Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
Better than Wordy SHipmates but not as awesome as Assassination Vacation, but great for anyone who loves the auhthor, history and Hawaii.
I really enjoyed this book. It added some necessary context to Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, which I read recently. This book covers the beginning of the American missionary settlement in Hawaii, before Lili'uokalani's birth, and includes some derogatory information about her family that she elided from her memoir, like her brother's alcoholism. I had the book and the audiobook at the same time, but the book doesn't have chapters, so it was a bit more challenging to do my usual trick of switching back and forth. Sarah Vowell narrates the audiobook, but includes a cast of well-known actors who read several excerpts from primary documents. Now I really want to read about pre-contact Hawaii, and about how the Polynesian people expanded all across the Pacific.
funny
informative
medium-paced
After listening to Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, I was happy to seek out another of Vowell's books, however this one is not quite as good as I was hoping it would be. I breezed through it rather quickly, but there was nothing here to really engage with. I was expecting this to be a book about the Hawaiian annexation and what led up to it, but really it's more a book about Christian missionaries on the islands and the effect they had on Hawaii's history. Vowell doesn't seem to be for or against their missionary zeal. In some places, she praises the effects they had on Hawaii and in others upholds the sanctity of the island before any 'unfamiliar fishes' came onto the scene. In the end, her point of view seems ambivalent in a way that's not entirely satisfying.
One of the worst kept secrets in American history is how the United States has not always been as altruistic in its dealing with other nations as we would like to think we have been. The Spanish-American War of 1898, which saw the U.S. annex Puerto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii while administering the affairs of both the Philippines and Cuba for the next half century, is one of those moments. In this book, Ms. Vowell applies her usual wit and charm to the history of Hawaii's annexation from the arrival of the first American missionaries in 1819 to its annexation in 1898. What is always great about Ms. Vowell's works is how she can use either a personal story or a patented witticism to show the absurdity of past historical events. This book is no exception, but what is really interesting is that, while some of previous works like [b:Assassination Vacation|3110|Assassination Vacation|Sarah Vowell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432678421s/3110.jpg|824686] were more whimsical, this book is more serious and respectful. In fact, were one to remove Ms. Vowell's witty remarks and asides this would be almost indistinguishable from any other work of history as she gives equal weight to nearly everyone's position. She even seems to respect the work that the first missionaries did in Hawaii and the risks they took in doing it as it brought about mass literacy across the islands and preserved the Hawaiian language and tales in a written language. But you read a Sarah Vowell book for her sarcastic comments and those tended to drop off in the last 50-75 pages. Of course, those pages were at the part in the narrative where the end of Hawaiian independence is being written on the wall. Still, this is a fascinating look at the long road to annexation for Hawaii with Ms. Vowell's characteristic take on events. I highly recommend this to fans of history as well as to those looking for an interesting tale.
Hearing Sarah talk about the early history of Hawaii is so much fun. She has got to be great at parties. Always full of facts but delivered with a clean, fresh wit. I had no idea where the Sandwich Islands came from - now I do. It seems the US has so much going for it and at the same time so much to atone for. It is confusing. The picture that Ms. Vowel paints rings true to the way we've seen our past leader behave. If I ever get to visit the islands I'll have lots to see and think about.
Maybe 3.5. I enjoyed the first half much more than the latter half
I bought this audiobook as an audible daily deal, not really knowing what it was about (just that I'd enjoyed the other Vowell books I've read). I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's about the history of Hawaii, where I lived briefly during college. I really enjoyed the book and Vowell's sense of humor.