Title: A disjointed tale containing two fine set pieces
Product 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.
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