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Our Lady Of The Forest

2.96 of 5 stars 2.96 · rating details · 2,079 ratings · 275 reviews

David Guterson's Our Lady of the Forest navigates between the mystical and the cynical in its slowly paced telling of a Marian encounter in North Fork, Washington. The story opens in the North Fork campground among homeless mushroom pickers. The town is reeling from the loss of its logging industry, and its residents make their way by scavenging odd jobs and selling the pr...more

Published (first published January 1st 2003)

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Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

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Dec 29, 2007 Hazel rated it 2 of 5 stars

While reading it, I was compelled to finish, as the author is a good story teller. However, I always was slightly annoyed, and this is probably why - the main character is a two dimensional waif. she is repeatedly noted as virginal yet sexually alluring (and it always went something like this - "her pale skin shone with fever, and it looked like she was about to die. but damn the priest really wanted to fuck her") and starts bleeding the day she has visions of the holy mother. oh yeah, the curs...more

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Mar 06, 2008 Janeen rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who are interested in religion and strong characterization novels.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary: Our Lady of the Forest is great book that allows a great plot and the characters to expand themselves. The book spans over a short time of less than a week, telling the story of a young girl, Ann, claiming to see the Virgin Mary, while picking mushrooms. Ann is a poor girl, who lives by herself in an old car that does not run, in a campground, and suffers from severe asthma and allergies. She is a teenage runaway who was born to a teenage mother and a drug - addicted father. She picks m...more Summary: Our Lady of the Forest is great book that allows a great plot and the characters to expand themselves. The book spans over a short time of less than a week, telling the story of a young girl, Ann, claiming to see the Virgin Mary, while picking mushrooms. Ann is a poor girl, who lives by herself in an old car that does not run, in a campground, and suffers from severe asthma and allergies. She is a teenage runaway who was born to a teenage mother and a drug - addicted father. She picks mushrooms in the woods, and lives off the money she gets when she sells them. Ann is also notorious for taking several anti - allergy medications and asthma pills.
One day while in the national forest, Ann claims to see the Virgin Mary. At this time, another girl in the same campground, Carolyn Greer, comes forward. An atheist, and a person who yearns for wealth, Carolyn befriends Ann. Soon, the sighting of the Virgin Mary attracts thousands of people to accompany Ann on her sightings. The people treat Ann like royalty and are loyal to follow her. The people believe the Virgin Mary can offer them redemption through Ann. Father Collins, the local catholic priest, is skeptical of Ann's visions and does not allow himself to fall into their belief of seeing the Virgin Mary. Soon, a trial is put into place by the Catholic church. Ann is interviewed numerous times about her sighting of the Virgin Mary. During this time, Ann's allergies worsen, and it is evident she is not doing well. At the church one morning, a man comes claiming he needs to see Ann. After a rough altercation Ann begins to choke badly. Wanting to protect Ann, Carolyn offers a can of pepper - spray to Ann insisting it is Ann's asthma inhaler, hoping she could spray the man. Unfortunately, because of Ann's severe asthma, Ann ends up choking to death on the pepper spray.
The story then transports the readers to one year after the death of Ann In the town of North Fork, life is slowly getting back to "normal". The people who came to see Ann left after she died and the town became another small - town on a map in Washington. The town is also left wondering if Ann's sighting was real. Questions arise as people realize Ann was a pill - popping teenage. The town's people are divided as some believe she was hallucinating from the drugs she took, while others believe it was a true sighting.

Selected Quotes -
"His (problems) were enough to ruin somebody and that made her want to pursue him again, to find out if Tom was someone she could talk to, a person she could peel open, reveal, because of all his wounds (85)"

I enjoy this quote that Guterson wrote because I feel it expresses the truth about people today. I think people want to know about other's secrets and problems because it makes them feel better about their own. It gives others pleasure to know someone else is going through pain.

