Best Historical Fiction I've ever read, period.

books:

	• Hawaii: A Novel James A. Michener Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2002 - 960 pages average customer review:based on 108 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Impressive

I've never read Michener's work before, but this book left me awed with his knowledge of history and storytelling ability. The book begins with a brief section on the formation of the islands, then plunges into a novella (100 pages) about the arrival of the original Polynesian settlers. After that, it jumps forward again to the 1820s and the arrival of the New England missionaries. After this point, the narrative is pretty much continuous, with new chapters covering both the background and the arrival of new groups (Chinese, Japanese) and continuing the story of those who were already there. At this point it becomes very much a family saga, spanning about 130 years (the book was published in 1959, so the narrative deals only with pre-statehood Hawaii).

Obviously there's a great deal of history here, somewhat fictionalized as it may be, and I've never learned about so many places and cultures in the same book. The depth of Michener's research and the details of his portrayal of the lifestyles and thought processes of people from so many different cultures, in particular, never failed to impress me. But the story is brought down-to-earth through the always-engaging struggles of the protagonists, and the plotting and characterization were certainly enough to keep me reading. The writing style is intelligent; I know some people find Michener too dense for their tastes, but for me this book was just right: much more intelligent than your typical pop lit, but still absolutely readable.

My one reservation about this book is that, while I think Michener was quite progressive for the 50's, there are some wince-worthy moments in his dealing with race relations and his characterization of women and their roles. It doesn't seem to have bothered many people, but there is the occasional bit that hasn't aged especially well. Other reviewers have found the dropping of old protagonists jarring as the story moves on from one generation to the next, but I think that's standard for family sagas, especially when they have the breadth of this one.

I highly recommend this book even to those who have no special interest in Hawaii, and I plan to read more of Michener's work in the future.

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Another epic Michener

Michener does a great job with each of his books, and this one was no exception. It starts at the beginning of the Earth and tells how the Polynesians came to Hawaii, how other settlers came to Hawaii, and on almost to the present day: very readable history.

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Not my favorite

My favorite Michener novel is "The Novel". This is probably partly because I'm a writer myself. As I contemplated my review for Hawaii, I did read some of the reviews and they fascinated me. It would be interesting to know a profile of readers who love Michener. Please indulge me regarding the comments below prefacing my review of Hawaii.

Michener's books are almost invariably extremely lengthy. And he gets away with what would be literary suicide for many writers. Most all his books include hundreds of pages of exposition: geologic research, cultural backgrounds, historical references, family trees/genealogies, archaeological discoveries, geographical information, etc. I've read stern warnings in many instructional books regarding the temptation to include all your research in a novel just because you spent so many hours compiling it. The books state how boring and tedious this can become for readers to wade through all this exposition in a desperate search for the plot.

It was a little amusing to me how many readers acknowledged Michener's penchant for massive exposition. Then the reviewer typically goes on to say that the book was still great and engrossing, etc. I'm a researcher as well as a writer, so it's saying a lot for me to state that I think Michener does go a little overboard at times with the truckloads of background material. But he's great enough to still keep an interesting plot moving along and sell tons of books.

Regarding Hawaii, I read it and, like others, found sections of it quite fascinating. One section, however, disturbed me quite a bit. It seemed as if the missionaries were caricatured as horrible human beings. They were foolish, sour, stern, mean-spirited, and even cruel at times. I'm not saying Michener is lying. I believe that some early missionaries misunderstood grossly what it meant to evangelize and invite people to consider the salvation offered through Christ's death on the cross for mankind. They thought that native people's cultural mores must be forsaken for them to be "Christianized." They sometimes made cultural mountains out of molehills and forced standards upon native peoples which did not even come from the Bible. Christian missions has changed in huge ways and for many decades it has spread the gospel of Christ without destroying the cultures and customs of various people groups.

Maybe I'm overreacting a little, because most reviewers seemed to realize that Michener was not cynically condemning all Christian missions with ugly, biased intentions. But, in any case, I'm just recording my reactions to the book. Please don't email me with bristling retorts as if I've bad-mouthed Michener. I have read some of his books and agree that he's a great writer. If you have an interest in writing, I especially recommend that you read The Novel. It is excellent.

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Hawaii

Having recently visited Hawaii I have found this book very intresting.
I have enjoyed previous books by Michener very intresting. This book is no exception.

Best Historical Fiction I've ever read, period.

I read this for the first time about five years ago, and it has lost none of its appeal. I reread it recently, and it is one of the few books I would buy again if, gasp!, I lost it. I would agree with another review that the names later in the book become confusing because of the intermarriages, but that is not the authors fault, that really is what happened. This is the best historical fiction I've ever read, period. Don't be daunted by the size - its worth it!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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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