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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I read this at the same time I was reading Simon Winchester's Atlantic, which was entertaining because sometimes the stories would sort of cross.
I feel like Sarah Vowell is the Mary Roach of history. They both get very geekily engrossed in a subject that I wouldn't generally have a particular interest in (in this case, the history of the American colonization of Hawaii), and make it entertaining and fascinating, while still retaining a sense of snark. In other words, a very fun, but also informative read.
I feel like Sarah Vowell is the Mary Roach of history. They both get very geekily engrossed in a subject that I wouldn't generally have a particular interest in (in this case, the history of the American colonization of Hawaii), and make it entertaining and fascinating, while still retaining a sense of snark. In other words, a very fun, but also informative read.
Wonderful read that puts the history of Hawaii and its acquisition by the United States in the context of American Puritanism, imperial expansion, and general impact on native peoples, including the Cherokee. It also made me interested to read David Malo's histories of Hawaii.
Sarah Vowell audiobooks are the best of all audiobooks.
I’ve read a lot of books in the past few years where I pause and think, “Was an editor actually involved in this at all?” This is one of those books.
Now, the history of Hawaii is by turns fascinating and horrifying (and often fascinatingly horrifying/horrifyingly fascinating). In simple form, it goes Native Hawiian rule --> whalers/missionaries invade --> sugar plantation magnates gain power, perform a coup d’etat, form a “republic” and get Hawaii annexed by the US. It is the only state in the Union that was wholly ruled by a king before forced into statehood. Crazy stuff. I’m glad that Vowell has written a fairly accessible non-dry explanation of this history.
Vowell can be very amusing. She can pluck out some of the crazy characters and stories in Hawaiian history and make the past fun. But she cannot always stay focused. She does things like bring up the term “haole” (a not very kind way to refer to a Caucasian), talk about its meaning, get distracted for a dozen pages with some topic like New Englanders or whaling and circle back and explain “haole” again like she’s forgotten she’s already talked about it. This is my main problem with the book: it’s meandering and unfocused. It’s mostly chronological but not always. There are pet topics like white Americans’ poor behavior (to put it mildly) towards Native Americans that are only tangentially related to the main story (which, in case it is not obvious, is: HAWAII) but that are randomly brought in. This book is like that professor you like because he can be charming and funny but at the same time annoys you because he is always going off-lecture to mention the 18th century whaling industry or the origin of a word or whatever tickles his fancy and while these are all interesting topics in their own right and he is amusing when he speaks about them you just want him to FOCUS on the actual topic.
This book is also ostensibly a travelogue, but needs more traveling and ogue-ing. There are few actual descriptions of modern Hawaii or visits to most of the islands or insights into what the culture is like (full-on Hawaiian slang is not even brought up, and I will tell you from personal experience that it is fascinating and sometimes not fully comprehensible to a mainlander). While I am all for Sarcastic History Books and hope that is a genre that takes off, that’s not what this is supposed to be. This is supposed to be a [a:Bill Bryson|7|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1189096502p2/7.jpg] type humorous travelogue with history and geography and all that jazz thrown in with a strong dose of sarcasm and self-deprecation. But Vowell and her family are in this book so little that it is actually jarring when they pop up. Pages will go by focused on history and suddenly there will be a random comment about Vowell’s opinion or background or anecdote and I will be like “Why is this here? Is this a history book? Is this a travelogue? Is this a memoir? PLEASE PICK ONE OR MELD THEM MORE COHERENTLY.”
Really, this comes down to editing. Vowell wrote a good book that needed someone to sit down with her and tell her, “Sarah, you are very funny. You have some good material here. Please cut out the tangents. Please have some kind of structure. Please weave your family’s visit to Hawaii in more logically. And for the love of God, please remember that chapters have been invented and should be used. I don’t care if it’s short, it still needs chapters. Remember what I said about structure? Chapters can help with that.”
P.S. If you haven’t had Hawaiian shave ice yet, you have not yet tasted heaven.
Now, the history of Hawaii is by turns fascinating and horrifying (and often fascinatingly horrifying/horrifyingly fascinating). In simple form, it goes Native Hawiian rule --> whalers/missionaries invade --> sugar plantation magnates gain power, perform a coup d’etat, form a “republic” and get Hawaii annexed by the US. It is the only state in the Union that was wholly ruled by a king before forced into statehood. Crazy stuff. I’m glad that Vowell has written a fairly accessible non-dry explanation of this history.
