Snow Falling on Cedars : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: The story is so wordy and repetitive. Overrated!
Review: Although a few interesting characters are developed, the author's pace is painstakingly slow and repetitive. I skimmed the book, finished it in a couple of days, and didn't feel that I missed anything. The prose is not so wonderful as to be forgiving of the author's verbosity. The plot line is also not strong enough to hold the reader's interest. Ismahal's torch for the defendant's wife is also a bit unbelieveable.

Rating:
Summary: Fair, at best
Review: Considering all the hype this book generated, I found it disappointing. The narrative holds together well, though the physical descriptions of the island are repetitive. Furthermore, the plot is ultimately unconvincing. Was there no other lot of 7 acres on the whole island for Kabue to farm? Sheesh. The characters even pointed out early on that the land was not that good for farming. Guterson is much less bad a prose stylist than many pop fiction authors - but this book left me saying "OK. Next?"

Rating:
Summary: Well written but too wordy
Review: Well I'd have to agree first of all that it was too detailed in describing a few things that really weren't all that interesting. It gave too much names and their description but I think Guterson did that to better portray the setting; San Piedro's a tiny island where everyone knows everyone. I thought the plot was decent, and I had a bit of trouble following it chronologically. The chracters I thought were fairly decent in design. Ishmael Chambers and his all American literature reading gives him strong American thinking and American cultural philosophy. Notice such authors mentioned in the book: Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain. Ishmael's lover in youth, Hatsue Imada grew up with the teachings of Mrs. Shigemura and is very well rooted in the Japanese culture. They get into a relationship and the culture on her part finally takes her out of it after some far away thinking. And in the murder trial Ishmael contemplates his life where at the end he is given the choice of saving an innocent man or to keep to himself and at least have another chance at Hatsue. But remembering what an admired and moral man his father was he follows his father's path and does the right thing and wins back the respect of Hatsue. I thought as a whole it was decent, but it seems it is lacking as far as most Japanese American readers have commented. I think Guterson should of let a Japanese American critic review his book while he was writing it.

Rating:
Summary: what an awful book-please stop praising it
Review: I'm all in favor of giving zero stars. Amazon, please could you make this an option. I am not a japanese-american, but i cannot imagine that this book could be thought of as a good recommendation for a history class! None of the characters are developed to any significant degree and i could not interest myself in it enough to even think of reading it again. I'm surprised that i even made it to the end of the book-it was difficult, i assure you.

Rating:
Summary: Moving, subtle, haunting
Review: I dare any book fan to read this and not feel that they have tasted the sweet sugar of the strawberries, the musky-warm aroma of pine and cedar bark, and San Peidro's rare sun kissed touch on ones misty cheeks. A book you don't merely read but experience. Will the movie live up to the novel's flawless depiction? Proablly not, but we are all in for a treat if it does.

Rating:
Summary: I had to read it for class, and my teacher is dumb
Review: I read this book for my class, and I have to say that it was oK. Julie liked it better than me, but she's a nerd-o and reads books more. I read Catcher in the Rye last year, and that's truley an aawesome book, like the way he's a rebel and stuff. Don't read anything by Julian Simon cuz its no good.

Rating:
Summary: Did Guterson know the real Japanese culture?
Review: This novel was obviously well researched. I thought it was really good untill I read a comment by another Japanese American who thought the only thing good about the book was the cover. I was moved by the descriptions of the war. I'm not sure that what Guterson wrote was entirely perfect in depicting the suffering or emotions of the Japanese Americans in the war but it certainly highlights the impact of war on a whole nation and the individuals that are connected to it in some way. Unless Guterson lived through it and is part of the Japanese culture, he will never really understand what they went through during the war. But overall it was good at setting the atmosphere of prejudice built up by racism exacerbated by a war.

Rating:
Summary: slow moving, but VERY good
Review: I read this book for history class and it was really good. It took a long time to get into it, and sometimes to keep interested. It was a litte confusing in that it was built up as a courtroom mystery, but really I didn't care all that much about the murder case. The detailed descriptions were very beautiful, and I felt like I was THERE, but there was a little too much of them, and it made the book too long. I think the best part was the flashbacks to the characters' past, and the love story between Ishmael and Hatsue was sweet. I was dissapointed by the ending because I was much more expecting something to happen between them than in the case. If you have enough patience and attention I would really recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A giant in the world of popular fiction......
Review: I decided to read this book because it had generated so much controversy. It was however one of the best pop-fiction I have come across in a very long time. I looked upon it as a love story, not only between Hatsue & Ishmael, but because all the characters reach out to the reader thru various kinds of love. But the beauty of this book lies in the lengthy, well observed, fine-tuned descriptions of nature in this small island. You can sense nature, taste the berries, smell the cedars...it is just spectacular. The story line as banal as it is (distrust, prejudice,bigotry which we encounter every day) is not what makes this work so compelling...what achieves this, comes from the fortitude of most of the characters and their inner beauty.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtfull & evocative
Review: A very enjoyable read; from the first few pages, it was like putting on a cosy old sweater. Guterson did a great job of conjuring up the sights, smells and feel of a quiet and isolated misty island. I cared for most of the characters. Some of the metaphors were interesting: the storm, through the entire book, disturbing the lives of the islands inhabitants just as the winds of war disturbed the lives of Ishmael and Hatsue; Ishmael himself - one-armed - only half the man he used to be, both physically, and emotionally.