ARCHIVES: Snow
Falling on Cedars (2000-01) |
Snow
Falling on Cedars is
David Guterson's first novel,
a very surprising novel in
its richness and depth. It
covers the treatment of the
Japanese in the Pacific Northwest
during WW2 when out of prejudice
they were interred in camps.
In this novel, Guterson handles
this disgraceful episode
in American history within
an excellent murder mystery.
 |
The
story is set in 1950s on
Washington's remote San Piedro
Island and begins with a
mysterious death of a fisherman.
Kabuo Miyamoto is accused
of the fisherman's murder,
suspicion aroused more out
of the post-war distrust
of Japanese-Americans than
anything else. To complicate
this, the town's newspaperman,
Ishmael Chamber, must deal
with his own feelings from
childhood for his love of
Kabuo's wife, Hatsue. Snow
Falling on Cedars is very
well written and handles
a complicated and sensitive
subject so well that I almost
overlooked that at the heart
of the book is a mysterious
murder. |
Several
themes of this book include racial
discrimination, hatred, love,
and forgiveness.
|
David
Guterson was born in Seattle
in 1956. His father, Murray
Guterson, is a distinguished
criminal defense lawyer: "One
of the things I heard [from
him] early on was to find
something you love to do--before
you think about money or
anything else. The other
thing was to do something
that you feel has a positive
impact on the world."
Guterson
received his M.A. from the
University of Washington,
where he studied under the
writer Charles Johnson. It
was there that he developed
hNovember 7, 2007 function of literature: "Fiction
writers shouldn't dictate
to people what their morality
should be," he said
in a recent interview. "Yet
not enough writers are presenting
moral questions for reflection,
which I think is a very important
obligation."
|
Mr.
David Guterson |
After
moving to Bainbridge Island
in Puget Sound, Guterson taught
English at the local high school
and began writing journalism
for Sports Illustrated and
Harper's magazine, where he
is now a contributing editor.
His books include a collection
of short stories, The Country
Ahead of Us, the Country Behind
(coming from Vintage in Spring
1996), Family Matters: Why
Homeschooling Makes Sense,
and Snow Falling on Cedars,
which won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner
Award.
David
Guterson is the author of
a collection of short stories,
The Country Ahead of Us,
the Country Behind; Family
Matters: Why Homeschooling
Makes Sense; Snow Falling
on Cedars, which won the
1995 PEN/Faulkner Award,
the Pacific Northwest Bookseller
Association Award, and was
an international bestseller;
and the national bestseller
East of the Mountains.
|
For
more on David
Guterson:
* Read
an interview to Mr. Guterson
in Book Magazine
* Official
website of the movie based
on the book "Snow Falling
on Cedars"
|
| Events
on Campus |
Roundtable
discussion with David Guterson.
On Monday, November 13, 1:00-2:00
David Guterson will be on campus
participating and this event and
taking questions from the audience.
Hosted in the Anne Arundel Hall
basement lounge, the event has
been Sponsored by the Dean
for Undergraduate Studies and the
University Honors Program. Everyone
is welcome.
The
same day at 4:00 pm, Mr. Guterson
will be signing book in the
McKeldin Special Events Room.
The author will speak about
his work and sign books afterwards |
[
Last updated on
November 7, 2007
] |
