Snow Falling on Cedars

By David Guterson

He saw the soft cedars of San Piedro Island, its high, rolling hills, the low mist that lay in long streamers against its beaches, the whitecaps riffling its shoreline. The moon had risen already behind the island – a quarter moon, pale and indefinite, as ethereal and translucent as the wisps of cloud that travelled the skies.

A fisherman is found dead in the net of his boat off the coast of a North American island. When a local Japanese-American man is charged with his murder, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than one man's guilt. For on San Piedro, memories grow as thickly as cedar trees – memories of a charmed romance between a white boy and a Japanese girl.

Above all, the island is haunted by what happened to its Japanese residents during the Second World War, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbours watched.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Aug 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9781408806760

David Guterson

David Guterson is the author of the novels Snow Falling on Cedars and East of the Mountains, as well as short stories and non-fiction. Snow Falling on Cedars won the PEN/ Faulkner Award in 1995. David Guterson lives in Washington State.

Reviews for Snow Falling on Cedars

[idyll-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Good concept undermined by lame writing and what I call 'the political disease' -- characters aren't allowed to be real people because they are just cardboard cutouts for a point-of-view imposed on them by the author. (See Kingsolver, Barbara).

[booklove2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 sometimes it's an excuse to make the book more interesting. But slightly after page fifty, the book dives in, like one of the geoduck clams escaping into the sand that some of the characters here search for. The story takes place in 1940s-1950s San Peidro Island, off the coast of Washington. It follows the murder trial of a local fisherman who was found in the nets of his boat and the events in the past that led up to the trial. The accused is a Japanese man named Kabuo who farms strawberries. Of course, a Japanese man can become an easy target after World War II. Ishmael, the local reporter had a relationship with an island girl since he was a kid, but right before being sent to the internment camps, she doesn't think she loves him. Ishmael enlists in the Marines during WWII to try to forget her and loses an arm. The loss of his arm bothers him because it bothers other people. This is one of the many examples of the best qualities of the book: the psychological details that really go an extra step in figuring people out. My copy was interesting because not only did it have Japanese notes in pencil, but it was bought in a Tokyo bookstore. I kind of cringed at times, thinking how this book portrayed the Japanese in the 1950s American point of view. In the 1887 census, the Island didn't bother with the names of the Japanese, they just labeled them as "Jap Number Three" or "Dwarf Jap". And then, there were the internment camps. (Somehow the part of the book taking place in the internment camp was very short.) My favorite part of the book is the descriptions of the strawberry farms and the sea, walking through the woods in the rain after a day of strawberry farming. I love the image of the local sheriff stopping by the side of the road to pick raspberries. This book reminded me of 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks: both books feature love affairs until they are shattered by war. 'Birdsong' is more World War I, French & British while 'Snow Falling on Cedars' is more World War II, Japanese & American. Both books even have a harrowing war battle scene in which the characters are told that the planes will take care of the enemies and they won't have to fight much, most of it will be over before they get there... of course, it never works out that way. I love this book for its setting and psychological details. I didn't love it for its murder mystery, because a good book like this one doesn't need it. Winner of the 1995 Pen/Faulkner award.

[lkernagh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Don't read this one if all you are looking for is gripping courtroom drama. This has so much more to offer than that: a bittersweet forbidden love story, a poetic sense of time and place, the harsh realities of war, and an almost clinical examination of a small fishing community grappling with feelings of post World War II racism, hatred and suffering. We see how the war has shifted some feelings and beliefs and experience how members of a small community can draw lines in the sand. Guterson presents many sides to his story - not an easy feat to accomplish when tackling touchy topics like the internment of Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and depicting in his characters some of the prevalent feelings and beliefs of the post war 1950's. At times the story became rather unwieldy but the beauty with which Guterson presents the Pacific Northwest through his depiction of the fictional San Piedro Island of the northern Puget Sound region of Washington State kept me reading. I will admit that with the court room drama, I started to see some interesting parallels with the small town court scenes and the TV show Matlock, which made it pleasantly interesting but not in a page turning, hang on every word manner.I purchased this one back in 2009 because I was interested to read Guterson's portrayal of the Japanese-American internment, as Canada had also interned Japanese-Canadians in British Columbia at the same time and for the same reasons the Americans did during World War II. It is not a pretty picture and part of the reason this book has been a 'banned book from time to time.... the darker sides of history can be hard to face for some folks. Overall, a story that I believe presents a very well rounded approach to the topic with a lot going for it but I can see where the meandering nature of the story can be frustrating for some readers to sit down and enjoy.

