Rating: 
Summary: What's All The Hype?
Review: This book started out excruciatingly slow. But as it went on the relationships of the characters began to intensify making the book go by faster. While the characters and their relationships are interesting, the plot is not. Its your typical murder trial (with absolutely no rules of evidence) with a typical Hollywood outcome. It had its moments but overall not all that impressive.
Rating: 
Summary: Very slow and overly detailed.
Review: It is true what one person mentioned in their review. This book is too simular to "To Kill a Mockingbird" in it's plot. The first few chapters were very entersting until the long explanation and detail of every little thing the writer could think of to put the reader to sleep. You rarely hear anything about the trial. It jumps around from one scene to another with very little direction. This book should have started off with Ishmeal in his childhood and then worked its way to the time of the murder. At least this would've been more enteresting. The story is about two people in love based on how it's written and the secondary is the murder trial. It seems the only reason for the detailed sex scenes is to add interest for the reader that are already half asleep. It's like these halfa** movies that come out either smotherd with sex and violence or have a few scenes that don't seem to belong just to lure unsuspecting people and pervs. The movie might be better but hopefully not as long and filled with unneeded detailed as the book.
Rating:
Summary: The book had a lot of unnecessary details.
Review: Snow fallen on cedar was an interesting book at times. In the book it was a lot of prejudice,love, hardship, war, betrayal and murder. Hatsue was a Japanese girl who grew up thinking the world was the same for everybody, inspite of what she was taught. She fell in love with a boy that she had always been taught to shy away from because of their race. In order for them to express their love for each other they were driven into a cedar tree to hold and to kiss, but in general to love each other. I guess when you think about it, it very sad. When you think of the relationship that you have with the opposite sex. The sex between Hatsue and Ishmael was short lived, but to me it was still sex. Ishmael really love Hatsue and I think she really loved him. I think she should have followed her heart. I know she should have followed her true filling. If she was in doubt about the way she felt about Ishmael, she should have taken the time while she was at manazanar to seek out her true feeling. Manazanar was a concentration camp and living was hard there. There was a lot of time to think. Maybe she should have thought out her situation. The letter that Ishmael wrote to her expressing his love for her came in her darkest moment. Her sister had no right to open it and read it. Hatsue mother had the right to voice her oppion but I think it was more of a demand to Hatsue to break thing off. That was wrong due to the fact the situation in which they were living. If anyone could find a little happiness for a little while was worth the wrongness of it all. The selling of the land from Kabuo's family was wrong. It should have given the Japanese some idea how the people of San Piedro really felt about the Japanese. It was sad when you think of all the things some of them did trying to be accepted and they had no intention in accepting them at all. They were considered to be low class people. Kabou was determine to get back the land no matter what. He was willing to buy the land back at full cost, if that is what he had to do. Kabou was put in jail for the murder of Carl Heign. Carl was the owner of the land that Kabou wanted to buy back. I guess he had reason and opportunity. Even though years had passed by a lot of things happened. Kabou and Hatsue met in Manzanar and got married. Kabou was Japanese so it was okay to marry. They had children together. They seem to love each other, but Ishmael couldn't get rid of the way he felt about her or the love he felt for her. Deep down inside he felt she loved him to. I think she loved him,but also realized that a lot of problem came along with the love they had for each other. Ishmael tried to confess the love that he had for to her, but she told him to go on with his life, marry and have children. Most of all she wanted him to live. Ishmael was the one to end up helping with the investigation.
