Customer Reviews

Unfamiliar Fishes

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

On page one Vowell establishes a clever metaphor for the theme of this book. She is in Hawaii eating a plate lunch of macaroni salad and shoyu chicken under a banyan tree. What do they all have in common? The banyan tree, shoyu chicken, macaroni salad, and author are all from somewhere else. From then on, Vowell takes readers on a rollicking voyage back to 1778, when James Cook landed on the shores of Kauai and named the archipelago the Sandwich Islands, through the next hundred years as the proud warrior natives endured the mishmash of cultures as they exploded onto their shores. Whether it was clashes between the New England missionaries and the sailors looking for rum and prostitutes, or Great Britain and the US fighting over imperialism, the Hawaiian natives were always caught in the middle. However, as Vowell shrewdly points out, they were often willing participants in the demise of their ancient customs. Throughout this extraordinary history of the kingdom of Hawaii Vowell injects her usual wink-wink nudge-nudge style of humor which makes "Unfamiliar Fishes" a fascinating and fun read.

Those who have visited Hawaii know that it has earned its status as a gorgeous place. However, outside of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the recent history of Hawaii is not something that comes up very often for mainlanders. This book provides an enjoyable lesson on the subject.

Sarah Vowell's oddball style of reporting is on display here as she broadly covers the history of Hawaii from the time the first Europeans stumbled upon it. She discusses some of the ancient culture and the clashes with the first missionaries to descend upon the islands from New England. The book culminates with a telling of how Hawaii was annexed to the United States through a joint resolution, since an annexation treaty failed to pass Congress after vehement protests by native Hawaiians.

There are admittedly some problems with this book in regard to the writing. At times, sentences seem to drift off and loop back around on themselves. There is also a hefty serving of fragmentary writing, and the transitions are not always easy to follow. However, if you stick with it, there is enough humor and insight to keep you entertained while learning something as well.

This book will probably not satisfy die-hard historians or those with very strong opinions on Hawaii's changes over the years. However, for the casual reader it's a great way to learn some of the history of this beautiful land, though it wasn't always a beautiful story. Some may not like the message, but it's a tale that needs to be told. In truth, this book made me feel plenty guilty for having been to Hawaii many times and not considering the steps it took for me to get there without a passport. I'm looking forward to another trip where I can investigate some of the sites mentioned in the book.

In summary, while Vowell's views on this subject are pretty obvious, she presents both sides of the annexation of Hawaii in manner that is rarely found in such an accessible book. While there are some problems with the readibility, these are outweighed by the humor and the plainspoken delivery of an often overlooked story.

As Jon Stewart recently said to Sarah Vowell, the great thing about your book is that you laugh and learn. He was right. I find the history of the missionaries in Hawaii fascinating, having spent considerable time there. I chuckled all the way through this incredibly well-researched book.

Sarah Vowell has written several books on American history and culture, and was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life from 1996-2008.

In 1778, Captain Cook, the first European captain on Hawaiian shores, died on the Big Island, and that was just about the last time that Kanaka Maoli -- Native Hawaiians -- came out ahead in their interactions with the haoles (outsiders) who would soon inhabit their islands.

Many different groups came with different agendas: different missionaries came to tell about their religion to save the Hawaiians' souls, whalers came to visit the harbor towns, and sugar-cane plantations took their toll of the islands.

A reader who is not so familiar with the Hawaiian history can be lost in this story or the way that it is told. Sometimes, there is unnecessary telling of different museum visits or quotes of the tour guides, and sometimes just quotes of her friends like hula dancers, courthouse workers etc.

If you are interested in finding answers to topics like:
When did New England and Hawaiian cultures mix?
What happened when Western imperialism met tribal feudalism?
How did missionaries save the souls, minds and hearts, and gained the lands of the Hawaiian kings?

Sarah Vowell tries to answer these above mentioned questions. She also tries to make her readers understand the cultural complexities of Hawaii today.


