Hawaii: A Novel
by James A. Michener
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Book Summary Information
Author: James A. MichenerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-07-09
ISBN: 0375760377
Number of pages: 937
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Hawaii: A Novel
Book Review: The "Golden Man" Cometh to Hawaii and Our World
Summary: 5 Stars
Michener's "Hawaii" is a colorful, entertaining masterpiece of historical fiction. Prefaced by an imaginative prelude on the volcanic formation of the islands, the saga begins in the 9th century with terror and suspense, as the first canoe of determined Polynesians flees Bora Bora to escape extermination under the new and evil god, Oro, guided northward only by the wind, spirits and stars on a perilous voyage that miraculously reaches the uninhabited shores of Hawaii. Deftly weaving an intricate, fugue-like procession of peoples through thousand-year genealogical charts, Michener details the multi-generational story of how the original Hawaiians clashed and intermingle--both in bloodline and culture--with conservative 19th century Congregationalist missionaries educated at Yale, ambitious Chinese workers of rivaling Punti and Hakka extraction who ventured to the islands to make their fortunes on the sugar plantations controlled by ex-missionaries and seafarers-turned-businessmen, and their hardworking Japanese brethren from Hiroshima who brought to the sugar and pineapple fields yet another distinct culture with its own deep-rooted traditions.
From the proud and innocently incestuous royal Hawaiian siblings, Alii Nui and Kelolo Kanaloa; to the prim-and-proper Hale, Whipple and Hewlett missionaries and their overworked wives; to the sincere sea captain Janders and worldly womanizing whaler Hoxworth; to the selfless, tirelessly enterprising concubine Nyuk Tsin with her big feet and unlucky leprous lover, Kee Mun Ki; to the stout Sakagawa Kamejiro with long arms swinging at his knees, who swaps picture-brides with his crazily patriotic friend Mr. Ishii--a parade of memorable characters flourish and fade, only to be replaced by their equally endearing sons, daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through beheadings and lovemaking, riots and baptism, plague and good health, conflagration and rebuilding, World War II and its aftermath, tsunami and Pacific paradise, strike and profit, struggle and frivolous pleasures, death and birth--gradually, over many generations, a unique, resilient Hawaiian culture evolves. Ultimately, despite the tendency of each individual, whatever his cultural upbringing, to cling prejudicially to his own traditions and values, out of the inevitable conflux of peoples arises a new type of Golden Man, "a man influenced by both the west and the east, a man at home in either the business councils of New York or the philosophical retreats of Kyoto, a man wholly modern and American yet in tune with the ancient and the Oriental."
Michener's sensitive portrayal of people, traditions and generational change--human strength through cultural diversity to build a brighter and more hopeful future for not only the microcosm of Hawaii but the world as a whole--is the hallmark of this remarkable contribution to literature. Self-centered Abner Hale, cursing all the non-Christian heathens and madly flailing his cane at sacred scrolls in a Buddhist temple, ironically dies a stubbornly devout, lonely missionary without a congregation; however, a century later his great-great-grandson, Hoxworth Hale, of one-sixteenth Hawaiian blood and, morever, having lived and breathed the quintessentially Hawaiian ebb and flow of disparate social, economic and political forces as head of the island's largest business empire, blossoms by story's end into the most enlightened of Michener's Golden Men. Indeed, where "ideas clash on equal footing and remain free to cross-fertilize and bear new fruit," there is hope and progress. Appropriately, the publication of this monumental work dates from 1959, the same year Hawaii ascended to statehood, becoming America's 50th state.
I highly recommend this masterpiece for anyone seeking a deeper appreciation of history and the catalysts of cultural change in our multifarious modern world. Whether you happen to be relaxing under swaying palms in Hawaiian paradise, lying on a white sand beach or elsewhere, pick up a copy of this mellifluous novel, absorb its radiance and enjoy!
Summary of Hawaii: A Novel
In Hawaii, Pulitzer Prize?winning author James Michener weaves the classic saga that brought Hawaii?s epic history vividly alive to the American public on its initial publication in 1959, and continues to mesmerize even today.The volcanic processes by which the Hawaiian Islands grew from the ocean floor were inconceivably slow, and the land remained untouched by man for countless centuries until, little more than a thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers made the perilous journey across the Pacific and discovered their new home. They lived and flourished in this tropical paradise according to their ancient traditions and beliefs until, in the early nineteenth century, American missionaries arrived, bringing a new creed and a new way of life to a Stone Age society. The impact of the missionaries had only begun to be absorbed when other national groups, with equally different customs, began to migrate in great numbers to the islands. The story of modern Hawaii, and of this novel, is one of how disparate peoples, struggling to keep their identity yet live with one another in harmony, ultimately joined together to build America?s strong and vital fiftieth state.
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