This isn’t a book I’ve read, or for that matter, heard of before I came across this article in the Toronto Star the other day. The Peel Catholic School Board (located in the Toronto, Ontario area) has pulled the book from the school library shelves after A parent complained that it contained explicit sexual content. The board is going to review the book before determining if a ban is appropriate.

This is a book published in 1995 and let’s see, it is 12 years later when a parent complains. I think I’d be reviewing the parent, but that’s just me. To borrow a quote from Mark Twain “In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” — ‘nough said

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson was published in 1995. This was Guterson’s first novel although he had previous published a non-fiction book. Snow Falling on Cedars was the recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award that year. The book was made into a movie by the same name in 1999. In 2002, Guterson was targeted, along with several other writers, by Atlantic Monthly’s contributing editor Brian Myers in his piece “A Reader’s Manifesto” which attacked what he referred to as growing pretentiousness of American literary fiction.

He referred to Guterson’s writing, which had received considerable acclaim, as “concatenation[s] of uninspired phrases set to an elegiac cadence”. You know, I have a pretty decent vocabulary but even I need to translate that. So, what I translate that to, in plainer language, is ‘a series of uninspired phrases mourning an unrecoverable past’.

I rather doubt that Guterson was mourning the loss of racism theme that is intertwined into the story, would be more likely celebrating that loss. As for uninspiring, let the readers speak on that. I was particularly intrigued at coming across some teen oriented review sites which listed this book like Teen Ink which is reviews written by teens.

The book is set on the fictional island of San Piedro, off the coast of Washington, in 1954. The community is comprised of caucasion and Japanese people who have been impacted by World War 2, both combat and the internment of the Japanese. The setting allows for considerable tensions which reflects the racism so rampant in that era.

Guterson utilizes flashbacks to develop his characters as the story moves forward. This serves to provide the reader perspective on the character and how he/she was shaped into the person they are in the novel’s present. This approach also allows subplots of war drama and romance over which the mystery and courtroom drama of the present story lays. The main plot is the suspected murder of a white fisherman by a Japanese American.

Overall the reviews I found of the book praised it. None of them found the need to get over wound on the sexual content. Those who did refer to it, found that it was well written and no worse than what youngsters would see on daytime TV. The greatest praise went to Guterson’s portrayal of the tensions and racism which was so prevalent during and after World War 2 which was largely inspired by the attacks on Pearl Harbour.

Although I’d never heard of this book previously, I think after having researched this review I’d be inclined to read it. My rating below is based on the impression I got of the book in preparing this entry. Don’t forgot to express your rating.