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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77142.Snow_Falling_on_Cedars?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Snow Falling on Cedars" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1170899934m/77142.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77142.Snow_Falling_on_Cedars?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Snow Falling on Cedars</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1873.David_Guterson">David Guterson</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18919983?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>This book was recommended to me by a number of people and as a result I had very high expectations by the time I actually picked it up. However, this was one case where high expectations did not lead to disappointment. I had no trouble getting in to this novel and after the first few chapters I couldn’t put it down. <br/> <br/>I found the descriptive writing style to be very effective and enjoyable to read. Some other reviewers mentioned being bored by the slow-paced development of the plot and I can certainly see where they’re coming from. I generally found that I could only allocate the proper attention to Cedars when I was in a pretty mellow mood (more of a decaf read I guess). <br/> <br/>What stood out to me most about Cedars were the structure of the plot and the comprehensiveness of the background provided- starting with the trial and then slowly filling in the gaps of the past. This format made it so I was constantly reevaluating each character and impatient to learn more of their personal histories. Carl’s character seemed especially ambiguous to me until the later stages of the book and the development of Ishmael’s past and resulting perception of the world provided the most complex and interesting character in the novel. <br/> <br/>I was also appreciative of the setting (I love the Puget Sound islands) and thought Guterson’s description was on the money. <br/> <br/>Now I have to decide whether or not to see the movie. Luckily it seems to be fairly unpopular amongst the other reviewers, so my expectations will at least be a bit lower than they were for the book. <br/> <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1033579?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>