It is not a coherent or simple story, but it is still worth reading if you are interested in Hawaii and its history. You just need to get used to the way the author writes, and if you like the way she writes, then you will like this book.

having looked at all the other reviews i am happy to see how many readers actually enjoyed this read. i am not familiar with ms vowell's other works but i am familiar with my own language and culture she writers about in "unfamiliar fish." i believe this perky and quirky write about what happened to us should be enlightening for many in america who haven't the slightest idea of what occurred here between 1820 to 1893 and she takes down that path in a quick and entertaining read as she runs amok as a tourist-research interviewing some local/native "activists" that other outside writers seem to miss. i didn't learn anything more about ourselves from her reading and interviews - most native hawaiians and well informed locals have gone through all of that already, but for folks who haven't and along the way on the bus tours past the "only royal palace in the united states" or happen to find the "state museum" (bishop) may find like the other reviewers some new insights. What i have learnt from ms. vowell is how the haole (i am using the contemporary use of this word)think, sorry marshall sahlins for borrowing your quip. I have always wondered how haoles from the mainland so disconnected from monarchy, expect for the royal weddings, their own tribal european ancestors, and the benefits of american-british ideas of land tenure and democracy would make of our kingdom and its people. For sure, ms. vowell isn't attempting a scholarly or academic analysis - there are no footnotes, no references and no citations. shucks, as a translator (to correct emerson on malo) of malo's work, i can't recall malo quoting kamehameha about collecting feathers - well at least not in his hawaiian text - a citation would have made it easier for me to look it up - but dear reader malo did also say how these birds were good eating - now how would one know that if you kept on releasing the birds just to collect their feathers? ahh and my last comments for local/native hawaiian readers - when she refers to our ancestors and traditional leaders in the early 1800s it is all from the eyes of the missionary accounts she has read through. that's a lot of material to go through but what about the stuff, in translation by the way, that our ancestors wrote about themselves and about the missionaries? michner based his book hawaii on a similar study but he was writing fiction, while vowell's is not fiction, but it is through the eyes and experience of someone a little more open to learn and change their former viewpoint. i am glad that she came to her conclusions about what happened here, and i hope that those who follow her writings will be enlightened as she was for we need all the friends we can get in this country. But if you want a deeper journey into our people and culture you gotta wait for another season on the travel network.

I've always enjoyed Sarah Vowell's writing. Assassination Vacation is one of my favorite books. Her quirky humor mixed with history and travelogue made an incredibly fun and informative read.

Her last book, "The Wordy Shipmates" saw a slight departure from the quirky humor and wasn't as much fun. The trend continues with "Unfamiliar Fishes" which is even less of the Sarah Vowell I love to read. The quirky humor isn't there much. The book reads like a dry history of Hawaii. She seems almost as bored with the subject as I was. (It took me two weeks to get through the first 65 pages when I could normally have read a book like this in an afternoon.)

More disappointing than the last one. Hoping for something better next go around.

An interesting recounting of Pacific history and if you already have a background in Hawaiian history, it is very interesting and fun to read too.

For a newcomer to Hawaii here is history beyond Pearl Harbor and hotels on Waikiki Beach. Read this book on the plane and your vacation will have an added dimension.

An added bonus is where the author makes the connection between the Cherokee Indians of Georgia (and the "Trail of Tears") and the annexation of Hawaii by the US (and the missionary families). As a Punahou graduate and a haole besides, I have always viewed the claim of injustice to the native Hawaiians to be without much merit. Now I'm not so sure.

This is the first book I've read of Sarah Vowell's canon, and I was very impressed both with the erudition and the writing style. I have visited Hawaii twice (and now realizing what a haole I was), but I'm just not interested in conventional history.

What I got from this book was valuable lessons about how the rich prey on the poor, how early the United States had dreams of empire, and how decidedly capitalism seems to overwhelm and reshape a culture.

The language and insights are remarkable and often funny. One of my favorite lines was about how Americans "imported our favorite religion, capitalism, and our second-favorite religion, Christianity" to the islands.

Vowell describes both the romance of monarchy as well as its abuses of power and tendency toward dissoluteness. She relates the story of New England missionaries who came to do good and did well, their sons ultimately overthrowing the monarchy and trying to abolish hula. She shows how Americans basically forced Hawaiians to change from a simpler, self-sufficient economy to one dependent on the monoculture of pineapples and their export to world markets in a cash economy.

