This is a replacement book (from ebay) for the one I've sent out on a bookring, which parted from its packaging in the hands of the USPS! Here is a link to the original copy.

Bookring members (current order - subject to slight change):
1. bronwen316 (US - IL: read the original copy)
2. Rubi-J (US - UT)
3. WarEagle78 (US - AL)
4. Ilios (US - FL)
5. sgscarcliff (US - CA) *
6. Mymlan (Finland) *
7. PCSAF (Portugal) *
8. FizzyPig (UK) *
9. Secotyne (Switzerland) *
then back to me, Kernow8, in the UK


* = international shipping OK

Mailed to Rubi-J today. Bon voyage!

Came in the mail as part of a book ring from a fellow book-crosser.

I tried to get into this book but it just isn't holding my attentino. Will send to the next person in line as soon as I get their contact information.

Arrived today in Alabama, will journal again when read.

The book started slowly for me. I was considering sending it on, but my doctor asked what I was reading and encouraged me to continue. She was right -- it was a captivating book once I got past the initial 50ish pages. Next time I'll take her some Bookcrossing materials!

The story revolves around the murder trial of a man of Japanese descent in a Washington State island community. The tale weaves in and out of the courtroom as the past and current lives of the characters are explored. Guterson's feel for his characters is masterful, providing observations both delicate and insightful. His descriptions are lyrical, exploring both the difficulties of existence in various locations (including on the island and in a Japanese-American WWII internment camp) and their unique beauties.

I recommend this one highly, and will be sending it on to Ilios on my next po trip.

This book was mailed out to Ilios on Saturday, April 17.

Just got this book in the mail. I will get to it as soon as I am done with my other rings/rays. Thanks for sharing, Kernow8!

7/04/04
What a beautiful book! Guterson did a great job at developing all the characters, not only the main ones. The passages regarding Hisao and Fujiko Imada are beautiful - in a couple of paragraphs, you see a love story growing from the seed to become a strong tree. Carl and Susan Marie's relationship is also beautifully described. I don't want to spoil the story to anybody, but I felt my heart was broken just like Ishmael's was. Why is life so complicated? At the same time, I can understand Hatsue's reasons. The author showed in a few short lines a woman trapped in the body of a teenager, who has to make adult decisions.

My favortie part is on p443 (because it's so true - especially the last sentence):

"(...)He cut through the dell of snow-covered ferns to the hollow tree of his youth.
Ishmael sat inside for a brief time with his coat wrapped tightly around him. He listened to the world turned silent by the snow; there was absolutely nothing to hear. The silence of the world roared steadily in his ears while he came to recognize that he did not belong here, he had no place in the tree any longer. Some much younger people should find this tree, hold it tightly as their deepest secret, as he and Hatsue had. For them it might stave off what he could not help but see with clarity: that the world was silent and cold and bare and that in this lay its terrible beauty."

This book makes me want to go to Washington state and experience all this natural beauty. I am sending this book to the next bookcrosser on July 6th. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

ps: the picture is from Lopez Island, the real "San Piedro".

Release planned for Tuesday, July 06, 2004 at post office in snail mailed to a fellow bookcrosser as part of a bookring, Bookring Controlled Releases.

mailed to sgscarcliff today. Happy reading!

I just received. I will read and post again when done and am mailing to Europe

What I liked about the writing most was how visual it was. I could see so much of the book in my mind's eye.

But I did find it a bit slow going.

The book is in the mail to Mymlan.

Thanks sgscarcliff, the book arrived safely today - and just last evening I was wondering what I could read next.

I did like the book, it was easy to read it even in small portions and every time get into it quite quickly. It was not a great book in my opinion though, and at times certainly a bit oversentimental and slow. I found interesting the historical part: I knew next to nothing of the Japanese community in the USA during and after the war.

The plot held me all the way, at first I was a bit frustrated with it, because things were unravelled only little by little, and my thoughts of what had happened changed with the new information - I felt an outsider compared to all the characters of the book, like someone who only recently came to live on the island.

I'll be sending this on to PCSAF.

I just got it today. Thanks for the lovely postcard.

Well, it was not so interesting as I thought it would be. I found it very slow going. As soon as I get the address of the next person, it will travel to a new home.

Book arrived safely in the post this morning, despite its slightly soggy and smudged envelope (it was v.v.wet here earlier today). Thanks PCSAF!

Will journal again once read.

I was interested enough to keep reading, and this surely is an accomplished work of fiction, but I'm still not sure whether I actually like it or not.

On the plus side, the scenery was detailed and lush, the characters were thoroughly described and realistic and I truely felt I had got a sense of a place (both in time and geography) that I will never inhabit.

On the minus side, although I was interested to see how the story turned out, by the end I didn't really care very much. Like one of the main characters (and the weather), I was left feeling empty and cold.

Will post on to Kernow8 when I get the address.

Posted via airmail to Secotyne this morning. Sorry for the delay, I've been hectic at work recently...

June 5th : The book landed in Switzerland during the week.
Thank you FizzyPig for the cute kitty !
I'll start it asap.
June 30 : It was interesting (I didn't know about the Japanese in the United States during the war) and it keep me going until the end (even if it was a little slow during the last third of the story). The complexity of the characters and the description of the landscape made of this book a pleasant reading.
Back to Kernow8 now.

Home again - thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to reading it myself and then letting it continue its journey as a RABCK or relay.

I'm off to start a long road US road trip in Seattle next week, and am packing this to read while I'm in the Pacific Northwest. I may release the book while I'm over there, so watch this space...