Rating: 
Summary: Wow! You must read this book....from a 14-year-old student
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars is one of those books that when you read it, you will probably never forget it. And when it comes back to you, you will remember the vivid scenes and the quiet, serene beauty that created by the author in this soulful novel. The story takes place in Puget Sound, Washington on a small island called San Piedro, a fishing and strawberry farm town. Much of the population of the area was of Japanese-Americans, many of who worked in the strawberry fields. The story is during the war, and so there was a lot racism and hatred toward the Japanese, and even the Japanese-Americans were targeted. They were barely considered U.S citizens, treated pretty badly as though they were their enemies as well. It is the story of a murder trial, a first love, and the lives of everyday people living in a small town, struggling through hard times, and cherishing the good ones, and the memories that go with them. One of the things I liked most about this book was that it was written in a way where you saw the perspective of different parts of the story through different people. I liked that aspect. While I was reading this book I was brought into the world of the characters and the surroundings. I was there sitting in the courtroom, I was there smelling the cedar trees the sea breeze, I was there in the strawberry fields smelling the warm strawberries and feeling the heat upon my back. You are feeling a pain for Ishmael when he is in pain. I definitely recommend this book. I hope that you will agree with me that the wonderfully detailed and heart stopping moments make this a unforgettable book. p.s-the movie is also pretty good!
Rating: 
Summary: Decent book, but not strong
Review: Perhaps I should have been wary of any book turned into "a major motion picture." My major quibble involves social and historical accuracy: KENDO IS NOT STICK FIGHTING. It is fencing. I did kendo when I lived in Japan for 2 years; I know kendo. The moves described by the Army sergeant at the trial describes combat with a staff or cane, not sword fighting. In fact pre-ww2 references in the book to term "kendo" is an anachronism: kendo was created after WW2 as a sporting form of kenjiutsu, the more martial form of sword practice that existed before the war. I got beat up by some very good kendo masters and I have a right to quibble. Second quibble: not a lot of tension in this book. Lots of very nice description; good rhythm; very page-turnable; nicely described characters; nice technique in the author's use of flashback blending into trial testimony, but ultimately: no feeling of inherent danger for the accused, no feeling of depth in Ishmael's puppy love for Hatsue (maybe that's the point.) No terror in the recounting of the storming of Tarawa by Ishmael, but I suppose that if the author skimped on his research of kendo, than he also skimped on other spots as well. Buy it used; take it to the beach; enjoy it there; leave it there.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Very good tale touching themes that Americans not always like to face, such as prejudice against immigrants, who ultimately built this country.
Rating:
Summary: Could I give this one six stars, please?
Review: I loved this book. From the first pages I was caught up in the world that Guterson created. I was sure I knew what the ending would be--and was happily surprised to have been wrong up to the last moment. It's not an edge-of-your-seat book, but it is a very good novel. I would echo sentiments expressed in other reviews: please don't be put off by the movie! Skip the movie and just read the book when you have the time to read it through.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and rich
Review: This book kept my interest from page one. It attains the status of literature. I read the book before seeing the movie and the movie hardly does this book justice...
Rating:
Summary: Awe Inspiring
Review: I REALLY REALLY liked this book. It kept me captivated from the minute I started to the minute I finished. I thought this story was beautiful, showing emotions and feelings well, and describing things that were so real to life. This summer I was fortunate enough to travel to Europe and I got to pick to books to take, so I bought Snow Falling on Cedars, and every time we got in the van my book was out, all the way untill we finished it. I loved it. A lot of people tell me that I'm just too soft, but it made me cry. I wish I could meet David Guterson because he must be a very interesting person. Ishmael was my favorite, the way intended, and I wish there was some way he could marry Hatsue or something. I learned a lot of history I didn't know. When I hear about World War 2, I think of the Holocaust or events over seas. I have studied it a lot, and I never even thought about what was going on to the Japanese in America much. This book really piqued my interest, and I loved the book. I found it down to Earth, and though there were a few explicit scenes, it was thoroghly enjoyable. I would definately recomend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, but....
Review: When I started reading this book I was enthralled with the prose the theme and the descriptive talents of the writer. It starts with a sensitive teenage love affair, moves on to a historically accurate treatment of the Japanese Americans citizens who were rounded up and interned at the beginning of World War II. When the war ends, the tale moves on to a mysterious death at sea of a veteran fisherman. A grand jury finds that a decorated Japanese American soldier returning from the European War theatre, is culpable in the fisherman's death and hands down a indictment of murder. A trial follows and it appears that there is little doubt in the minds of the citizens that the heroic veteran did indeed commit the murder. As the trial phase unfolded, I began to have doubts: the author had done such a wonderful job up to this point, but the story was obviously winding down ---- a story that deserved a great ending. But, that was not to be: the ending wimped out. Additional evidence, introduced to the trial judge in his chambers, provides reasonable doubt and ends the case. Aw shucks, gosh, gee whiz, couldn't there have been some evil character who tried to frame the heroic veteran for some devious reason? Well ---- maybe I expected too much.
