Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
informative
slow-paced
James Michener is my go to author when I want to learn the in depth history of an area. The Caribbean was at the top of my list because of my impending move to Panamá. This book is definitely being added to my Panamá Book List!
James has a formula that totally works for me. He starts as far back as he can, in this case with the wonderful Arawak indigenous tribe, and weaves stories out of non-fiction facts and fictional stories. Each (long) chapter is vignette covering a particular time frame, which is nice because if one is boring, it won't be long until you're reading something quite different!
I am no longer naïve about the history of the Caribbean. Wow, so incredibly tumultuous and heartbreaking for huge portions of the population. It will definitely help me have a deeper understanding of the mindset and opinions of local Panamanians (and other Caribbean locals)—and LOTS more empathy.
James has a formula that totally works for me. He starts as far back as he can, in this case with the wonderful Arawak indigenous tribe, and weaves stories out of non-fiction facts and fictional stories. Each (long) chapter is vignette covering a particular time frame, which is nice because if one is boring, it won't be long until you're reading something quite different!
I am no longer naïve about the history of the Caribbean. Wow, so incredibly tumultuous and heartbreaking for huge portions of the population. It will definitely help me have a deeper understanding of the mindset and opinions of local Panamanians (and other Caribbean locals)—and LOTS more empathy.
Author, James Michener was an educator for a few years before enlisting in WWII. Serving in the navy, Michener was inspired to write his first novel “Tales of the South Pacific” which not only was a hit novel, but also a hit musical, adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as “South Pacific” in 1949.
By 1959, Michener produced his novel “Hawaii” which perhaps best exemplified his writing format of fictionalizing real people, real places, and actual events over long periods of time to chronical an epic story.
In 1989, Michener’s “Caribbean” was published. It was my introduction to this author, having never read any of his other, many works. There’s plenty to enjoy, but I have plenty of criticisms too.
The 16 chapters tell 16 different stories. Each could be read independently, but it makes sense to read as a novel because there are many common themes, callbacks, and ancestors referenced. I learned a lot about the geography, history, and culture of these islands (except the novel also includes an island that is entirely fictional). It brings real, historical figures to life from conquistadores, to admirals, pirates, privateers, governors, dictators, and more. And you get to know some fictional characters too.
But I found the work to be rather too much. Sort of like trying to drink out of a firehose. While there are plenty of details, because it covers a huge geography over hundreds of years, the novel proportionally goes a mile wide and an inch deep.
At times there is so much to keep up with as all this action is unfolding you don’t have time to take a breath. There’s never a dull moment, but no time to stop and smell the roses (or smell the croton) either. There’s no time to get to appreciate the many characters and ponder their fate because the narrative moves so quickly (by necessity).
When it comes to drama and sex, this novel reads like a Disney movie. But when it comes to race and race relations it’s like “Django Unchained.” Certainly, there’s a lot of terrible history of slavery and mistreatment of humans in the Caribbean. But that Michener seems to have that as the main theme and story line again and again wore me out. How many slave rebellions do you need to chronicle? How many interracial relationships do you need to feature? How many times must the conflict be between one racial class vs. another? Brutal reading in parts.
Lotta bang for your buck in “Caribbean”, but prepare for the painful kickback in trying to bang out this tome.
By 1959, Michener produced his novel “Hawaii” which perhaps best exemplified his writing format of fictionalizing real people, real places, and actual events over long periods of time to chronical an epic story.
In 1989, Michener’s “Caribbean” was published. It was my introduction to this author, having never read any of his other, many works. There’s plenty to enjoy, but I have plenty of criticisms too.
The 16 chapters tell 16 different stories. Each could be read independently, but it makes sense to read as a novel because there are many common themes, callbacks, and ancestors referenced. I learned a lot about the geography, history, and culture of these islands (except the novel also includes an island that is entirely fictional). It brings real, historical figures to life from conquistadores, to admirals, pirates, privateers, governors, dictators, and more. And you get to know some fictional characters too.
But I found the work to be rather too much. Sort of like trying to drink out of a firehose. While there are plenty of details, because it covers a huge geography over hundreds of years, the novel proportionally goes a mile wide and an inch deep.
At times there is so much to keep up with as all this action is unfolding you don’t have time to take a breath. There’s never a dull moment, but no time to stop and smell the roses (or smell the croton) either. There’s no time to get to appreciate the many characters and ponder their fate because the narrative moves so quickly (by necessity).
When it comes to drama and sex, this novel reads like a Disney movie. But when it comes to race and race relations it’s like “Django Unchained.” Certainly, there’s a lot of terrible history of slavery and mistreatment of humans in the Caribbean. But that Michener seems to have that as the main theme and story line again and again wore me out. How many slave rebellions do you need to chronicle? How many interracial relationships do you need to feature? How many times must the conflict be between one racial class vs. another? Brutal reading in parts.
Lotta bang for your buck in “Caribbean”, but prepare for the painful kickback in trying to bang out this tome.
My first Michener. I learned a huge amount about the Caribbean, but the characters and characterizations were dry, and I didn’t find myself caring about any of them. I only stuck with it for the history lesson.
I absolutely ADORED [b:Hawaii|12658|Hawaii|James A. Michener|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320423896s/12658.jpg|1056841] and have picked up some other Michener books for free since. None have lived up to Hawaii, but there are certainly some enjoyable bits in the 800 pages of Caribbean.
I understand that the Caribbean is not a confederation of islands and that each island has its own tumultuous history. Michener's narrative really suffers from trying to pull all of these together, particularly in the final chapter where people from each island all fall into place on a cruise. It seemed like a last ditch attempt to pull all of these unrelated threads together and make them seem like a book rather than a series of vignettes.
There certainly were sections that I found enjoyable, but I'm not sure those justified reading the whole book. If I were a teacher some of these might be chapters I would assign seperately to give students a feel for the history of an island.
The region clearly has a very rich history and I enjoyed learning what I did from the reading. However it was so long-winded and scattershot that I can't say I felt the book was very good.
I understand that the Caribbean is not a confederation of islands and that each island has its own tumultuous history. Michener's narrative really suffers from trying to pull all of these together, particularly in the final chapter where people from each island all fall into place on a cruise. It seemed like a last ditch attempt to pull all of these unrelated threads together and make them seem like a book rather than a series of vignettes.
There certainly were sections that I found enjoyable, but I'm not sure those justified reading the whole book. If I were a teacher some of these might be chapters I would assign seperately to give students a feel for the history of an island.
The region clearly has a very rich history and I enjoyed learning what I did from the reading. However it was so long-winded and scattershot that I can't say I felt the book was very good.