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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
What a masterpiece. This enormous novel about the history of Hawaii's land, peoples, and cultures was completely gripping from the first page. I could not put this epic saga down. Michener lived in Hawaii and other pacific islands for much of his life, and you can tell the love he has for the place and its peoples. It is (and reads like) a novel, but it's so carefully researched and based in history that reading this is about the most fun introduction I can imagine to Hawaiian history.
The first chapter takes place mostly underwater- where small amounts of volcanic activity stir for 14 million years until land bursts forth.
The second chapter starts in Tahiti where people canoe for months looking for a place to live safely with their gods.
The third chapter chart their descendants 800 years later, and new residents, missionaries from the US.
The fourth chapter goes back to 9th century China, and follows people from rice fields there to sugar fields on Hawaii.
The fifth chapter follows Japanese immigrants and all of the descendants of the previous groups of people through WWII.
And the final chapter follows these characters as Hawaiian statehood is pondered, and the power system in Hawaii is grappled with.
**Very minor spoiler
I found the ending a bit depressing. In the last chapter, a young Japanese-American politician runs for office on the idea that radical changes need to be made to the way land (and therefore wealth) is distributed in Hawaii. Status quo is that the haole's control everything. Instead of big changes to the power structure (through the passage of such a land reform bill), the powerful haole's invite a couple of Chinese and Japanese people into the Room Where It Happens. And while it's good that "the Fort" is no longer just Haole's, it would have been a lot better if the Fort was disbanded and small groups of wealthy people didn't own most of the wealth of the islands.
The first chapter takes place mostly underwater- where small amounts of volcanic activity stir for 14 million years until land bursts forth.
The second chapter starts in Tahiti where people canoe for months looking for a place to live safely with their gods.
The third chapter chart their descendants 800 years later, and new residents, missionaries from the US.
The fourth chapter goes back to 9th century China, and follows people from rice fields there to sugar fields on Hawaii.
The fifth chapter follows Japanese immigrants and all of the descendants of the previous groups of people through WWII.
And the final chapter follows these characters as Hawaiian statehood is pondered, and the power system in Hawaii is grappled with.
**Very minor spoiler
I found the ending a bit depressing. In the last chapter, a young Japanese-American politician runs for office on the idea that radical changes need to be made to the way land (and therefore wealth) is distributed in Hawaii. Status quo is that the haole's control everything. Instead of big changes to the power structure (through the passage of such a land reform bill), the powerful haole's invite a couple of Chinese and Japanese people into the Room Where It Happens. And while it's good that "the Fort" is no longer just Haole's, it would have been a lot better if the Fort was disbanded and small groups of wealthy people didn't own most of the wealth of the islands.
I was directed to this book while in search of a biography of the islands of Hawaii and its people, but it’s merely a long winded biography of the missionaries sent there… be careful what you wish for. #missionariesareevil
1,100 pages (incl 800 pages of fat) on the dry rape of a beautiful culture, with forced eye contact. Michener presents a grotesque yet bluntly educational narrative of racism and greed during the meticulously crafted euthanization of Pacific Islanders, executed over generations. Make no mistake, though the names have been changed these characters are largely Bingham (and Bingham associate) progeny. What’s worse Michener often speaks directly to the reader in defense of the white man’s actions, calling it “progress.” I lived in the islands for a year and saw how truly sad this is.
1,100 pages (incl 800 pages of fat) on the dry rape of a beautiful culture, with forced eye contact. Michener presents a grotesque yet bluntly educational narrative of racism and greed during the meticulously crafted euthanization of Pacific Islanders, executed over generations. Make no mistake, though the names have been changed these characters are largely Bingham (and Bingham associate) progeny. What’s worse Michener often speaks directly to the reader in defense of the white man’s actions, calling it “progress.” I lived in the islands for a year and saw how truly sad this is.
1.5 stars - I didn't like it.
Sigh…… I have heard such marvelous things about Michener that I have acquired quite a few of his books over the years as I found them on sale here and there. Yet, this was the first one I settled in to read, eagerly anticipating it as I have an extended trip to Hawaii coming up just around the corner.
The first chapter was interesting, as he discussed the geologic formation of the Hawaiian islands and what was going on elsewhere in the world at the time. And then characters walked on to the page and they brought oh so much disappointment with them for this reader.
