Books You Read...

[mgeary]

Doh! I shoulda looked before I posted about Michener's "Hawaii". I'm not sure what I'd have gotten if I searched for "Hawaii", probably everything, but the key is to do a smart seach, not a shotgun search, I know.

Anyway, I'm a big reader, and this thread is a good place for us readers to talk story. Mahalo, mella, for pointing this out to me.

Aloha! ;-)

[mgeary]

I just finished reading the book, "Hawaii" by James A. Michener. It's not the first Michener book I've read, but it is the first time I read one of his books with a purpose...to more fully understand a culture that I want to be a part of.

My take on Michener's work is that he does his homework. Wikipedia says, "Michener was known for the meticulous research behind his work. Because his books tend to be fairly long, it is sometimes said that "Michener tends to write by the pound." I'm glad I read the book. I don't take any one person's word as Gospel, I understand there are lots of different ways to look at a thing. In this case, though, it seems like Michener has presented many facets of the complex culture and history that is Hawaii. There may be other facets that he didn't address, in fact since the book is over 40 years old, I'm sure there's a lot that is missing.

It was a long story, but very informative. I had wanted to post about it, just to get feedback from the Punaweb crowd, but elsewhere on Punaweb there was discussion of the "Jones Act". Never having heard of the "Jones Act", I had to do some Googling. It seems that the Big Five referred to as "the Fort" in Michener's book is still alive and well, and deeply entrenched in the current politics of Hawaii. Michener hid the identities of the Big Five through a thin veil of changed names, but their identities are beyond question.

Just curious - how many of you have read this book, and what were your impressions?

BTW, I saw the movie version of this book when I was a kid, and there's virtually no comparison. Julie Andrews and Max Von Sidow were cast in a pollyanna-ish Hollywood over-simplification of only the first part of the book, and very little of Michener's entire story hit the screen, as I recall.

Aloha! ;-)

[mgeary]

Likalizard said:

OMG! I read Michener book when I was 12 years old. That was when I got the yearning to "one day see the Sandwich islands". It was an intense novel for me to undertake, but, I was a bookworm and not much TV time in those days. I then did all my school projects on Hawaii. The Kings and Queens, birds, flowers, then the sea and volcano activities. Boy...what memories. Come summer time I wore Hawaiian stuff as long as mom and dad would buy it! (yes, everyone, tried the coconuts...) I think I will re-read the book again! There were alot of similies in the book that you could relate to other "states"/county's" then and now. When I start reading the book, this time I will be more alert. Wiser now? So, that started my dream of "One day in Paradise"...many moons ago. Aloha kakou..

Lika


"To err is human, to forgive divine"

Aloha! ;-)

[mgeary]

mella 1 said:

I too loved Michener's Hawaii. Quite thorough look at some of the history of the island.

Another I would suggest, that was a most awesome read is
"Shark Dialogues" by Kiana Davenport, a very profound book in my estimation, the writing so beautiful and textured, even when the story gets hard to bare, there is so much to learn. Think I'll read it again! Aloha,

mella l

Aloha! ;-)

[Menehune]

LOVE Michener - BUT never read "Hawaii" - strange - I will now!

My favorite Michener - "Chesapeake" - "Centennial".

I'm Polish and had to read "Poland" - now I have an idea why there are so many "dumb polack" jokes!

Sometimes he is very hard to read - puts you to sleep in one page - like "Teaxas".

I'm still trying to finish "Alaska" - it's going on FIVE YEARS!

Joey

Time will tell - I'm listening?
Time will tell - I should have been speaking?

[dakine]

the scary thing about micheners hawaii is that the science in chapter 1 is so wrong that it is hard for me to see the rest of the book as any more than a fantasy. I mean if you cant research something as straight forward as the geology of the islands it makes it hard to think the research of a much more complicated subject as the hawaiian culture and the events surrounding contact with western man would be any harder. it is nicely written but not something to read if you want to get a feel for the history of hawaii. in fact that is how I think of all of his works.. pure fantasy based VERY loosely on historical events.

[mella l]

Michener's Hawaii was written in 1959 so I'm not sure what was known or understood about geology at that time.

To be honest I got a little bored with the earth cooled bit myself, but that said if I'm looking for just the facts I'll read text books, and even they are revised as time moves forward.

Poor Poland always in the wrong place for the conquering masses. It expanded my take on Europe also. These historical novels may not be 100 fact, but they do get people to read and think. They may even have adgendas, but can be very entertaining, inspire thoughts and curiosity and are more satisfying than say ah television to moi!



mella l

[mgeary]

Just echoing mella's comment, the first chapter story of the birth of the islands, accurate or not, is not what I'm interested in. It is likely that Michener presented the geological facts as they were understood in 1959, because Michener, as I said earlier, is known for his research.

My interest in the book "Hawaii" was in the various cultures, from the stories of the original Polynesian adventurers who became the first Hawaiians, to the impacts (negative and positive) of the missionaries, the whalers, the plantation owners, and the effects of importing the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, and other cultures. I guess I was looking for some kind of historical perspective on the single most diverse society in the world, and I think I found it in Michener's book.

Like the imperfect knowledge of geology that was known in 1959, I'm certain that Michener had imperfect knowledge of the history of the various cultures, too. I've ordered some more books about the history of Hawai'i from Amazon.com, so that I can put Michener into perspective.

I really did enjoy Michener's book, though. He covered a lot of ground, and seems like he tried to be impartial.

Aloha! ;-)

[Kapohocat]

re-reading Chicken Soup for the Hawaiian Soul. Bought it at Garage sale yesterday!