[lara335 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fisherman dies at sea, from a small coast community near Seattle after the 2nd WW. This is not so much a murder-mystery as a dissection of a small Japanese-American community before, during and following the attack on Pearl Harbour.Guterson's style is of dense detail and deadpan reportage. I could simultaneously admire this and be totally bored by it, so that by page 300 I could have happily abandoned the book (if I were ever capable of doing that). It was a best-seller, so obviously there is a market for such concrete detail. For instance, when the journalist visits his mother, we are told what he is driving, how old the car is, where he bought it, the state of the tires, how he changes gear, and on, and on.The style didn't win me over, but the subject matter, and intention did.

[eyejaybee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A rather disjointed account of the murder of Carl Heine, a fisherman from the island of San Piedro in 1954. When the body is initially discovered everyone assumes that the death was accidental, but gradually suspicions centre on Kabuo Miyamoto, a leading member of the local Japanese American community. He is subsequently arrested and prosecuted for murder.So soon after the end of the Second world war emotions and prejudices run high, and most of the community turns out to watch the trial.The plot is complex but immensely plausible. However, Guterson drip feeds information in the most cumbersome manner, and I frequently found my interest flagging. At the time of its publication this novel proved to be a major commercial success, and swept up a raft of literary awards. Reading it fifteen years on I now wonder whether this was more from a wave of politically correct assent at the debunking of prejudice rather than a genuine appraisal of the book's actual merits.

[mirkee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. Lots of loose ends which come together into a neat package at the end. A tale of forgiveness and redemtion.

[mldavis2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a sucker for courtroom drama and analytical case descriptions in murder mysteries. The book was a bit slow starting but ended very well with the requisite red herrings sprinkled about, touches of ethics, drama and chance included. The title gives only an oblique reference to the theme of prejudice and circumstantial evidence. The writing is straight forward with the expected flashbacks filling in needed details. Despite the 458 pages, this was an enjoyable book for its genre.

[hhs1students · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Reviewed by Joshua (Class of 2014)Have you ever been accused of doing something wrong and had to be punished for it? This is exactly what is happened to Kabuo Miyamoto, a resident of San Piedro Island, after a fisherman named Carl Heine mysteriously drowned one night during a fishing trip in the bay near the town. As the case goes on, everyone involved began to have these flashbacks of their lives when they were younger, and more than just evidence appears. This book involves mystery, crime, and drama in a case to prove what happened to the fisherman who was alone on that cold foggy September night in 1954.My overall opinion of this book is that it’s a descriptive book with a lot of words, to let you see what the author is talking about, but it also gets in the way of the story of the book and takes forever to get to the point. I would suggest to young readers like myself to not read this book and find something more interesting. This book is good but it’s just that in some parts of the story. For example, it took a least two pages to describe the house that Carl Heine and his wife lived in. Also, some stuff seemed like it didn’t make sense, along with a lot of confusing statements throughout the courtroom scenes. The statement about how Carl died and what the examiner tells them about the injuries conflict with what ridiculous things about the cause of death he continues to say otherwise. I heard the author was really good but I just don’t think this is a very good book. Sorry David Guterson, but I did not enjoy this book. My suggestion to young readers like myself is to choose a different book if you want to read something more interesting than this unless you enjoy reading books that are very descriptive.

[kristi17_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the most riveting story I've read in a while. Highly recommended!

[chinquapin_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There is a compelling mystery story within the pages of this book, but it is hard to find amidst the pages and pages of interminable, uninteresting, detail-oriented prose. The novel is mostly about the trial of a Japanese-American fisherman who has been charged with the murder of another fisherman off the shores of San Piedro Island in Washington State. However, a major portion of the novel is devoted to flashback stories of various players involved in the courtroom drama. The story of subtle racism, how World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor effected the island, and the internment of the Japanese residents was effective, but it just got bogged down with the weight of unnecessary verbage. I am not interested in reading about what all the different residents of town bought from the hardware store on the morning of the storm, or how many cars (and of what make and a description of their location and position) the local newspaperman saw on his way out to his mother's house. I really, really didn't need to know about people's bathroom experiences or the defense lawyer's prostrate problems. I think the story could have been greatly improved with some judicious editing. Additionally the novel is very bleak. The setting is austere and bleak, the characters are bleak in their emotions and outlook, and even the plot is bleak. It is not that I need or want books to be pervasively happy, but I found the dismal miasma of hopelessness to somewhat wearying.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Guterson deftly weaves his story of a fisherman’s drowning death and the man who is accused of his murder from flashbacks, incorporating a murder trial, a love triangle and the experiences of Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps during World War II. Despite some overlong descriptive passages, this is a beautiful, slow-moving read. The climax does fall a little flat, but that doesn’t negate the enjoyment of getting there.