My Personal Review:
I enjoyed reading "Our Lady of the Forest" because it made me realize a lot about things I did not really know about. The novel revolves around catholicism and the question of whether to believe or not. This book forced me to ask myself questions about today's society. Thousands of people came to North Fork to see Ann, only because she claimed to see the Virgin Mary. This made me question who the people were actually worshipping...the Virgin Mary or Ann? Guterson also uses strong characterization in the novel. I was able to "believe" in the characters as they seemed to have reality in them. His characters are very honest and exude the true emotions that people have. Guterson does not use quotations when using dialogue. I felt this only added to the tone in the novel. It made me concentrate more on the interaction between the characters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a thoughtful book that will leave them with questions about today's culture and faith. (less)

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Jun 23, 2008 Dollie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a dark book indeed but I thought it was a worthwhile read. ALL of the characters are pathetic creatures but I suppose it is said God uses the most unlikeliest people. Man, they don't come more unlikely. Even the priest gave me the creeps. Everytime I read a chapter, I felt covered in mildew it was so damp all the time. I really liked how it delivered a message of redemption with no real definitive conclusion why things happened the way they did. It relies on the readers own belief or lac...more

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Jul 14, 2008 Megs rated it 2 of 5 stars

So, I know this will make me sound like an idiot, but I hate when writers don't use quotation marks for dialogue when it's a fiction novel told in the third person. Especially when the books are mediocre. So not only am I having to stop to think a bit when reading, I'm having to stop to think for a not good book. Which is lame. I mean, if it's a good book, fine, but get over the pretentiousness of not using quotation marks. Or just eliminate punctuation all together.

I also felt like I read way...more

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Mar 13, 2008 Alyson rated it 2 of 5 stars

"No atheist, Carolyn thought, is ever firm." What does one do when presented with spiritual insight, revelation, and direct contact with deity. This book depicts the events surrounding a fictional Marian siting in northern Oregon by a troubled young girl with a tumultuous past. I was interested in how this writer would portray a modern visionary or someone who believes to have received revelation from God, or in this case Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although thought provoking, this book was diffi...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Jen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I made it to disc 5 (of 10) in this and had to stop listening/reading. I couldn't do it. What is it about postmodern writings that everyone has to be hella depressing and have terribly uncomfortable and pessimistic sex with everyone? I don't get that. Plots can go along just fine without it. I promise.
So I actually didn't realize much of what this was about when I picked it up because sometimes I just grab something for a long car trip. I've actually gotten some surprising winners that way, but...more I made it to disc 5 (of 10) in this and had to stop listening/reading. I couldn't do it. What is it about postmodern writings that everyone has to be hella depressing and have terribly uncomfortable and pessimistic sex with everyone? I don't get that. Plots can go along just fine without it. I promise.
So I actually didn't realize much of what this was about when I picked it up because sometimes I just grab something for a long car trip. I've actually gotten some surprising winners that way, but this wasn't one of them. I liked it at the beginning; as a medievalist, it was interesting to think about what the modern world would do to a visionary, and how our skepticism rides so closely to our desire to have some experience outside of what we know, what we always experience. I liked seeing the pilgrimage aspect with the relics and the physicality of the "faith" as one who has read a number of medieval accounts of saint sightings, miraculous healings, and the like. I even liked how uncoordinated the priest was, how human, how incredibly unexalted because it is real and true. (I about died when they brought in all of the church inanity regarding building another church, though, as that exact type of conversation was part of the reason I was going on vacation at the time!) I wasn't sure of the necessity of the priest's attraction to Anne, though; that just seemed like a potshot, an easy way to make him just a bit more sullied.
So it was promising--but then we got into the back story of EVERYONE, which made the book feel incredibly long and convoluted. It wasn't that I didn't understand what was going on, I just didn't care. Tom's life sucks. Got it. You don't have to tell me all of why it sucks, or every instance that produced the many ways in which it sucks now. I understand. It's postmodern--everyone's life sucks, and everyone is miserable, and everyone hopes but no one will have a happy ending because that's not "real." Got it.
I finally gave up, though, at the descriptions of Anne's back story. There are some things you just don't need to write, I feel, some intensities that aren't for mass market distribution. I won't spoil it here, but it caught me totally off-guard, and I have to give props to the narrator because I would not have been able to read some of this stuff, nor to give it the gutturally twisted pleasure that the character needed.
No thanks. There's enough depressing in my life. I don't care enough about these characters to suffer theirs as well. Unfinished, and likely to stay so. (less)

