Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: The book must be read slowly in order for the reader to absorb the nuances, the poetry of language, the layers of meaning. It gives a wonderful depiction of the Japanese mentality and the power of tradition and family loyalty. Its intercalary format allows us to see two stories as they unfold and finally merge. The world that Guterson creates is so real that I read half the book before I realized it was fiction and not a true story. I tried to find the island on a map, and contemplated the amount of research the author must have done. Near the end of the book, I feared that Kabuo would be found guilty, and expected that Ishmael would present the evidence he had found in order to save him. But when he did not, I decided it was totally in character for him to not do it. He is a lost soul, a wanderer. Perfect story, perfect ending.
Rating:
Summary: Quiet, very visual book -- compelling, yet relaxing
Review: I loved this book. I did not expect what I found. From the outset the author weaves a picturesque tale of forbidden relationships and sudden prejudicial pain culminating with the resolution of a tragic death, unclosed doors and a quiet understanding of a group of people whose lives are forever intertwined.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read in the past twelve months!
Review: Snow Falling on Cedar was one of those books I picked up while running through San Francisco International Airport. I was desperate for reading material for a long flight to Singapore. From the first chapter to the last, I was hooked. David Guterson's skill of weaving different moments in time was sheer artistry. Many times, I found myself so engrossed in the story that I was unaware of my actual surroundings. His descriptions of the courthouse scenes were so detailed that I could actually imagine myself in the room. I highly recommend Snow Falling on Cedar to all. I completed the book in three days!
Rating:
Summary: gets to the heart of personal vs. national identity
Review: The manner in which the author deals with the aftermath of WW2 and the treatment of Japanese-americans was inspiring. Prejudices on either side lead to misunderstandings, and lost innocence. This novel stirs the emotions and causes the reader to get angry at the injustices. The end seems to drop off suddenly; wrapped up neatly in a few final paragraphs, but otherwise an excellent story.
Rating:
Summary: Theis book gets better and better
Review: After reading positive review after positive review about this book, I finally picked it up. And I'm glad I did. But, to be honest, I thought the book was overrated after the first 50 pages and questioned the hype. Then, like a turbo engine, it took off! Eventually, I could not put the book down and could not wait for the trial to end so that I could see the verdict. The author's description of the locale and the era are excellent! He certainly conveyed the uneasy feeling of being Japanese-American during World War II. But he did it in such a way (the trial and the love story) that we take it to heart. Read the reviews of this book and understand that it's THAT good!
Rating:
Summary: Bought it, read it, loved it!
Review: Mr. Guterson weaves a good story, one that is not quite a mystery, not quite a thriller, and not quite a cross-cultural experience. It is, rather, a mixture of all three, and told in such painstaking detail that one feels transported to the San Juans. I couldn't put it down, reading it in a single sitting. If ever a novel deserved the Pulitzer, this is it! Great literature, and should be required reading for all contemporary lit. classes.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost sublime
Review: This book reminded me a little of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I had just read before starting it. Apart from being wonderful books, both seem to be composed of at least two 'stories' which, were they more tightly integrated, could have made the whole sublime. In the case of Guterson's book, the love story doesn't quite have sufficient bearing on the mystery story to justify its weighting -this is because Chambers is just not sufficiently connected to the mystery, notwithstanding his role at the end which, in this context, is too little too late. Possibly this is why the exposition of Kabuo's motivations and character seemed to have been neglected. Having said that, this is a wonderful book -Guterson's grasp of dialogue is simple superb as is his pacing of the narrative. I particulary found his subtlety in 'explaining' characters' motivations appealing and all the more convincing for his soft touch. It is definitely among my top reads for this year (just behind Wild Swans and Primary Colors and a bit ahead of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Rating:
Summary: A very interesting story
Review: When told Snow Falling was going to be my summer reading for AP english I was sure that this book would be a bore, as all summer reading is. But, to my delight, I found a book with a deep interesting story. It took me a while to plod thru the book, but in the end I was happy with the ending. My assignment was to write about a similarity between Snow Falling and the Greek Play Medea, written by Euripides. I have no idea of any similarities but nonetheless enjoyed the book
Rating:
Summary: It's about man's struggle to find the meaning of life
Review: I translated this book into Portuguese, and it was published in Brazil last year by Record, and so I was able to go deep in its descriptions of both characters and landscapes. It's one of the best love stories and mistery books I've ever read; I think it is mainly about man's struggle to find the meaning of life. Ishmael supposes to find it when he falls in love with Hatsue, but she cannot be just herself in love because she's so involved with Japanese culture, with history (war), with the role she is supposed to play as a Japanese woman (fear of sex, too, why not), with truth (not her own truth, she is so young, she is so entangled in all these things that she is not free enough to decide whether she really wants to stay with Ishmael. (Are we really free to choose whom to love? What to do? Where to go? That is the question). Ishmael is left with the big decision in the end: as the plot unravels, he is the one who discovers what really happened, and gives Hatsue his final proof of love: he saves Kabuo. I could feel all his solitude and pain in Guterson's words. The war scenes were also moving, specially Chapter 16. I would recommend this book to anyone who might want to consider what life really is and all it can offer to us, human beings, all the pain, joy, happiness and struggles, mainly struggles, for love, for liberty, for respect, for education, etc. it may imply. Go on, Guterson, you can really write beautiful stories, don't stop. I want to translate a new book by you next year
Rating: 
Summary: Challenging stereotypes -- or not?
Review: More than a few people (professional reviewers included) have immediately stood up to proclaim this book as a triumphant examination of stereotypes and the great truths of life, some even praising its value as a work of *non*fiction -- a source of valuable information, they say, about Puget Sound and the Japanese-American internment.
When, in the book's resolution, Hatsue Miyamoto tells the boy she grew up touching and kissing secretly that she does not love him -- compared to her husband whom she met and married in the space of a few months -- these reviewers must have believed her.
But there is a minority opinion in these reviews -- and some have hinted at more truthful understandings of the book by acknowledging that it is a love story (not courtroom drama) and that its "political correctness" shows through. What they are talking about is this: _Snow Falling On Cedars_ is a story about the exotic sensuality of a Japanese woman, and a white man's frustration in being prohibited from partaking of that by both his and her societies. Suddenly the story does have a very 90's pedagogical theme, despite its "pre-postmodern" artistic style which Gutreson himself appreciates.
I find that this hypothesis answers many intriguing mysteries put forth by other readers: it explains the need for graphic content, character development bias (Ishmael and Hatsue primarily, Kabuo, Carl, and others secondarily), jury deliberation scene (Kabuo was never the focus, only the prejudice against Japanese Americans -- i.e., Hatsue -- and that, not the evidence, was what was discussed), and most importantly gives explanation to the passion of the title. Snow and cedars blind out cultural differences that affect our lives and define who we are, and Gutreson would like a world where they do not exist.
Comments appreciated!!!
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