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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. To be honest, I learned more about imperialism from watching Eddie Izzard stand-up routines.
What a waste of a provocative, complex topic. There is so much to say about Hawaii, and its troubling relationship with the US and other Western powers, but Vowell only manages to create an irritating hodgepodge of history, anecdotes, and Isabella Bird quotes (seriously, Vowell must really have a thing for Bird). While there were some interesting parts of Unfamiliar Fishes, the lack of structure and direction made this a frustrating read. There were no chapter or section breaks, which made it difficult to process all the information. As a consequence of this disorganization, the time frames and historical figures just seemed to blend together. It's like when you ride the carousel as a kid and try to look out into the sea of parents while the horses are at top speed: you don't see much of anything, and you feel a bit nauseous afterwards.
I didn't hate the entire book, mind you. Early on, I really appreciated Vowell's description of the female missionaries who first settled in Hawaii. It wasn't something I knew much about before, and I thought her treatment of the subject was very graceful. Clearly, Vowell despises what happened to Hawaii in the years following these initial encounters with missionaries, but she doesn't exhibit malice towards them, or hold them fully accountable for the heinous actions of their descendants. Personally, I would be a bit tougher on the original missionaries, but I like the fact that Vowell lets the reader decide how to interpret their actions.
Unfamiliar Fishes regained a small sense of direction and purpose near the end, when Vowell details the corrupt and infuriating political maneuvers that eventually lead to Hawaii's annexation. Those 40 pages were intense and very informative. If only the rest of the book would've been so focused and interesting.
What a waste of a provocative, complex topic. There is so much to say about Hawaii, and its troubling relationship with the US and other Western powers, but Vowell only manages to create an irritating hodgepodge of history, anecdotes, and Isabella Bird quotes (seriously, Vowell must really have a thing for Bird). While there were some interesting parts of Unfamiliar Fishes, the lack of structure and direction made this a frustrating read. There were no chapter or section breaks, which made it difficult to process all the information. As a consequence of this disorganization, the time frames and historical figures just seemed to blend together. It's like when you ride the carousel as a kid and try to look out into the sea of parents while the horses are at top speed: you don't see much of anything, and you feel a bit nauseous afterwards.
I didn't hate the entire book, mind you. Early on, I really appreciated Vowell's description of the female missionaries who first settled in Hawaii. It wasn't something I knew much about before, and I thought her treatment of the subject was very graceful. Clearly, Vowell despises what happened to Hawaii in the years following these initial encounters with missionaries, but she doesn't exhibit malice towards them, or hold them fully accountable for the heinous actions of their descendants. Personally, I would be a bit tougher on the original missionaries, but I like the fact that Vowell lets the reader decide how to interpret their actions.
Unfamiliar Fishes regained a small sense of direction and purpose near the end, when Vowell details the corrupt and infuriating political maneuvers that eventually lead to Hawaii's annexation. Those 40 pages were intense and very informative. If only the rest of the book would've been so focused and interesting.
Not as good as "Assassination Vacation" but still a stimulating and enlightening history of Hawaii.
funny
informative
A pretty solid Sarah Vowell audiobook about the history of Puritans marching all over the world, in this case to Hawai'i, and interactions with people there. For someone who doesn't have a lot of background in the history of the Hawaiian Islands, this is a good place to start, but otherwise it recounts some similar information to other primary sources like [b:Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen|103490|Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen|Liliuokalani|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1171498376s/103490.jpg|99778]. I do like Sarah Vowell's perspective and it's interesting to hear how she as an American interacts with the past (both distant and recent) of the islands.
I am a huge fan of The Partly Cloudy Patriot and Assassination Vacation (as well as The Incredibles), but I found Vowell's latest book to be plodding and bland. While listening to the audio book I just kept wondering why she chose this subject. As an atheist, a history of 19th century missionaries traveling to and living in Hawaii seems a wildly bizarre choice of topic for Vowell. I don't know much about Hawaii, and I did find parts of her book interesting, such as learning that it was once forbidden for Hawaiian women to eat bananas. I was also somewhat fascinated to learn that Vowell was able to unearth so many facts from historical archives and museums about obscure figures long dead, it is a shame that the objects of her study will probably be of interest to a very narrow population of Hawaiian natives or those interested in American Protestant history.
With the exception of Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell writes history books about parts of history I didn't know I was interested in. If someone was going to hand me a history of the pilgrims or of Hawaii, I probably wouldn't get to it. Vowell somehow makes that sort of history interesting to me.
This is her book on Hawaii, with a focus mostly on the imperialistic aspects of the American relationship with the islands. A good sprinkling of politics, culture, and history of the area, it's not her strongest effort, but it was still absolutely worth the time and energy.
