It Wasn't Always Paradise
Hawaii by James A. Michener
Available on Amazon & Bookshop.
This book—with this cover—sat on my grandfather's bookshelf staring at me years after his death. Michener books are often very long and intimidating (937 pages for this one) but eventually I bucked up and pulled it down from the shelf.
In all of his work, Michener takes immense amounts of historical research and transforms it into multi-generational, fictional novels.
I personally wasn't too keen on the stories of the white missionaries that dominate a little over half of the book, but I learned an extraordinary amount about the Tahitian origins of the Hawaiian people (this part was hard to put down.) I also learned about why the Chinese people speak two different languages (Mandarin and Cantonese.) Hint: it has a lot to do with topography & racism.
There are a lot of passages about sailing without compasses or maps, which drive home the audacity required for ancient people to sail the oceans (often toward lands they weren't even sure existed.) Here's a favorite:
"King Tamatoa realized that there came a time on any voyage when a man and his canoe had to trust the gods and to run forward, satisfied that the sails had been well set and the course adhered to whenever possible; but when all precautions failed to disclose known marks, it was obligatory to ride the storm."
Available on Amazon & Bookshop.
I haven't recorded a podcast this week. I think we all needed a little time to absorb the events of the past four days.
Chad Hall
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Hey! Happy New Year! I've been really thinking about this newsletter and it makes me feel kinda shitty that it has devolved into me just sending epiosde links. You know what I mean? Like, what value am I actually providing? Why should anybody give a shit? So, I'm gonna fix that...for some of you. If you like books; if you're like me and you're continually adding stuff to your monster "to read" list then this is gonna be for you because I'm going to focus this mailing list on sharing books....