I had first read Snow Falling on Cedars over ten years ago. My memory was that the book was beautifully written to the point where you could clearly visualize the characters and the setting, more so than in most books. I just re-read it and still feel that it is a beautiful book.
This story is presented as a murder trial for Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American, accused of murdering Carl Heine, a Caucasian American in the early 1950s. The setting is the Puget Sound area in Washington where it seems everyone is either a fisherman or a strawberry farmer. Kabuo and Carl’s families have a history of knowing each other and Kabuo’s father had tried to purchase land from Carl’s father. He made monthly payments for years and then was unable to pay the last two payments due to Pearl Harbor and the aftermath when the United States rounded up many Japanese American’s and put them in internment camps. Before Kabuo’s father was able to complete his payments Carl Sr. died and his wife did not honor the agreement. This dispute over land is looked at as the motive for the possible murder.
Carl died on his fishing boat and the trial introduces many of the town members as witnesses as they try to determine what happened. The story is narrated by Ishmael Chambers who works for the paper and who, as a child/young man, had been in love with the defendant’s wife, Hatsue. Hatsue and Kabuo were married in the internment camp but a lot of the story is told through memories of what took place before. These relationships, tensions and passions all come shining through.
What I thought was most interesting about this book is that it did focus on a period of American history that I really don’t hear very much about. It is horrifying to think about how Japanese American’s, many who had been living in the United States for generations, were treated during and after World War II. I admire that David Guterson decided to write about these times and about the anti-Japanese sentiment that followed in such a realistic way.
08/01/2011 at 10:39 pm Permalink
I agree. I read Snow Falling about as many years ago and still have many vivid visual memories. And I’m not typically a visualizer. It was a tender love story and a close-up view of the horrors of war. Reminds me of Atonement for that reason.