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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I only made it 30 pages or so. Less funny and witty and more bitter and cynical.
I love everything Sarah Vowell writes. I would read her grocery lists and then listen to the audio book. Unfamiliar Fishes is her usual historical drinking-from-a-fire-hose, and I learned everything I didn’t think I needed to know about the Hawaiian monarchy. Vowell is doing just a bit too much with this book! I wished this was a trilogy and just a bit more organized.
Lots of infuriating and fascinating tidbits about Hawaii. Who knew the last Hawaiian king died at the Palace Hotel in SF?
Every time I read a Sarah Vowell book I lament that I didn’t just read them all in preparation for my oral exams. It would have been so much more effective and pleasant.
Not quite engaging enough to finish. Sorry, the history of various ministries doesn't really float my boat.
I adore Sarah Vowell, but this was almost unreadable. I have always loved her snarky commentary on American history, but the more she delves into complex historical events and tries to untangle them as an actual historian would, the more she loses her voice. So much of her exposition is flat and "fact-telling" that she loses the wry and insightful observations we expect from her. Hawaii has a unique and fascinating history, but Vowell gets lost in the facts here and doesn't have the historian's chops to interpret them with clarity and insight. I had to force myself to get through the plodding recitation of facts in hopes of getting to the Vowells trademark biting wit, which was much too sparse in this book.
I was hesitant to read a history of Hawaii by someone who seems so far removed from the actual history. But Sarah does a great amount of research and using her skills as a former producer for This American Life to hear from real people to share with readers the history primarily of the missionaries and their powerful role in bringing this incredible island chain into the hands of the United States. Her facts resonated with research I've done on the Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement and knowledge of local history (my family runs 3 generations deep in Maui).
Don't be fooled; this is definitely a history book, but with Sarah's wit and humorous writing style, my boyfriend and I were able to play it while driving through Maui and it kept us entertained and informed about the land we were vacationing in.
Don't be fooled; this is definitely a history book, but with Sarah's wit and humorous writing style, my boyfriend and I were able to play it while driving through Maui and it kept us entertained and informed about the land we were vacationing in.
Provides some good information about Hawaii's history, but given how story-worthy that history is, I didn't feel that Sarah Vowell added much to it.