Take a photo of a barcode or cover
This book is really looong, and I would say that 90% of it is quite good. It's typical James Michener. You get a comprehensive idea of the history of Hawaii, if not the details, and it's also a pretty fun read. Not high literary style, but not badly written either. My favorite character shows up about halfway through the book, and lives to be over 100 and sticks around to almost the end. So if you're slogging through this one, at least stick around for Nyuk Tsin and her adventures as the Pake Kokua. She's amazing, but not as angelic as she first seems. Abner Hale is also a good character, although I had to get past some of my initial distaste for his missionary zeal.
So what do we get in the book Hawaii? An abridged geologic history of the islands. The first settlers from Bora Bora, and their brutish yet charming ways. The missionaries, especially the overly-righteous Abner Hale. Merchants, shippers, real-estate tycoons and power-hungry politicians. Chinese workers, gamblers, and prostitutes (from destitution in China to oppression in Hawaii). Lovers! Sex! Japanese nationalists and World War II heros. Union leaders. Legal reformers. And of course, the Hawaiians, although not as much as you would think.
I give it 4 stars and not 5 because the writing just isn't that good, and getting through some of it is like walking through a field of molasses. Also some of the characters aren't that well developed, and there are too many of them. I would have given it 3 stars if it weren't for some of the amazing characters though, who make this book more than worth sticking it out for 1100+ pages.
Now I want to go back to Hawaii.
So what do we get in the book Hawaii? An abridged geologic history of the islands. The first settlers from Bora Bora, and their brutish yet charming ways. The missionaries, especially the overly-righteous Abner Hale. Merchants, shippers, real-estate tycoons and power-hungry politicians. Chinese workers, gamblers, and prostitutes (from destitution in China to oppression in Hawaii). Lovers! Sex! Japanese nationalists and World War II heros. Union leaders. Legal reformers. And of course, the Hawaiians, although not as much as you would think.
I give it 4 stars and not 5 because the writing just isn't that good, and getting through some of it is like walking through a field of molasses. Also some of the characters aren't that well developed, and there are too many of them. I would have given it 3 stars if it weren't for some of the amazing characters though, who make this book more than worth sticking it out for 1100+ pages.
Now I want to go back to Hawaii.