I found the dialogue to be painfully stilted, an utter lack of setting the scene (I knew the plot was currently in Bora Bora because it was stated over and over and over, but I sure didn’t feel like I was armchair traveling), completely forgettable characters and a level of disengagement that required a forced focus to continue paying attention to what I was reading.
"Will you go north with me?"
"Yes."
"Are you hurt?"
"My shoulder."
"Broken?"
"No."
"Wait for me at the canoe." He thrust her toward the shore and then caught her again, muttering, "We have come to kill your father. Do you still want to go?"
"I’ll wait at the canoe," she said. Now he heard Mato shout, "We've found him!”
Keep reading, I said to myself. It’s going to get better. But at 125 pages in, the thought of continuing for another 1000+ pages does not appeal even one iota to me, and I will be setting this one aside. I like to think that one day I will pick up one of the other dozen or so works I have acquired by this author, but honestly, it’s difficult when you have such a long TBR list to give them another go when the first impression was so dissatisfying. Might, might not.
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First Sentence: Millions upon millions of years ago, when the continents were already formed and the principal features of the earth had been decided, there existed, then as now, one aspect of the world that dwarfed all others.
Sigh…… I have heard such marvelous things about Michener that I have acquired quite a few of his books over the years as I found them on sale here and there. Yet, this was the first one I settled in to read, eagerly anticipating it as I have an extended trip to Hawaii coming up just around the corner.
The first chapter was interesting, as he discussed the geologic formation of the Hawaiian islands and what was going on elsewhere in the world at the time. And then characters walked on to the page and they brought oh so much disappointment with them for this reader.
I found the dialogue to be painfully stilted, an utter lack of setting the scene (I knew the plot was currently in Bora Bora because it was stated over and over and over, but I sure didn’t feel like I was armchair traveling), completely forgettable characters and a level of disengagement that required a forced focus to continue paying attention to what I was reading.
"Will you go north with me?"
"Yes."
"Are you hurt?"
"My shoulder."
"Broken?"
"No."
"Wait for me at the canoe." He thrust her toward the shore and then caught her again, muttering, "We have come to kill your father. Do you still want to go?"
"I’ll wait at the canoe," she said. Now he heard Mato shout, "We've found him!”
Keep reading, I said to myself. It’s going to get better. But at 125 pages in, the thought of continuing for another 1000+ pages does not appeal even one iota to me, and I will be setting this one aside. I like to think that one day I will pick up one of the other dozen or so works I have acquired by this author, but honestly, it’s difficult when you have such a long TBR list to give them another go when the first impression was so dissatisfying. Might, might not.
-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: Millions upon millions of years ago, when the continents were already formed and the principal features of the earth had been decided, there existed, then as now, one aspect of the world that dwarfed all others.
A vital book for almost 1000 pages. Then, the last part kicks in. The "current" story is lacking, when compared to the rest. Michener was so caught up in contemporary Hawaiian and American politics that he allowed the epic sweep of his novel to dwindle into a preachy sermon on the brotherhood of man, while focusing on his devotion to the Japanese in the Islands. This book deserves a more memorable ending.
Yet the novel is a great work of historical fiction. A few notations:
* Michener makes great use of James Frazer's The Golden Bough, a mammoth study of worldwide religions, myths, and social institutions--although I would assume, like most of us, he probably made most use of the abridged edition, which nonetheless reaches to nearly 900 pages (much like a Michener novel). What is really important, here, is the research and application of the tabu themes which drive through the heart of Hawaii. For as one ruling elite loses its mana and fades from history, a new one (the missionaries and their descendants) arises in the old one's place. The interwoven politics and incest of the ruling alii nui are their fatal flaws. But the missionaries down through the next 130 years make the very same mistakes, become a stifling inbred clique that is eclipsed by the rising generation of Chinese and, especially, Japanese who will seize power in the 1950s.
* Abner Hale brings both sides of the missionary impact on Hawaii to light. On the one hand, he provides for a stern system of law or order designed to protect the native Hawaiians from the American whalers, who rape, pillage, and destroy everything they come in contact with. This same fanaticism, his belief system, however, also serves to destroy the native culture and separate Abner from everyone he cares about, from the alii nui, Malama, to Abner's wife, Jerusha, and their children, from his fellow missionaries to the native people he cares about, Keoki, Noelani, and Iliki. At the end, Abner is left a lonely man, barely tolerated by those around him.
