Rating: 
Summary: Haunting and beautiful
Review: David Guterson's stunning evocation of San Piedro Island - and the emotions, conflicts, and times of its inhabitants - make Snow Falling on Cedars an unforgettable read. Guterson's language is superbly delicate, his characters sharply drawn. A hauntingly perfect blend of slowly unraveling mystery, dreamlike-yet-gritty images, foggy old memories and bittersweet notes of cedar.
Rating: 
Summary: An Imagined Community, Brought to Vibrant Life
Review: I wasn't alive in the 1940s & 50s, and I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but this book made me feel like I'd done both. I *have* spent a lot of time on an island much like the one on this book: a small collection of fishing and farming towns overrun by tourists and mainland people in the summer but quiet and magical in the off-season, and Guterson's description of his fictional island rang absolutely true for me. History, family ties, and childhood memories matter enormously in a places like these, and Guterson takes the time to weave a web of them for his characters that's complex enough to seem real.Even more surprising, the community *itself* seems real: It lives, it breathes, and the minor characters relate to the major ones in ways beyond those that the action of the story requires. This strikes me as the literary equivalent of finishing the unseen insides of a piece of furniture--a welcome touch of fine craftsmanship. Finally, as a long-time mystery fan, I found both the mystery and its resolution at trial satisfying in the context of the book. It's no conventional slam-bang trial scene, but it's true to what came before it. (There is, after all, a reason why Stephen Crane's battle scenes don't read like Tom Clancy's . . . though both are excellent.)
Rating:
Summary: A book of emotions
Review: Snow Falling on Cedars, though some times it seemed a bit slow, was very interesting and compelling. If you are looking for an edge of your seat mystery you are out of luck. This book uncovers something much deeper than the truth about a mans death. This book uncovers the truth about hate, racism, love, and loss. This outstandingly written novel would be a wonderful adition to any students repetoir.
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Summary: Food for the Imagination
Review: It's amazing how an author like David Guterson can write one sentence and take a reader into a fictional world full of love, hate, prejudice, and beautiful scenery. Snow Falling on Cedars is a story that possesses all of the elements to make it a great post-modern novel. Taking place in the 1950's, it reveals the prejudice that Japanese Americans faced on a little island off the coast of Washington called San Piedro. It is a story of a WWII veteran who happens to be Japanese who comes back from fishing one night only to find out that he has been accussed of murder. The reader is taken on a journey through the eyes of Ishmael Chambers, a local newspaper reporter, who is on a quest for the truth while also dealing with the losses he has encountered in his life which include his love for Hatsue, the accused wife. This book is beautifully written so much so that it can take the reader to San Piedro Island and make them feel the cold wind and see the snow falling, wieghing down the cedar branches. Guterson's descriptions of the characters, their emotions, and the scenery allow the reader to get cuaght up in a whirlwind of images. It's best just to let your imagination take over while readeing this book. It's amazing where Guterson will take you.
Rating:
Summary: All is chance, except for the human heart.
Review: The protagonist, Ishmael, makes an amazing journey from boyhood to manhood and takes the reader on a painful but beautiful quest to find himself. The love story between Ishmael and Hatsue is the core of "Snow Falling on Cedars" and the painful realization that this love can not be is theconclusion that descends like the winter snow oneverything and everyone. The world is not perfect, but redemption is possible by heroicacts of kindness. Ishmael learns this over thecourse of his life. He loses his arm, he loseshis love for Hatsue, his loses his way toward hisown life. But in the end he sees that only bysetting Hatsue free to live her own life (without him) can he live. The possibility ofreal manhood is linked to unselfish acts of kindness to others we love. Few books combinea love story, a tale about racism in America and the marvelous setting in the Pacific Northwest with the power and alure of "Snow Falling on Cedars." A delicious read.
Rating: 
Summary: Very slow moving
Review: Usually, if I don't like a book, I will stop reading after only a few chapters. I read more than half of this book before I had to call it quits. I kept hoping that I would find the suspense and plot twists that I expected which never materialized. I fast forwarded to the ending which was disappointing and glad I hadn't plodded along to the end. Well, on to Grisham's latest!
Rating:
Summary: Path of Destruction
Review: Snow Falling On Cedars is paints a beautiful picture of and island that must heal the wounds left by war. Set on a small island of Japanese and white settlers just after WWII, the story follows the trial of Japanese fisherman Kabuo Miyamoto. Accused of killing another white fisherman, Kabuo's neighbors one by one begin to turn against him. Woven throughout the trial are the countless retellings of personal events which occured on the island up to the present. Through these, the breathtaking love of two people, a Japanese girl and a white boy, and how they were torn apart is exposed. Now grown up, Hatsue has moved on and married Kabuo, but Ishmael is still pining the loss. As the trial pursues, Ishmael slowly pulls away the layers of anger and cynicism from his emotions and he is left with who he is, a man whose heart and soul was destroyed by a community not willing to accept the different. Touching and emotional, Snow Falling On Cedars is an amazing example of the destruction path that prejudice leaves.
Rating: 
Summary: See the movie!
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer! The book had too much detail, I think, and kept backtracking with the histories of each character's grandparents! Although someof the childhood memories were interesting, the story could have been much shorter. Although this hardly happens, I would recommend seeing the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Snow Falling on Cedars
Review: I was disappointed with this book. The plot is weak, the characters are weak and the ending is disappointing. I believe the first half of the book could have been deleted, or at least summarized, and saved a lot of trees! A true waste of paper. However, I must admit there was one point where it peaked my interest (just past the half-way point) but then let me down again. Let's hope for something better next time!
Rating:
Summary: expertly written, though a laborious reading
Review: Normally I love to read the book rather than seeing the movie. It is usually more in-depth and more enjoyable, but in this case I would like to make an exception. Go see the movie, you will save yourself a lot of time working through the zig-zag of overlapping flash-back/present scenes. The writer's research was superb and conscientious, and I was looking forward to reading this book, but it felt more like a task keeping track of the tangle of details sometimes....
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