Snow Falling on Cedars

by David Guterson

Snow Falling on Cedars

published	September 26th 1995 by Vintage
first published	1999
binding	Paperback
isbn	067976402X (isbn13: 9780679764021)
pages	480
literary awards	PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award, 1995
description	This is the kind of book where you can smell and hear and see the fictional world the writer has created, so palpably does the atmosphere come through...more [close] This is the kind of book where you can smell and hear and see the fictional world the writer has created, so palpably does the atmosphere come through. Set on an island in the straits north of Puget Sound, in Washington, where everyone is either a fisherman or a berry farmer, the story is nominally about a murder trial. But since it's set in the 1950s, lingering memories of World War II, internment camps and racism helps fuel suspicion of a Japanese-American fisherman, a lifelong resident of the islands. It's a great story, but the primary pleasure of the book is Guterson's renderings of the people and the place. [close]
date added	02-07-07 edit book

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 8102)

SVK

SVK rated it:

02/18/08

Read in January, 2005

recommends it for: anyone, Pacific Northwest lovers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Set on San Piedro in the Gulf Islands, it’s a trial novel with brilliant metaphors for surviving love, loss, and racism, while maintaining suspense until the last three pages (which does have unnecessary, anti-climatic explanation). The subplot is a story of love, loss, and waiting.

Here's the story...
Hatsue Imada was a childhood friend to Ishmael Chambers. Her parents were labourers on a stawberry farm; his father ran the newspaper—a fierce defender of Japanese Americans. ...more

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michael spencer

michael spencer rated it:

08/20/07

Read in August, 2007

3.5 stars, though it says differently above. Worth reading, and owning, but perhaps I should have bought it on sale. Reviewing this book is taking me a good amount of time after finishing it. There are many things that I think ought to be said about the book, but I am unsure how they all fit together. In addition to this, I have to keep myself unaware of the award-status and the fact that my grandfather was a navyman and a sailor at heart.

The language is rough but rhythmic, representative of...more 3.5 stars, though it says differently above. Worth reading, and owning, but perhaps I should have bought it on sale. Reviewing this book is taking me a good amount of time after finishing it. There are many things that I think ought to be said about the book, but I am unsure how they all fit together. In addition to this, I have to keep myself unaware of the award-status and the fact that my grandfather was a navyman and a sailor at heart.

The language is rough but rhythmic, representative of the typical life he seeks to represent. The vocabulary, though mostly good, does seem - especially in the first quarter - a little overdone, as if he is deliberately trying to use words instead of letting them flow out of his impetus. However, this does not drag the book.

What does drag the book, I feel, are three things in particular: two parts objective, one thing entirely subjective. First the subjective: I do not particularly enjoy courtroom novels (as might be seen from my star-reviews of Grisham). Next, the objective: I felt that at times it was languid, that parts were unnecessary, inefficient, unnecessary and eventually functioning as writer's slack in order to keep him thinking for future material. I found myself regularly checking to see how long I had to go for the chapter, and it was regularly 6-7 pages before finish. There were parts that seemed forced, as if he felt he had to come up with something brilliant when such was not required, and thus those times sounded inauthentic from him as an author. The third thing is, frankly, that there are nuances I believe are inconsistent with the background of whole groups of characters; for example, Buddhist tenets are misrepresented, even reversed once, to fit the mindset of the character in question. Perhaps this is on purpose, but if it was to be purported as fact, it was incorrect and took a little of the momentum away.

However, there is much about the book that keeps it sleek and enjoyable. One is the character development, that as far as I can tell is quite accurate for the personalities he chooses, and he maintains a sense of mystery about persons, so that one never fully knows any of them - this is accurate, realistic, and appreciable. Again the tone and flow is also well-representative of the setting which he seeks to portray. (Albeit, it is an entirely fictional setting; San Piedro Island cannot be visited, which affords him great leeway in character development as well. This last bit is perhaps a drawback to the full potential of his skill.) In addition to these things, his careful use of language, his ability to shift back and forth to be accurate about completely polar opposite opinions held by the characters, the flow of the storyline and graceful swtiching of the grammatical tenses (which was by far the strongest aspect of the writing - I found myself frequently engrossed in something and then all of sudden wondering how I got there, which means he lost me enough to stop paying attention to his writing ability altogether): all of these make this a book worth reading and keeping.

