David Guterson to read at Western Literature Conference

When the Western Literature Conference opens Wednesday in Tacoma there is to be a Welcome with a speech from the mayor of Tacoma and a Reading and Question and Answer Period by David Guterson. Some of the events are really open to the public, so I hope to attend the Guterson reading.

When I first heard of Snow Falling on Cedars, I intended to read it. It is in a list of Books Read in 2003, after I had intended to read it for years. I have noted down that I read it with a small amount of skimming. I remember that I was happy to read the setting descriptions and thought of the book Woman and Nature by Susan Griffin. In a page from that time I wrote: On May 20th i was returning a book in the evening to save 20 cents & came upon a meeting for the environment - I began to see the necessity of response to the idea of Description of Setting, and Setting...I feel response is important. Each individual can make a difference, and how we get about, how we choose the products we use has an effect on what happens.

The Setting seemed then to me to be the focus of the book. The nature descriptions of the San Juan Islands worked for me -

Later I suggested the book as a possibility for Tacoma Reads Together. One reason I suggested it is because the fishing community in the San Juan Islands is described by David Guterson as being a Scandinavian Enclave. That worked for me, too.