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HAWAII

by James A Michener

Oahu, Hawaii.                           The author James A Michener

'Hawaii' is one of my favourite books and it is natural for me to recommend it here.

It is a big book but it is written by a master story–teller in plain and simple American English. When 'Hawaii' was first published it was a best–seller and, as I have said before, a book cannot usually become a best seller if it is difficult to read.

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, erupting

It is one of the most educational novels you will ever read because it tells the stories of all the various peoples who came to Hawaii over many years. Michener gives us lessons in anthropology – how the great migrations of people around the world gave us the races that we recognize today.

PIONEERS IN HAWAII

But the story is told at a very personal level: we accompany a group of pioneers on their travels to Hawaii, the events that took them there. We see their daily lives, we share their problems.

James A Michener did not always present his characters in a simple and human way; he was sometimes too concerned with the broad sweep of history to do that.

But in this book he excels himself and we can feel that we are there in Hawaii, sharing the problems and triumphs of a fascinating Chinese woman, the puritanical missionaries, the rich Yankee patricians and the proud, free, but ultimately tragic kings and queens of the glorious Hawaiin islands (originally known to the outside world as the Sandwich Islands).

The stories of all the participants in this history are told with great humanity and the sweeping story moves at a rapid and intense pace.

Although it is presented as an entertainment it is also a very instructive book about who we are, why we are and where we are.

Hawaii's position in the Pacific Ocean