Rating: 
Summary: Delicately etched mystery
Review: I suspect that a lot of the problem that people have with the novel is that the inclusion of the murder mystery makes it less than 'pure' literature, while the drifting descriptions and gentle rhythm of the writing deviate from the detective genre formula. I found the murder a useful device for examining the echos of the decisions from the past. The trial of Kabua Miyamoto is a suitable device in this sense, as the decision about his guilt or innocence forces a community to consider its past and the role of its Japanese-American community during World War II. From my point of view, perhaps a little pale, but still well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A lot like the movie
Review: "Snow Falling on Cedars" is not a bad book, but it is also not a good book. If you have seen the movie, don't bother reading the book--they are basically the same. Both are slow-moving, predictable, and very visual. The movie was aesthetically appealing, and the book also conveys the foggy, mysterious San Piedro island, but that's about it. Guterson's language is ephemereal, but, frankly, he takes too long to say things. Don't get me wrong--I like long, drawn out novels, but this just gets boring. However, there are high points, as well as low, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't get some enjoyment from reading this book, but it definitely isn't the most compelling book out there. I won't discourage anyone from reading this, but check it out from the library before buying your own copy.
Rating:
Summary: Worth finishing, but could've been better...
Review: The story itself was riveting. It revolves around the trial of a Japanese-American accused of murdering a fellow fisherman, in a small island in the Puget Sound, in 1954. Part of the story involves Ishmael, a veteran of the war, now a journalist, who struggles with his love for the wife of the accused, as well as making peace with his own past. I liked how the author developed these three characters. To me that was the most interesting part of the story; the evolution of this first love between Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada, beginning in their childhood, only to be crushed during the onset of WWII. Also I was fascinated by the history of the accused man, Kabuo Miyamoto; his years growing up working on a strawberry farm with his family, his experiences fighting for the U.S. in Europe, and his promise to himself to obtain seven acres of the strawberry farm. There were a few factors that influenced my overall feelings about the novel. The main one was that I had to wade through pages and pages of setting descriptions in order to get to the meat of the story. Generally, I love descriptions but it just seemed like much of it was superfluous. (With the exceptions of the author's illustrations of Ishmael's experience at war, and Hatsue's experience at Manzanar. Both were incredibly detailed and shocking, but written so beautifully.) Two: I was disturbed at how selfish Ishmael was. Obviously he was bitter after Hatsue ended their relationship, bitter from losing his arm during the war, but in spite of his harrowing and sorrowful experiences, I was surprised to find him holding someone's exoneration in his pocket, and not knowing what to do next. That leads me to the next question, why was it that Ishmael was the only person in the story to think of looking for evidence at the lighthouse? It seems to me to be a very accurate resource in a case involving an accident or homicide at sea. Still, in spite of these issues, I'm glad I finished it, but I wish the author took less time to tell the story.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, but sadly predictable
Review: David Guterson's novel transcends genres, sometimes a coming of age story, sometimes a mystery novel, sometimes a historical account of the Japanese interment camps and sometimes even a travel brochure for the picturesque fishing waters off the coast of Washington. The strengths of the novel are found in its skilled craftsman. At times the language is beautiful, and his account of a young man's first love is poignant without being sappy. A reader's imagination will be captured by his descriptions of the cold, snowy Pacific Northwest and the poeticly lonely lives of fisherman. The subplot of the Japanese internment camps sheds light on an event that is found in our history books, but rarely discussed. Guterson does a commendable job by sculpting a novel around a history lesson, making sure his readers will learn something, along with being entertained. I have a personal abhorrence for "court room dramas," and I was somewhat upset with the last half of the book. It seems like a jury's verdict is yet again an easy way for an author to "get to the end" of a plot. I would have enjoyed the book more had its ending been as unique as the set-up. The legacy of the book is a question it poses about what a man will do for love, what he will compromise about himself to have the woman of his dreams. While the ending will not be praised by everyone, Guterson leaves the reader with an explanation as to why it is unwise to judge the actions of a man in love: "It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart."
