Michener's "Hawai`i"

[Mokihana]

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"...

[kimo55]

Re: Michener's "Hawai`i"

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]

Re: Michener's "Hawai`i"

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"...

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

Miulang

[Linkmeister]

Re: Michener's "Hawai`i"

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]

Re: Michener's "Hawai`i"

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

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.