Vowell can be very amusing. She can pluck out some of the crazy characters and stories in Hawaiian history and make the past fun. But she cannot always stay focused. She does things like bring up the term “haole” (a not very kind way to refer to a Caucasian), talk about its meaning, get distracted for a dozen pages with some topic like New Englanders or whaling and circle back and explain “haole” again like she’s forgotten she’s already talked about it. This is my main problem with the book: it’s meandering and unfocused. It’s mostly chronological but not always. There are pet topics like white Americans’ poor behavior (to put it mildly) towards Native Americans that are only tangentially related to the main story (which, in case it is not obvious, is: HAWAII) but that are randomly brought in. This book is like that professor you like because he can be charming and funny but at the same time annoys you because he is always going off-lecture to mention the 18th century whaling industry or the origin of a word or whatever tickles his fancy and while these are all interesting topics in their own right and he is amusing when he speaks about them you just want him to FOCUS on the actual topic.
This book is also ostensibly a travelogue, but needs more traveling and ogue-ing. There are few actual descriptions of modern Hawaii or visits to most of the islands or insights into what the culture is like (full-on Hawaiian slang is not even brought up, and I will tell you from personal experience that it is fascinating and sometimes not fully comprehensible to a mainlander). While I am all for Sarcastic History Books and hope that is a genre that takes off, that’s not what this is supposed to be. This is supposed to be a [a:Bill Bryson|7|Bill Bryson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1189096502p2/7.jpg] type humorous travelogue with history and geography and all that jazz thrown in with a strong dose of sarcasm and self-deprecation. But Vowell and her family are in this book so little that it is actually jarring when they pop up. Pages will go by focused on history and suddenly there will be a random comment about Vowell’s opinion or background or anecdote and I will be like “Why is this here? Is this a history book? Is this a travelogue? Is this a memoir? PLEASE PICK ONE OR MELD THEM MORE COHERENTLY.”
Really, this comes down to editing. Vowell wrote a good book that needed someone to sit down with her and tell her, “Sarah, you are very funny. You have some good material here. Please cut out the tangents. Please have some kind of structure. Please weave your family’s visit to Hawaii in more logically. And for the love of God, please remember that chapters have been invented and should be used. I don’t care if it’s short, it still needs chapters. Remember what I said about structure? Chapters can help with that.”
P.S. If you haven’t had Hawaiian shave ice yet, you have not yet tasted heaven.
This wasn't as riveting as Sarah Vowell's books usually are, but it was still packed with information and an assortment of (very) random facts.
An interesting exploration into America and Hawaii’s history that starts with Kamehameha I’s uniting of the islands, comparing it to the 100 years war, through Queen Liliuokalani’s overthrow by the American government. She combines stories of imperialism with the contextualizing of Hawaiian traditions and values and how they still persist highlighted by the voices of modern day Hawaiians. Vowell’s lack of chapters is always something I struggle with but her tone is conversational and makes a lot of information digestible.
3.5/5? It was a little dry, which I didn't mind in Wordy Shipmates but I found made this book a little more boring than her other histories. I think Sarah Vowell has a lot of enthusiasm for New England history which carries over in the parts of this book about the missionaries, but the actual information about Hawaiians wasn't as vivid, and that's what I was looking forward to the most. In The Wordy Shipmates I could feel her reverence for the subject, but Unfamiliar Fishes lacks that nerdy zeal that I love, except maybe in the parts which tie into New England.
Sarah Vowell strikes again with an awesome history book! As usual, she doesn't write the typical boring history book full of dates. She focuses on intentions, broad themes, and important historical figures. Her book is not in chronological order per se, but accurately tells the important story of Hawaii joining as the 50th state.
Her book is full of her sarcastic and witty analysis of historical events, keeping the book lively and making it a quick, fun read. The lack of chapters makes it hard to put down!
At time, it did get a little rambling, but mostly it was accurate and riveting history. As someone who didn't learn much about history of Hawaii, it was quite an enlightening read!
Her book is full of her sarcastic and witty analysis of historical events, keeping the book lively and making it a quick, fun read. The lack of chapters makes it hard to put down!
At time, it did get a little rambling, but mostly it was accurate and riveting history. As someone who didn't learn much about history of Hawaii, it was quite an enlightening read!
As always I enjoyed reading Sarah Vowell. I don't always agree with her, she often writes about subjects I wouldn't normally seek out, but as many other reviews have noted her authorship could make an encyclopedia captivating fare.
Interesting read - I learned a lot about Hawaii and its' complicated history with the US.