Rating: 
Summary: difficult to follow
Review: I'm about 1/4 of the way through this and am determined to finish it as it won an award and rave reviews from my friends. But it's like struggling through quicksand. The problem is not that the author can't write. I wish I could write as well as he does. His description is gorgeous! What bothers me (as with many books I read lately) is the constant use of flashbacks, which are far too long and detailed. In the middle of testimony in a court case that I still know almost nothing about and that does not seem to be following a set procedure, do we need to go back into everyone's past, including their parents' and grandparents' entire histories? Do we really need to explore every single childhood trauma, teenage romance, illness, death, birth, etc? What does it add to the story that one character's father died of a heart attack while sitting on the toilet with his pants down long before any of the significant events took place? Why do we need pages of description of the addresses and living conditions and landladies of every boarding house and farm where another character's parents lived? Do we have to hear about someone's entire college curriculum in another city where he doesnt interact with anyone else in the story? Characters are real to authors and they invent family histories for them (writing for fun, and certainly not as well as Guterson, I do this myself). However, nowadays they don't seem to be able to cut parts that may have interested them, but don't further the story line. The switching of "time zones" back and forth, especially when it is done for every character, is disorienting and distracting. Some things may be relevant, others are not. A really good writer should also take the time to edit or work with an editor.
Rating: 
Summary: like the movie
Review: I liked what Barron Laycock said about this book "like the wonderful movie version." Remove the word "wondeful" and replace it with "boring" and you've got my opinion. Both were beautiful and tugged on a few heartstrings, but the whole book has this, sort of, I've-seen-this-before feel to it. The characters reacted in very normal and predictable way, just as the plot does. The book makes great for a bestseller, but it has nothing in it that transcends contemporary tastes, and, thus, it's popularity will die with its contemporary readership. If you want a book to entertain you and take you away then it can probably service those needs; its popularity can attest to that. If you want a book that will make you think, that will uncomfortably challenge your dogmatism, this book will service you in no way.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike no other, Batteries Included
Review: Evocative and extremely well written, this book lets the mind soar throughout all different types of drama. The fictional world the write has created is so realistic that the atmosphere is unmistakably recognized. Including history and romance, this incredibly written book satisfies the reader in ways no book can. The primary pleasure of the book is David Guterson's interpretation of the diverse characters and the beautiful places. Set on an island in the straits north of Puget Sound the plot is mainly concering a murder trial. Because it is set in the 1950's, haunting memories of World War II, internment camps, racism, and segregation helps fuel suspicion of a Japanese-American fisherman who finds himself on trial for murder of a fellow fisherman. The suffering of the Japanese is so clearly and distinctivcely portrayed, it's impossible to not imagine the event. Miyamoto, the accused man fights the distrust and prejudice of his neighbors on this remote island. The histories of the accused and the victim, both fishermen and residents of the small town of San Piedro, unravel as local journalist Ishmael Chambers, lonely and war-scarred, strives for inner strength, while coming to terms with his ill-fated love for Hatsue Miyamoto, the wife of the accused. The details of this forbidden love between an American boy and a Japanese girl make this book even more intriguing. Mystery, suspense, romance, and history all tied in together makes this book hard to let down. The trial with the flashbacks of what really happened makes it a hooking page-turner. David Guterson describes the prejudcie the Japanese experienced during WWII extremely vividly and clearly. This book is excellent for someone who wants to read a book unlike any other. Snow Falling on Cedars is definitely a powerful and breathe-taking book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unconventional
Review: The author does away with exposition and plunges the reader into the courtroom relying on the readers intelligence to discern the intricacies of the plot.
