Books
by David Guterson
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East of the Mountains |
Dr. Ben Givens sets out from Seattle to return to his homeland in the apple orchards east of the mountains. Old and ill, he takes nothing with him but his hunting dogs, his father's old gun and his intention to end his life. His journey becomes an odyssey in which, after a series of extraordinary adventures, some very bloody, he learns a kind of acceptance. Harrowing but lyrical too and in the end life affirming.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 5 October 2000) |
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Our Lady of The Forest |
Ann is a runaway teenager who earns her living by picking mushrooms in the woods and deals with her asthma and many allergies by swallowing too many pills. So when she receives visions from the Virgin Mary, the Catholic Church is very dubious. But thanks to the internet Ann has two thousand followers supporting her! The story sometimes loses momentum but the way Guterson writes and describes life's many subtleties is superb.
(Laurence Martin Euler - bwl 26 October 2004) |
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Snow Falling on Cedars |
If you missed Guterson's brilliant first novel published fifteen years ago, search it out now, it is as compelling as ever. A Pacific island in mid-winter: a fisherman is found drowned in his nets, a Japanese-American is on trial accused of his murder. This is war-time, Pearl Harbour has changed the inhabitants' lives; prejudices and suspicions affect everyone's judgments. A nail-biting court-room drama set in a snow filled landscape which keeps its suspense until the end.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 57 Summer 2010) |
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Snow Falling on Cedars |
I have just read this novel after many years of procrastination – and was completely drawn into this snow filled world of San Piedro Island with its tight knit community. It reminded me of the TV series Trapped set in a isolated Icelandic town. It is not just a murder mystery, it is so much more. Reading Jenny’s review of 15 years ago, I can only endorse her comments wholeheartedly
(Ferelith Hordon - bwl 116 Spring 2025) |
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