[kjflaherty · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

One of the few books in my life I gave up reading. Even other books I hated, I was able to plow through and finish it, but after a few chapters of boredom and eye rolling, I finally just shucked this one into a box in my parent's basement and never bothered to look at it again. I also never saw the movie and don't care to.

[elliobr_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure I can articulate exactly why I responded so fully to this book, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. The mix of love story and murder mystery, both of which are effectively depicted, is a perfect backdrop for a main character that is put in the position of having the power to have everything they ever wanted . . . at a price. Great book.

[jolerie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love can conquer all things...But can it conquer bitterness? Can it overcome divisions? Can it heal the hurts caused by disappointments? Can it belong to you when you never possessed it in the first place? San Piedro is a quiet fishing/farming community where the people work hard to earn their living and to raise their families, but everything is shattered with the death of Carl Heine, a local fisherman. Amidst a raging blizzard, a Japanese man is accused of murder and the community is forced to come to terms with their own prejudices and their own humanity. Wrapped up in the drama of the court case unravels a love story that was young and forbidden. The question of what love is, what we will do for love, and ultimately how love changes us are all explored in the context of two young lovers who discover that innocence is sometimes not enough to sustain it through the turmoils and upheavals of life.Snow Falling on Cedars was the perfect match to the weather we were having the last week. The snow fell outside my window as it blanketed the landscape of San Piedro and like snow, the layers within the story, melted one layer at a time, one truth at a time. In the beginning the constant jumping back and forth through the narrative was rather disjointing and hard to follow. As well, the sheer number of characters that were introduced, from the farmer next door, to the grocery clerk that worked on the corner, and most of these characters appear only once then fade away into the background, were enough to make me dizzy. Once the frenzy of introductions had calmed down, the story began to fall into place, and it was well worth the wait. The court case was riveting, the love story was heartbreaking. In the end, the snow abated both outside my home and within the pages of the story, but the memories of those who lived in San Piedro are permanently etched within my mind.

[enamoredsoul_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is impossible to deduce, by reading this book, that this could be author David Guterson's first attempt at fiction. His writing is fluid, his descriptions of the scenery surrounding the characters in the story transport you into the world of the characters, and his characterization is absolutely on-point.The book is narrated by Ishmael Chambers, who is a reporter from the only newspaper of the San Piedro Island, and it begins in a courtroom. The reader bears witness to the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, who is on trial for the murder of a local fisherman. The attendees of the trial, the local towns people, are either strawberry farmers, of local fisherman. Weaving in and out of the mystery of Kabuo's trial, is the story of Hatsue, who is now Kabuo's wife, and Ishmael, who was once in love with Hatsue.We and transported back to the days of World War II via the memories of Ishmael, and this is where the story truly unfolds. We learn of racism, prejudice, love and two young hearts torn asunder by the norms of the world. It is Guterson's meticulous and extremely detailed description of the dynamics between these characters that truly make this novel such a marvel to read. This novel was undoubtedly one of the most interesting and engrossing novels I have ever read in my life. I would highly recommend it to history lovers, and mystery lovers as well, and those who appreciate romance of the real and pragmatic kind.

[bad2bowler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not only a whodunit, it's also a commentary on post ww2 america. The actual writing itself,is technically way above average, yet not clinical. It flows right into your mind and swirls around letting you absorb the story. The right amounts of character and plot development and physical descriptions that are vivid but not overdone.

[theloopylibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Snow Falling on Cedars is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird in that it deals with a man wrongfully accused of a crime and the prejudice of the community regarding his race. However, because the main character and narrator of the story is a disillusioned war veteran, the tone of the novel is much edgier and more graphic in its descriptions of events and emotions. I really enjoyed the book but I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. The author does not hold back in his descriptions of sex, murder or war. Ironically, the novel is also very beautiful. I could picture the snowy cedar forests of the Northwest. I could even smell them. The author also gave detail to each and every character making them three dimensional. As a reader, I felt that I knew them, and I cared very much what happened to them. A worthy read!