Being awarded the Faulkner is what drew me to it, but it may be the case as well that there was not as much fierce competition as of late. For all of these things, I gave it the rating above. A well-written novel, and worth enjoying. At the very least, being from a distinctly Northwestern voice, it made me crave blueberries and coffee! ...less

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2 comments

Madeline

Madeline rated it:

02/03/08

You know that guy who's at every party, the one who loves to hear himself talk and tells long-winded stories while the unlucky few who got caught in his gravitational pull nod politely and and start eyeing the exits?
Yeah. David Guterson is That Guy.
His book has a really intersesting subject: a few years after World War Two, a man of Japanese descent is accused of killing a white man on the small island community of San Piedro. The story follows the trial and breaks every now and then for f...more

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1 comments

Mrs. Turnbow

Mrs. Turnbow rated it:

01/01/08

Read in January, 2008

This book grabbed me and wouldn't let me go ... at first. I had a hard time putting it down and doing required things to love, like eating and sleeping. But near the end of the book, it began to lose me. Let me elaborate.

The book begins with a murder trial 10 years after World War II. On a tiny island in the United Sattes called San Piedro Sound, murder hasn't been as issue in many years. But a fisherman is dead, and foul play seems to be involved.

The suspest is a Japanese American who ...more

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Joe

Joe rated it:

03/29/08

Read in January, 2008

This book was recommended to me by a number of people and as a result I had very high expectations by the time I actually picked it up. However, this was one case where high expectations did not lead to disappointment. I had no trouble getting in to this novel and after the first few chapters I couldn’t put it down.

I found the descriptive writing style to be very effective and enjoyable to read. Some other reviewers mentioned being bored by the slow-paced development of the plot and I...more

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Visha

Visha rated it:

05/12/08

Read in March, 2008

Philip Gerard read aloud the first few paragraphs of this book in his Book-Length Narrative class last spring as a demonstration of quickly establishing tone, setting, and deadlines. Finally, I've had the opportunity to sit down and read it. It's now one of my favorites. The organization of the book is one of the main reasons I would recommend it to writers. The structure is strong - a murder trial that unfolds over a few days, while the majority of the narrative is told in flashbacks. I li...more

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Taylor

Taylor rated it:

12/06/07

bookshelves: fiction, own

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: people who like court dramas, unrequited love, racial relations, novels that blend love and war

Just another book that makes me wish I had read it prior to seeing the movie. BUT, even having seen the movie, it was still a pretty engrossing and relatively simple read.

Basically, Ishmael meets Hatuse when they're young, they fall in love. She's taken away to an internment camp after Pearl Harbor and meets another man there who she marries. Her husband is eventually on trial for the murder of a white man. The story focuses mostly on Ishmael, but also has chapters from various points of vie...more

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3 comments

Keith

Keith rated it:

05/14/08

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Keith by: Bev Murphy

Snow Falling on Cedars is an incredibly deep book. You'll learn the intricacies of the lives of a dozen or more "islanders." At the same time, the author investigates the topics of war-time hysterics, racism, love, uncertainty of life, fate, and much more. The book claims to be a story depicting a courtroom trial of the accused, a Japanese-American, that carries the weight of post-war tension between Americans and anything remotely Japanese. That is a great premise for a boo...more

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Kristine

Kristine rated it:

07/14/07

bookshelves: unremarkable

Read in January, 2002

recommends it for: ppl who don't expect much

When I found the word "cedars" 7 times on a 2 page spread, I shut down. The language is simple; maybe I'm supposed to perceive it as deep, mysterious, or simply written in a beautiful way, but I just found it dull. I was so tired of hearing about snow and cedars.

I think it had a trial in it, and a Japanese fisherman, and some discrimination; maybe it happened in an internment camp in Washington state or something. Or maybe the main character is investigating his father's invol...more

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Pamela

Pamela rated it:

12/27/07

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: hmmm.....courtroom thriller buffs, I guess.

