Customer Reviews

The Descendants: A Novel

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Matt King, who is descended from a Hawaiian princess and the haole who married her and inherited her land, is the primary beneficiary of the family land trust, and he is now trying to decide what to do with the land on behalf of his cousins and family. The trust is in debt and the demand for prime land in Hawaii is enormous. Matt, however, will be making no decisions in the immediate future, however. His thrill-seeking wife Joanie now lies comatose after a boating accident, and her lack of progress alarms the doctors in Honolulu, who have her on life support.

When doctors are forced to honor her living will, Matt wants their daughters to be with him, and in the hospital visiting Joanie while they await her death. Alexandra, a seventeen-year-old model, returns home from boarding school on the Big Island and, accompanied by Sid, a friend from a previous school, determines she will live her own life, even under the eyes of her father at home. Scottie, the ten-year-old, an attention seeker at school and at home, continues to act out.

When Matt discovers that Joanie has been having an affair, to which he had been oblivious, he is at a loss, and his internal dialogue and self-examination begin in earnest. He wonders about her lover and whether he should encourage this "love of her life" to share Joanie's last days in the hospital. His search for Joanie's lover and the resulting discoveries lead to important lessons and new awareness of his own responsibilities.

The clear presentation of events, exceptionally realistic dialogue, and unique imagery give life to this strong debut novel, and the narrative speeds along. The author's insights into Matt's conflicts and his self-examination during his long vigil, along with his daughters' understandable tumult, provide some emotional moments, while dark humor provides some respite from the tension. The subplots, involving the sale of the land, the individual problems of the daughters, the background of Alexandra's friend Sid, and the life of Joanie's lover, are well integrated, and the conclusion is satisfying.

Though the character of Matt is not based on any particular person, Hawaiian readers cannot help but make associations between his background and that of the Big Island's Parker family, giving an aura of "realism" to Matt's exotic background as the heir of a princess. His generosity in wanting to have Joanie's lover share her last moments strains credulity, however, and the peripheral characters often exhibit extreme behavior. A number of unusually dramatic and cinematic moments late in the novel make this a good story, though not necessarily a realistic one. Entertaining, and filled with tugs at the heartstrings, The Descendants captures the life of a family at a crossroads, and does so with panache. n Mary Whipple

Seeing the film "The Descendants" made me realize it must have come from a book; and so I found it and downloaded it onto my kindle. Not only should Clooney get an Oscar for his performance in the film, but whoever adapted this gentle, soulful, and ultimately transcendant little novel into the screenplay should get one too.

Kaui Hemmings' novel is low-key, unornamented, but richly textured with the complicated social and physical realities of Hawaii - a part of the United States that is by turns very familiar and as exotic as farthest Asia. Matt King and his two troubled daughters, Scottie and Alexandra, are trapped in a tragedy not entirely of their own making, and yet manage to hold onto each other to find their way together into something like happiness. The double gift of this elegantly spare book is that it tells us about an America few of us know, even if we've visited Hawaii as tourists; and it also lays out a searing historic moment in the life of this unique American family that is painful in its realism. I have never read a book that focuses on a great unhappiness, but also manages to capture both joy and humor while doing so. It is one of the few books made into films that made my appreciation of the movie greater in the reading of the book.

I picked The Descendants up in my school library on Thursday afternoon. I wanted to read it before the movie came out next month and just hoped I could finish it in between all of my schoolwork. After I read the first few pages, I was hooked. I debated skipping classes just so I could keep reading, but I went to class counting down the time until I could revisit the characters- especially Scottie. As a reader, I can't help but feel bad for the father, Matt King. He's never been hands-on regarding his daughters often leaving it that for his now comatose wife, Joanie, and the nanny. He is forced to step up with his wife in a coma and actually be the hands-on parent, which isn't made easy by his two daughters: Alexandra (who resents her mother) and Scottie (who is acting out). While dealing with his troubled family, Matt (a descendant of a Hawaiian princess) must make the decision of who to sell his family's land to in order to eliminate debts that they have incurred. This novel is both funny and heartfelt; most books start out strongly only to drag in later chapters, but this novel is the opposite. I was hooked from the first page until the last page; I was actually upset that I had finished reading it so quickly. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and funny read.

The themes driving this novel are terrific: a middle-aged man waking up to his responsibilities as a father, husband, and landowner while his wife is taken off life-support as she sinks into an irreversible coma.

Despite the grim subject matter, the book was an entertaining read. The author's writing style is crisp and clear, so it's easy to read the book in just a few hours. The narrator -- Matt King -- is cynical and smart, and his observations of the people around him are entertaining. As a resident of the Kahala area in Honolulu, it was fun to hear descriptions of nearby places. But on the whole, I felt that the book was pretty superficial. The characters all seem like caricatures: exaggerated with big outlines, but with little substance. I thought the character of the 10-year old daughter was completely unbelievable - she should have been drawn as a 12 or 13 year old.

As another of this book's reviewers said, ultimately this book is unsatisfying because it fails to treat the premise with the depth it deserves.

I read this book because I was auditioning for a principal role in the film adaptation. I found it difficult to put down. As a long time Hawaii resident I have seen so many TV shows and books that don't give a true flavor of life in Hawaii. I feel this book nailed it.

It has everything you look for in a good story. The characters are believeable and the Kama'aina flavor is authentic.

With the death of his father Matthew King must make crucial decisions regarding thousands of acres of family land, the legacy of his Hawaiian royalty ancestor. At the same time he tries to reconnect with his two daughters following an accident that's left his wife in coma. He discovers he really doesn't know his children, REALLY doesn't know his wife, and is out of touch with himself as a descendant with a rich heritage. His self-discovery and turmoil is beautifully chronicled but the dialogue is stilted and unbelievable, especially with 10 year old Scottie. The first few chapters are difficult to get through because none of the characters are likable, but the family eventually fleshes out into interesting and complex personalities. Emotionally powerful, historically fascinating.

A touching and funny book about a father-the narrator, Matt King-and his two emotionally damaged daughters as they try to repair their family, while Joanie, the wife & mother lies in an irreversible coma.
Joanie is a kind of malignant presence-we only see her after her accident-and it is her absence that allows the others to reach out to one another to heal their family.
The plot moves right along, and the characters all seem exactly right-quirky and believable. The novel takes place in Hawaii but isn't-thank God-full of travelogue
description. We get as much about termites in the swimming pool as majestic beaches.
Fun-to-read book with plenty of emotional complexity-The kind of first novel that makes you eager for the next one.

Though this novel is more "summer beach read" than "literary fiction," it rises above the family saga genre with insightful prose, realistic dialogue, sympathetic characters, and an insider's view of modern Hawaii.

The story line had potential, but went no where. I wanted to like the characters, but not well developed. Go see the movie, much better.

The Descendants tells the story of Matt King, who tries to figure out how to be a single father to his two daughters while his wife lies dying in a coma. To complicate matters, he learns that she had been having an affair prior to her accident, and he sets out with his daughters to find and confront her lover before she dies.

In some ways, this is a typical "dysfunctional family" story, but it examines what "family" means at a deeper level than most. The Hawaiian setting is vivid, as are the characters, who are mostly likeable despite their problems. Worth a read, though I would say the recent movie adaptation is actually slightly better. Three and a half stars.