Customer Reviews

A Narrative of an 1823 Tour Through Hawaii: Journal of William Ellis

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I would like to comment on two facets of this work: the content itself, and the final proofing by the publisher.

First, we are able to see the island and its people from the viewpoint of someone who has come to save them from their lack of Christianity. His is the epitome of the "holier than thou" attitude. He and several missionary pals (most of whom later became big land owners in the islands) leave Oahu to walk around the Big Island preaching to the "natives". While his comments about the geology, flora, and fauna are interesting and innocuous, his general condemnation of the totality of the Hawaiian culture is nauseating. As he comments on how the Hawaiians treat each other, you are left to figure out, as it proceeds, that Ellis himself has left his own wife, who is extremely ill, with strangers on Oahu, feeling that it is more inportant to convert the "heathens" than to take care of his sick wife, left alone in a strange land, far from home. This is while he castigates the "natives" for not paying enough attention to their ill relatives.

Secondly, I have never in my life read a book with this many typographical errors, verging on the insane and ludicrous. I am not referring to Ellis' errors of spelling/usage which are consistent, but the really absurd ones, that made me wonder if the whole book had been typeset by someone who did not speak the English language. Sections of text were repeated, or just left trailing - and typos that I just couldn't figure out how they were made. It was so bad, I actually called Mutual Publishing to comment on it. I spoke to the production manager, who said she thought it had just been reprinted without re-setting the type. I hope someday, that they send this to a professional for typesetting and proofing.