Rating: 
Summary: A Book to Get Lost In
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars tells of the forbidden love story between an American and a Japanese-American in the years previous to World War II. The story takes place on an island near the state of Washington. Ishmael and Hatsue have an innocent first kiss at the age of 10 as Ishmael shows Hatsue the ocean floor through a glass-bottomed box. The two children spend their adolencent years together exploring the island, playing in the cedar forrest, and picking strawberries together in the summers. Their friendship turns into a secret romance during their teenage years after they seek refuge from the rain in a hollowed out cedar log. They know that they cannot let the world know of their love for each other because of the disapproval the world would have of a relationship between a Japanese and American. Their relationship comes to a close when World War II begins and Hatsue is forced to leave the island and go to a war camp for Japanese-Americans. When she returns, she is married to a Japanese man and Ishmael is crushed. The book begins with a murder trial in which her Japanese husband is the murder suspect. When Ishmael finds evidence that could clear Hatsue's husband's name, he has the choice to reveal it or keep it to himself. If Hatsue's husband is executed, perhaps he could have Hatsue to himself again. David Guterson is a writer of the finest caliber. He has the ability to draw the reader into the book. This is a gem of a book. I couldn't tear myself away from it because I wanted to inhale the book and feel as if I were living in it.
Rating: 
Summary: the product of an author wearing rose-colored glasses.
Review: It is hard for me to understand how so many amazon.com reviewers apparently enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars. I had difficulty in finishing this ho-hum mystery enveloped in a "the Japanese are really beautiful people and Americans are rascist brutes" package. David Guterson's knowledge of the Japanese is obviously weak, and his writing talents overall are also weak. The premise is actually rather good. We are placed back into the 1950s on a small island near Seattle. The community is very small, with a sizable number of Japanese immigrants. Of course coming off WW II racism abounds. A young Japanese man is accused of killing a boyhood friend on a fishing boat. We are then exposed to, in a series of flashbacks, the lives of these men and the community overall which lead to this death. Unfortunately the author fails badly on executing the story in a credible fashion. The author portrays every person of Japanese descent in an ignorant, sterotypical fashion. They are family oriented, stoic, peaceful and proud. We are to feel sorry for how brutally they were treated in internment camps and by American society on the whole. However these are such gross generalities. The author fails to mention that the Japanese people of that era were far more rascist, and brutal, than Americans. Any Americans caught in Japan during WW II wouldn't have been happy, assuming they were permitted to live. I found the author's "American bashing" at the expense of the Japanese to be very ... crude. [I am not anti-Japanese; I lived there for years.] As for our intriguing murder mystery,.. it was anti-climatic. The author is guilty of the "why use one word when five words will do?" syndrome. Very verbose and boring. Bottom line: consider it a "must miss".
Rating:
Summary: Move Over Tylenol PM
Review: There is a new sleep aid in town: this wonderfully dull novel. About 400 pages of the book are meaningless yakity-yak yak about absolutly nothing imbelished with useless diction. The characters are about as alive as my left shoe. Also, i think Gutterson has some sexual issues judging from the twisted contents of some of these very descriptive paragraphs. I haven't finished the book yet, and I'm not planning to, as I firmly belive that it will put me into a coma.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book But Lacks In Suspense
Review: This book deals with a trial of Kabuo Miyamoto. He has been accused of murdering a local fisherman, Carl Heine. Kabuo's ethnic background is the main reason that he has been accused of the murder. This book is a good read mainly for the sub-plot that deals with the history of how many Americans unfairly treated Japanese-Americans during and after World War II. The book also tackles the issue of inter-racial realtionships. I found it a good read for the historical reasons but not for the action that takes place in the courtroom.
Rating:
Summary: a great read
Review: Snow Falling On Cedars By David Guterson is a novel that takes place on an island called San Piedro and tells the story of a Japanese man accused of murder. In San Piedro there is a prejudice against Japanese people because of the recent events at Pearl Harbor. The novel interweaves the histories of everyone involved in the trial - Kabuo Miyamoto (the man accused), his wife, and so on.
The novel is told in different intervals; sometimes the point of view is the time of the trial, sometimes a section of the novel is a flashback. This is done so the reader can see the background of each of the characters. It also focuses on different characters at a time. For example, Guterson may choose to tell a story about Kabuo's wife Hatsue, or about a reporter studying the crime, Ishmael Chambers. The novel also involves two stories woven into one. The first, of the murder trial and all the mystery involved in it. The second, one that tells of the love story between Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue that happens in the midst of World War Two.
I feel that Snow Falling On Cedars tells a captivating story and is brilliantly written. Guterson does not come out and say whether the accused man is guilty or not, and keeps the reader guessing all the way to the end. He also shows how racism can effect how people think and stereotype large groups of people. He also exhibits the straining effect war has on relationships, as shown in the situation between Hatsue and Ishmael. The trial parts of the book are also very riveting because the odds seem to be against Kabuo at one moment and completely for him the next. The reader's opinion may completely change in the course of one chapter. The trial portion becomes even more exciting when an important piece of key evidence is found by Ishmael Chambers, and he is unsure whether or not to submit it to the judge. Meanwhile, the love story is heated and passionate, from beginning to end, but is not exaggerated or overly melodramatic. Guterson also successfully mixes the character's stories without too much confusion or lack of detail. The transitions from trial to flashback are done extremely well and flow together easily. My only criticism is that I felt, at brief times, as if the book was unnecessarily slow moving and prolonged the wait for Kabuo Miyamoto's case to be solved. Other than that, Snow Falling On Cedars is a riveting read for both men and women of all nationalities.
