Rating: 
Summary: like snow in the night...awesome
Review: What a fantastic book. A song from beginning to end. The pace was consistent and full, much like a snowfall. I admired the author's patience..if it were myself I would have run to the ending much sooner.
Rating: 
Summary: disapointing..
Review: i was aware of the hype surrounding this book, and prepared myself for a novel that would linger in my mind afterward. I was confronted with a few extremely dull chapters, which eventually warmed to a poetic love/mystery story. I did however find that the first chapters had taken away the sensationlism of the rest. I also felt that the ending was not developed enough. We learnt of the trial throughout the novel, yet in a chapter and a half it was over, and the convicted was found innocent. It was much too fairytale style, and not at all sensitive like the remainder of the book. A slight disapointment for such a built up novel.
Rating:
Summary: An astounding story.
Review: A must-read tale of long-held grudges, a forbidden and innocent infatuation, lost family land, and murder. The author paints pictures in your head with words you will long remember. The author describes loss so well, it will make your heart ache long after.Despite the certain pain of embracing this novel, the reader should not shy away from a poignant story grounded in a deep local ethnic bias, the domestic repercussions of a global war, and the unending echos of injustice and ignorance in a small town. Five stars. Hands down, five glowing, reverberating and down-right blinding stars!!!!! (I really liked it, o.k.?!)
Rating:
Summary: A perfect book.
Review: This is easily the best book I have read in the last ten years, maybe even the last twenty. It absorbs the reader on every level, drawing you into the narrative from the first page, to the last sentence. Best of all, the author's skill both in narrative and style are seamless and unobtrusive. This is no Truman Capote whisk-along (good as he is at that). It is like pushing your canoe into a gentle stream early in the morning and experiencing a day of eddies, currents and millponds before evening finds you gently grounding on a quiet beach as the sun goes down. A perfect, perfect book. I have bought a second copy that I will keep close, but only read in a year's time, when the journey will seem fresh yet familiar.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written, intricate novel.
Review: This is one of the best books I have read! The plot and character development were excellent and the entire novel was vividly descriptive. I enjoyed how the plot shifted from past to present and used different characters to illustrate many perspectives of complicated issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow at first, but becomes quite engrossing
Review: Had to read the book for school was very slow in developing, but after a number of chapters, passions in the novel become evident and the novel finishes quickly. I thought on it for a long time afterwards
Rating:
Summary: Good Story
Review: I felt this book potrays a very excellent view of the prejudice and hate of that time period, and basically how the people like each other in the novel. The whole book just over flows with those kind of strong emotions and views, which makes the book truly interesting. The book shows the prejudice feelings of the people towards the Japanese during the post-World War II era. Also, strong emotions are played out in the novel, like the relentless adoration of Ishmael for a married Hatsue, or the strong dislike of Etta Heine for the Japanese population. The sequence of the books helps to keep a reader in serious thought. The novel reveals details bit by bit and allowing the reader to piece together the relationships between the main characters and how they affect the plot of the story. I only give this book a four star because I prefer to read books with a main character point of view. The book does narrate the story quite well with different points of view, but I prefer one character narration. In my humble opinion, the novel could work as well with one character point of view.
Rating: 
Summary: Devoid of humor, mired in minutia
Review: I found the book hopelessly grim, awash in meaningless trivia and description. It read like a technical manual distributed during a funeral ceremony. The "mystery" was dull -- I could have cared less what happened to any of the characters -- and the Japanese internment was a canard thrown in to add poignancy where none existed. A joyless, plodding book. Pass me an aspirin.
Rating:
Summary: A slow start,rich emotion and description, a bit slow
Review: I bought this book because of the Pen/Faulkner stamp on the cover, expecting something incredible. I was disappointed. The first three-four (I lost track) chapters drag on endlessly. While emotions are beautiful and memories vivid, most of the book takes place in numerous flashbacks, interspaced with tedious courtroom scenes. I have to say I'm glad for the human insight, but expected tofind it framed more interestingly.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have read in years
Review: I highly recommend "Snow Falling on Cedars". The author examines a very important subject that hasn't gotten enough attention in the U.S., that being the internment of Japanese Americans, in some cases people whose parents had been born in the states, during WWII. I think this is an extremely important book, detailing the effects of this US government decision on real people's lives. Considering the government has not even made a formal apology to Japanese Americans for the incident, I think everyone should read this book in addition to other works that tell this sad story. In addition to being of historical importance, this book is beautifully written, evoking images of the way an isolated people live and go about their daily lives. The Characters are exceptionally developed. While I read this book, I kept relating the each of the characters, finding their prejudices awful yet characteristic of the way people really are to each other. I found many of the occurences in the book sad, but when you read it you have to admit that this is the way it really is. This is really a book that makes you think.
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