Rating:
Summary: The book was interesting but confusing
Review: This was not it. I really did not find the book to be what it could have been. The way it started was a very nice technique with the courtroom and all but I did not like the way it jumped from one subject to another when the chapters changed. It was iteresting how he described the snow storm, and the description of the cedar tree was so beautiful to imagine, it was like I was right there during the entire snow storm and in the cedar tree. The one thing that mad me confused was at the begining the author made it seem as if Hatsue Miyamoto and Ishmael Chambers did not have sexual intercourse but later on in the book in great details it says that they did have sex, so which one is it. I think that Hatsue Miyamoto still had strong feelings for Ishmael Chambers and regreted ever leting her mother enterfer with the letter that was sent to him when they first move to the Concentration Camp. I think that if Fujiko and her family would not have had to leave from the Island that Hatsue and Ishmael would still be together. The best charatcer in the book was Sarah Heine. If this would have been a Screen Play she would have probably won a Grammy for best actress. The way the author made things happen so suddenly was amazing because I have never read a book that has moved as fast as this one. What I liked most about the book is the way the author described the scenery and the characters with great detail and made it seem so real. The way that Kabuo Miyamoto was accused of killing Carl Heine was not fair just because Mrs. Heine said that he had done it because Kabuo owed them money from a dedt that he had with them.
Rating: 
Summary: Snow Falling on Cedars, mystery filled and romance
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars, in my opinion has its good parts and its bad parts. It is a mysterious,character filled, murder mystery. The plot is excellent, showing how prejudiced people really are when it comes to war. This book takes place on San Pedro island in the pudeget sound of the coast of oregon, where a japanese fisherman by the name of Kubuo Miyamoto is accused of murder. It is about 1954, ten years after World War II ended and americans are still prejudiced against the Japanese. One of the good parts about this book is the plot. It is well prepared and took a lot of thought. This book also jumps around a lot, From the court room to somebodys home. One of the bad parts is there are a lot of unneccessary characters in this book. For example they would tell you about someone's uncle and he had no meaning in the plot whatsoever. The book also drags on for a while. He could have shortened the book by a few chapters. I did like the romance in the book. Ishmael and Hatsue grew up as a childhood romance and grew apart over the years because of their origin. Hatsue was Japanese and Ishmael was American, but Ishmael never lost his love for hatsue never lost his love for Hatsue. I give this book four stars because of how it draged out a lot and there where a lot of unnccessary characters but all in all this is a good book. I give Guterson a lot of credit for this book and, if you have some time on your hands, would reccomend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Too much description, too little humor
Review: I can't in conscience give this book five stars, though I would love to. Line by line it is beautifully written. The history is superbly researched, right down to the wooden knob on the steering wheel of a one-armed man's DeSoto automobile. The author seems to have a profound understanding of people of all ages, although he is obviously a young man. There is much for an old man (like me) to learn here. But all that tedious and repetitious description. I don't care about the first and last names of everybody who lives down the road, or about every last stick of furniture in a room. No matter how poetic and atmospheric the descriptions may seem. That I was able to slosh through all this gives testimony to the basic worth of the story. What the author needs is a good editor. How many great writers would be vague impressions of mediocrity in our memories if it hadn't been for their editors? Mr. Guterson's ability to select enough but not too much material may improve with practice. Unfortunately, a sense of humor is something lucky people are born with. He is one of the unlucky ones. His defense attorney would have made a marvelous and poignant comic character. Unfortunately Mr. G sees him, including his funny mannerisms, as one more grim character, floating on a dark island in a dark sea, scudding inexorably toward the final destruction of old age and unfulfilled death. Without humor, what else can there be? Come to think of it, not one character in this book is able to control his own destiny. That may be Mr. G's theme. I don't agree with it, but it's a legitimate theme. And Mr. G is a very thoughtful man. I wish him many more books and great success. Personally, I'm not up to reading another one just yet.
Rating:
Summary: A great book that should be read by all.
