Snow Falling on Cedars : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: good writing from a mediocre writer
Review: Difficult to get into. Clear, fully formed characters. Well constructed plot. However, somehow it all falls flat. It left me longing for three books that easily surpass this one on three levels: The Perfect Storm: on the topic of life and death at sea; Serpentine: fulfilling the page-turning murder mystery catagory, and A Prayer for Owen Meany: for SUPERIOR construction of historical plot and character strength.

Rating:
Summary: Annoying
Review: I got extremely annoyed with all the stereotype description of the characters. David Gutterson tries to lengthen the very thin base of the novel (the murder and the accusation) with unnecessary long memories, detailed description of strawberry fields and snow falling. And I thought it was very irritating the way he switched from the memories of all the different characters. I think he wrote the novel with the intention of getting it filmed. I thought it was a waste of my time but I wanted to finish it anyway (which is the one positive thing I can say about the book)

Rating:
Summary: slow moving
Review: very slo

Rating:
Summary: well-written, thoughtful, horribly sexual
Review: The suspense of the trial was masterfully drawn out. People should read this book beacuse of its good plot and accurate history. Why the need for such explicit scences between people whose love and relationships did not even figure into the plot. Carl ans Susan Marie had quite a very steamy time in this book. If you aren't prepared for detailed sexual images, don't read it. However, if you don't mind this sort of thing, the book is redeemed by its Romeo-and-Juliet romace and an intriguing mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Loved everthing! Prose, description, woven mystery and love
Review: The description of the characters and of the island are fabulous. I did not want to skip any part of the book -- beautiful prose. I could picture each character -- especially Nels G., the public defender. The wandering eye, thumbs under the suspenders, his age, his sexuality. I liked the way Guterson treated prejudice, not only Japanese but also German. He gave good historical review of the internment camp. Also the description of the WW II combat in the South Pacific was well done. Was a bit disappointed in the end, however.

Rating:
Summary: Snowbound
Review: After eagerly starting to read this book, I found myself bitterly disappointed. I began rooting for the snowfall -- the only realistic character -- to build up around the courthouse and entomb all the characters and put me out of my misery. It's as if the author took all his research on fishing, the northwest and strawberries, threw a little literary fiction spin on it and slung it against his computer screen. The characters were wooden. What promised to be a good story spun its wheels in the snow as Guterson jumped from love to murder to racism to prejudice. I gave up on this disaster about halfway through, angry for having wasted a single second on it. If this is the sort of drivel that wins awards and becomes a major movie, then there's hope for all writers. Mr. Guterson, go back to your day job!

Rating:
Summary: Ached to leave this desk behind and set to sea!
Review: Guterson's imagery just took me away. Can't decide whether to now go be a fisherman or a strawberry farmer or both! Great read. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Painful Read
Review: Guterson doesn't want to let you go...he grabs you by the throat, and you're in pain, but it's too fascinating to stop reading. Of course, you come to realize his art is imitating life--its reality, its principles of pain and suffering. He slowly, meticulously, exposes a series of injustices and misery: prejudice, the horrors of war, undisguised hatred; and he leaves it up to us whether any light shows through all this dark. A great read, Snow Falling On Cedars will change you--if you let it. P.S. Those with weak stomachs should not read the detailed autopsy which encompasses chapter 5!

Rating:
Summary: I liked the symbolic significance of the book's title.
Review: I was particularly intrigued by the book's title and significance of its last line: "...that accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart." The "snow falling on the cedars" represnts the concept of "chance" in the world- relationships, war, accidents etc.. I think this is the view of the world that Guterson is trying to take. It is by chance that the Imadas had to suffer their internment; it is by chance that Carl Heine died and his childhood friend was wrongly accused; it is by chance that the snow storm hit the island and allowed Chambers to find the real cause of the fisherman's death. We see the significance of Ishmael's last name when we see the book in these terms. It is a somewhat pessimistic, unChristian approach, but at the centre is the power and poignancy of human affection.Only the emotion of love is immune from chance; the playing out of love in the world, of course, is not.

Rating:
Summary: This book is good for people with differnt cases
Review: I think the book was confusing and some of the book was interesting on the murder of Carl Heine. I think a lot of people is going to read this book. You got to write a lot of names in notes so that the story won't be so confusing. There is a lot of times that the book goes back to the past and some goes to the courtroom. The story is at San Peidro Island and judge feilding is the precider over Kabao. The defendants attorney is Nels Gudmunsson. The other lawyer is Art Moran. This takes place around fall and winter. Ismael had a fling with Hatsue but they broke up. Ismael is a reporter for a local paper. I hope the next person be like Ismael.