Rating: 
Summary: Excellent narrative
Review: When I picked up this book from the shelf of the British Library, it was actually the review on the back cover that caught my attention. It said that if Harper Lee, Arthur Miller and John Grisham were washed ashore a lonely island, they might together come up with something like this! As it was the author's debut novel, I didn't believe it. I thought it was exaggeration.But after reading it, I must say, I'm not at all disappointed. It was great! I liked the courtroom drama very much. Though the flashbacks were a little long and not so appealing, I was touched by Ishmael's character and also that of the accused. I almost had tears in my eyes at some places. No book after Uncle Tom's cabin brought me so close to tears. I loved it. Excellent narrative.
Rating:
Summary: not a classic, but better than most
Review: I was forced to read this novel for school, I am in the 11th grade. I really dont enjoy reading books, and my idea of a classical book is The Lord Of the Flies. I started reading this novel with a pesimistic view (like with all the books I read), and the first five chapters definatly filled that view. After a while though I started enjoying it. That is rare for me to like a book. David Guterson has written a cool book and I hope he keeps it up.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best love stories ever written
Review: There are many different parts to this book, which makes it so special. A tragic lover story, live in WWII, a murder trial....Guterson wrote such a powerful book. I could read this book in two days. Every page is worth reading 100 times. It's a book that will stick with you forever.
Rating:
Summary: Moody, atmospheric tale
Review: Moody tale of pain and longing -- so beautifully written that it makes you feel as if you are on the island with the characters and witnessing the critical events. Contrary to what the publisher states on the book jacket, it is NOT a mystery -- it carries no suspense -- but well worth the read if you are in the right frame of mind. It should also be a great film -- directed by Scott Hicks, the same director who made "Shine."
Rating:
Summary: great reading
Review: This is a very well written story with interesting characters. There exist some flaws within the storyline, but overall a very pleasant weekend read.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak in some areas, strong in others.
Review: As a winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award, I expected more. The book's most entertaining aspect was the snow storm. The author did a good job making me see and feel it. Ishmael's mother's kitchen seemed especially cozy in the storm. On the negative side, I wasn't riveted by the plot. There was enough interest to keep me occasionally picking up this book until I finally finished it after several months, but I could never get excited or passionate over what was happening. The author didn't fill the characters with pulsing red blood, not for me anyway. The book was also too wordy in places, especially in the first half.
Rating: 
Summary: Like a beautiful old friend you are obligated to put up with
Review: I felt certain I would enjoy this book from the reviews (and I have to admit, the beautiful cover). When I began I was delighted at how perfectly the author chose his words to create exactly the moment he wanted you to experience. But this descriptive mode never moved on. It was a never ending opening paragraph I could smell the musty courtroom, feel the snow falling softly outside the windows and hear the snow crunching under Ishmael's tires. However, I felt more like I had taken a hologram vacation in my head than experienced any kind of literary event. (Interesting note: the opening 30-minute sequence to "Saving Private Ryan" made me question whether I had seen the movie somewhere before-I soon realized it was remarkably close to images the author had conjured in my head of Ishmael's war memories. Amazingly long on descriptive sequences-but short on plot development.) Perhaps this book would be good to teach creative writing, but it is a slow read. At the quiet, underwhelming end, I felt I was leaving a tired, old friend. Glad to have spent the time, but glad I was leaving.
Rating:
Summary: the book moved to slowly
Review: too many details in the book... it gave me a head ache...
Rating:
Summary: Strawberry Fields Forever and ever and ever
Review: This novel skims over the surface of a lyrical world without ever descending into passion or conviction. I cannot recall the last novel I read where the characters are rendered with such glum and humorless earnestness. The novel's sympathy for its characters is admirable but by the end, they're all just cardboard cutouts in Guterson's wordy morality play.
Rating: 
Summary: Just plain awful!!!!
Review: I had high hopes for this book based on the critics' reviews. I now wonder if any of the critics even bothered to read the book. The prose is wordy and difficult to read. The characters are wooden, and I didn't care what happened to any of them. The author has a chance to really make a statement about the nature of prejudice shortly after WWII, but instead, backs off from the outcome of the trial and tacks on an inane ending to avoid having to deal with any actual issues. In addition, the author contradicts himself twice within a few pages. Both times, it is female characters who are shown to the reader to be liars. In the first instance, Hatsue remembers a kiss between her and Ishmael when they were ten, but tells her new husband that she has never been kissed before. Fine; I'm not sure anyone would consider a kiss at ten to qualify for a real kiss. However, in the next chapter, we find out that she met Ishmael in an old hollow tree all through high school ! and ended up doing a little more than kissing. In the other instance, the deceased's wife felt "resigned" with the other two men she had sex with in her life, but 2 pages later, remembers that she only dated two other men in her life and "insisted on their politeness and reserve." Apparently sex doesn't fall into either of those categories. Either the author can't remember what he wrote from one page to the next, or he believes that women are liars when it comes to their sexual history. The author also spends pages describing people and events which are never mentioned again, and which have absolutely no relation on the story. Cutting out these uninteresting and not-charming vignettes could easily have taken 100+ pages off the finished product. One assumes the author was paid by the page. In the end, I was hoping the storm would obliterate both the island and the book, so no one else will be reeled in and subjected to this awful excuse for literatu! re.
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