Snow Falling on Cedars

Rating:
Summary: He didn't want to waste the research!
Review: It seems that Guterson did a lot of research for this novel and was reluctant to "waste" any of it. The point, surely, is to use only what you need. The few brushtrokes of traditional Japanese drawing: economical and sure, seem an apt comparison here. It's repetitive, it has a made-for-Hollywood ending, but underneath all that a good editor could find an excellent novella.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat of a disappointment ...
Review: I must say, this book was somewhat of a disappointment. In the beginning, the book has a hard time getting started and in the end, there seems to be no real closure. Guterson's book also contributes to the typical stereotypes placed on Asians, both male and female. Kabuo is seen as stiff, without emotion or compassion and Hatsue is just plain empty. She is a hollow shell that needs to be filled with substance. Also, the author has failed to portray the true sentiments during the paranoia ensuing the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He made the internment camps seem like a bad vacation. However, Guterson does deserve credit for developing a feasible storyline which encompasses the residing prejudice on the island.

Rating:
Summary: redundant redundant
Review: This book was an interesting story and a pretty good courtroom drama. Nothing was as excellent as the hype was for this bestseller, but Guterson showed a respectable knowledge for what he wrote about and an interesting portrayl of the times before, during,and after WWII. Gutterson illustrated each point by paraphrasing it throughout a paragraph, and that became irritating after awhile. The book had a good story but was too repetitive, and I did not feel totally satissfied once I finished.

Rating:
Summary: good premise but overrated
Review: Does anyone else feel that Snow Falling on Cedars is a tad overrated? Although it is award-winning and a bestseller, I sometimes felt that the metaphors and symbolism aspects were too put-together and sometimes cheesy, and the descriptions, character dialogue, and themes were very redundant. I was impressed with what seemed like a vast amount of understanding on Guterson's part and the way he integrated past with present. The story was always interesting and Cedars has all of the elements of a capativating novel: courtroom trial, history, love, etc. I enjoyed this book, but it could have been trimmed down at least one hundred pages just by removing all of the repetitive parts. This book seems to paralell somewhat to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, but I reccomend Mockingbird over Cedars for anyone who wants to read a book about racial unjustice in a judicial setting. Overall, this was a good book about an important issues of the US.

Rating:
Summary: objective yet touching
Review: this book explores the many cultural differences and prejudices that we face in the usa, as well as just being a wonderful tale of strength, friendship, and dedication.

Rating:
Summary: a wonderful read!!!!!!!
Review: A couple of years ago, i decided to read all the literature, that is all the classics written by dead authors first before tackling modern fiction. But i heard so much about this book that i decided to take the plunge and read it, i bought the book, no less. Needless to say, i wasn't disappointed in the least. I wouldn't say it's a classic, but it is fascinating- set in an interesting time (at least i find it interesting!), with an interesting premise, and most of its charm for me lay in the fact that the author didn't try and valorize or glorify America's position in WWII. I could see why many people had a problem with it- the action didn't start instantly, there were a lot of descriptions of the island, the ending was a sort of anti-climax etc. What i really admired though, is Guterson's technique of mixing memory with the present courtroom trial, as an indirect way of showing us what happened in the past- giving us a glimpse into the characters' head, letting their own version of history reveal their personalities. A great read, and i can't wait for the movie to come out!

Rating:
Summary: it was ok, it was ok
Review: I read this book about two years ago, and I thought it was interesting but not great. It's been two years and the thing that really stuck with me was that whenever someone spoke they would repeat themselves!! The story was good enough to keep me reading, but that just bugged me all the way through, all the way through! Did anyone else notice that?

Rating:
Summary: Second half of the book did not stand upo to the first half.
Review: Guterson's imagery is superb throughout the book but the drama of the court room fell short when the wife failed to tell what she knew and the japanese fisherman refusing to talk. That was lame and in need of some form of "deus ex machina" and not the predictable newsman coming up with the solution that somehow evaded the sheriff. But I am on to "East of Mountains" to see if a seamless plot is possible for Guterson.

Rating:
Summary: Conventional
Review: My book group read this book and every member except me thought it was marvelous. I just couldn't get over the feeling that it was superficial and conventional--like a Norman Rockwell painting that sweetens but cheapens reality. The other members thought it beautifully written, but I felt it to be too soulless, too "writing-school" pretty, with a self-conscious lyricism that kept me from being really moved or involved in the story. Consider this mixed metaphor :"Then he remembered strawberry fields from before Manzanar and he was in them as he'd always been, a sea of strawberries, rows and rows, a labyrinth of runners as intricate as a network of arteries feeding on the surface of a dozen farms he knew from childhood." A great novel should provoke and make the reader question what he believes instead of flattering the reader by supporting conventional wisdom. This novel seems contrived to be popular by presenting current fashions in thought. This book has been overrated by readers who should be more critical.

Rating:
Summary: Good writing, but 460 pages later, ultimately unsatisfying.
Review: I can understand the criticism of the other three hundred (or so) reviewers. So I'll have to take a piece from each and sum up what they say, and, at the same time, tell you what I think. At points, the novel was so moving, evocative, and well written (especially during the relationship between Ishmiel and Hatsue) that I almost started talking to the book ("No way", or "Oh my god" etc...). The animosity of the Americans towards the Japanesse-Americans is clear throughout the book, at times a tad overstated (when the narrator starts using the word "Jap" himself). There are so many highs in the book, moments of almost Joyce-like writing, near perfection. But the space in between that, it appears to me, is meaningless description. He takes pages and pages to describe this and that, here and there, while he never truly hints as to there meaning. It would appear that, over the course of 460 pages, Guterson has forgotten the style of writing this is, or at least fails to weave it all together, as a master-writer like Joyce, Fitzgerald, or Woolf did so subtlely (or not subtley in some cases) and yet so well. And that, after having my nose buried in this book for a solid week for a history class, left me with a rather hollow feeling. At points it was, indeed, wonderful, but you found yourself, instead of enjoying all the pages, waiting for the next good ones to come. Perhaps he should shorten his next novel (I haven't read East of the Mountains). Unless he was getting paid by the word.