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Mokihana
August 6th, 2005, 08:41 AM
Niele au: how accurate do you think Michener's account of ancient Tahiti/Hawai‘i is? Not the geology part, but the lives of the people and the dicovery of Hawai‘i. He says he did plenny research, still I wonder about the validity of what he wrote. The book is "historical fiction"... :confused:
kimo55
August 6th, 2005, 08:53 AM
how accurate do you think Michener's account of ancient Tahiti/Hawai‘i is? Not the geology part, but the lives of the people and the dicovery of Hawai‘i. He says he did plenny research, still I wonder about the validity of what he wrote. The book is "historical fiction"...






valid as what?
historical fiction?
yes, of course.
But valid as a history book?
I would say, you could do worse.
Valid as a great story?
Sure!
Miulang
August 6th, 2005, 08:53 AM
Niele au: how accurate do you think Michener's account of ancient Tahiti/Hawai‘i is? Not the geology part, but the lives of the people and the dicovery of Hawai‘i. He says he did plenny research, still I wonder about the validity of what he wrote. The book is "historical fiction"... :confused:


Well, for sure any dialogue in the book was shibai. They didn't have tape recorders or videocams back then... :D

Miulang
Linkmeister
August 6th, 2005, 02:43 PM
I was a big fan of Michener's work for a long time, and I own half-a-dozen of the big books (Centennial, The Covenant, The Source, etc.). If I read Hawai'i it was long before I moved here, and I don't remember it.

On balance, you can trust most of his historical data, I think. His character's motivations are his own imagination at work.
Mokihana
August 6th, 2005, 03:53 PM
valid as what?
historical fiction?
yes, of course.
But valid as a history book?
I would say, you could do worse.
Valid as a great story?
Sure!

Valid as to the accuracy of life in ancient Tahiti/Hawai‘i. I guess that's what I meant. Obviously a great deal of the book is accurate, but yeah, no tape recorders back then... I :D

Just wondered if there's been any reports that the book was humbug in any way... like he was way off with his facts about the ancient Polynesian culture.

I thought the movie was junk.