Snow Falling on Cedars

By: David Guterson

Narrated by: George Guidall

As a Japanese-American fisherman stands trial for murder on an island in Puget Sound, snow blankets the countryside. The whiteness covers the courthouse, but it cannot conceal the memories at work inside: the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, an unrequited love, and the ghosts of racism that still haunt the islanders. First novels rarely attract as much attention as Snow Falling on Cedars. Remaining on best seller lists for months, it has cast a spell on listeners across the country.

©1994 David Guterson (P)1996 Recorded Books

Unforgettable. Masterful. Remarkably creative.

I can't imagine any reader not liking this book. Mr. Guterson has created a masterpiece, and George Guidall reads it with his usual style, warmth and aplomb. The plot is dense but easy to follow, as it is unique in its setting, relationships among the primary characters, and interweaving of several intensely involving stories. It is set in the Pacific Northwest, on a small island that is a fishing village and home to many strawberry farms, virtually all of them personal rather than corporate. It is not true that everyone knows everyone, because the book is set about ten years after World War II, and the split between the Japanese populace and the Americans is wide and deep. The plot involves the death or murder of a fisherman on his boat, late at night, fishing for salmon and anything else that gets caught in the net. The alleged killer is a Japanese fisherman who seems to be a thoroughly good man, with a loving family and absolutely no history of any kind of trouble. However, the hatred between the two factions of people runs so deep that the murder trial is the event of the century for the residents. The plot switches from the present, which includes the trial and many other, smaller events, and WWII, in which the Japanese were "interned," which is to say, put in prisons with no gas chambers but no resemblance of a normal life. There is also a brief view of the hostilities of the war.
I loved this book. I loved George Guidall's performance. The writing is so good that the book won many prizes when it was published at the end of the 20th century. Mr. Guterson had written two novels by this time, the first one called East of the Mountain. I read this book with my eyes. I can't recommend the audio version of it. The book is completely different from this one, so different that it is hard to see one author creating two so different stories, with both of them being just great literary accomplishments.
Snow falling on Cedars was made into a movie, which I did not see. Just as well, as the movie people would have had to cut out so much great stuff that I would have felt a bit cheated. One rule about great writing is that the author really must love his characters. Mr. Guterson clearly loves his characters, and we are all the richer for that love. I recommend this book to you with no reservations. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Poetic,dreamlike while dealing,with Complex issues of the human heart and rescission

George Guidall takes this story to a theatrical performance level that made the people in the story life like. I laughed out load and cried.
A complex and beautifully written book.

An amazing story of love and American history.

This is the second time I've read this book. I've also given it as a gift. The story is beautifully wrought and important to tell.

cool book

alittle hard to get into but an awesome book. really enjoyed this one, highly get this book

Perfect cozy winter read

This book is the perfect balance of irony tension, and slowly pulled out poetic reflection. Absolutely beautiful. George Guidelle is the perfect narrator for this book.