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Snow Falling on Cedars
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Snow Falling on Cedars (1994) (edit title/settings)

by David Guterson (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

In 1954 a fisherman is found dead in the nets of his boat, and a local Japanese-American man is charged with his murder. In the course of his trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than one man's guilt. For on San Piedro, memories grow as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of... read more

Summary edit see section history

The book starts off on the sleepy island town of San Piedro. A Japanese man, Kabuo Miyamoto, is put on trial for the supposive murder of a fisherman with three children and a wife, Carl Heine Jr. Among all the people in the courtroom, the reader learns more about Ishmael Chambers, a reporter... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The book starts off on the sleepy island town of San Piedro. A Japanese man, Kabuo Miyamoto, is put on trial for the supposive murder of a fisherman with three children and a wife, Carl Heine Jr. Among all the people in the courtroom, the reader learns more about Ishmael Chambers, a reporter who lost his arm in the second World War. Ishmael takes the reader on a journey through his life, and shows them his childhood love for Kabuo's future wife Hatsue, and his hatred for all Japanese when Hatsue and her family was forced to move to an internment camp in California. When Hatsue returns, he finds she does not and has not ever loved him, and his heart breaks even further. Eevn in his adult years, he has not forgotten his love for her, or the hatred he feels for her. Hatsue believes that her husband did not kill Carl Heine, and that the whole trial is based on discrimination. She pleads to Ishmael to talk to the Judge about it, and he does so. The Judge orders that the case be investigated further, and they find that he was climbing up a ladder to get a lantern, he fell, hit his head and drowned to death. The charges against Kabuo Miyamoto are dropped and he is finally aloud to return to his family

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Ishmael Chambers: This is the novel's main character and the one Guterson seems to identify with most. Lost an arm in WWII. Local newspaper reporter and former childhood sweetheart of Hatsue. He never got over her.
  • Kabuo Miyamoto: Husband of Hatsue. He is slightly older than her- the marriage was arranged when she was 18, by her mother. Fisherman, WWII veteran, Japanese. On trial for the murder of Carl Heine.
  • Hatsue: Beautiful Japanese daughter of Hisao and wife of Kabuo Miyamoto. Former childhood sweetheart of Ishmael Chambers who was crowned Strawberry princess.
  • Carl Heine: WWII veteran, husband of Susan Marie, father of three, fisherman.
  • Nels Gudmundsson: An aged but shrewd defense attorney for Kabuo Miyamoto.
  • Alvin Hooks: Prosecution lawyer
  • Horace Whaley: Coroner, did the autopsy on Carl Heine
  • Etta Heine: Island native, mother to Carl Heine. Dutch nationality, holds prejudice against Japanese people on the island, especially the Miyamotos
  • Susan Marie Heine: Carl Heine's wife who is bereaved, yet wants to be fair to the Japanese family who wishes to buy Carl's strawberry field.
  • Fujiko: Hatsue's mother and wife to Hisao
  • Art Moran: San Piedro sheriff. Head of investigation into Carl Heine's death.
  • Hisao: Japanese strawberry farmer. Hatsue's father and husband to Fujiko.
  • Abel Martinson: Sheriff's deputy
  • Arthur: Ishmael Chambers father, started the newspaper the "San Piedro Review"
  • Mrs. Shigemura: Add a description of this character.
  • Soames: ballif
  • Josiah Gillanders
  • Sumiko: Younger sister to Hatsue, and daughter of Fujiko and Hisao
  • Sterling Whitman
  • Maples
  • Wilson
  • Leonard George
  • Ole Jurgensen: the man who bought the land from Mrs. Heine and then sold it to Carl Heine
  • Zenhichi: Kabuo's father. wanted to buy the land from Mrs. Heine
  • De Soto: A car
  • Dale Middleton
  • Liesel
  • Petersen
Show all 28 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Love is the strongest thing in the world, you know. Nothing can touch it. Nothing comes close. If we love each other we're safe from it all. Love is the biggest thing there is.”
    Ishmael Chambers, to Hatsue.
  • “'Shikata ga nai,' people said. 'It cannot be helped, it has to be.'”
  • “...And what I see is the same human frailty passed from generation to generation. What I see again and again is the same sad human frailty...And will you contribute to the indifferent forces that ceaselessly conspire toward injustice? Or will you stand up against this endless tide and in the face of it be truly human?...”
    Nels Gudmundsson
  • “Nel's wife had died from cancer of the colon. They had not gotten along particularly well, but nevertheless he missed her.”
    Nel Gudmudsson
  • “"'Deceiving me', said Fujiko in Japanese, 'is only half of it, daughter. You have deceived yourself, too.'"”
    Fujiko Imada, to Hatsue

First Sentence edit see section history

The accused man, Kabuo Miyamoto, sat proudly upright with a rigid grace, his palms placed softly on the defendant's table-the posture of a man who has detached himself insofar as this is possible at his own trial.

Glossary edit see section history

  • Hakujin: Japanese word for a person of Caucasian race.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 102 of 213 in Best English-Language Fiction of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)
This book is in Book Lover's Cook Book, The. (authoritative list)
This is book 33 of 100 in ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. David Guterson (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Peter Marinker (Narrator) - reader of unabridged audio cassette edition

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Harcourt
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 12, 1994
ISBN: 9780151001002
Page Count: 368

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3557.U846S65 1995
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Some could handle this at 12 or 13. But there are sexual themes. A certain level of maturity would be needed- there is also a detailed account of battle (in the WW II Pacific theater). My guess is, unless your child of less than 15 is extremely mature it would not work. And an older teen probably would benefit if there were a parent (or very accessible teacher or other mature person) who had read this to consult. This would help your teen to reflect on the violence in the story, and the way the two characters (Hatsue and Ishmael) are high school seniors exploring a sexual relationship.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Living: A Novel
  • East of the Mountains
  • Coeur d'Alene Waters
  • Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

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