Hawaii by James Michener

"They came to the island to do good, and they did right well."
"No wonder the islands were lighter when they left; they stole everything in sight."
"They taught the natives to wear dresses and sign leases."
"Before the missionaries came to Hawaii, there were four hundred thousand happy, naked natives in the mountains killing each other, practicing incest, and eating well. After the missionaries had been there awhile, there were thirty thousand fully clothed, miserable natives huddled along the shore, paying lip service to Christianity and owning nothing."
                  -gibes heard against the missionaries of Hawaii @1915

Whew! This novel was a tome...thought I would never finish! At 937 pages, it is a good thing I purchased it for my Kindle. I ended it up carrying it on two cruises over about 6 weeks time, the second one in the Hawaiian Islands which was the primary reason for reading it. It was a busy time with travel and celebrations so my reading time was limited. Otherwise I might have managed to get through it more quickly. It added quite a lot to my enjoyment of the trip as it provided me a good bit of background on the history, mythology and culture of Hawaii. So I am very glad I read it! My rating: 4.

As with most of Michener's books this one starts off slowly with the geological formation of the islands and then the arrival of plant life in chapter one. In chapter 2 one reads about the fugitives from Bora Bora who become the first people of Hawaii, and it gets much more interesting. When the Calvinist missionaries from New England arrive in the 1800's and begin interacting with the natives in chapter 3, the plot is definitely enhanced. By the time Chinese workers are imported for working the sugar cane fields (chapter 4) and then the Japanese (chapter 5), the story is more and more compelling. The Chinese are represented by the Kee family; the Japanese, by the Sakagawas. Their stories, side-by-side with that of the Hales, Whipples and other founding missionary families add the personal touches to keep one reading. Then the reader finally reaches chapter 6 where the changes in culture and economics caused by the conflict and mingling of these different groups reach their climax.

I thought I had read Hawaii years ago but I now think I only saw the movie. I learned that the movie covered only the coming of the missionaries and that is all I remembered. I also discovered that Michener's book was published in 1959, the year Hawaii became the 50th state. Pretty cool.

I am sure this novel must have required years of research. Much of what we learned from our tour guides in Hawaii related well to the book. Michener's main characters are fictionalized but the story involves some historical characters as well such as Father Damien, who ministered to the lepers quarantined in Moloka'i in the late 1800's. In our tour of Pearl Harbor we learned of the heroism of Japanese soldiers sent to Europe during WWII and the book made that fascinating by involving the Sakagawa brothers.

We also heard a lot about the mythology of the Hawaiian natives, especially stories of Pele, the fire goddess. I would recommend this book for anyone going to Hawaii for the first time. Just give yourself plenty of time to finish!