43rd out of 3,146 books
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13,780 voters
Snow Falling on Cedars
San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro,...more
Paperback, 460 pages
Published
September 26th 1995
by Vintage
(first published September 1st 1994)
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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 flash...more
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 flash...more
Jul 14, 2007
Kristine
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
ppl who don't expect much
Shelves:
unremarkable
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 involvement in a trial...more
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 involvement in a trial...more
This PEN/Faulkner winning novel employs a narrative technique that distinguishes it. The tale is told from the points of view of the cast of characters. From their viewpoints the tale unfolds and we come to know the characters themselves more intimately because of their roles in relating the tale. Faulkner used this same approach in As I Lay Dying in which a group of travelers narrate their perspectives in the course of arduous travel. Chaucer likewise in The Canterbury Tales. The structure hing...more
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 lost lan...more
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 lost lan...more
If there was a choice for 3 1/2 stars, that is what I would choose. To me this book deserved more than just three stars, yet four may not reflect my true feelings for the story. It was not until I was nearing 100 pages did I start enjoying the book. From there I loved it. Yet in the last 100 pages it lost momentum for me again.
The stongest message of the book were the consequences of loss forced upon individuals because of prejudice and hysteria. It's unfair. So unfair. We're all just trying the...more
The stongest message of the book were the consequences of loss forced upon individuals because of prejudice and hysteria. It's unfair. So unfair. We're all just trying the...more
Imagine what WEST SIDE STORY would have been like if Maria had married Chino like a good little girl. And Tony just sat around Pop's Soda Shop feeling sorry for himself. For ten years.
David Guterson has written a careful, elegant novel that pushes all the right liberal buttons (racial prejudice, evil military men, small town nastiness) but resolutely avoids any kind of heat, sexual, political, racial, or otherwise. The "oppressed" Japanese are sentimentalized to the point of being laughably unre...more
David Guterson has written a careful, elegant novel that pushes all the right liberal buttons (racial prejudice, evil military men, small town nastiness) but resolutely avoids any kind of heat, sexual, political, racial, or otherwise. The "oppressed" Japanese are sentimentalized to the point of being laughably unre...more
I recently heard about this book when I caught part of a radio interview with the author. He was being interviewed about a new book of his, and this one was brought up. Without really describing what the book was about, they made it sound like a wonderful book.
I would like to give this book more than two stars, but there was just too much content that I felt like I needed to skim or skip. The author went into too much detail with some of his flashback scenes, some of which I found completely unn...more
I would like to give this book more than two stars, but there was just too much content that I felt like I needed to skim or skip. The author went into too much detail with some of his flashback scenes, some of which I found completely unn...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...more
The language is rough but rhythmic, representative of the...more
According to Wikipedia, Snow Falling on Cedars was written by a teacher, taking 10 years to complete. The success of this book should give hope everywhere to teachers who want to be writers. But not just because it was a successful—it is also a good read.
David Guterson's novel was published in 1994, and became a huge hit, spawning a film version in 1999. The front cover gives away its superstar status, with a giant "The Award-Winning #1 Bestseller" badge.
"Oh great," I said to myself after examin...more
David Guterson's novel was published in 1994, and became a huge hit, spawning a film version in 1999. The front cover gives away its superstar status, with a giant "The Award-Winning #1 Bestseller" badge.
"Oh great," I said to myself after examin...more
I really enjoyed the language and imagery the author created in this book. The title in itself sets the tone. I saw this years before the film and really felt the author conveyed what it was like living in the Pacific Northwest during the Second World War. I think the storyline is timeless. Forbidden love, societal rules...war. Recommended to those interested in period pieces with settings not often written about.
Set in the North of Washington State, near the border with Canada in 1954, Snow Falling On Cedars focuses on the trial of a Japanese American suspected of the murder of a local fisherman. In doing so it explores the experience of Japanese Americans during and after the Second World War and the complex of prejudice and resentment they encountered. If that sounds like a preachy book, then I should add that Guterson is not given to generalisations. He is interested in individuals, the moral dilemma...more
In the opening pages we find Kabuo Miyamoto on trial for murder. The time period isn't immediately clear, but before long the reader learns the story takes place less than 10 years following WWII, and anti-Japanese feelings still run high. This is not a story of a murder trial, though that is the vehicle of the story, and it is not just a story of racial prejudice and hatred, though those are certainly important elements. We are lead, rather, with the background of race and prejudice, to examine...more
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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 questio...more
Finally, FINALLY, a critically acclaimed, award-winning book that has a good, upbeat ending. I liked the courtroom drama and murder mystery of this novel and how the past leading up to it was effectively interwoven into the story. I learned a lot about American attitudes in the 1940s and 50s, particularly related to Pearl Harbor and the effect of that and WWII on Japanese Americans and how they were treated.
One drawback--there were some sex scenes and obscure details about character's sex lives...more
One drawback--there were some sex scenes and obscure details about character's sex lives...more
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 tha...more
I know this was made into to a movie; but, like always, an author's words are so much better, insightful and lovely to read. So to is author David Guterson's wonderfully inscribed tale of what happened to America when their suspicions got the better of their judgements. It's not only a sadly romantic and lovely read but provocative in today's climate of individual freedom slowly eaten away by trumped up fears in a poisonous social climate of mistrust and misinformation.
This remains my favorite book that I've ever read. It has suspense, romance, heartbreak, injustice, you name it. In addition, the setting is in the pacific northwest where I live and relates the terrible story of how japanese americans were treated in this country during World War II.
Guterson's descriptions brought the story into vivid focus. Many of the agricultural references rang true to me, as some of the same practices were in place when I was a boy.
