Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time.
Review: The narrative is good, the ending OK. But the dialogue is wooden, there are wrong usages of words (adverse-averse; "may" instead of "might"), which were written in error and not edited out. The book looks as if it had been rushed out to capitalize on Snow Falling.I tell myself to stop reading as soon as I know a book's a dud; I wish I'd followed my own advice here. At least "East of" is short. If you want good writing, try: Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version, Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park, John Irving's Widow for One Year, and anything by Richard Russo. But don't waste your time on Guterson.
Rating:
Summary: Guterson ran out of gas
Review: Half way through this book, I couldn't put it down, then all of a sudden it ends rather uneventfully. I would have recommended this book prior to finishing it.
Rating: 
Summary: THREE OUT OF THREE WERE GREAT!
Review: Guterson's East of the Mountains was great. The story telling was the best. A great love story and reality check. A reminder to live your life now, because tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. ****** The reason I wrote three out of three were great was because I ordered two more novels along with Guterson's. The second was The Partner by Grisham. It was also great. A lot of good twists, and great ending. The third was a novel called The Fist of God by A.T. Nicholas, a phenomenal supernatural thriller! This book has a wicked plot. All three are different and great.
Rating: 
Summary: Human life and loss
Review: Having thoroughly enjoyed Snow Falling On Cedars with my book group, I looked forward to Guterson's second book. He handles human tragedy with grace and dignity in both books, though East of the Mountains was even more intense as the reader examines Ben's pending mortality prior to the autopsy table. East of the Mountians is about loss: Ben's loss of his own life, loss of the love of his life, loss of his youth, loss of hope and the world's loss of Ben, of Rachel, of their love for each other. Snow Falling on Cedars looked at past loss and moves on; East of the Mountains looks at future loss and lost of the past too. The omnipresent feeling of loss as life comes to its end was overpowering to me, so much so, I had to put the book down often to let the vicarious despair pass. I enjoyed the book, but closed it with a feeling of overwhelming sadness; knowledge that my own life will contain the same sorts of loss as Ben's and the same, sad evenual outcome.
Rating:
Summary: A disjointed tale containing two fine set pieces
Review: East of the Mountains was a very disappointing follow up to Snow Falling on Cedars. Snow was a suspenseful murder story, combining a compelling criminal trial, a disturbing return to the internment of Japanes during WWII, a fine description of landscapes and a touching love story. East of the Mountains is a disjointed tale with little of interest. A man ill with an incurable cancer has a car accident and then is sucked into a succession of improbable events that is broken up only by two longish and compelling set pieces. The first is a reminiscence of youth in this region of orchards as the protagonist met and fell in love with his eventual wife. The second is a brutal depiction of a battle during the Italian Campaign in WWII. At the end of the book, the protagonist returns where he started, symbolizing neatly a book that achieves very little, as even the central story of how to deal with death gets nowhere. All in all disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story ... no ending
Review: I enjoyed reading the story and thought that the idea of the trip and the characters he meets all along the way were all well done. From the very beginning ... all through the book, the exploration of the characters was well done. But ... the ending was so abrupt and sudden I felt like he had not reached that point yet. Found it to be very disappointing....
Rating:
Summary: a must read
Review: this was a great book! guterson did a brilliant job of contrasting a mans love for nature and a brilliant depiction of ww2. it showed how life is not over until it's over. you never know when your wisdom could be called upon to help those in need. he saved a baby and it's mother. three lives could have been lost but because of his reluctance all were saved. for this reader it also taught me respect for age and the trials and stipulations that one encounters in life. brilliant novel.
Rating:
Summary: Journey through Washington State
Review: Enjoyable journey through the life of a man. Guterson's rich writing style is well worth the journey if you can find a quiet place to read and soak up the world he creates. This book is about life's journey not its destination. Enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: Guterson scores again!
Review: I was thrilled with Mr. Guterson's first novel. I hestitated to buy the second because of the topic. Dealing with a serious illness in my immediate family, I tend to skirt any novels of such topics. I am glad I didn't this time. Although I found I couldn't "feel" Ben's character, the style of Guterson's prose caught my attention again. The book is a variation of my favorite Christmas film, except that instead of seeing what good he did in his past, Ben gets to see what good he can still do - not something many of us get to see (or feel). The characters slip in and out quickly, without letting us know them very well - but then Ben didn't know them very well, either. Mr. Guterson, I am still a fan. Don't let us tie you to a specific style.
Rating:
Summary: A very introspective journey.
Review: I preferred this Guterson novel to his bestselling 'Snow Falling on Cedars'. Perhaps because it is from the simple vantage point of a dying man who has to come to terms with killing, death and dying but realizes that life is worth holding on to. It reminds me of an Ernest Hemingway story in its sensory recall to war and hunting. Guterson is a master of the sensual as he evokes fruit and its harvest and bittersweet memories of past love as the core of his characters' lives. I look forward to more novels from him and perhaps one that involves Northwest Native Americans.
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