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set on a small island off the coast of Washington, this novel is a murder mystery, tale of forbidden love and war story all rolled into one. A decade after WWII a Japanese man is on trial for the murder of a local fisherman and the tight-knit community must face their own prejudices as he is put on trial. Land feuds and jilted lovers from the past haunt the trial and a snow storm descends on the island as the courtroom heats up. I really loved the first half of the book, then in the second half dwelled on badly written war scenes and unnecessary sex details. Do I really need to know that the prosecutor on the case is impotent? We know nothing else about his character, he’s mentioned only a few times, but for some reason the author gives a detailed description of his sexual frustration.Other than that complaint, I really enjoyed the book. If it had been pruned a bit more it would have been great. The story paints a powerful picture of underlying racism and prejudices, demonstrating how dangerous they can be to a society. There’s one section I found particularly thought-provoking. Two men who played together as children, talk as adults. One is a Japanese-American, the other Caucasian and the white man confesses he has a hard time dealing with the fact that he was trained to fight and kill people who look just like his friend during the war. His Japanese-American friend responds by saying, so did I! I killed blonde Nazi who looked just like you. For some reason I’d never quite thought about that. American often vilify an entire race (right now it’s Middle-Eastern people) because we’ve fought wars with people from that country. But evil can take on any persona and the Nazis were as lily-white as they come. How interesting that that never seems to bother people.

[robinreardon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This moody, contemplative story is written in a voice that is clean—even pristine—and yet creates a nexus of seemingly contradictory realities. As a reader, I usually remember for a long time written descriptions of nature that use pigments and shapes to evoke an emotional response that colors the entirety of the story. Guterson’s depiction of the forests and seas of Puget Sound do exactly this. The confluence of lives in the story includes berry farmers, fishermen, a local newspaper publisher, and the Japanese-American woman with whom the publisher had a childhood romance—and who is now the wife of a Japanese-American accused of murdering a fisherman. Guterson weaves a very real and plausible story out of seemingly disparate pieces to create a work that is part romance, part mystery story, part courtroom drama, and part historical fiction (with the echoes of the internment camps into which the U.S. put Japanese citizens during World War II).I did not see the film that inspired this book, but I understand that it was a pale imitation. So if you saw and were not impressed by the film, I hope you won’t let that prevent you from reading this book, which has subtle magic threading through it.

[nocto_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fabulous story, don't know why it's taken me so long to read it. On the surface it's a courtroom drama, which isn't really my cup of tea, but it delves back into the past history of the accussed and the murdered and the way Americans of Japanese descent were treated during the second world war.

[lonnieb_10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again, it has been ages since I read this book. I loved the character development and a good story.

[readingwithtea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

IThis PEN/Faulkner winner from 1995 impressed me enormously. I wasn’t surprised to discover that the author lives on an island in the location in which the book is set (the island on which the book is set is not necessarily real, I don’t know, but it is very clearly based on a real place) because he captures the essence of island living, of isolated communities with their epic feuds and total lack of anonymity. I was fascinated by the place itself – a hybrid of Nordic and Japanese communities, shrouded in fog and snow. Given the author’s surname I would guess that this social mix is also real.Snow Falling on Cedars reminded me very much of Atonement – a forbidden love, disturbed by disaster, a third party wishing things had been different, some time spent graphically at war. The main plot line is the court case (in 1954) in which Kabuo Miyamoto is accused of killing Carl Heine over seven acres of land in a deal gone bad over a number of generations. The undercurrent is the relationship (or rather, lack thereof) between the local reporter and the accused’ s wife Hatsue, from childhood through to the court case – and the bad feeling left in every relationship by the outbreak of war and the ensuing internment of Japanese Americans.I would have given this 10/10 but for two factors: I thought the war section was badly written – unnecessarily graphic, in fact just unnecessary; and that Ishmael (the reporter) is a surprisingly apathetic narrator.

[kamgeb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In an island near Seattle in the 50s a Japanese American is accused of killing another islander. It's a murder mystery, a love story, and a story about Japenese discimination. The characters are wll developmed. The story is believable. The time period is set up well. Would definitely recommend.