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars is a finely written novel by David Guterson set in a small island town in Washington in the early 1950's. The town is shaken by the death of a local fisherman, and a man of Japanese descent is charged witth the murder. Guterson keeps the mystery of what happened on the night that Carl Heine Jr. died through elaborate descriptions. The imagery that Guterson brings to the reader in Snow Falling on Cedars is comparable to that of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Hugo's Les Miserables. The book plays on the reader's emotions, and one begins to feel like he or she belongs in the small town of Amity Harbor, sympathizing with some characters and feeling animosity towards others. Readers find themselves fully immersed in the novel, wanting to read more -- to get to the end and find out what happens to the people involved. Guterson uses societal forces to thicken the plot. Racism, prejudice, and descrimination towards the subordinated Japanese residents of Amity Harbor in this novel make us readers take a look at our current culture. Although it is set in a time just subsequent to World War II, the story could just as easily take place in the late 1990's. In my opinion, the book is a great work that should be read by all. It is written beautifully, in a way that keeps the reader interested throughout. It is a story about love, hate, trust, and deception that will be frequently read for years to come
Rating:
Summary: Far More Raspberry than Strawberry
Review: Call me nutty -- if I'm reading a novel that concerns itself with a courtroom drama where a man's life hangs in the balance, I'd think the action should move along at a far greater pace than "sluggish." Five-sixths into this book, and once again the reader has to be given the thousandth description of the snow falling outside, how many cars are in a ditch and an in-depth character description about somebody's dead daddy that we will never meet and who has no impact on the plot whatsoever! I found myself screaming in frustration on quite a few occasions, and only slogged through, as one would in the mush of San Piedro's week-old snow, to finally get to the very obvious outcome. Taking a cue from the novelist , allow me to beat my point of view into the sodden ground one last time: Closing in on the end, one of the main characters starts reciting the names of each and every neighbor he can think of on the island -- what, was the author being paid by the word? If I had wanted to read about how many kinds of vegetation, flora and fauna grow on an island in the Pacific Northwest, then I would have looking under "B" for Botany ... and certainly not "G" for Gripping Human Drama. Guterson might have been proffering strawberries -- but I can only come up with one big, loud, rude raspberry!
Rating:
Summary: Myster/Documentary/Romance
Review: In _Snow Falling on Cedars_, David Guterson creaed a historically intersting story that is part murder-mystery, part historical documentary and part romance. Ste ten yeras after WWII, the plot revolves around the murder trial of kaduo Miyamoto. A fisherman of japanese descent who, while he may tecehnically be a U.S. citizen, is nonetheless discriminated against by the other inhabitants of San Piedro, the small island off the coast of oregon where he lives. The book explores not only the relationships and emotuions of all the main characters, Kabuo, his wife Hatue, and Ishmale, the island's only journalist, but also their parents and grandparents. The deceased and supossed murders man, Calr Heine, is also revealed as a person, not just a corpse. The intese flashback style worked in to the frame of the trial, make understanding the cahracters a bit more like a detective story, sustaining the suspense and forcing the reader to question, "Do I really know this character?" The setting moves fromt he island itself, ten years after WWII, back to the internment camps all Japanese and Americans of Japanese descent were forced into during that war. Unfotunately, the internment camp scenes are so unrealistic that they have the semblance of a nightmare, not the reality they were. The overall lyrical quality of the book causes this same contrast within the islanditself, causing a fascinating juxtoposition of romantic natural love scenes and the prejedged trial. Overall, a very descriptive and well planned book, with sme few flaws of repetitiveness and lack of suspense inteh end, due to the constant retelling by differnt characters of the same course of events, with only a single esxtra detail added each time. Recommended for thos ereaders who either have extra leisure time, or a reresearching the Japanese Internment Camps.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book.