Rating: 
Summary: A very well written book
Review: David Guterson did a great job composing this book. His writing is descriptive and I enjoyed the book a lot (despite the fact that I had to read it for a high school English class). The plot is captivating and the characters are well developed. This book got me interested in the Japanese-American relocation and internment, about which I have recently done a fair bit of research for some papers. The only reservation I have regarding this book is that there are things included that I would prefer not knowing about (the rather "intimate" scenes in the book, for example). For those who, like me, might be bothered by those unnecessary parts I would like to precaution that they are there. Without these parts I would say the book was very good and for those who have no qualms about such things I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: a book everyone has to read
Review: --my mother suggested this book to me and i will be ever so thankful to her. Snow Falling on Cedars has become on of my favorite books. David Guterson is a master at describing every little detail so that while reading the novel, you feel as though you are in pudget sound. The description of each character and the snow storm is what made me come to love the book. the novel centers around a murder and throughout the entire book the court trial is talked about, but it is not until the very end that you know exactly what happens. i found it amazing that David Guterson could span out the trial for 700 pages. the love story between ismael chambers and hatsue brought tears to my eyes. their love was forbidden because ismael was white and hatsue was asian (during WWII). Guterson also goes into detail about the camps asian americans were sent to during the war and how neighbors turned on their friends because of their race. Each character is explained thoroughly and while reading you begin to know each one of them. As the reader you begin to know whats in each of their hearts, why they feel a certain way and overall their life story. It may sound like a lot, but it makes the novel what it is. A literary masterpiece. It is one of the greatest and tragic love stories i have ever read, that brought me to tears. You find yourself thinking at the end: could you have done what Ishmael had. Given it all up for the one you love? I highly suggest reading this book. If you only read one, read this.
Rating:
Summary: Snow falling on cedars
Review: This book is not for the light-hearted. It is a story of a time gone by in American and Japanese history. It depicts a time of trouble for many people caught up in the turbulence of World War Two. I would ask how one not able to find the true message of the story could read the entire book without interest. Accordingly, I would not recommend Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation unless one has a special respect for the men and women who have made America what it is today.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful and captivating
Review: This book isn't just a love story. It isn't just a murder mystery. It isn't just a history lesson. It has layers upon layers that kept me from putting it down. If you enjoy writing that surpasses the simplistic one-dimensional story lines, this book has a very complex and entertaining style. The characters were well defined and the setting richly described. I would gladly recommend this book to anyone, regarless of their taste. It has something for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Snow Falling on Cedars
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson,is about a place that's scary where no one lives and no one can afford to make enemies. The story set on a small island off the coast of Washington during the 1950's, centers on the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, and lots of excitement beginning with Kabuo's marriage. Although, I had a hard time reading this book because it was very long, compared to other novel I have, it was scary,alot of excitement and alot coincidence happened. I would recommend this book because I had fun reading it,but sometimes it's confusing and I get lost.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Uplifting Exploration of Love & Prejudice
Review: Like the wonderful movie version of this haunting and timeless story (see my review), this is a wonderfully written and superbly executed novel that both evokes a particular time and epoch in American history and also relates a breath-taking love story at the same time. Although the movie version unfortunately opened to mixed critical reviews, in my opinion it is one that comes very close to cinematic perfection. Here in the original best selling novel written so powerfully by David Guterson, we are treated to a powerfully depicted drama that also gives us a splendid tale of contemporary social tensions and one man's view of his own personal responsibilities to do what is right and moral. This spellbinding tale of love, mystery and intrigue is set in the Pacific Northwest in the time period right after the end of World War Two, and deals with the undercurrents of deep-seated racism against a group of ethnic Japanese who had made their home for decades on the island depicted in the movie, and who were in many ways the most terribly and unjustly mistreated group within the United States during the war. The story is told in a series of flashback vignettes, and the narrator is the protagonist wrestling with the jumble of feelings and motives as he moves uncertainly toward making his fateful decision to do what he must. In many respects this is also a marvelous murder mystery, and the courtroom drama that unfolds delivers a stunning indictment of the racist tensions and prejudices rampant in this small ocean-side community just after the conclusion of World War Two. The narrator, a decorated war veteran who has lost both his arm and his love to another is covering the story of the murder trial as the reporter/publisher of the small local newspaper also has other, less apparent motives that unravel as the story proceeds. What becomes a life and death drama soon becomes much more a mysterious excursion into the past and a chronicle of tender first love lost, and we begin to understand the complicated jumble of feelings that the narrator reveals to us. This is a book that deals masterfully with a painful aspect of American history quite well without either looking for easy answers or contriving convenient solutions, and in exploring the dimensions of human prejudice and personal feeling as well as it does, manages to let us know that the only way to end such prejudice and fateful discrimination is through individual effort and personal growth. This is a book I heartily recommend for a weekend's intellectual entertainment. Enjoy.
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