I had seen the original Julie Andrews / Max von Sydow movie about the early missionaries (in it’s first run in NY) and parts of the sequel taken from the second generation story (The Hawaiians). I knew that the novel covered much more (I’d read and enjoyed some other Michner novels, particularly The Source and just knew that movie didn't cover the whole thing) but was really impressed with the breadth of the story. I’m also really impressed with how well it stands up to time.
The opening “pre-history” section was really excellent and has long been vindicated by this type of archeology. The later sections covering the racial mix of the islands was dismissed in the 80s and 90s as simplistic and the “white mans view,” but that too is being vindicated by actual research. Though Michner wasn’t mentioned he could easily have been used as a primary source for the Ken Burns World War 2 series that is on PBS this week when they talked about the Japanese American divisions that fought during the war.
Michner's Hawaii would make a spectacular “long form television” ala The Sopranos. Imagine if they made the entire book into a TV series, each major section covering one or two seasons? And who would you cast in the roles? Certainly you would use actual members of each ethnic group represented for those roles, and think of the education that could provide for LOTS of things. For one thing I don’t think the Japanese would like how their grotesque historic racism is exposed. But if done well, covering the deep cultural roots of those various traditions, Polynesian, Hawaiian, European, American, Japanese, Chinese, a lot of people would understand history better, for good and ill.
I first read Hawaii when it was first published...
Of the 1,200 pages only 200 of thje book were used for the movie, Hawaii..
There was also a Made for TV Movie called The Hawaiians about the plague and the fire and the internment of orientals in big fenced holding areas while their houses were burnt down...
I dont know of any other productions, but the description of the jouirney from Bora Bora (Tahiti) to Hawaii by the natives would have been like the trip the original Maoris took...
Imagine, history that I learnt nearly 50 years ago in school is now being “discovered” and disected by liberal, socialist ijits with too much PC time on their hands and no life...LOL
Here I was, thinking the 7 canoes were a forgone conclusion...An “anchor” carved from a stone was found in the sand of a NZ beach while I was in school...
The trip was “proven” decades ago...LOL