A review by doggerdog
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

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“All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow.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.