Rating:
Summary: I'm soooo sorry I wasted so many long boring hours on this!!
Review: Where do I start? This exercise in political correctness has an axe to grind, and grind it does, inexorably, all the way to its long-awaited finish. BTW, I listened to the audiobook so I may misspell some names. I hesitate to call it a courtroom drama, because there is very little drama left in the courtroom scenes, which mostly come at the end of the book. Forget sharp questioning and gripping testimony; this is more the tone of things (this is NOT from the book but could be): "All right, then." (if I had a nickel for every time both lawyers led with that and other padding.) "Mr. Miyamoto, could you tell us what time it was when you looked at your watch? I mean, you say you looked at your watch, you say you checked the time? Can you tell us now, for the benefit of the court, what time it was when you did that? When you checked your watch? Do you know what time it was? Can you tell us, Mr. Miyamoto?" "Yes, I can," said Kabuo Miyamoto (full names are almost always given, all the way through the book). "I looked at my watch and I saw the time. It was one o'clock. I remember because the little hand was on the one. One o'clock, that's what time it was." "One o'clock," the lawyer repeated. The lawyer repeats EVERYTHING, then restates it. "Your testimony, then, is that when you looked at your watch, when you checked the time, you saw what time it was and it was one o'clock. Is that your testimony, that it was one o'clock when you looked at your watch? Do I have that correct, Mr. Miyamoto?" "Yes, you do. One o'clock, that's right. That's what time it was. You have that exactly right. I remember. One o'clock" "All right then..." You get the idea. Every question grinds on just like that, and it's not a feeble attempt at characterization, because both lawyers do it (and why should an author would sacrifice readability and suspense in the name of characterization, anyway?). This book is supposedly about racism, but its arguments are flimsy. Miyamoto, the defendant, was an expert in kendo, Japanese stick fighting. Hine, the dead man, had a gash in his skull that the coroner immediately recognized as a kendo wound (he'd seen lots of 'em in the war). Miyamoto wanted land--no, felt land had been stolen from him--that Hine was buying. Further, it was Hine's mother that Miyamoto thought stole the land (which was legally hers). Miyamoto's mooring rope was found on Hine's boat, suggesting he'd boarded it, and Hine's blood was found on Miyamoto's fishing gaff (a stick). Miyamoto had been seen fishing in the vicinity of Hine, but he denied boarding the boat despite all the evidence. This was certainly a mountain of evidence, and enough to get a skeptical judge to issue a search warrant, but several of the "good" people whine that poor Mr. Miyamoto was arrested only because he was Japanese. HUH!? Nobody has a problem with that?! Nobody counters that he wasn't some random Japanese person picked up off the street; instead he was the only person, Japanese or white or Amish for that matter, with all that evidence against him. No. The evidence must be overlooked. After all, he is a good Japanese man, and his accusers are evil white people, who wanted to kill people who looked like him in the war (after those people decimated several of our warships, but hey) and white people had the nerve to send Japanese people to camps during the war. We're supposed to feel outrage that another Japanese man is arrested (during the war) for keeping dynamite in his shed. Nobody mentions what the Japanese did to any Americans who were living in Japan when the war broke out, or that the Japanese had their own internment camps. Another thing that really bugged me was all the unnecessarily graphic passages. I guess the author figured, if he used a literary-enough style, he could enlighten us about all the vomit, bowel movements (along with facial expressions), sexual intercourse and masturbation, that he wanted. It was, at times, nauseating, but he found every way he could to throw them in. The old lawyer, for example, sees a young woman on the witness stand and supposedly it reminds him that he can't get an erection, that his wife died of cancer of the colon, that he tried masturbating but couldn't, etc., etc. Gratuitous and disgusting. As for the performance of the audiobook, the reader made everybody sound like a little old man. The man character, Ishmael (a thinly veiled attempt to evoke Moby Dick), had about six different voices; the reader wasn't consistent enough. The only reason I can think of why anybody liked this book is that it has a quiet tone that makes people think is intelligent and thoughtful. It's not. Yes, the author did a lot of research into fishing and maybe intern camps, but so what? It's boring and wordy nonsense.
| 
