Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I started this in anticipation of a trip to Hawaii, and finished when I returned. Upon return, it was enlightening to have the context of having seen many of the places Vowell discusses. For example, the area in which many of the early Hawaiian royalty lived when Captain Cook arrived was less than a mile where we stayed. We snorkeled in the bay that she discusses was used to harvest fish.
It's all downhill from Cook's arrival. Vowell outlines the all-to-familiar tale of U.S takeover, the crushing of the Hawaiian royalty and the destruction of native habitat. Sugar cane is evil! The book has left me quite conflicted about enjoying my time in Hawaii. So many archaeology sites were destroyed, although many remain. There were signs everywhere of a vibrant Hawaiian culture among the dominant American culture. If I am able to go back, I will see it through different eyes.
While Vowell is not a trained, objective historian, I find her lovingly snarky tone fascinating and very entertaining. I listened to this one -- nothing beats having Sarah Vowell read you her book!
It's all downhill from Cook's arrival. Vowell outlines the all-to-familiar tale of U.S takeover, the crushing of the Hawaiian royalty and the destruction of native habitat. Sugar cane is evil! The book has left me quite conflicted about enjoying my time in Hawaii. So many archaeology sites were destroyed, although many remain. There were signs everywhere of a vibrant Hawaiian culture among the dominant American culture. If I am able to go back, I will see it through different eyes.
While Vowell is not a trained, objective historian, I find her lovingly snarky tone fascinating and very entertaining. I listened to this one -- nothing beats having Sarah Vowell read you her book!
A fascinating dive into a part of history I knew little about. I like the way she hoops through time, connecting the past with the present.
I was not familar with Sarah Vowell (from This American Life) before reading this book, recommended and lent to me by my friend and running buddy Kris. In simplest terms, this is a smart and funny journalist's history of Hawai'i. From the perspective of someone trained in history, of course, this is journalist-history, it's popular history, it's trade press . . . but it's not trying to be something else, and it succeeds at what it tries to do. (I won't criticize it for not being a different type of work.) It is a good first history of the place -- perhaps the book one should read on the way to one's first vacation in Hawai'i. Its defining feature is Vowell's dry, cheeky, and often sarcastic sense of humor, which makes the pages fly ... but, honestly, sometimes seems a little too self-important, as if to tell the reader she is genuinely proud of this wit and humor. In other words, sometimes her voice gets in the way of the reader's enjoyment; it's too self-aware. Her views (her indignation, which she conveys through sarcasm and cynicism, rather than overt lecture) are clear, but I don't blame her for the views or the clarity. Though I wondered a bit at the relevance of her own Cherokee ancestry, which she managed to invoke more than once, and the Trail of Tears. Either she was worried her views were not clear enough and needed the analogy (in which case she is insufficiently aware of her audience and her effect on her audience) or she had grown too emotionally close to the topic and could not let go (in which case a better editor was needed). All of that said, it was a pleasant read that I skimmed in places, and I'd be delighted to read more of her work.
This book felt like it could have been written by anyone, not Vowell in particular. Therefore, I wasn't as captivated, and really had trouble pressing through to finish this.
Had to think long and hard about whether or not to read this book before the Hawaii trip. After all, sometimes knowing more about the past means I can't enjoy tacky things, like luaus.
Going into this, I knew very, very little about Hawaii's history. Vowell essentially begins with the arrival of missionaries and concludes with the barely legal annexation. Some really good stuff, though I did occasionally bog down. The funny wasn't there like it's been before. And sometimes it took a very long time for a tangent to start making sense.
The jury is still out on how reading this book will affect my trip to Hawaii.
Going into this, I knew very, very little about Hawaii's history. Vowell essentially begins with the arrival of missionaries and concludes with the barely legal annexation. Some really good stuff, though I did occasionally bog down. The funny wasn't there like it's been before. And sometimes it took a very long time for a tangent to start making sense.
The jury is still out on how reading this book will affect my trip to Hawaii.
challenging
funny
informative
fast-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
If you're a Sarah Vowell fan, I don't recommend listening to her read her own books. Her nasally voice drove me to abandon this book. I'll pick it up again when I can get it from the library in tree-based format.
I always enjoy and recommend Sarah Vowell’s books. Looking forward to more hopefully from her as an author. Besides Radio On, I have read all of her books. Can’t hurt to go through them again.
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.