* I would say that Michener's descriptions of combat were the weakest aspect of the novel but for the fact that just a while later arise the descriptions of people singing and playing music. Describing music on the written page is a futile task at best; with Michener, it is a calamity far exceeding the simplistic images of battle and war. At least I remember the war passages, the several pages devoted to describing music are an utter blank.
* With a publication date of 1959, Hawaii's writing probably was not influenced by the 1959 film, Ben Hur. Still, the description of life in the leper colony sure does seem similar to the scenes of Ben Hur's family's banishment to a Roman era Judean leper colony. Probably a coincidence, I'm sure. Or maybe a Jungian moment of the collective unconscious arising to produce the same images for two disparate projects.
I like Michener. I like this novel. It is the natural outgrowth of his two earlier books on the Pacific, Tales of the South Pacific and Return to Paradise, especially the latter, where he first experimented with the type of geographic preface that also constitutes the first chapter of Hawaii.
I doubt Michener has any peers but James Clavell.
Yet the novel is a great work of historical fiction. A few notations:
* Michener makes great use of James Frazer's The Golden Bough, a mammoth study of worldwide religions, myths, and social institutions--although I would assume, like most of us, he probably made most use of the abridged edition, which nonetheless reaches to nearly 900 pages (much like a Michener novel). What is really important, here, is the research and application of the tabu themes which drive through the heart of Hawaii. For as one ruling elite loses its mana and fades from history, a new one (the missionaries and their descendants) arises in the old one's place. The interwoven politics and incest of the ruling alii nui are their fatal flaws. But the missionaries down through the next 130 years make the very same mistakes, become a stifling inbred clique that is eclipsed by the rising generation of Chinese and, especially, Japanese who will seize power in the 1950s.
* Abner Hale brings both sides of the missionary impact on Hawaii to light. On the one hand, he provides for a stern system of law or order designed to protect the native Hawaiians from the American whalers, who rape, pillage, and destroy everything they come in contact with. This same fanaticism, his belief system, however, also serves to destroy the native culture and separate Abner from everyone he cares about, from the alii nui, Malama, to Abner's wife, Jerusha, and their children, from his fellow missionaries to the native people he cares about, Keoki, Noelani, and Iliki. At the end, Abner is left a lonely man, barely tolerated by those around him.
* I would say that Michener's descriptions of combat were the weakest aspect of the novel but for the fact that just a while later arise the descriptions of people singing and playing music. Describing music on the written page is a futile task at best; with Michener, it is a calamity far exceeding the simplistic images of battle and war. At least I remember the war passages, the several pages devoted to describing music are an utter blank.
* With a publication date of 1959, Hawaii's writing probably was not influenced by the 1959 film, Ben Hur. Still, the description of life in the leper colony sure does seem similar to the scenes of Ben Hur's family's banishment to a Roman era Judean leper colony. Probably a coincidence, I'm sure. Or maybe a Jungian moment of the collective unconscious arising to produce the same images for two disparate projects.
I like Michener. I like this novel. It is the natural outgrowth of his two earlier books on the Pacific, Tales of the South Pacific and Return to Paradise, especially the latter, where he first experimented with the type of geographic preface that also constitutes the first chapter of Hawaii.
I doubt Michener has any peers but James Clavell.
loved this book. Don't judge by the movie, which was very disappointing and didn't represent the full book.
A weighty novelized history of the islands. This book was dense and dry but not dense and dry enough to make me stop reading it. It's portrayal of Hawaii was both romanticized and cynical. I wish that it had been written later, as I would like to have read Michener's interpretation of the current state of affairs in Hawaii. However, this book did give me the introduction to the islands' history that I wanted for my trip.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My mother said "at least read the first chapter." She was right- the first chapter is incredible. The rest is still excellent but doesn't stir the imagination the way the story of the geological, botanical and zoological process of the islands' development. The individual chapters are really more like books and can be read separately from one another so there isn't any need to do it all in one long binge-read.
adventurous
challenging
informative