Interestingly, I read another of his bo...more
Guterson's descriptions brought the story into vivid focus. Many of the agricultural references rang true to me, as some of the same practices were in place when I was a boy.
Interestingly, I read another of his bo...more
The last 150 pages of this book are brilliant. As I was reading the rest of it, I kept thinking that I would've enjoyed it more if I was reading it for personal reasons rather than for work. I'm teaching it in English 102 (not by choice) and I prefer to teach tightly contained books (this one is sprawling). English 102 is a first-year class and I'll probably have three ninety-minute classes to devote to this novel (at the most). We won't even scratch the surface. I used to teach Obasan -- a Cana...more
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to particularly as many reviews criticised the book for being over descriptive, a trait I normally find to be both pretentious and tedious in the extreme.
However this book's measured pace, slow but not plodding, left plenty of room for the for a detailed but restrained depiction of the weather and the countryside.
The element of mystery surrounding the court case held the narrative together as the author delved into the interlocking histories of the variou...more
However this book's measured pace, slow but not plodding, left plenty of room for the for a detailed but restrained depiction of the weather and the countryside.
The element of mystery surrounding the court case held the narrative together as the author delved into the interlocking histories of the variou...more
I confess: I picked this up at a secondhand store simply because it felt like I "needed" to read something that had been so popular and well received. Then it sat on my shelf. But when I finally picked it up, I was totally absorbed into the world that Guterson created. The characters were vast but easily distinguished, the "whodunit" felt believable and not overdone, and the setting was palpable through details that weren't overdone. I found it a refreshingly good read that struck a nice balance...more
Dense, plodding, dull, and lifeless. The plot is buried under a mass of irrelevant description and pointless detail.
Guterson painstakingly describes every object, every person, every place, every building, every change in the weather, and the entire life history of every character who appears in the novel, in great detail and at great length.
Take out all that pointless description, and you'd be left with maybe six pages of actual story, and even that story would be boring.
Read To Kill a Mocki...more
Guterson painstakingly describes every object, every person, every place, every building, every change in the weather, and the entire life history of every character who appears in the novel, in great detail and at great length.
Take out all that pointless description, and you'd be left with maybe six pages of actual story, and even that story would be boring.
Read To Kill a Mocki...more
Jan 25, 2009
Fan
added it
This story mainly takes about a trial between a native American and a Japanese American. Kabuo Miyamoto is the accused man. He was a soldier who defended Japanese Army in America Army. He is Japanese American and he can use stick to kill a man, he is very strong. He wanted to get his father’s 7 acres filed back from Carl Heine, the man who was considered being murdered. Once Carl was catching salmon, both of his two batteries were died. Then Kabou helped him and then made a deal about 7 acres fi...more
Guterson, David. 1995. Snowfalling on cedars. Vintage Contemporaries, New York. ISBN: 0-679-76402-X. A gift from retired English teacher, Shila ?
A novel taking place in the San Juan Islands, recounting the historical tragic removable of Japanese-Americans from their land during World War II. After the war in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese-American is charged with his murder, bringing to the surface the memory of what happened to local Japanese-Americans dur...more
A novel taking place in the San Juan Islands, recounting the historical tragic removable of Japanese-Americans from their land during World War II. After the war in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese-American is charged with his murder, bringing to the surface the memory of what happened to local Japanese-Americans dur...more
This is certainly a contender for the best book I've read this year. On its surface it is the story of a Japenese-American on trial for the murder of a fellow fisherman, but throughout the book, even the bit players (Nels Gunderson, Etta Heine, other various trial witnesses) are infused with so much character that you feel you are one among the residents of the small island of San Piedro. I see that others have criticized the book for being overly descriptive. While it is true that Guterson can...more
I put this book down for a couple months (oct and nov) because I had a book that I was supposed to be studying for work. When I picked it up again, I was flying home from Barbados - sent home because I'd been recently injured at work. What was the subject of the first chapter I read? Injuries. And at least the chapter after was about the snow storm that the island suffered through that winter. Me, I haven't seen winter in a long while and was returning to Northern Virginia after spending the las...more
Towards the end of 1994 I pulled this off a shelf in the Myer book department, based purely on the cover: a wonderfully evocative image of a mist-shrouded island. It's proof that a good cover can really pull in a reader. I found this book entrancing.
Bear in mind that I read the book with a certain teenage romanticism. But I was struck by the deeply melancholic atmosphere that David Guterson conjures, and the vividness with which he sketched the island landscape that became a formative emotional...more
Bear in mind that I read the book with a certain teenage romanticism. But I was struck by the deeply melancholic atmosphere that David Guterson conjures, and the vividness with which he sketched the island landscape that became a formative emotional...more
I picked this up because I really wanted to read something Japanese influenced and something from the 1950s, so this book fit! The snow is also appropriate for a NY January. This is not a book to follow the fifty page rule on (giving up on a book if the first fifty pages doesn't grab you.) The first fifty pages involve a murder investigation and the beginning of the trial, which wasn't terribly grabbing my attention. In my opinion, a good book doesn't need a murder to be a good book. I think so...more
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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
More about David Guterson...
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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“None of those other things makes a difference. Love is the strongest thing in the world, you know. Nothing can touch it. Nothing comes close. If we love each other we're safe from it all. Love is the biggest thing there is.”
—
52 people liked it
“To deny that there was this dark side of life would be like pretending that the cold of winter was somehow only a temporary illusion, a way station on the way to the higher "reality" of long, warm, pleasant summers. But summer, it turned out, was no more real than the snow that melted in wintertime.”
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33 people liked it
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Apr 16, 2013 05:17pm
What is on trial is the absurdi...more
Apr 29, 2013 04:00pm