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Jun 27, 2012 Drcgb rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel has made a deep impression on me. I am an atheist, but surprised myself by being deeply moved by the religiosity of the mushroom-picking teenage runaway, Ann Holmes, who experiences the Marian visions. The flawed, but very human, not to say humane priest, Father Collins, also attracted my sympathy. The rather cynical and educated societal dropout, Carolyn Greer, acts as an effective foil to the visionary and also manages to inject some dark humour into the novel; her protectiveness to...more This novel has made a deep impression on me. I am an atheist, but surprised myself by being deeply moved by the religiosity of the mushroom-picking teenage runaway, Ann Holmes, who experiences the Marian visions. The flawed, but very human, not to say humane priest, Father Collins, also attracted my sympathy. The rather cynical and educated societal dropout, Carolyn Greer, acts as an effective foil to the visionary and also manages to inject some dark humour into the novel; her protectiveness towards the visionary is rather touching and clearly sincere notwithstanding the fact that she is also trying to exploit the situation for her own benefit. It is obvious almost from the outset that the ex-logger, Tom Cross senior, who openly admits to hating and paralyzing his own son, and is, on the face of it, unpleasant, mildly racist, and even menacing, yet still eager to be redeemed by his faith, is going to feature prominently in the denouement.

The dark, rain-soaked, mysterious forest provides a wonderful backdrop to the story. The spirit of the place is evoked in very poetic, literate and polished prose that is occasionally, as one reviewer has put it, 'thesaurus-splitting'. One very unusual and rather radical aspect of the writer's style is the fact that he doesn't use apostrophes to report speech; instead the characters' spoken words feature within normal sentences. I cannot recall a book I've read where the author has chosen to do this, yet it works well here.

I think this novel is not only entertaining, and gritilly realistic, if a novel about Marian apparitions can be described as such, but it also touches on some very profound epistemological and ontological questions (yes, both those words feature in the book). And although I don't recall the author mentioning shamanism, I think the experiences of the teenage seer have as much connection to that ancient form of spirituality as they do to Roman Catholicism. Perhaps it is the novel's explicit association with Roman Catholicism that is the reason for some of the totally unwarranted and jaundiced reviews of this book I have seen elsewhere (e.g. on Amazon); some reviewers appear to take offence when characters and events don't live up to expectations they may have because of their own Catholic faith. Ironically, I do not believe that the author presents the Roman Catholic faith, or the Church, in an unsympathetic light at all; his take on religious experience and belief is nuanced and sophisticated.

I loved this haunting and vivid book, and will never forget it.(less)

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Aug 08, 2011 Tony J added it

Shelves: fiction

I picked this book up at a garage sale because of the cover, and didn't really know what to expect. I discovered (after the fact) that it was written by David Guterson, author of 'Snow Falling on Cedars', which I really enjoyed. The story revolves around a 4-day period during which a young runaway named Ann begins to see the image of the Virgin Mary, while out picking mushrooms. All of this takes place in a failing logging town, where many are down on their luck, and Ann's visions give them a re...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Jeremy rated it 3 of 5 stars

What an interesting topic and what a novel way to address it. A young girl leaves home as soon as she can drive due to the abuse she receives there and ends up living in a campsite. She makes her money by collecting and selling mushrooms (the valuable kind) and one day sees a vision of Mary in the early morning forest. As is the way of these things within a week there are thousands of people desperate to follow "Our Ann of Oregon" and see the apparitions themselves. Ann's friend (also a campsite...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Don Westenhaver rated it 2 of 5 stars

My wife and I had read and enjoyed another of Guterson's novels, Snow Falling on Cedars, and the premise of Our Lady of the Forest seemed intriguing. We rented the audio version for a long car trip. Midway through the novel, we began to lose interest in both the characters and the plot. We had some empathy with the heroine, Ann Holmes, and the priest, Father Collins, but the other characters were so selfish it was hard to be concerned what happened to them.
The dialog is more "choppy" than any b...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Stephen Gallup rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story revolves around a character who is a vital presence at the outset, with disturbing memories, and then, as she is seen more and more from the perspective of others, gradually becomes objectified. Ann is an adolescent runaway with a domestic situation behind her that would inspire just about anyone to flee. She now has no home other than a sagging tent pitched at a campground outside a down-at-the-heels logging town in Washington, and one day when foraging for mushrooms she sees the Vir...more This story revolves around a character who is a vital presence at the outset, with disturbing memories, and then, as she is seen more and more from the perspective of others, gradually becomes objectified. Ann is an adolescent runaway with a domestic situation behind her that would inspire just about anyone to flee. She now has no home other than a sagging tent pitched at a campground outside a down-at-the-heels logging town in Washington, and one day when foraging for mushrooms she sees the Virgin Mary.

