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"Snow Falling on Cedars"

(Reviewed by Judi Clark FEB 7, 1998)

This is a very surprising novel in its richness and depth. It covers the treatment of the Japanese living in the Pacific Northwest during WW2 when out of prejudice they were interred in camps. In this novel, Guterson handles this disgraceful episode in American history within an excellent murder mystery. 

 

The story is set in 1950s on Washington's remote San Piedro Island and begins with a mysterious death of a fisherman.  Kabuo Miyamoto is accused of the fisherman's murder, suspicion aroused more out of the post-war distrust of Japanese-Americans than anything else.   To complicate this, the town's newspaperman, Ishmael Chamber, must deal with his own feelings from childhood for his love of Kabuo's wife, Hatsue.  Snow Falling on Cedars is very well written and handles a complicated and sensitive subject so well that I almost overlooked that at the heart of the book is a mysterious murder.

• Amazon readers rating: from 721 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind (1989)
• Snow Falling on Cedars (1994)
• East of the Mountains (1999)
• Our Lady of the Forest (2003)
• The Other (2008)
• Ed King (2011)
• Problems with People: Stories (June 2014)

Nonfiction:

• Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense

Movies from books:

• Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)

 

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Book Marks:

• Wikipedia page on David Guterson
• Reading Guide for Snow Falling on Cedars.
• Review of the movie Snow Falling on Cedars
• The New York Times review of East of the Mountains
• Christian Science Monitor review of Our Lady in the Forest
• The New York Times review of The Other
• MostlyFiction.com review of Ed King

 

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About the Author:

David Guterson was born in Seattle in 1956, the son of a criminal lawyer. He received his M.A. from the University of Washington.  He lives on Bainbridge Island in in Puget Sound, Washington with his wife and four children.  Snow Falling on Cedars won the PEN/Faulkner award in 1995.