[helpfulsnowman · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is pretty far outside my normal reading, so please keep that in mind as you check out this review. That said, Good god, this book is long. The book centers on a murder trial, but it also uses flashbacks to give background on the story and the various characters. It’s a lot like the first season of Lost, actually, with flashbacks comprising the bulk of the story. The problem, also like Lost, is that you’re really most interested in what’s happening now as opposed to what’s happened already. A good example is near the ending. I won’t spoil anything here, but all you need to know is that it is on the eve of the verdict, the event the whole book is hinging on. You’ve read 400 pages leading up to this point, and the author makes one final digression to talk about another character in such exhaustive detail as to list the books on his bookshelf. Seriously. We’ve already heard quite a bit about this character, and I understand the utility of objects as clues to personality, but I do not need a list of every book the dude read. It’s kind of lazy in a weird way because it’s lazy while at the same time being a whole lot of work. To continue the comparison to Lost, it also felt like a whole lot happened at the beginning and the end, but not so much in the middle. Anyway, that’s just one example of what happens in the book pretty often. You have a good plot and interesting characters, but they get a little bogged down in the details. The author was trying to paint a very vivid picture using lots and lots of small details, but in cataloguing the details you really miss out on appreciating the painting as a whole. The story was very decompressed, but it was the least important details which were decompressed. Finally, there is some good writing in here, but if you don’t know shit about sailing or the environment of the Pacific Northwest, you are SOL. The names of plants come up a lot more than their description, and if the smell of cedar isn’t the sort of detail you can call up, don’t expect a lot of help.

[marysgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very much enjoyed this novel. The writing is beautiful and story compelling as Guterson uses a murder trial held during a snow storm in 1954 as a touch stone to tell his story. A young fisherman is drowned off an island in the Pacific Northwest - maybe murdered by a Japanese-American fisherman to settle an old score over land. Guterson uses the trial to delve into the lives of the community trying to recover from the trauma of WWII. Veterans returned from war, Japanese families returned from internment camps. The community struggles with its prejudice and human failings. Guterson jumps back in forth in time following the lives of several islanders as they grow up and grow apart; providing concise and insightful descriptions of all the characters - major and minor - as well as the lush landscape in which they live.Highly recommend.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The novel has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird and there are similarities in plot and theme--but I have to say I wouldn't compare the the two--Guterson's novel just isn't anywhere near as powerful as Harper Lee's classic novel. The novel is set in 1954 in Washington State and involves the murder trial of Kabuo Miyamoto and the lingering issues of the forced removal and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, interweaving the present of the trial with the past of those involved. I was thrown a bit by the first courtroom scene. Reading it I wanted to yell, "Objection, leading the witness!" (Yes, that sort of thing bothers me--harder to suspend your disbelief when you know the author right at the start has things wrong.) I thought the scenes in the courtroom dull, and one of many reasons I felt the novel has no where near the impact of To Kill a Mocking Bird is that the evidence does suggest guilt and not a matter of prejudice--while it's clear in Lee's book race is the issue. Even though there were some beautiful passages, other aspects of the omniscient narrative bothered me. The story didn't always flow and was slow-paced, almost glacial at points, and devoid of a sense of humor; the sex scenes felt rather romance novel (and at times the sexual content--like that regarding sex life of the defense lawyer--TMI and extraneous), and if I had to hear about the sheriff's Juicy Fruit gum one more time I thought I'd scream. Kabuo, his wife Hatsue and the man who loved her as a boy, Ismael, are all sympathetic characters though, and the story of the Japanese American experience in those times did hold my interest. (The scenes in the internment camp were among the most vivid and riveting, I suspect more because I'm unfamiliar with the subject rather than Guterson's prose.) I liked how evocatively the author described the rural Pacific Northwest, drew different characters and, through both, portrayed the fictional community of San Pedro Island. The ending fell flat for me though. It made a tidy resolution mystery-wise but failed to move me.

