- Hardcover
- Publisher: Diane Pub Co; First Edition edition (Jan 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0788196421
- ISBN-13: 978-0788196423
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,078,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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First Sentence
On the night he had appointed his last among the living, Dr. Ben Givens did not dream, for his sleep was restless and visited by phantoms who guarded the portal to the world of dreams by speaking relentlessly of this world. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
On the night he had appointed his last among the living, Dr. Ben Givens did not dream, for his sleep was restless and visited by phantoms who guarded the portal to the world of dreams by speaking relentlessly of this world. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Snow Falling on Cedars' had a wonderful sense of place, a tight and intriguing plot, and moments of gentle romantic eroticism. It also presented a fascinating insight into a unique community and its problems. 'East of the Mountains' is a much less ambitious novel. The evocative description is still there, so is the romance, and Guterson still writes genuine detail without it ever becoming pedantic. But there is plenty missing.
This is a story of a journey and the plot is inevitably looser, but what makes this novel ultimately unsatisfying is its predictability. For example, we are reminded of the fact that Ben Givens is a heart surgeon at the outset, and repeatedly throughout the book, so when we get to the point where his comrade is shot in battle and he watches the doctor's fight to save him, we know exactly what the outcome will be and why.
The characters too are rather one-dimensional, Givens himself, his wife, the young couple, the girl he meets on the bus and the woman who takes him under her wing, are all consistently good and flawless people. Only the owner of the wolfhound pack is a 'bad guy' and he is bad consistently, even to his own family.
I found certain similarities to Proulx's 'The Shipping News' - the work contains beautiful prose, but overall there are very few surprises and little that could be considered genuine plot. At least Proulx created entertaining and original characters.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anyone who is expecting a book similar in quality to Guterson's "Snow falling on Cedars" will be disappointed by this one. Barely more than a novella, this book follows Ben Givens, retired heart surgeon,hunter and terminally ill cancer patient, on his journey back to his East Washington roots to commit suicide.
The book is hugely readable, Guterson's writing flows elegantly (in fact it is hard to put down) and his descriptions of the Washington countryside are hugely evocative. And yet nothing happens! An old man sets out to commit suicide ... and fails; in the process of which he meets some nice and some not so nice people, a few nasty things happen to him and he delivers a baby. Then he goes home.
Perhaps I was expecting too much of this book: his first book dealt with so many different themes after all, and was as impressive as the landscape it was set it in. This one promised a lot, was easy to read but left me thinking "and so..?".
The book has to have three stars if only for its wonderful descriptions: it does not pick up any extra stars for content! I remain a Guterson fan, but hope that the wait for his next book will be more rewarding.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is harvest time in the Columbia Basin of central Washington State where orchards droop with ripened fruit & Ben Givens, recently retired, widowered & diagnosed with cancer, heads east, over the Cascade Mountains into the still wild sage deserts for one last bird hunt with his Brittanies & his memories. A rain-slicked highway & a headlong skid into a tree changes his plans.
I thoroughly enjoyed David Guterson's writing which flows like windswept wild grasses, because I've roamed those same sagelands & I've known the same sort of world of hurt into which Ben Givens is headed.
David Guterson narrowly avoids sentimentality by allowing Ben's adventures to draw some blood, be scary enough to rouse a hero's lethargy & full enough with unexpressed loneliness, orneryness, dashes of dumb luck & mean spiritedness that kept me walking at Ben's side.
I wanted to hear more of those adventures. Having taken care of our Poppa during his last years of life, I had a very good idea just how valuable Ben's life & death will be to his daughter.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Good Read
Very good book - Easy to read but well written. I think a second reading will reveal even more of the authors feelings. Bit like Grapes of Wrath meets Call of the Wild.
Published on 25 April 2010 by J. Pedgrift
Slow paced and rich
I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend from my book group, and because I loved Snow Falling on Cedars. Read more
Published on 20 April 2010 by Mrs. S. R. Wray
Unputdownable
This is the second David Guterson book I've read and was not disappointed. Truly a great read, Guterson's descriptions of both places and people are a real joy and his use of... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by John Stewart
A book with hidden depths
This book seemed to be a nice well described story but somewhat slow and aimless, when it hit me in the heart in the home straight. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2009 by Jim Voorhout
Beauty in ugliness
Now I've heard that David Gutterson is quite an accomplished writer having also read raving reviews on `Snow falling on cedars', so thought this was worth a read. Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2007 by Uncle Moley
This is one book I want to give to all my friends
This gem of a book is almost mythological in the way the hero sets out toward a grim destination, and in so doing encounters miracles, monsters and mayhem of the real kind. Read more
Published on 28 July 2005 by Janice Smith
No death without a life
Ben Givens is a man suffering from cancer. He knows he only has a few months to live. He is a retired heart-surgeon. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2002 by Manthos A. Mattheou
gone west
Unlike some of the reviewers I really did not like this book. Overwritten, predictable, sentimental, and peopled by cardboard characters, it reads like a rushed job after the... Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2001
Very human
This book is not about rock climbing but about one's relationship to oneself, about serious illness and the effect the knowledge of such has on one's mind and perception of the... Read more
Published on 13 May 2001 by george.holmer@ttsservices.co.uk
A thoughtful novel, rich in detail.
The imagery was immense, I could smell the apple blossom...I had eagerly awaited this novel. I had read Snow Falling on Cedars, and found that book to be simply amazing. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2001 by "allan_lfc"
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