Her chance companion, Carolyn, is older and very cynical--not just about the repeated Mary sightings but about everything. Father Collins, the young priest Ann seeks out, wants to believe her but cannot (truth be told, he wishes he could relate to her as a man). The most problematic character might be Tom Cross, one of many out-of-work loggers in the area. Tom can swing between fits of rage (he crippled his own son) and hopelessness, but mostly he just tries to cope with an unrewarding life.

When these people speak, the dialog is wonderful. It should be read aloud. The story should be enacted. To me, it feels almost more real than actual life. (But I will say, as I recently did regarding a Saramago title, that the refusal to set off dialog with normal punctuation is a needless distraction.)

The setting of the story almost qualifies as a character, as well. Not having been to the Northwest, I wonder if the forests there are truly as perpetually dank, dripping and cold as North Fork is depicted on virtually every page. In the midst of that, Ann's constantly mentioned pallor and feverishness stand out even more than they would otherwise.

It's a complicated story, somewhat similar to Lying Awake as far as the question of possible divine revelation goes. Not being a Catholic, I don't get the idea of Mary as an intermediary between God and man. I've never given a moment's thought to reported Marian apparitions, and so feel bemused by the multitude of Mary followers (I almost said groupies) who descend on North Fork. That did not interfere with my admiration for how the story is handled.

I'm not sure the conclusion is as satisfying as I'd hoped it might be, but overall this is a remarkable philosophical novel that is also an intense page-turner. What else might I have expected from David Guterson?(less)

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Jun 24, 2008 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, favorites-of-all-time

This book was wonderful! I didn't want it to end and towards the end I started wondering, how is he going to bring this to an end in a credible, satisfying manner? It seemed impossible. But he did it! And once you read the end, it's like it had to end the way it ended, that's what would happen, as crazy as it all was. And the author never took away the mystery, he left almost everything unanswered and it felt right. I have to read the other books by this author!

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Sep 28, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tom Cross is a lumberjack. But he's not okay. (sorry, I couldn't resist)

There are some wonderful little lines in this book.

One thing I kept asking myself as I read was "why do I like these people?" I actually would find most of these people off-putting, but Guterson effectively puts you in their shoes. I actually didn't quite want to say goodbye when it was all over. I started reading, you know, to just try it out, giving myself permission to put it down at any time. But I didn't want to. I wan...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Brenna rated it 2 of 5 stars

I will probably never like any book that David Guterson writes ever again--he raised my expectations really high with Snow Falling on Cedars and I'm not sure he can ever match it. This book is also set in the Pacific Northwest. A runaway girl with a frightening past, who makes her living picking (edible) mushrooms in the forest, begins having Marian apparitions. Everyone goes nuts, including the local priest and townspeople as well as salvation-seekers from across the country, who descend on the...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Henry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was deliberating whether I should introduce a spoiler alert or not, but then I realised I haven't given the reader any final conclusions and have not told what happened to the protagonists in this tale.

Roughly this novel is about Ann Holmes who receives a vision from the Virgin Mary in the North Fork forest telling her, among other things, to build a church of Mary on that very spot. A limited number of visions were to come on the same place in the forest on successive days. Then there is Fath...more I was deliberating whether I should introduce a spoiler alert or not, but then I realised I haven't given the reader any final conclusions and have not told what happened to the protagonists in this tale.

