Luis María Gianera

Lengua Inglesa Especializada TLA

Snow Falling on Cedars

by David Guterson

S
now Falling on Cedars opens in the
courthouse of San Piedro, a small sleepy island
off the Pacific coast of the north-west United
States. Underneath the courtroom
windows, four tall narrow arches of leaded glass, a drama
which will divide the island is unfolding. The defendant stands
erect in the dock; the local press and the jurors –
farmers, grocers, builders, and fisher wives – await the start
of this trial. Kabuo Miyamoto is accused of the murder of Carl
Heine, a young fisherman. The alleged crime by a young man
of Japanese descent stirs up the emotions of the
islanders and questions their beliefs and their politics. It takes
place in the 1950s, and not many years have passed since
the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour and the horrors of
World War II. Although the Japanese on San Piedro were eager
to defend their adopted country against the country of their
ancestors, some people in the community were unable to forgive Japan its role in the War,
and the trial causes their deeply-held prejudices to surface.
Snow Falling on Cedars is not only one of the best mysteries of recent years, but it raises
issues which affects us all. However, it ends with great optimism. David Guterson has
succeeded in combining the best from both classic and populist American literature into a
spellbinding work of art. Buy and read this beautiful novel.

Processes of Meaning Extension

The Lord of the Rings (by J.R.R Tolkien)

In a sleepy village of the Shire, Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as
the Ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home and make a perilous journey across
the realms of Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord.
There he must destroy the Ring forever and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

A Painted House (by John Grisham)

Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in
lo long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers- and two very
dangerous men- came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And
suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke’s world. A brutal murder leaves the town seething in
gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions…And as Luke
watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives- and change his
family and his town forever.

Blood Harvest ( by Gary Gottesfeld)

1
 Luis María Gianera
Lengua Inglesa Especializada TLA

These words of Gustave de Montret, an insane, sadistic baron responsible for a string of
hideous ritual murders in Bordeaux, France in 1772, have come back to haunt beautiful Maura
McKinney. But when Maura disappears…they come close to uncovering Maura´s secret.

Before I Say Good-bye (by Mary Higgins Clark)

When Nell MacDermoptt learns that her husband, architect Adam Cauliff, and three of his
business associates have died in an explosion of his new cabin cruiser, she is not only
devastated but wracked with guilt. The last time she saw Adam, they had a bitter quarrel over
her plan to run for the congressional seat…

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant ( by Anne Tyler, 1982)

Through every family run memories which bind them together- despite everything. The Tulls of
Baltimore were no exception. Abandoned by her salesman husband, Pearl is left to bring up
her three children alone…Now as Pearl lies dying, stiffly encased in her pride and solitude, the
past is unlocked and with it its secrets.

HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of
locating and destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcuxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or
faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to
complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship
of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him…

In this final, seventh instalment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular
fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The
spellbinding, richly woven narrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace,
confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read
again.

It's from the novel Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch.

Bruno is nearly ninety. Obsessed with his past and a passion for spiders, he is the still centre
of a complex web of relationships. Caught up in the web are Danby, Bruno's hapless son-in-
law; Danby's mistress, Adelaide, and her twin cousins: Will, bent on avenging Adelaide's
seduction, and mischievous, sinister Nigel.
The web's strands are further entangled when Bruno insists on seeing his long-estranged son,
Miles, who lives with his wife and sister-in-law. Soon the uneasiness long smouldering below
the surface erupts into passion and violence.