All the while, Vowell is cracking the reader up with sly asides, such as "But if history teaches us anything, upper-class white guys can be exceedingly touchy about taxation." And, relating a story of how an American Mormon developed delusions of grandeur regarding himself and Hawaii: "He dressed in long white robes and called himself the High Priest of Melchizedek and tried to turn Lanai into his own private Waco."

I've never had such fun learning history since Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United StatesA People's History of the United States (P.S.). This is history from a humanized perspective, and the author is frequently a hysterical writer. I'd highly recommend this book.

In 1820, a group of Christian missionaries arrived in the Sandwich Islands, better known as Hawaii, hoping to convert the native population, a monarchy centered on rich indigenous traditions and beliefs, to their brand of monotheism. In 1959, the island archipelago become the 50th of the United States of America; its ethnic Hawaiian population was far less than half, its language and religion minorities as well. What were the events and ideas that led to the Hawaiian annexation, and what were some of the cultural and political consequences? With wit, sass and entertaining insight, Sarah Vowell explores the modern history of Hawaii and looks to answer these questions in UNFAMILIAR FISHES.

The Protestant missionaries who first arrived in Hawaii in the early decades of the 19th century were full of hope, enchanted by their new surroundings and inspired by the tales of explorer James Cook. The haoles, or foreigners, did make some inroads bringing Christianity and American cultural ideas to the islands, but of course, much of the traditional way of life began to erode. Taboos were challenged, churches were built, and monarchs were questioned. The Hawaiian language was now a written one, and the Hawaiians became literate as the missionaries educated them in Protestant schools (some of which are still around today).

And, as the Americans introduced new ideas, they moved from religious players to politicians, and eventually gained control of the Hawaiian government, one whose recent restructuring they had engineered. Finally, the last Hawaiian queen was overthrown by white revolutionaries in 1893, which opened the door for eventual annexation --- an idea dismissed by Grover Cleveland but embraced by William McKinley during his presidency.

While it does present the above history, UNFAMILIAR FISHES is not exactly a history book. Vowell successfully mixes history with her own astute observations, drawing on both research and interviews she conducted on the islands. She also talked to descendants of the missionaries of the royal family. This is mostly a thought-provoking examination of one land's path to statehood and a Pacific Island culture's road to Westernization, which leads to many compelling and intriguing ideas about American history in general and the formation of American identity. For Vowell, Hawaii comes to stand for a fundamentally American worldview, where Manifest Destiny, religious zealotry, capitalism and democracy collide and alter everything they encounter.

The Hawaii Vowell describes is both lushly hedonistic and socially conservative, the clash of values and beliefs she presents is fascinating and the outcomes bittersweet. Her tale is full of paradoxes (the famous song "Aloha Oe" --- still used to represent Hawaii in song, including during Hawaiian-born Barack Obama's inauguration --- was written by Queen Lili'uokalani, the last royal ruler of the nation after she was ousted from the throne). But as Vowell's nephew Owen, her sometimes-sidekick in Hawaiian exploration, says, "If I could marry Hawaii, I would do it immediately." In Vowell's nimble hands, it's easy to see what she loves about Hawaii. UNFAMILIAR FISHES is a charming and sophisticated ode to this complicated paradise.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

I've enjoyed every Sarah Vowell book that I've read until this one. I would personally give it two stars, but give it three because of my relative ignorance of and disinterest in the topic of this book.

I found Pass the Cannoli and The Partly Cloudy Patriot to be very good collections of essays, Assassination Vacaction to be excellent, and although I wasn't crazy about it, I could understand how people would, I found The Wordy Shipmates to be tolerable. I think there's only so far this kind of writing can go.

Perhaps if Vowell sticks to short essays and commentaries, that will be enough. Her attempts to do "broader" pieces, as in her last two works, just dont' add up. I couldn't wait for this to end. In her essays, Vowell usually hits a high note or two and teaches some important lessons. Assassination Vacation caused me to read two biographies I would have otherwise passed on. I've had it with the overanalysis of the Puritans that has dominated the last two pieces. And I still don't care about Hawaiian history. I'm sorry, I could care less about the people Vowell chooses to highlight.

If you're new to Vowell, go to another volume. If not, buyer beware. You may like this. I'm certain you won't like it as much as her earlier work.