Reviews

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

shonawilson97's review against another edition

4.0

A little slow at first but once you’re invested in the characters you want to know how it ends. The writer sometimes gets carried away with descriptions and frilly language but I loved the multitude of stories wrapped into one main plot.

suzzeb22's review against another edition

3.0

I did enjoy the writing style of Guterson in this novel. The depiction of the fisherman and his wife and their relationship felt quite realistic.
I particularly liked the viewpoint of the Japanese families also. This wasn't among my favourites but it is a solid book and it speaks about an important, unconscionable part of our history.

tiffanytt's review against another edition

I wanted to enjoy this book but it was too slow and never really picked up ever. It was also just not very interesting to me and I think it's kept me in a slump.

blferdig's review against another edition

3.0

Solid 3.5. Interesting story. It climaxed about 3/4 the way through and I didn’t love the ending like I wanted to

forrestempeykohl's review against another edition

2.0

Guterson writes Cedars with a nice premise: Post world war 2 a japanese man is accused of murder in a small town. Guterson, however, seems to go at great lengths to create pacing issues in what could be a thrilling read.

There are obstenibly three ongoing plotlines: the trial, "flashbacks", and Ishmaels investigation/present day goings on. The trial scenes are by far the most interesting as they focus on the central premise and have a nice tension to them. However, they take up a very small portion of the text. Instead Guterson seems to enjoy delving into the past of each character and gives detailed descriptions of who they are and what was going on with them during the war and before the internment. This focus would be fine but the way things are written for these sections is extremely dull. Guterson goes at no lengths beyond simply accounting work. Furthermore, a majority of this pre trial arc is surrounding Ishmael.

The main character of the novel is Ishmael. This is a poor choice. He is very uninteresting and at times it is unclear why he was chosen as the center piece. At face value it makes sense: He is connected to many of the townsfolk and is directly connected to the accused in an interesting way. But Ishmael is boring and in the end it feels like he has absolutely no arc.

To tie things up, the pacing is so bad it feels like nothing really happens until the last 15 pages. Our protaganist is rather boring. But the premise is rather interesting and the interplay of post internment relationships is interesting when seen from the japanese side. And lastly, Gutersons description of sex often come off as creepy and uneeded.

acrickettofillthesilence's review against another edition

2.0

I think dull would be the best way to describe this book. The plot was interesting enough, but everything else seemed to be lacking. The author attempted to develop the characters, but the more I read about each person, the more flat and lifeless they seemed to be. This would be an okay read to pass the time, but it certainly shouldn't be looked at for more depth than its obvious commentary about racism.

sydm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

hadeelpickle's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

doggerdog's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

“…And the snow began to settle on the highest branches with a gentle implacability.”
“All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow. The world was one world, and the notion that a man might kill another over some small patch of it did not make sense…”

The novel opens onto a court scene framed by a blinding snow storm happening just outside the windows. From here we know that the motif of the snow is going to be reflective of the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto. 

Without giving too much away, I’ll say that Guterson enchantingly subverts our understanding of the concealment of information and context. Using a seamless technique of flashbacks between the days of the trail and the past, we slowly uncover more about the inhabitants of San Piedro in a way that keeps us constantly invested in the lives of those living there and the incident that took the life of Carl Heine. And yet, as we learn more, we realise there is nothing to the case. 

In a paradoxical way, we see the inhabitants and the jury are blinded by having too much knowledge, having too much prejudicial bias. Guterson tells this story to the audience in a way that is less about the legal components of the trial, but rather showing us that compassion and human agency is what determines the outcome (of everything). He questions whether we need to obscure our vision to see the real truth, block out the distractions and view the situation as if it were the snow covered cedars. The snow covered island of San Piedro. 

msmagoo502's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5