# Music by Genre > Old-Time, Roots, Early Country, Cajun, Tex-Mex >  Great Quote From the Book "Cold Mountain"

## John Flynn

I know a lot of you have read this book. There is a passage that has really stuck in my mind. I keep coming back to it, so I just wanted to share it and perhaps discuss it. Just a set up for those of you who haven't read it, the book is set during the last years of the Civil War. There is this minor character named Stobrod, who is the neer-do-well father of one of the main characters. He is not a bad guy, just sort of a bum. But learning to play old-time music on the fiddle finally gives meaning to his life and redeems him as a character. The passage that really hit home for me is as follows:

"Many a night Stobrod wandered from place to place until he found a fellow working at a stringed instrument with some authority, some genius of the guitar or banjo. Then he'd take out his fiddle and play until dawn, and every time he did, he would learn something new.

He first spent his attention to matters of tuning and fingering and phrasing. Then he began listening to the words of the songs the (slaves) sang, admiring how they chanted out every desire and fear in thier lives as clear and as proud as could be. And he soon had a growing feeling that he was learning things about himself that had never sifted into his thinking before. One thing he discovered with a great deal of astonishment is that music held for him more than just pleasure. There was meat to it. The grouping of sounds, their forms in the air as they rang out and faded, said something to him comforting about the rule of creation. What the music said was that there was a right way for things to be ordered so that life might not be just a tangle and drift but have a shape, an aim. It was a powerful argument against the notion that things just happen. By now he knew nine hundred fiddle tunes, some hundred of them being his own compositions."

--- That just blows me away! Charles Frazier summed up my interest in old-time music in words I did not have. What about you?

----------


## SteveW

Yeah, that whole transformation of Stobrod through music is one of my favorite parts of the book. I also love the passage at the end where Inman and Ada dream about their future life together. It says something about them getting a guitar and a mandolin in order to make music together.

I realize that touches like that are hard to convey in a movie, but I thought it was a shame that Stobrod's character comes across as a sort of fiddle playing bum in the movie. We don't really see that he's changed since Ruby knew him years earlier, and it's that change that leads to their reconciliation.

To everyone who saw the movie but hasn't read the book, run don't walk to your nearest bookstore and get a copy.

----------


## Coy Wylie

I agree totally. I read CM when it first came out in the mid 90's but have recently re-read it. Great book...SOOOOOO much better than the movie!

----------


## John Zimm

That is a really interesting passage. I think Frazier has put into words something that I think many of us feel. I usually don't play for an audience, and when I do I don't like anything that I play, but when I am alone and playing just for me, or my wife or my dog, the songs seem to go so much better. 

I can't quite remember the quote exactly, but remember when the guy in "Chariots of Fire" said that when he ran he felt like he was doing what God made him to do. In a way, that is how I feel when I play a song. It is like I am doing what God made me to do, and the world is a safe and ordered place to be. Music is very ordered isn't it (no one _really_ likes John Cage). Music also has a lot of power to make a guy feel as though he were made for a purpose, and it points us towards the recognition that there is more to life than what we see or touch.

-John.

----------


## ikesman

At the risk of hijacking the thread...another great book entitled, "The Black Flower" by Howard Bahr, came out at the same time as "Cold Mountain".

A passage I enjoyed from the book goes something like this, "...because Bushrod loved music, he hated all military bands..."

Anyway the book is well written and the story is excellent; centered around the "Battle of Franklin, TN Nov-1864.

----------


## John Flynn

ikesman:

Thanks! I will get that book. I liked CM so much, I was upset when it ended. It was like I wanted to forget it, so I could read it again! BTW, If anyone else has "Cold Mountain equivalent" books they know of, please chime in. It wouldn't even have to be Civil War. I am interested in the general feel of that book, as well its treatment of traditional music content.

----------


## cutbait2

"on the trail of the lonesome pine" a classic

----------


## Taube Marks

Like some of you, I have read this book twice, once before I started playing music (and the mandolin) again, and then about a year ago when I was home sick for a a couple of weeks.

I liked the book the first tiem I read it, but the second time was like being hit with a ton of bricks. All the important pasages about music (and life) simply jumped off the page. Of course the individual references to the tunes also had more meaning (I already had that disc with John Hermann and Tim O'Brien on it).

In that second reading I began to see parallels with other stories (the Odyssey) too. I was only sorry that the movie was so disappointing (at least to me)...all that chemistry between Ada and Inman just wasn't there in the film...

If you have not read this book, do give it a go...even if you are not a regular reader of fiction. There are so many resonances for us players (and human beings) in it...

Taube

----------


## billkilpatrick

been at the cafe for several months now and just dropped in "old-time" for the first time - sorry for resurrecting this thread but ... that's old time for you.

haven't read the book yet, but i will. something from the movie i think about from time to time is when stobrod says he's become ennobled by music - the sort of thing i would never say out loud to anybody (!) but certainly feel is true.

----------


## ira

thanks for the quote and the recommendation. i liked the movie, but now...must get the book.

