his journey and what is happening in her life as he is making his way. I enjoyed the depiction of what life was like in the mountains during this time. How hard life was. How hard you had to work to survive. I enjoyed it so much, it made me wants to learn to grow and cook like they did. Just to get the feeling
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is about a confederate soldier who decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He goes back to see the woman he loves...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
An extremely fascinating look at the culture and environs of the Smokey Mountains which I loved reading about since I visited there. A romantic story full of yearning, war, separation, passion. I enjoyed this book and recommend it as a good read.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This National Book Award Winner, made into a movie, has become a classic. It is a bit of a hard read, but the ends do justify the means. The book is spell-binding, and a must for Civil War buffs.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, Inman, a Confederate soldier, decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge Mtns, and to Ada, the women he loved there years before.....
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Historical, Civil War era tale of a Confederate soldier's attempt to walk back home to his love, Ada, through a disintigrating South torn apart by war. At the same time Ada is trying to survive on her father's derelict farm. If you saw the movie - read the book.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
A beautiful story of three characters (Ada, Ruby and Inman) and their journeys (both external and internal) while surviving a very difficult period (the Civil War.) A vey rich and colorful American Odyssey!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Civil War novel chronicles a Confederate army deserter's search for home and love in the last days of the Civil War. Excellent prose.