Snow Falling on Cedars : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Terrific scenic descriptions!
Review: I totally enjoyed this book. I could really see the snow storm raging outside, and feel the cold. Mr. Guterson really knows how to describe a snowstorm! This is a terrific book, and I am looking forward to seeing the movie when it's released after the first of the year. I think it will be my first movie of the new millennium!

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful read!
Review: The detail was stunning, the characters were extremely well developed, and the intertwined story lines are woven into a complex and wonderfully engaging plot. The book effectively conveys the wonder and complexity of personal relationships, and it explores the ways these relationships can bend, sway and break under the pressure of social contexts. And, to top it off, we get all this on top of a riveting mystery! The landscapes are so superbly written that I found myself believing that if I looked outside my own windows, I would see snow falling on cedars. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book!

Rating:
Summary: This book ships in a good 24 hours of intense mysteryreading
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Gutterson, brings in a good 24 hours of intense mystery/reading that will get you jumping if read at night. What seems to be a simple homicide unravels into a suspenseful mystery as the case unravels in court.Though only a ninth grader I thouroghly enjoyed the vocabulary presented to me through this book, though it was challenging.

Rating:
Summary: Smooth read. Difficult to put down.
Review: This is a beautifully written story. It moves fluidly between the years before, during and after WWII and the events affecting three individuals of a small island community, when one is accused of the murder of a fourth. It is about a self-reliant group of strawberry farmers/fishermen; prejudice; and love,- both misguided and true. Wonderfully descriptive; a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Don't give away the ending
Review: I just had to note, Bob, that it is impolite to give away the end of a book in a review much less in the first line. As I have not yet finished reading the book but am enjoying it very much I was dishearted when I went to the customer reviews for other's opinions only to have the book ruined for me. Bob from Canada, do us a favor and keep the surprises to yourself.

Rating:
Summary: A History Lesson that Must be Taught
Review: This book should lend more to the American history buffs than literary critics. Our actions in post Pearl Harbor were great in the big picture, but the small picture depicting our attitudes toward Japanese Americans was a failure, disaster, and embrrassment. I doubt many Viet Nam generation Americans, let alone the Generation X, really know what an ignorant state the Pacific Northwest was in after Pearl Harbor. Live and learn. Read and relearn. All in all, I hope this book attracts as many readers as possible so that the 1940's actions to the Japanese Americans will forever be remembered.

Rating:
Summary: great read!!
Review: this was a great book. guterson is my favorite modern author. i can't wait until he comes out with a new one. i actually read east of the mountains first and loved it but then i read snow falling on cedars and it was even better. very few authors can touch on humanity and personal discovery as guterson can. his characterization is wonderfull as well. this book kept me going. he blends courtroom antics,love,history and war all into one book. even though it runs about 500 pages it is still concise in the sense that there is not a lot said that didn't have to be. he also has a easy writing style that is easy to read. with so much thoughtless, filler writing out there these days, it is nice to find someone who can actually write. i will never forget this book. i loved it!

Rating:
Summary: I've never hated the "hero" of a book before
Review: Having been warned off this book by a friend, I read it anyway, thinking that perhaps she just didn't appreciate Guterson's writing (He's won an award, he must be good). After finishing the book, I will never doubt her again. The writing was lovely and VERY DESCRIPTIVE, but I had no empathy for any of the characters in the story. I don't enjoy reading books where I hate the so called hero. Of the four people I know who have read this book, all have hated it.

Rating:
Summary: Enough hype already!
Review: This book is better than the hordes of single-girl -in-Mahattan short story collections and boring memoirs clogging the current literary scene; hence the two stars. But standing alone, it barely deserves that. Guterson's writing is hypnotic, but the pace is slow, his descriptions occasionally laughable, and the love story simply bored me to tears. In addition to being boring, it was also more than slightly offensive--the Ishmael character's heavy-breathing fascination with an "exotic" Asian woman deserves a critique all its own. The plot also seems to take the easy way out, giving the ending an unsatisfying (and frankly unbelievable) tone. As for being politically correct, this book jumps from issue to issue faster than those old 21 Jump Street episodes. Guterson does do an excellent job of evoking place--but he doesn't do justice to the folks who live there.

Rating:
Summary: This may be one book that isn't better than the movie
Review: I picked up this book after discovering that it will soon be made into a movie. I absolutely love getting the chance to read a novel before it's converted into a movie, so I dove into this one with high hopes. One week and 450 pages later, I'm thinking that this story may be better portrayed on the silver screen. There is no denying the atmosphere of the book, though, which is one thing that kept me reading. There were times I could actually feel the snow falling or the fog drifting across the water. The love story was tragic, the ending simple, leaving me with no divine insight into life at that time. The racial battles were poignant, yet there really seemed to be no conclusion to the quickly tied up ending of the story. This is just my humble opinion though. Who am I to criticise...