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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
The author read approximately 5,000 books on Hawai’i and distilled them into 200-some pages.
A history of Hawaii, giving particular focus to the relationship between Hawaiian peoples and the WASP missionaries who colonized the islands and eventually orchestrated a political coup to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy and institute US control. Vowell's narrative voice is entertaining and wry, which helped ease the tough subject matter throughout the book (particularly for a reader like myself, who is an inheritor of the legacy of white Christian imperialism). Rich imagery and minute attention to historical detail are the sugar that helps the medicine of the dark history of US conquest go down.
I pretty much liked this history of Hawaii. The tone was conversation, friendly, and reflected the author's personal approach to research. A good read.
I typically adore Sarah Vowell, but this was lacking in some of her usually snarky retelling of history. Apparently, she dialed it back in reverence to Hawaiians. Vowell goes back to the early 1800s, with infiltration of missionaries (which I usually detest in general) that brought religion and efforts to replace Hawaiian customs with American customs (ie, it is ungodly for king/chiefs to have several wives and sleep with their sisters). Surprisingly, the missionaries brought a lot of good as well: development of Hawaiian into a written language, education and literacy (Hawaii had insane literacy rates thanks to the missionaries) and awareness of lands beyond the islands. Unsurprisingly, they also brought pestilence and disease (looking at you mosquitoes and measles) that would decimate the Hawaiian population. To follow religion, commercial interests (sugar, sandalwood trees, land) and ultimately military interests (Pearl Harbor) that resulted in unwanted annexation of the islands by the United States. As usual, Sarah does a great job connecting the people and personalities of the time and calling out their selfish behaviors and ultimately, greed that has driven out the authenticity and autonomy of Hawaiian culture. I want to visit Hawaii for vacation, but feel like I’m part of the problem now
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
In this book, Sarah sticks with her theme of imperialist white men, blind to their own hypocrisy, following their god to new lands and claiming them as their own (see [b:The Wordy Shipmates|2845287|The Wordy Shipmates|Sarah Vowell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388555136s/2845287.jpg|3093704], et. al.). This time, the subject is Hawaii. We learn about the unification of the islands and the formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, the discovery of the "Sandwich Islands" by the Brits, the missionaries from America, the development of commercial agriculture in Hawaii, and finally annexation by the US. I liked her two references to the fact that our current president is from Hawaii, and how amazing that would seem from the perspective of the Hawaiians of the late 1800s whose land and government were being taken away by the then-foreign USA.
I like that Sarah Vowell doesn't try to approach history with "objectivity." True objectivity is impossible, and when people try to cover their biases, it winds up coming through anyway. Vowell is, without question, a dirty liberal like me, and hilarious. I like spending time with her.
I didn't actually look into what this book was about before checking it out of the library. I just searched "Sarah Vowell" and picked out a book I hadn't read yet. Which is good, because I'm not sure I would have picked out a book about the history of the white infiltration and annexation of Hawaii.
The book was interesting, and had a lot of brilliant bits, but I didn't love it. The names sort of blended in my name due to my unfamiliarity with Hawaiian language and history. She also hopped back and forth in time a lot, and I kept losing track of not only whom we were talking about, but when we were talking about. I'm not sure if this is because I plowed through it or because of a fault in the writing. But anyway, it was interesting, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this subject matter or white forced-colonization anywhere. (Oh white people. How you love to show up and impose your culture. Then shoot everyone and take over.)
I didn't actually look into what this book was about before checking it out of the library. I just searched "Sarah Vowell" and picked out a book I hadn't read yet. Which is good, because I'm not sure I would have picked out a book about the history of the white infiltration and annexation of Hawaii.
The book was interesting, and had a lot of brilliant bits, but I didn't love it. The names sort of blended in my name due to my unfamiliarity with Hawaiian language and history. She also hopped back and forth in time a lot, and I kept losing track of not only whom we were talking about, but when we were talking about. I'm not sure if this is because I plowed through it or because of a fault in the writing. But anyway, it was interesting, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this subject matter or white forced-colonization anywhere. (Oh white people. How you love to show up and impose your culture. Then shoot everyone and take over.)
As always, Sarah Vowell is witty in makes a seemingly uninteresting topic fascinating. I found this book in particular very interesting, having visited Hawaii and some of the places she mentions.
ughghghghghg i dont know. i just dont know. the content is so interesting, why does sarah vowell have to act like she's best friends with ira glass? AND BY THAT I MEAN SHES ANNOYING.