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Summary: this is my review
Review: I read this for my grade 11 english paper. It's really a good read. A little slow at times (particularily the court room scenes) and i'm not really a big fan of the scooby-doo ending. to me, it kinda feels like the author is avoiding making a conviction. i don't know what else he could have done though, he kind of paints himself into a corner. but the language is so beautifully descriptive that i have a clear picture in my head of just about every scene and of Ishmael, Hatsue, and Kabuo. I can practically feel the rain on my shoulders. The novel has a lot of little nuances that make it all the more enriched once you find them, such as contrasts (ie sand vs soil, home vs away, white vs oriental, etc). i was especially intrigued by the relationship between Hatsue and Ishmael, but i won't give too much away about that. (do your own homework!) Read this book and your english teacher'll love you.
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Summary: A book to remember
Review: This is definitely a story I will remember. As another reader pointed out, it has it all: romance, suspense, drama. There were points where I hazed over in the detail, but I wouldn't do without it. I would definitely recommend it to someone else.
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Summary: Reading this book was a really wonderful experience
Review: This was one of the best books I've read. It wasn't just entertaining, it also really made you think. Those who have said that the story was slow and that there weren't enough twists in it obviously approached this book from a wrong direction for this is not supposed to be an action-packed story, but one about people living together in a community and their relationship. Further into the book, I stopped caring about the outcome of the trial and became fascinated by the various characters portrayed and the depth and complexity of each and how he/she struggled to find their place in the world they lived in. The descriptions of the scenery, the snow, the trees, etc., were just mesmerising. I would recommend it to anyone anytime.
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Summary: Parallels
Review: I read this novel for my English class this year and we just finished To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. David Guterson emulated the structure of To Kill A Mockingbird brilliantly. They both employed two separate stories and weaved them together to reach the climax of the novel. Each novel includes a trial and an unfolding story about a relationship. Both authors used their artistry to connect these stories together and make them intersect at the end. Who would have thought that an English teacher (Guterson) who taught To Kill A Mockingbird to his students for years would produce a novel with such a similar structure? I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: A good, good, satisfying book all-round.
Review: A very tight, complete, satisfying read. Excellent imagery, impressive prose, just enough suspense to make it work. I would definitely pick up the author's next book without a second thought. He's got me sold. A safe recommendation for anyone.
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Summary: Entertaining & Thought Provoking
Review: I read this book with almost total ignorance of what it was going to be about. In other words, I hadn't read any reviews and had no particular expectations. In fact, I just picked it up one night and thought I'd read a little, and give up on it if I didn't like it. Well, I persevered through a slow, but richly detailed beginning and found myself looking forward to reading some more each night before bed. Finally, I got to the point where I couldn't put it down and finished the whole thing in one gigantic bite. And now I'm pondering what I got for this investment of time. No, I am not changed. Yes, I will look at some things in a slightly different light for awhile. My wife is Oriental and I do think some of the characterizations are accurate, if not exactly earth shattering. But look at all the reviews here and how the book has got people talking. I'm not much of a reader these days -- more of an Internet geek. So it was good to be transported into a world where the culture of my childhood was examined with some depth, yet not too much harsh light...
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Summary: One of the Best I have ever read &I ready 4-5 books a month
Review: Once I started reading this book I could not put it down! It had it all: suspense, courtroom intrigue, history, romance. I would highly recommend it to all of my friends.
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Summary: beautiful writing, weak plotting
Review: It's pretty hard to say anything bad about Guterson's prose. He's a wonderful writer--and it's obvious he spent six years laboring over every sentence.My problem was with the middle of the book, which dragged so badly I almost gave up. The war scenes were completely out of place, as if I had suddenly stumbled into "The Red Badge of Courage." Still, there was some masterful technique at work here. Writers ought to study his skillful use of multiple points of view, peppered with the occasional omniscient viewpoint. No matter how exasperated I got with the middle, I am still glad I experienced this work.
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Summary: Flawed by inaccuracy and unoriginality
Review: The old maxim, "write about what you know" should have been followed by Guterson. His first novel is marred by inaccuracy that leaps out at anyone with more than a superficial knowledge of Japan. For example, in the scene where Hatsue's home is raided by the FBI, they confiscate a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) supposedly played by Hatsue's mother. Problem is, in pre-war Japan, this instrument was played ONLY by men. Having her play koto or shamisen would have worked, but not shakuhachi. There are numerous other glaring errors of fact. Worse than that, because Guterson is so dependent on second-hand sources, he verges on plagiarism in some of his descriptive passages; for example, in his depiction of life in the internment camp where Hatsue was sent. The bit about her family patching up the cracks in their living quarters with tin salvaged from old cans is thinly paraphrased from "Farewell to Manzanar," by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Guterson is a gifted writer, but it is unfortunate he chose a setting about which he was so totally clueless.
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Summary: One of the top ten books I have ever read
Review: I have to be honest. I don't read mainstream fiction much. I usually find it dole, unintelligent, and pointless. I usually read science fiction and fantasy. I have read some books in those genres far better than any literary book you throw at me. Try Song of Kali or A Game of Thrones, both superb novels, undoubtably better than any of the pulizter prize winners or whatever of the last couple of years or ever for that matter. Anyway, Snow Falling of Cedar is the best non fantasy book I have ever read, and it will probably remain so because all other genres bore me. Call me shallow. I don't care. Maybe I'll read some realism again, but then I can look out the window, can't I? I don't need to read King Lear to understand family relationships. Beloved would have just been a lot more interesting if the ghost thing in it actually did something supernatural. Or did it? I didn't make much sense of that book. oh well, maybe you get my point and if you don't go read your literary, opra's book club nonsense and leave me alone.
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