When I browse the book section at Goodwill, I have to tendancy to pick up any book that sounds familiar. When I came across "Snow Falling on Cedars" I recognized the name because I knew it had been turned into a movie. I had no idea what it was about, but I decided to check it out. It had a pretty name.
By the first chapter, I started to think that it wasn't for me. It opens on the trial of a Japanese man accused of killing a fellow fisherman. I have no patience for courtroom dramas.
However, as the story progressed, I grew more and more entrenched in it. The trial is just the culmination of a several decades' worth of events, starting with the backstory of the Japanese immigration to an island off of the coast of Washington, then to a young romance between a Japanese girl and a caucasian boy, which is torn apart by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when all of the local Japanese families were shipped off to containment camps. It describes in detail the experiences of the American soldiers during World War II, the continued prejudice towards Japanese-Americans for years afterward, and their struggles to rebuild their lives in the face of that prejudice.
If you enjoy history at all, this is a great book, albeit a somewhat slow read. It's well-written and while not necessarily emotionally charged, it does tug at the heartstrings. It's a great look into a culture that is taught to endure anything with determination and grace.
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