Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
★ Top 25 book of 1994 · #18 on Best Books of 1994
On a Puget Sound island in 1954, a Japanese-American fisherman is tried for murder while the memory of wartime internment lingers. A newspaper editor covering the case must face his past and his old love.
Best for: Readers who like courtroom drama blended with themes of justice, prejudice and love
Snow Falling on Cedars is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 1994, out of 42 1994 books that cleared our data bar.
What Snow Falling on Cedars is about
On San Piedro Island, off the coast of Washington state, a fisherman named Carl Heine is found dead in 1954, his body trapped in his own net and his watch stopped at 1:47. Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American man, is charged with killing him. The trial unfolds in December during a snowstorm, in a community still marked by suspicion of anyone of Japanese descent after World War II.
Ishmael Chambers, who edits the local newspaper and lost an arm in the war, covers the proceedings. He also once loved Kabuo's wife, Hatsue, and the memory of their secret high school romance complicates how he sees everything. A disputed strawberry field and a failed land sale are offered as the motive. David Guterson, who wrote the 1994 novel in early mornings while working as a teacher, builds a quiet, atmospheric story about prejudice, the uncertainties of justice, and how the past, including the internment of Hatsue's family at Manzanar, refuses to stay buried.
Snow Falling on Cedars on the Best Books of 1994
Snow Falling on Cedars came out in 1994. Of the 42 books first published in 1994 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #18 on our Best Books of 1994 list.
Why it made the list: 345 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (44 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1994 list
- Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech, #16
- When I Was Puerto Rican Esmeralda Santiago, #17
- It's Perfectly Normal Robie H. Harris, #19
- Bird by Bird Anne Lamott, #20
See all Best Books of 1994 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1993 Best Books of 1995.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 283 want to read it, 11 are reading it now and 51 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.7 out of 5 from 44 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 71 | 55% |
| Reader love | 12 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 33 | 20% |
Questions about Snow Falling on Cedars
When was Snow Falling on Cedars published?
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson was first published in 1994.
Was Snow Falling on Cedars one of the best books of 1994?
Snow Falling on Cedars is #18 on BookWard's Best Books of 1994, out of 42 1994 books that cleared our data bar. 345 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (44 ratings).
Why is Snow Falling on Cedars on the Best Books of 1994 list?
345 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (44 ratings).
More of the best books of 1994
- Guess How Much I Love You Sam McBratney, #1
- Artificial Intelligence Stuart J. Russell, #2
- The Six Pillars of Self-esteem Nathaniel Branden, #3
- Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela, #4
- Mercury and Me Jim Hutton, #5
- Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus John Gray, #6
See the full Best Books of 1994, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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