[jessilouwho22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was hesitant to pick up this book because I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, and to tell the truth, this book wasn't my favorite. There were things I liked about it and things I didn't like about it, but overall, this isn't a book that I'd be dying to re-read. I'm going to start with the things I liked about it. First of all, I really liked that for a historical fiction, this was a unique period of time. This is the first book I've ever read that spends time in the Japanese internment camps and that takes place in the post-WWII years. For that reason, this gets points for uniqueness. Also, I liked that Guterson spends a great deal of time with character development. He makes sure that the reader gets to know his cast of characters and comes to understand the motives behind their actions. But, more on that later. I particularly enjoyed the beauty of his language. There were times that I'd get completely caught up in the simple beauty of his words, and I found myself re-reading a few passages here and there. There was also a gorgeous love story, and that was mostly what kept me reading. I feel as though everything else sort of centered around that love story. It is a slower and calmer read, not necessarily one to keep the pages flipping, but I don't think that's negative in any way. I think that every now and then readers need something to slow them down and remind them why they love to read. Above all, though, my favorite thing about this book was that there was something for everyone--a trial and a murder investigation, a love story, war stories, seafaring stories, and stories from both Americans and Japanese Americans during WWII. This book was about love, redemption, forgiveness, responsibility, history, pride, and prejudice. To me, that is why this book was worth of the Pen/Faulkner Award. However, there were a few things that I didn't like. First of all, although it is apparent that Guterson painstakingly researched his novel, the excessive amounts of detail at various points really detracted from the story. There were times when I'd be happily reading along, caught up in the story, and then I'd hit a chunk of two or three pages of unnecessary detail and I'd have to fight my way through. He doesn't do this all the time, I noticed. There are times when the amount of detail is enough to paint a lush picture in the reader's mind, but there were several times when it was just too much. There was only one other thing that I didn't really enjoy about this novel, and it was a doozy for me, being a reader for whom characters are everything. While Guterson excels at character development and really has a knack for it, I still managed to walk away from this one feeling no connection with his characters. This was rather strange for me and took me a while to place my finger on because usually with excellent character development comes a great connect with the characters. However, now that I've finished with this book, I'm fairly certain that these are not characters that will remain with me, and they weren't ones who I found myself daydreaming about. Overall though, I do think this was a good book. I ended up just liking it, not loving it, but that doesn't take away from this being a good book. There were things I liked and things I didn't, but for me, that's what separates a great book from just a good one.

[rachelpenso · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been reading a lot of books that take place during World War II lately, and this was yet another one. I also takes place in the Puget Sound. In this book a Japanese-American man is accused of the murder of a local fisherman who grew up with him. The story jumps back and forth between the trial and the history of these two men and the people around them.

[justchris_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a gift from my landlord's wife, who feels a certain sympathy with me, having gone through some of my recent medical travails herself in years past. And I will be passing it along to my medical mentor in turn.The cover indicates that this novel won the Pen/Faulkner Award, which I am unfamiliar with. I can believe that it is an award winner, because it was an engrossing story, well told.It is set on San Piedro Island, which purports to be one of San Juan Islands between Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and the mainland State of Washington. This alone would predispose me to like the book, since it is a region I love deeply, though I have little experience of the islands themselves, having spent more time on the Olympic Peninsula.The plot is a modern-day murder trial, with the apparent motive rooted in the past. The trial acts as a frame to move between past and present and among viewpoints. Each chapter opens in the courtroom, and as each witness begins his or her testimony, the story switches to a third-person narrative recounting that person's thoughts, feelings, and experiences, starting with the sheriff finding the body. Some chapters take a similar approach with key bystanders to the trial, such as the reporter Ishmael Chambers--moving from his actions as reporter to his background growing up on the island and then going to war. And so the story moves from sheriff to reporter, coroner, victim's widow, defendant's widow, victim's mother, etc.As each piece of evidence and testimony ineluctably leads to another personal narrative, the tension builds, and past and present weave together, showing the tensions and bonds of a small, rural community that relies on farming and fishing for subsistence. Composed of German and Scandinavian and more recently Japanese immigrants, World War II and the accompanying internment of Japanese-Americans, tears the community and families apart, interrupting and disrupting lives, with consequences that ripple out to the present day. Throw in a love triangle, some bigotry, and we have the crisis of the past that leads to the climax of the present.The prose is eloquent, the characterizations very believable. David Guterson does his best to maintain the suspense for as long as possible--did Kabuo Miyamoto really kill Carl Heine? All of the evidence and testimony seems pretty damning. Whether he did or not, two families are economically destroyed in the process, though this consequence of the sudden death and subsequent trial is outside the scope of the story. Because of this, it is a tender tragedy. It is well worth reading, though not a book I plan to keep (as mentioned earlier). It would doubtless make a fine movie, though many of the nuances would be lost.

[lukespapa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If the word “poignant” can be applied to a murder mystery, then let it be this novel which deals with veiled racism and bigotry toward Japanese-Americans in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and subsequent internment. A murder trial in a 1950’s Puget Sound island community where evidence is framed by jurors’ assumptions and fears leaves this reader to wonder if this is the rule or the exception in our jury-based system.