Roughly this novel is about Ann Holmes who receives a vision from the Virgin Mary in the North Fork forest telling her, among other things, to build a church of Mary on that very spot. A limited number of visions were to come on the same place in the forest on successive days. Then there is Father Collins, new to the priesthood at the Catholic church in North Fork, struggling to keep his own life and thoughts on the straight and narrow. He and Father Butler, who was sent by the bishop, are then to investigate the veracity of these visions in the eyes of the Catholic church. Meanwhile Tom Cross a former logger fallen on hard times is hoping that the visionary may help him cure his son of paralysis. And to top it off the word spreads and thousands converge to follow the visionary into the forest where these visions occur.

David Guterson gives evidence from both sides the make the reader puzzle over what to believe. Such as, were the drugs she was taking responsible for these visions, was it a psychotic experience or was it genuine? He examines various issues. For example an assistant is an example those who are more interested in the making of money out of the religious fervor of the masses. Whether the Virgin Mary is worthy of such status when compared to the trinity. Whether the God of the Bible is entirely lucid when he decides to take out his own rage on his own son. Whether there is rationality in the movement of masses to so called sacred sites. Whether the sacred baptism ritual has the power to give the receiver of baptism the right to go to heaven.

The unbaptized visionary is unlikely, because she's a runaway and has recently partaken in drugs. When documenting how one of the "Inquisitors" treats the visionary the author also exposes the self righteous nature of the Catholic church and the author makes us deliberate what makes a good person. Someone who has a impeccable past or someone with a lot of sinful baggage yet seems more holy than the one with the impeccable past.

There is a lot more to be said about this book, for example even how the author explores how Tom Cross perceives immigrants to the USA. This is an intelligent book that I enjoyed thoroughly.
(less)

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Jul 26, 2009 Alan Marchant rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Guterson meets Chopra

As a great fan of Guterson's previous novels, I was eager to read "Our Lady of the Forest." Page by page, the book has elements that please, particularly the descriptive treatment of the forest community and Guterson's literate dialog. But ultimately the book is a boring disappointment.

Ostensibly, the theme is the personal struggle to come to terms with religious experience. But Guterson makes it clear through this book that he has no first-hand religious experience to draw...more

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May 21, 2010 Alisha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

i have conflicting thoughts about this book.

the style of writing (no quote marks for conversations, somewhat broken timeline) was confusing at points... but somehow it made me more invested and feel like i actually knew the characters very well.

tom cross is DIRTY... but somehow I was still rooting for him to be redeemed... which i "guess" he was? see, there's the conflict.

additionally i felt like the females were marginalized by the men in the book, especially the priests of the church, but the...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Anna Engel rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like "Our Lady of the Forest." Guterson has such a wonderful way with language, especially when describing the natural world. The characters of "Our Lady," however, are completely flat and/or are entirely unlikeable. And then [blank] happens and ta da! Happy ending. Lame.

Carolyn Greer and Ann Holmes have an interesting relationship. Once Ann becomes a public figure, Carolyn becomes the girl's voice - a hippie Aaron to an ill, asthmatic, and uneducated Moses.

One of the stylisti...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Megan Barnwell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Our Lady of the Forest, by David Guterson, is an interesting and conflicting book. It starts in a small rainy logger town, a runaway Ann Holmes picks mushrooms for a living. During one of her trips into the forest to pick, she sees and is visited by Mother Mary. The arises a lot of conflict in the small town. This conflict is mostly man vs man (Ann verses skeptics). Guterson's writing style and format is informal and casual. One thing that was frustrating and sometimes confusing was having no qu...more

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Sep 29, 2010 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A very well written story of the Pacific Northwest that tells a tragic story of a young runaway who claims to have visions of the virgin Mary. Surrounding the young visionary are various followers and hangers-on and skeptics that fill out the roster. The mood is maintained with a great deal of attention to the soggy wet atmosphere, and the Catholic prayer book and ecclesiastical procedures for verifying a report of a Marian sighting. However, this reader felt little connection to the characters...more