This is her book on Hawaii, with a focus mostly on the imperialistic aspects of the American relationship with the islands. A good sprinkling of politics, culture, and history of the area, it's not her strongest effort, but it was still absolutely worth the time and energy.
This is probably my least-favorite of Sarah Vowell's books so far. And I'm still giving it four stars, because I really like Sarah Vowell's books, so even a misfire is still worth reading! Or, in my case, listening to.
I think maybe one of the problems with this book is that Vowell seemed to have trouble really getting fully behind either of the major forces that fought over Hawaii, the incredibly patronizing Haole (Anglo) missionaries and their racist capitalist descendants vs. the undemocratic, incestuous Hawaiian royalty. It's hard to root for either of these entities and it's hard to see what else could have happened to Hawaii as it increasingly came into closer contact with the rest of the world through trade; would the Hawaiian way of life have been preserved if not for American interference? Would it be recognizable today?
On the audio production, Vowell (who reads the book) sounds kind of beat down and depressed. Maybe she was just having a bad day when she recorded this book, or maybe she finds the material unsettling. I'm inclined to believe the latter, because the writing itself lacked some of her usual wit and humor.
Also, other actors/personalities perform many of the quotes from diaries, letters, memoirs, etc., and I found this really distracting. It's one thing when it's a paragraph-long block quote but switching from Vowell's voice to, for example, John Hodgman's or Keanu Reeves' voice for just a few words interrupted the flow for me. Vowell uses this effect in the audiobooks of [b:The Wordy Shipmates|2845287|The Wordy Shipmates|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256066727s/2845287.jpg|3093704] and [b:Assassination Vacation|3110|Assassination Vacation|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1162323680s/3110.jpg|824686], too. I liked it in [b:Assassination Vacation|3110|Assassination Vacation|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1162323680s/3110.jpg|824686], was slightly distracted by it in [b:The Wordy Shipmates|2845287|The Wordy Shipmates|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256066727s/2845287.jpg|3093704], and now in Unfamiliar Fishes I am just done with it. I might actually have to *read* her next book! And I am not one of those who is bothered by Vowell's own voice.
I think maybe one of the problems with this book is that Vowell seemed to have trouble really getting fully behind either of the major forces that fought over Hawaii, the incredibly patronizing Haole (Anglo) missionaries and their racist capitalist descendants vs. the undemocratic, incestuous Hawaiian royalty. It's hard to root for either of these entities and it's hard to see what else could have happened to Hawaii as it increasingly came into closer contact with the rest of the world through trade; would the Hawaiian way of life have been preserved if not for American interference? Would it be recognizable today?
On the audio production, Vowell (who reads the book) sounds kind of beat down and depressed. Maybe she was just having a bad day when she recorded this book, or maybe she finds the material unsettling. I'm inclined to believe the latter, because the writing itself lacked some of her usual wit and humor.
Also, other actors/personalities perform many of the quotes from diaries, letters, memoirs, etc., and I found this really distracting. It's one thing when it's a paragraph-long block quote but switching from Vowell's voice to, for example, John Hodgman's or Keanu Reeves' voice for just a few words interrupted the flow for me. Vowell uses this effect in the audiobooks of [b:The Wordy Shipmates|2845287|The Wordy Shipmates|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256066727s/2845287.jpg|3093704] and [b:Assassination Vacation|3110|Assassination Vacation|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1162323680s/3110.jpg|824686], too. I liked it in [b:Assassination Vacation|3110|Assassination Vacation|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1162323680s/3110.jpg|824686], was slightly distracted by it in [b:The Wordy Shipmates|2845287|The Wordy Shipmates|Sarah Vowell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256066727s/2845287.jpg|3093704], and now in Unfamiliar Fishes I am just done with it. I might actually have to *read* her next book! And I am not one of those who is bothered by Vowell's own voice.
This book started off great, talking about US missionaries in Hawaii and fell flat at the end, which should have been the most exciting part.
My least favorite Sarah Vowell book, sadly, as I love her other stuff. Perhaps it was just my ignorance in how to pronounce Hawaiian names that made this one trudge along. I just couldn't get into it. I suppose I learned a little about the history and the people of Hawaii that I wasn't aware of, but I had a hard time developing any emotional attachment or sentiment for any of it. I suppose I'm just not surprised anymore when it comes to the United States in the era of Manifest Destiny or how our Imperialist tendencies are still alive and well today and we've come to learn nothing from it. Still, there was something lacking from this piece that has resounded in her other works. I think, perhaps, it was the dry wit and sarcasm that usually permeates her writing. It was spotted, here and there, but not with the same dark humor I've come to expect. I'll gladly look forward to her next work.