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Snow Falling on Cedars

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About this listen

 Heavy snow falls on San Piedro and impedes the progress of Kabuo Miyomoto's trial. Hatsue, Kabuo's wife and Ishmael, a journalist on the case, find themselves reckoning with the past and their lost love.©1996 David Guterson (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Inspiring
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Brilliant reading, but the last three chapters are abridged into one - very frustrating!

Mutilated masterpiece

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This is not a story to rush. It unravels slowly, revealing its layers as it unfolds. The narration is superb. I didn't realise that the last three chapters have been abridged, but other reviewers point this out. Evocative, sensitive, interesting, detailed and above all, captivating.

beautifully read

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This would have had a higher rating from me if chapters 30, 31 and 32 hadn’t been unforgivably abridged. I can’t understand why this was done and without the missing parts, the listener will be left with question marks about how everything came together. For this reason, I would encourage everyone to ensure to read at least from chapter 30 onwards so as not to skip anything.

Aside from this, the narration was generally very good. I would have given it 5 stars if the Japanese accents had sounded Japanese rather an indistinguishable blend of European accents. Also, if he had taken the time to check how to say the very few words and short phrases in Japanese.

The story itself is a fascinating insight into the greater or lesser extent to which humans can let prejudice affect their judgement, their impressions and their lives. I am very glad to have read it and, although I would love to have seen a more tidied up ending and for those who cast the heaviest stones to show their remorse, I was happy enough for the ending to be left to the imagination. Enough clarity and direction was given for me to feel satisfied.

This book left me thinking about human nature and to what extent our prejudices can be controlled or removed. In terms of a whodunnit, I loved it - it wasn’t overly frustrating with too many twists and turns. Just a very believable, human account.

Fascinating and brilliant story with the last 3 chapters inexplicably butchered by Audible

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I read this when it was 1st published and loved it for the good story it is. So the idea to hear it a 2nd time felt like a gamble. I could lose a pleasant memory. But the opposite is the case. I have a greater appreciation for the ambivalent struggle of Ismael to reconcile himself to the experience of love, loss, prejudice and war. But I'm not sure the writer isn't also a victim of the persistent prejudice he writes about.

The persistence of prejudice - overcome?

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I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The story is very well told, using the central incident as a means of illustrating the lives and characters of the protagonists.

The story is extremely well read.

Exceptional - highly recommended

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