Rating:
Summary: A great work, except...
Review: I saw the film version of "Snow Falling on Cedars" before reading the book. While I was struck by the beauty of the cinematography, I was disappointed by how thinly drawn the characters were. Also, the focus on the love story trivialized the U.S. government's treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The book was much more satisfying -- the love story is just one component. Guterson wraps the lives of over twenty substantial characters around the war and the treatment of Americans of Japanese decent. He does a convincing job of creating real people, all complex. In the movie, Ishmael Chambers' father is a saint; in the book, he shows strength in defending the rights of his fellow Japanese-American citizens, but he also has a dislike for most people and holds many in contempt. Guterson also is impressive in the amount of research he has done to make the characters and situations believable. There is detailed information on the fishing trade, farming, journalism, Japanese-American concentration camps, the Japanese-American immigration experience, the experience of U.S. soldiers during the war, and small town America during the forties and fifties. He weaves this information skillfully into the story; the book is not a simple drama, but an experience of a period of Pacific Northwest history. All of this would add up to a classic work, except for Guterson's occasional, unfortunate lapses into wretched prose such as "accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart." It is unclear whether Guterson was insecure about the story being powerful enough to stand on its own or whether his publisher wanted to appeal to the "Bridges of Madison County" crowd; in any case, these bad lines are jarring. Fortunately, most of the time, Guterson lets his story and characters speak for themselves. For those who are interested in the WWII from the Japanese-American perspective, "No-No Boy" by John Okada and "Nisei Daughter" by Monica Sone go beyond "Cedars" and also make worthwhile reading, both for entertainment and to learn American history.
Rating:
Summary: Cedars Sears
Review: Author David Guterson was distinguished with the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award for a very good reason. He penned a heart-wrenching novel which covers many themes, some of which, we as Americans, do not wish to revisit. I was drawn into this tale of murder and illicit romance with richly connected characters. My senses soared as each rhythmically inked phrase put me right there, on a remote island in Pugent Sound, smelling the sea, hearing whispers of love, harsh courtroom tones, and seeing, actually seeing ones warm breath escaping into small puffs of greying fog under falling teardrops of snow. As the central character, Ishmael Chambers, remembers in vivid detail the early 1950's murder trial he covered as a newspaper writer. He was once the childhood sweetheart to Hatsue, the accused murderers delicate wife. Evidenciary discoveries place Ishmael in quite a conundrum--do I say what I know or do I at long last claim my love? This is not an action adventure book. This is a novel of murder, law, deep romantic meanings, WWII historical racial prejudices, and above all else; right from wrong. A searing portrayal of visuality and human behavior. Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS
Rating:
Summary: Poetic, Deeply Moving, but not Fast Paced
Review: I really liked this novel, which was much more carefully crafted and painstakingly detailed than most "murder mysteries" which usually bore me to tears. The novel develops many themes including lost love, prejudice, guilt over the internment of Japanese Americans during WW II, and fundamental requirements of duty and sacrifice. More than anything, I remember the sense of place in the novel, as the setting, San Piedro Island in the Pacific Northwest, is one of the true stars of the novel. The novel chiefly involves a murder mystery involving a Japanese American fisherman, Kabuo Miyamoto, accused of killing another fisherman (Carl Heise) out on the sea during a particularly foggy night. There are numerous subplots, as Heise's family seemed to unfairly take advantage of the Miyamotos in a land deal years earlier while the Japanese family was locked in a WWII internment camp. Motive for murder? To further complicate things, the main protagonist of the novel, Ishmael Chambers, is a war wounded and jaded reporter still haunted by memories of first love with Hatsue, the accused man's Japanese American wife. He ultimately faces a crisis of conscience which I will not give away. Much of the novel involves flashbacks to Ishmael's past, where we see his principled upbringing by an honest and straight-forward newsman, telling it like it is even if it meant losing a few local subscribers who didn't want to read about the hypocricy of the treatment of the Japanese Americans. Snow Falling on Cedars is ultimately a very moving and satisfying novel, and the movie recently made starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Scott Hicks (of Shine fame) is I think a very good adaption. The drawbacks to the book are drawbacks to the movie, and vice versa. Neither are fast paced courtroom thrillers or shocking mysteries, but both evoke a wonderful sense of place surrounding a moving and realistic story with well drawn, true to form characters. An enthusiastic thumbs up.
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