I have to say, although it was a generally easy read, I was disappointed in the fact that it was an award winner. I believe it won the Faulkner? I usually expect more greatness from an award winner. I was disappointed in the character development primarily in the main characters, Hatsue and Ishmael. I wanted to be more in their heads and more in their visceral selves as far as the experiences they had. On the whole I think the book could have been more of an epic if the author had spent mor...more

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Colleen

Colleen rated it:

10/23/07

bookshelves: lit-fic

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

Overall, I was disappointed by this book. It could have been amazing, but Guterson doesn't seem to be able to create a compelling story or fully flesh out his characters. His greatest strength may be his ability to convey place - not in his occasionally overwrought, almost painfully flowery metaphors and similes, but in the rare moments where he captures the essence of the Pacific northwest in small but important details, simply stated. His language is evocative and moody, and there's no ques...more

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1 comments

Regan

Regan rated it:

09/12/07

bookshelves: american, fiction, japanese, period

Read in January, 1999

recommends it for: my enemies.

I don't understand what the craze about this book was. I read it in high school, and thought it was terrible then, and I still stand by that thought.

Gutherson seems like a writer who couldn't make up his mind what kind of debut novel he wanted to write, so he just threw every genre he could into one book. Just from my memory over 7 years ago there was a courtroom drama, a love story, something with a sad, lonely old man, discrimination against the japanese, internment camps, and I think ...more

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Tifnie

Tifnie rated it:

01/17/08

Read in November, 2004

recommended to Tifnie by: Brian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Rebecca

Rebecca rated it:

03/16/08

Read in August, 1997

This was the required summer reading for AP U.S. History (junior year). A group of us from the enterprising "junior honors crowd" even set up a BBS to share our discussions, chapter by chapter. Too bad my friend Kim's Geocities subscription or whatever expired long ago. I'd love to see our commentary again.

Anyway, this story was a unique and compelling angle on the ramifications of World War II for ordinary American communities, specifically a small fishing village in Washington, w...more

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Nomanisan

Nomanisan rated it:

04/18/08

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: anyone

Set on an island off Washington state about 10 years after WWII, this book is marvelous in many ways. I read a great many books simply because that is my vocation now that I've retired, and most of those many can simply be cast aside once I've done. This book is one of the rare exceptions. It should be added to the repertoire of any teacher of modern literature--and indeed, could do much to augment a sociology or modern history class.
The prose is amazingly well done, with descriptions of se...more

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Lydia

Lydia rated it:

(review of isbn 037570437X)

10/29/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in October, 2007

Not a bad story, as stories go. (Yes, I saw the film years ago when it came out, so no surprises there.)

The plot was intricately laid out, with interestingly paced (albeit unbalanced) back flashes, and the sensory descriptions painted lovely images of a Northwest landscape. Yet as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, but this book seems to have that a little backwards... In fact, I found the book to be laden with detail at the expense of my expectations for something a little more ch...more

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Pygmy

Pygmy rated it:

02/05/08

bookshelves: novels

Maybe a 2.5 stars would've been closer, since I did like it enough to finish reading it.

Read this after watching and liking the movie. Deals with a very intersting topic and contains an interracial romance-- one of the types I love most, i.e., Asian + Caucasian, with the added bonus of it being during wartime.

Writing and stylistics is pretty in the usual poetic-yet-massively-descriptive manner of modern literature. It was on the slow side, but the stifled romance between the main girl ...more

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Kathy

Kathy rated it:

04/24/08

bookshelves: fiction

There is a breath taking story buried in the details of this book. My suggestion is buy the Cliff Notes. This book is written like really early fiction, so filled with detail that you almost miss it when a plot point crops up. I almost quit this book when I had to read a page and a half (I may be exaggerating here) of description of the glimpse of the living room the sheriff gets through the screen door when he is waiting for the lady of the house to answer his knock. He is there to tell her...more

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Carolyn

Carolyn rated it:

01/23/08

I picked this novel when I was in Juneau many moons ago. I remember being curled up with it while sitting in a cabin in the wilds of Admiralty Is. Alaska...A wonderful setting to become lost in a wonderful story. Guterson's vivid, descriptive language captures the sensuous, moody beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Against this beautiful, lush back drop you are drawn into a painful story of injustice, war, love, loss and bitterness.

The book with its movement back and forth in time draws you in...more

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Rebbie

Rebbie rated it:

(review of isbn 037570437X)

07/08/08

bookshelves: history-based-fiction

Well-written, fascinating book with a whole lot going on woven together so well that it never seems like too much. It's a murder mystery/courtroom drama that also includes a look at fishing, strawberry farming, unrequited love, WWII and what happened to Japanese-Americans during the war.

The writing is so detailed that everything came to life very clearly. This was good and bad for me. Good in that I was swept up into this world, reading it during a beach vacation but feeling like I was in t...more

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