Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Fiction & Nonfiction

click on photos to enlarge!


King Kalakaua at a lu`au.
Honolulu ca. 1851
Traditonal Grass Hale (house)1800's


"Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


"If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul."
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe


"We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it."
- William Butler Yeats


The two categories of books are Fiction and Non-Fiction, not False & Non- False. Facts can me twisted to say any damned thing, but a story must have some deep truth at it's core - or why would anybody read it? Fiction is truer than non-fiction because without that internal truth it's not really a literary work at all; it is only a literary attempt. . . Like too many of us I rarely read fiction anymore. Never mind that some of the great life-changing relationships of my life have been with fictions: Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Franny & Zoey, Orlando . . Well, recently a good friend, a fan of my little novel (yes, 'fiction') bought me a copy of Molokai, a Hawaii novel by Alan Brennert. I tried to be gracious - not like I'd been given an assignment, but I didn't feel hopeful when I saw the words: "National Bestseller" on the cover! How good, how HAWAII TRUE could this book (by a mainlander!) be?! Then I started reading:




Chapter 1
1891




Later when memory was all that she had to sustain her, she would come to cherish it: Old Honolulu as it was then, as it would never be again. To a visitor it must have seemed a lush garden of fanciful hybrids: a Florentine-style palace shaded by banyan and monkeypod trees; wooden storefronts flourishing on dusty streets, cuttings from America's Old West; tall New England church steeples blooming above the palm and coconut groves. to a visitor it must have seemed at once exotic and familiar; to five-year-old Rachel it was a playground, and it was home.




Certain things stood out in memory, she couldn't say why: the weight and feel of a five-cent hapa`umi coin in her pocket; the taste of cold Tahiti lemonade on a hot day; palm fronds rustling like locusts high above, as she and her brothers played among the rice paddies and fishponds of Waikiki. . . But most of all, most clearly of all, she remembered Steamer Day - because that was when her father came home."








. . . I was tentatively hooked; the names of local places and local things-past always cast a magic spell on me. When Rachel bought fresh bread from Fanny Love (we still have Loves bread!) I was all-the-way hooked!




The story begins in 1891 when Rachel is 7 years old. A Hawaiian Kingdom is her home. During her lifetime the Islands become a Republic, a Territory, and finally a U.S. State, the fiftieth star on the flag. She (and we!) experience the end of routine sail travel, the birth of island flight, the passing of a culture. I remain touched and impressed that a man from California could express the soul of Hawaii, and of her people, with this level of sensitivity and skill. There were no glaring mistakes (common in books by 'outsiders') and many rich surprises for me, plus wonderfully realized characters, several of whom continue to haunt my imagination . . . . This is one of those books that you lose yourself in! I just got teary typing the opening lines, remembering the incidents, those characters, the Hawaiiana, the history, the humanity, the HEART that I found in this wonderful novel! I cherish it as a great work of fiction, and as a deep work of truth about how Hawaii became what she is today. Well done, Mr. Brennert! I won't hold your bestseller status against you. Sometimes the crowd is right. Read Molokai, then come back here to Comfort Spiral to share YOUR thoughts; And to thank me! Mahalo, George Cattermole!
A L O H A! Cloudia

12 comments:

  1. Okay, I'll go looking for it, Cloudia.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Junosmom: You won't be sorry!
    (Then you can read mine - shameless plug!!)
    it's called "Aloha Where You Like Go?" From Survival to Satisfaction in a Honolulu Taxi
    Aloha & thanks for visiting!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm looking for it also. Thanks for the tip! Sounds like a great story!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Goethe quote and - even more so - the images accompanying it are fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i would like a taste of that cold tahiti lemonade one day...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great review, Cloudia, although first I have to pick up this other Hawaii novel that I really want to buy and read...

    Hopefully when I get back from Europe...

    What venue would you prefer that we online shoppers purchase THE Hawaii book from?

    Tschuess,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  7. Molokai is one of my favorite novels. I loved it so much that I turned my sister on to it. She loved it, too. Molokai was always one of those mysterious islands I wanted to visit but never got a chance to. I hope to do so someday, though...D

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll certainly read this book, but probably not until after the New Year. I prefer fiction to non fiction, though I have several non fiction books sitting on my desk and beside my bed that I'm planning to read or have started to read. Fiction and poetry give me what I am looking for when I read for myself, what you call "internal truth."

    I'm a very slow reader. In a way, that's good. When I was younger and read faster I used to feel as if I'd just parted ways with a friend when a book ended. Now I can make that friendship last. But I read slow because what I do all day is read (not fiction) and so, sadly, my reading energy is pretty much depleted when I shut down for the day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. that opening quote by Goethe is so true, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sounds like a good read. I'll have to look for it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gran- You won't be dissapointed!

    Dave King: Yours is such a refined intellect. It thrills me that i'm able to please it! Mahalo, Dave

    M. Kiwi: Don;t you wish we could time travel back to those 1800's days for a look-around!

    Aloha, Sepiru Chris! amazon hasn't done me wrong yet. you can click on the giant book cover at the foot of ComfortSpiral's homepage to be WHISKED to Aloha's page. Read the nice reviews, buy da nice book. It's under $10 USD right now!
    'Course, signed & personalized copies ARE available from your author. Send me an e-mail via my profile page if you'd like that! C-

    Riverpoet: We ARE of one mind! Thanks for backing me up . . . I got YOUR back too, galPal ;-)

    Grandpa- Yes, making that friendship last with beloved books. I underline & highlighte and revisit often. as i grow, different passages call for highlighting, usually with a different color. Eventually the best books become rainbows!
    Ancient wills often mentioned books & manuscripts as valuable posessions - and those bibliophiles of old always wrote notes, underlined, and USED their dear book-friends much as I do. A clean "classic" in a private library bespeaks a barren mind I fear . . . . C-

    Charles: I used that oening Goethe quote to chide someone who will never read it. Thanks for looking in, sir!


    Travis: Good to see you, aloha!
    Thanks for your kind comment and your faith in my review ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for Sharing.
SOME Comments are going
to Moderation. Fear Not! We
See & Publish them ALL Happily!