Review: The narrator of this novel is in third person omniscient. The narrator knows all that goes on in the court and about the past lives of the characters. Carl Heine was a big, strong gill-netter. He was respected by his fellow fisherman and by many of the townspeople. Carl was a flat character because he had very few personality traits. He was courteous, but not very friendly. He was very quiet and kept to himself so that it seemed that he had no close friends. Carl is a static character in a sense that we do not get to meet much of Carl in order to see his personality change, but he is also dynamic because he was a fun loving teenager who drastically changed to a solemn man after fighting in World War II. Kabuo Miyamoto is a Japanese gill-netter. As a young man he was hard working and looked to the future. He fought in World War II which caused him to become hard. Kabuo is a dynamic character in that the war changed him to a cold, rough man, but hebasically remained a hard, determined worker. The plot of this novel is the events that lead up to and include the trial of Carl Heine's death, including the past histories of each character. This story takes place on San Peidro Island, which is north of Puget Sound in 1954. A major theme in Snow Falling On Cedars is prejudice. The Japanese residents of San Piedro were faced with many prejudice actions. First, many of them were looked down upon by white people. They were not given an equal opportunity in employment. Many were hired as strawberry pickers for low wages. Also, during World War II all citizens and immigrants of Japanese decent were forced to leave their homes and be shipped to internment camps in Manzanar all within eight days of notice. They were expected to change their lifestyles and adjust to harsh conditions in such a short period of time because Americans were alarmed about the war with Japan. They feared that people of Japanese decent, even though most were American citizens, would betray them. The American were severely prejudice towards the Japanese because of the war against Japan. Mrs. Etta Heine was a very bitter woman towards the Japanese. She did not want to sell some of her property to Zenhichi Miyamoto. She acted as if it were beneath her to sell to Japanese people. After Carl Sr. passed away, Etta deliberately sold her property to Ole Jurgensen when she knew that the Miyamotos were two payments away from owning their land. Fujiko Imada was also prejudice. She was prejudice towards white people which she called the hakujin. Her daughter, Hatsue, as a young girl had a secret relationship with Ishmael Chambers, their white neighbor. When Fujiko became aware of their feelings towards each other she demanded that this be stopped. She insisted that her Japanese daughter could not fall in love with a white American boy. The theme of Snow Falling On Cedars can be compared to that of Cold Sassy Tree in that there is a strong impression of prejudice because of a person's origins. The author, David Guterson, uses symbolism in this novel. The cedar trees represents wealth, security, and serenity in a vast uncertain and frightening world. In describing San Piedro, the author says that it is rainy and wind-beaten island, but he also adds that its residents are attracted to "Enormous hills, soft green with cedars, that fell in every direction". The allure of the cedar trees led people to settle in San Piedro. When the Shibayamas were confronted by a baishakunin who wished to wed their daughter, Fujiko, to Hisao who lived in America, they refused. Then the baishakunin showed them land with a beautiful new home and tall cedar trees, that Hisao was supposedly purchasing. This changed their attitude towards the marriage and they sent Fujiko to America to wed Hisao. When Hatsue and Ishmael had their secret relationship, they would meet inside of a hollowed cedar tree. There they would feel safe from the prejudice that they would otherwise endure if their relationship was made public. David Guterson uses some foreshadowing in this novel. When Art Moran and Abel Martinson are pulling Carl Heine's nets out of the water, it was mentioned that Art had seen fisherman brought up in a net before. This shows that Carl is going to be found in his nets, the very same nets that Art and Abel are pulling up. When Kabuo goes to board his boat, the Islander, over fifty seagulls emerge from his boat and circled overhead. He believes that this is an omen. This foreshadows the scene where Art and Abel confront Kabuo with the murder charges. David Guterson also creates a very suspenseful mood. As the story begins, it is not known why and how the defendant, Kabuo, was charged with the murder of Carl Heine. This keeps the reader intent on reading to discover what the charges are against Kabuo. Also, the author tells stories about each characters histories, not only to fill you in on their personalities, but also to create suspense. The reader is so interested in knowing what happens next in the trial, and suddenly the story turns to describe someone's past. The scene that most affected me was when Ishmael was about to land on Betio. He wrote a letter to Hatsue stating how he hated her. This was so sad that I felt unbelievably grief stricken at the thought of this. He had once loved her so much, that he would have done anything for her. Now, he discarded his love like trash. This scene just shows how prejudice is such a negative attitude. Hatsue had felt the same as Ishmael, but because of who she was, her nationality, her origins, she was not allowed to express her feelings. This author wrote this scene to help establish her theme of prejudice and prove that it is hateful.
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