----------


## glauber

The book is very good. I can't say much about the story without giving away the surprise at the end, but Stobrod's transformation is, in a way, what redeems the whole story.

I didn't see the movie.

If i remember right, in the book he played a home-made fiddle.

----------


## Richard Russell

I hadn't planned on reading the book, but probably will now! Your quote speaks to me and makes me think of why I am passionate about old-time music. I think music really has a way of making life better. Seems that most everybody is moved by some genre in a special way. As I spend hours playing and playing, trying to get better, I always believe that my real goal is to be able to provide a good sound that will bless others or give them a lift when they need it. I want my music to be a contribution, something given to others.

----------


## John Flynn

Wow! I was really surprised to see this thread I started pop up again after having been dormant for a few weeks shy of TWO YEARS. That has to be some kind of record! But like Bill said, "That's old-time for you." Since the original incarnation of this thread, I finally did see the CM movie, but I, too, was dissappointed. It was not that the movie was actually bad, because it wasn't. It's just that the power of the book did not translate at all. I also saw the "Great High Mountain Tour" inspired by the book and the movie with Allison Kraus, Mike Compton, Reeltime Travelers, etc. That was a treat. Certainly one of the best concerts I have ever seen. 

That Stobrod quote is still very poignant to me. It helps me differentiate true roots music from popular music. Roots music is music that you would rather play yourself than listen to or see performed. It is music of everyday people, not celebrities or musical technicians. It is music that bridges generations, not "what's happenin' now." I'm not saying there is anything wrong with popular music. But I will take the old-timey stuff, thank you very much. The only thing I have discovered since that does it for me as well is Irish music, which of course is closely related.

----------


## sunburst

> If anyone else has "Cold Mountain equivalent" books they know of, please chime in.


This one is sort of a jump.
The main character is a bluegrass musician, but I really liked the book _Come and Go, Molly Snow_ by Mary Ann Taylor-Hall.

There are also a couple of books I want to find and read, by fellow cafe member Stephanie Reiser.

----------


## luckylarue

I recently gave my copy to a friend to read and our discussion brought back to me a lot of great moments from this modern classic. Stobrod's transition as a musician is definitely a favorite part of the story. The one scene that stands out to me is where he is asked to play at the bedside for the young girl as she dies. Maybe this is the same part that mandojohnny referenced in the initial post - it's been several years since I read the book. Anyways, Stobrod realizes the power and emotion of music - brilliant stuff. 
 Also, highly recommended: Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernier - one of my favorite books of all time. I was fortunate enough to read the novel before the film came out.

----------


## ira

never read that book either...movie seemed to sappy in previews so missed that too.

----------


## kvk

Saw the movie; it's worth seeing. Have the sound track CD. Love the soundtrack. "Great High Mountain" from that album is one of my favorite tunes. Just wish I knew how to sing like that.

----------


## Moose

I didn't read the book or see the movie ; BUT, after scanning this "thread" - and the contributions to it - I realize there are others who share my "feelings" of MUSIC. Words cannot adquately describe it..; I've given up trying to explain these things to my wife (or others). Thanks for sharing ; Good to know I'm NOT...alone. Moose.

----------


## Tim

> never read that book either...movie seemed to sappy in previews so missed that too.


Are you talking about "Cold Mountain" (the overall thread topic) or "Corelli's Mandolin" in the post just prior to yours?

----------


## ira

re: sappy= capt corelli's , i saw the cold mountain movie

----------


## glauber

If i remember the Capt Corelly movie right, it was actually pretty good. Kind of a anti-war theme.

----------


## Leftyman

Thankfully I read both Capt Coreli, and Cold mountain, before seeing the films.I rate both books as classics and certainly worth reading again.As for the films they did the books no justice.Capt Coreli in particular was pretty bad and missed the point of the book.In my opinion,and for what its worth.

----------


## luckylarue

I agree w/ Lefty re: Corelli's Mandolin. I would be a hard to read now and NOT picture Nicolas Cage and whatshername as the main characters - and I've never seen the film. It's a shame as I'd put it up there w/ 100 Years of Solitude. Re: Cold Mountain, I thought they did a respectable job w/ the movie - not great, but decent.

----------


## John Ritchhart

If you actually go to Cold Mountain in N.C. you will get that spooky feeling you sense in the book, or at least I did.

----------


## John Ritchhart

My favorite quote is from Ruby. "They say this war is a cloud over the land. They make the weather and stand in the rain and say, s***, it's rainin'". Seems topical today to me.

----------


## John Flynn

> If you actually go to Cold Mountain in N.C. you will get that spooky feeling you sense in the book, or at least I did.


If you wanted the spooky feeling you sense in the movie, instead of the book, you would have to go to Romania, where it was filmed! I wonder how Ruby would have reacted to:

"I am Dracula, and I bid you welcome..."

----------


## glauber

I'm making a note to read the Captn Corelli book sometime.

----------


## billkilpatrick

much better than the film but the film didn't deserve the drubbing it got from the cynics/critics.