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Dec 24, 2011 Thalia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Weeellll...this was certainly diferent from the book I read immediately proceeding this one (A Miracle for St. Cecilia's). Both were "Catholic" themed, but boy, what a difference instyle, content and perception. This story was pretty good, the characters interesting. I'm curious weather or no the author actually is Catholic. Some of the messages thatthe main character were kinda out of line with what I understand to be Catholic dogma BUT that may have been intentional as the main character, alth...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Kitchengrrl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would give this 2 1/2 if I could. I liked the existential/philosophical questions the author pondered in this book. It was nice to have that conversation with someone else who has similar questions and to see what their thoughts were. I really could have done without the completely random, highly detailed rape scenes, especially on an audio book where it's hard to know where to skip ahead to. Survivors beware, triggers ahead. :P
I find myself highly disappointed by book endings lately. Like so...more

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May 06, 2012 Bonnie Ricica rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I read David Guterson's book "Snow Falling on Cedar", I found it to be a touching story. "Our Lady Of The Forest" gave me a different prospective on his writing. Even though the story line was interesting, the characters are what stayed with me and the Theme of the story. Quirky, odd characters. Pathetic in many ways, yet they are used as instruments of "god" to do her/his divine work. Or, are they?

After I finished the book, I did not care for it. After reflecting on it as I often do with...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Meredyth rated it 2 of 5 stars

I hadn't been able to figure out if I liked Guterson as an author or not. After reading Snow Falling on Cedars, I felt like I had read something well-written, if not likable. With Our Lady of the Forest, I feel like I spent a lot of time with utterly unlikable characters for no reason - the story really went nowhere.

I'll give it to him, he does know how to paint a full picture of a person. His work makes me feel like I've wormed my way inside someone's head, whether I like it or not. But since...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Chana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature-fiction

I took a strong dislike to this author from the time that he describes Ann's rapist near the beginning of the book. I also didn't like the way he wields his substantial intellectual prowess and his observational acuity. He uses these things like weapons to mock those upon whom his characters must be based. I felt a supercilious attitude coming through his words. Nevertheless, the book is creepy, atmospheric and gripping. He does nail his characters, time and place. Ann herself, never mind illnes...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Marion rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just finished this book and very much enjoyed the questions that the book raises: 1) What is the role of faith in overcoming personal hardship and tragedy? 2) How does the institution of the Catholic Church deal with visions and visionaries? What tests are placed on personal experiences to discern legitimate spiritual experience from mental illness or from chicanery? 3) How are other people impacted by the fervor of one person's faith?

David Guterson is a skilled writer who casts wonderful scen...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Back in January of 2005 I had the pleasure of reading this book by the author of Snow Falling On Cedars, I plan to read that one soon. I did see Snow Falling On Cedars and loved the movie. Getting back to the main review which is Our Lady of the Forest: it is a story of true faith, the spirit, and life in general. What happens when a miracle is proclaimed, when the worlds inside and outside of the church collide with one another? I remeber being very moved by this particular story. Now looking b...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Tim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Compared to Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars, this was a disappointment.
That book had a historical setting, #1, which gave a more natural reason to explore ripples of trauma and consequences in the lives of the characters.

In this story, it struck me that Guterson just needed a storyline from which he could rage at the Catholic church for its patriarchal perspective, the whole circus around Mary sightings, and the always good for a cynical laugh, the priest with many doubts and secret sinful ten...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Really interesting portrayal of a modernized "visionary": the main interest of this book is its characters, who are extremely well formed and dark, but I felt an urge about 3/4 through to skip to the last chapter. Not a book that would keep me up way past bedtime, but definitely worth reading to the end, just for the sense of what happens to people who are caught up in lives that they seem to have no control over and what religion does when it's mixed in. I thought Guterson's "Snow Falling on Ce...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not my review but this sums it up: Guterson explores larger social themes-the demise of blue-collar America; the ironic symbiosis of religious devotion and commercial exploitation; the replacement of faith in God by faith in psychopharmacology; and the link between the exaltation of women's saintliness and the reality of women's degradation. Searching for the miraculous in the mundane, this ambitious and satisfying work builds vivid characters and trenchant storytelling into a serious and compas...more

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About David Guterson

David Guterson is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist.

He is best known as the author of the novel Snow Falling on Cedars (1994), which won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award. To date it has sold nearly four million copies. It was adapted for a 1999 film of the same title, directed by Scott Hicks and starring Ethan Hawke. The film received an Academy Award nomination f...more

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Snow Falling On Cedars / East Of The Mountains

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