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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.