----------


## mando bandage

The passage Johnny quoted seems to relate to another sensation that I have from time to time when I will have a song running through my mind that captures a particular emotion I am just about to experience. Seems like the song is triggered before the cognitive recognition (is that redundant?) of the emotion. It's either a musical premonition or I'm slow-witted, and perhaps an equal measure of both.



R

----------


## glauber

> [C Corelli] much better than the film but the film didn't deserve the drubbing it got from the cynics/critics.


Is it by Louis De Bernieres? (found in Amazon) 
Hmmm... i was beginning to wonder if i should try to read it in Italian, but it looks like it was written in English (although he lived in Colombia for a while).

----------


## billkilpatrick

proprio lui! ... he writes very well - i think.

----------


## Arto

"Captain Corelli´s Mandolin" is a fine, many-layered, touching and thought-provoking book. (The film has nothing of these, IMHO, sorry.) Highly recommended.

----------


## JD Cowles

Mando Johnny-

Agreed, what a great book. There is a feeling that I get only when playing music with other people and really clicking that I don't get anywhere else. Definitely a sense of belonging and community. Frazier must be a musician. The movie was a travesty IMHO.

As for Civil War books, try "Killer Angels" by Micheal Shaara [sp]. Not much if any musical content, but an incredible read if you're into historic accounts.

I think I need to read CM again...

----------


## John Flynn

> The movie was a travesty IMHO.


Thank you. My sentiments exactly.

----------


## Tim

I've long thought that what one thinks of a film has a lot to do with what one expects going in. #Cold Mountain (the film) certainly didn't match the book in some aspects but considering the scope of what is available today from Hollywood it is far from a travesty. #Most of the critism I've heard here on the cafe was mostly in the selection of actors/performers, not their actual performance. 

In any novel to film adapations the director will have to select things to leave out. #The short story to film usually does much better ("Stand By Me", "Shipping News").

Who cares where is was filmed - it looked like NC in the 1860s.

----------


## John Ritchhart

Hey, Johnnie. I agree Romania is spooky too. Been there. It feels Dracula-like in places. If Ruby met Dracula she probably would just snap his head off like she did to that rooster.

----------


## John Millring

I loved that Cold Mountain quote too. #

Here's my all-time favorite musical quote, though...

*The Fiddlers Reply* 
_Joel Mabus_

It's a question that I've heard before
And all that I can say to that is -- no sir!
No sir!

I have played a tune in the dark on the porch of a prairie farm  
Summer rain coming down so straight you could set your chair right there
On the edge of the porch and keep bone dry.
Such straight regular rain, they say, is good for the crop. 
Good for tunes too, I say,
Deep in the night, listening to the corn.

And I remember a tune one winter afternoon up north, fiddling after chores.
The sun staring in through a wet kitchen window 
All ice outside, all steam inside.
My chair tips back; the woodstove snaps loudly,
Popping irregular time to the steppy tunes, 
Flannel and coffee, bisquits and boots.

I've played tunes on a fine spring evening at the town hall dance 
Where everybody shows,
Joking with the caller, shaking off winter,
Stretching limbs, swapping partners for neighbors.
Good healthy tempos break the first real sweat.
Long lines forward and back and -- Look! Outside!
The sun's still up on a fine green evening !

And then there is a tune I know that plays just like a cold November morning.
Sober. #Inside, looking out. 
A gray air that wants chords unresolved  
Turning into the mist like so many leaves, riven and broken,
Returning from sky to earth after fall --The undeniable fall -- calls them home.

I have played tunes -- not songs. 
Not voiceable, obvious word-infested songs -- but tunes,
Each tune a puzzle, each one a box with its own proud secret. 
Each its own smile sweetly shown -- each tune is a lesson pondered.
Pattern -- at once familiar yet unique --Like snow crystals -- like footprints  
Like the way the world is 
right 
_now_.

That's what a tune is, and, no sir.
No sir. 
They don't all sound the same to me.
.
.
.
.
.
.

----------


## Paul Kotapish

I very much enjoyed reading both _Cold Mountain_ and Correlli's Mandolin[/i]. I thought they both had interesting things to say about the transformative power of making music for oneself.

Apparently Charles Frazier spent a couple of years intently listening to vintage old-time music while working on his novel. I don't think he plays himself, but he certainly got deep inside the music and got a real sense of why so many of us find it so compelling . . . and was able to articulate those feelings in a convincing way.

I quite enjoyed the film version of _Cold Mountain_--Jack Black's playing and singing included--but nearly everything about the film version of _Correlli's Mandolin_ rubbed me the wrong way.

----------


## John Ritchhart

John, That was really moving. I'm sending it to people who'll understand those feelings. Thanks.

----------


## Ed Lutz

Buckley,

Your statement: "Music also has a lot of power to make a guy feel as though he were made for a purpose, and it points us towards the recognition that there is more to life than what we see or touch." #That is a beautiful comment on music! Well said! You nailed it for me. 
Thanks so much.
ed

----------

