Rating: 
Summary: Classically Beautiful
Review: While Snow Falling on Cedars follows a predominant murder trial theme, historical references to the interlaced history of internment camps are provided in flashbacks. It's difficult to write an accurate review of this novel without completely giving away the entire story, but trust me, the book is a winner. Guterson is a master of making even the simplest ideas seem poetically romantic. Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Bleh
Review: Guterson gets some points for basic competence in words and some sense of order to the plot. He loses points for what he failed to do, which was make me care about Hatsue or Ishmael or whether or not Kabuo killed the guy. He succeeded in reducing male/female relationships to their sexual practices, and over describing that which need no description. The book celebrated the mundane by being mundane itself. Unfortunately it will linger in English class for the next few years for no other reason than it touches on American Concentration camps for the Japaneese, that is until another even more tragic, over-worded tome replaces it.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite
Review: If you can feel the emotions of the characters in the book, that surely indicates that the book is good. I felt the aching of Ishmail Chambers, I felt the nobelness of Ishmail's father and mother and the doubts of Hatsue. No book had moved me like this one in a long time.The author's depictions recreate the beauty of the island and transport you to a different era. It's as if you are a part of the island while you are reading the book. I guess the main strength of the book is not the plot but in the presentation of it.It's a simple book done exquisitely and beautifully.
Rating: 
Summary: A chick flick of a book
Review: I bought the hardcover version and was glad that I did. This is a beautiful book! The story flows from scene to scene, and I found myself hating to put it down. The book gives the reader the opportunity to do some introspection into prejudice, and a pause to wonder how far have we come since WWII. History buffs will appreciate this author's portrayal of the climate in this country concerning immigrants during the war years. It is also a a story of a young man struggling with his own emotions, and knowing the right thing to do, and wondering if he can do it. Buy this book,you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: From the reviews given in The New York Times and other places, I had rather 'Greater Expectations' of this book than were warranted, as I discovered about halfway through. I finished the book, but was by the end of it deeply disappointed (not to mention crashingly bored and half-asleep from the plot). The author's so-called knack for realistic descriptions I found lacking, as was any real sense of how to write a story. Guterson does, however, excel at repetitive illustration, managing to describe one thing or event in a half-dozen or more ways -- in a single paragraph. While the sounds of his sentences are often entrancing, like so much modern poetry it is a lyricism without meaning -- beautiful words in a beautiful nothing. And if D. Guterson's style is 'terse' and 'brilliantly compact', I shudder to think what adjectives may be applied to Henry James'!
Rating:
Summary: Well-Written
Review: This book by Guterson is a historically accurate book set in San Piedro Island in Puget Sound. The book is written in fluid prose and the characterization is rounded and artistic. Several sub-plots revolve around the main plot, where Kabuo Miyamoto, a local fisherman of Japanese descent, is wrongfully charged of 1st degree murder. The main story is frequently disrupted by memories of romance, betrayal, honor, and racism from all of the main characters. I was forced to read this by my english teacher, and although it's not the best book you can buy, I thought it was interesting and hands down better than some of the other books I had to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Very descriptive, very very descriptive and descriptive.
Review: By now you know I think this book is very descriptive. They say this is very good for a first timer. Maybe so. However one trick writers use is to writhe a full background on each character to keep from having conflicts later and to help with keeping them from looking two dimensional. However it is not necessary to print the entire bio on someone before they even say "HI." Some description of the environment fills out a picture. Too much description obscures the story like snow falling on cedars. And it is O.K to throw in a "red herring " now and then to augment the clues. It is annoying to throw in tons of details that are not relevant to the story. If you like lots of fluff around your mystery and find the fluff more important then who-done-it, then you will like this book.
Rating:
Summary: Hurtful History
Review: This book made me sad and touched at the same time. The love story of Hatsue Miyamoto and Ishmael Chambers was very touching, and the fact that Kabuo was accused for murderer of Heine simply because of his race was sad and unreasonable. The basic plot of the story is significantly similar to Harper Lee¡¯s To Kill a Mockingbird. The only deference is that the accused man was Japanese American not African American. The story is about 9 years after the World War II and the trial of Kabuo was held on December 7, 1954, the thirteenth anniversary of Japan's surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor. Whether or not Kabuo was verdict was more based on his race rather than his character. Although the book was challenge in some areas due to its content of racism, the book gaudily described the hurtful result that the WWII brought to our history.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Powerful
Review: It's been said that the final test of a work of art is not whether it has beauty, but whether it has power. Well, "Snow Falling on Cedars" has both. Guterson's descriptions of San Pedro Island, north of Puget Sound in Washington, are rich in detail and function as a complement to the characters and plot. The book is not an easy read, in that there are constant flashbacks into pre-WW II and WW II times, the events of which lay the groundwork for the murder trial that is taking place in the novel's "present time" (the 1950's). Through the characters of Hatsue and Kabuo Miyamoto, Guterson explores American anti-Japanese prejudice born of and continuing well after the end of the war. He develops the characters of the various Japanese families well, so that their different (by American standards) sense of dignity, honor, and propriety makes Kabuo's actions believable. Ishmael Chambers, newspaper journalist, editor of the island's paper, is a mysterious character who suffers emotional trauma as a result of his secretive and futile love for his childhood girlfriend, Hatsue. Years later, when Hatsue's husband is charged with murder in the death of a local fisherman, Ishmael covers the trial for the paper, and so is present throughout its duration. Uncovering information that could change the trial's outcome, Ishmael does some serious soul-searching to decide whether to reveal the findings or not. This is a brilliantly crafted work; the flashbacks allow us to understand Ishmael and Hatsue's youthful relationship as well as the disparity between their cultures. Setting, from the cedar forest, to the ocean's storms, to the snowstorm that hits the island during the trial, is so relevant to the action that it might be considered another character. The novel provokes us to think about honor, love, and prejudice's power to blind and destroy truth, or at least create its own "truth." It lets us see that it is only too possible for our system of justice to lead to false conclusions about "fact" and "truth." I couldn't help but notice that, although seemingly so different from each other, Kabuo Miyamoto and Ishmael Chambers are quite similar in their stoicism. A beautiful, powerful book!
Rating:
Summary: Had great promise but . . .
Review: I was in love with the first two thirds of this book. But then, suddenly, it was no longer a story in which each character added another layer to what had happened -it just became Ishmael's story. Hatsue's feelings toward Ishmael are never explored (from her perspective) after she marries Kabuo. Does she ever look back? Does she feel any guilt? Does she regret her hasty marriage to Kabuo? Does she see any emptiness to the the biases her parents instilled in her? Instead, we are just given Ishmael's bitterness with nothing to compare it to, as Gutterson had done so beautifully in the first two thirds of the book. Suddenly this rich story full of motivations and biases fell flat. I was particularly annoyed with Ishmael's "inner conflict" over his decision to turn over the evidence. A man is on trial for murder and Ismael just walks around town. He does not weigh the possible outcomes of either choice (which would have been an interesting exploration of his character), he just wastes time. What was supposed to be suspenseful was just irritating. In the end, it just seemed like the writer got tired and quickly wrapped things up. Too bad because I really liked this writer's style up until that last third.
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