Snow Falling on Cedars Paperback – Unabridged, September 26, 1995

I loved this book. It will go into my "Best Books I've Read List"

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TJReads

June 6, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I loved this book. It will go into my "Best Books I've Read List". I'm not going to go into the story line, enough of the other reviews tell the story, but this is one of those books that you just sit back and let it take you away. The descriptions of the area, the people, the way he describes the background on each character. This book made me "feel" the characters, the storm, the cold, the snow, hear the bullets, and smell the strawberries. The tension builds as you wonder if a person you believed in was really going to do the right thing. When I finished, I gave a big sigh, and I realized if I hadn't read it, I really would have missed something, there are few books I've read that make you feel that way, examples of a few other great books, Nine Boys in the Boat, The Storyteller, Prince of Tides, To Kill a Mockingbird, When Crickets Cry, The Light Between Oceans, The Book Thief, and now Snow Falling of Cedars joins the club. I have my Kindle read me 1 to 2 books a week while driving, but I will be purchasing this one hardcover for my library to read during a cold snowy winter day wrapped up in a blanket. Yes, buy it, sit back, read slow and enjoy.

4 people found this helpful

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Judith A. Verhaag

POWERFUL AND HAUNTING

August 27, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I read SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS when it was first published years ago and it left such a positive impression that I decided to re-read it recently. This is one of my favorite books of all time and the second time around was just as spellbinding, emotional and gripping as the first. While I discovered more details with my recent reading than I remembered, the overall experience was just as powerful. I've recommended it to numerous people who have also been impressed with the quality of writing and the powerful and emotional impact of this novel. I happen to know quite a bit about gill net fishing and about Puget Sound so felt immersed in this setting. CEDARS creates a palpable "feeling"... not just words...haunting and ethereal at the same time...I was inside the cedar tree with Hatsue and Ishmael, on the boats and at Manzanar. The author is truly a master with words and his novel is a master of literature. I probably will read it again and again.

One person found this helpful

Good read about prejudice

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Fatima Peter

March 25, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I watched the movie on a rainy day and decided to buy the book. The book gives a great deal of insight into the tragic time for the Japanese community in USA. It is suspenseful and very well written but it is not a huge mystery.
The author recreates the wartime hysteria that led to Japanese-Americans being sent to concentration camps. The book is more than a story of one man's guilt or innocence; it is a story of a community's fear and prejudice against the Japanese Americans and brings to mind the current prejudice against people of Islamic faith. The story stays with you but it is not a book that I can't put down.

Despite the occasional eye roll, it's worth reading

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Moisio

May 11, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Oh, I don't know. There's a lot to like here. The trial is compelling. The story unravels nicely through the various characters' histories. I love the irony that those of German descent get free passes while the Japanese get packed off to camps; I guess the Germans never attacked U.S. soil though.

I had a tough time swallowing the early teen lives of Ishmael and Hatsue. She's meditating on rock ledges in the woods with her perfect hair cascading over her shoulders while he's smitten in his room filled with collecting cards and model airplanes. It's a bit much, isn't it? There's nothing equivocal in the mawkish innocence other than the xenophobia underlying Hatsue's hesitation. And when it's all shattered by the war, it seems contrived.

I have a lot of time for honest looks at America's incarceration of its Japanese citizens during World War II. And I think Guterson's trial rings true. Furthermore, I think in real life Ishmael probably makes the same decision. However, the story that positions Ishmael to actually make that decision, and so...uggh...meaningfully, tends toward melodrama at times.

2 people found this helpful

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... first came out and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. plus my book club also viewed the ...

Amazon Customer

I read this when it first came out and I forgot how much I enjoyed it .plus my book club also viewed the movie.