Trask's writing is shocking. Her book presents an interesting alternative view of Hawaiian history as well as an interesting critique of Western thought (especially history and anthropology).
Unfortunately Trask's militant sensationalism, and self serving narcisism creep in and very nearly ruin the entire book. The pages are filled with self-glorifying pictures of Trask and her political pals. The articles focus almost entirely on Trask's own political actions, ignoring all other movements and all previous scholarship.
Trask's opinions are of course "interesting", but they are not based on any sort of sound historical or scientific evidence. The little bits of flimsy evidence she does cite are almost laughable in light of the kind of re-evalutations she is pushing for. Are the lyrics of a single song really proper cause for an entire re-evaluation of historical theory?
There are some very large holes in her arguments. So large, in fact, that virtually no scholars, american, European or otherwise, take her work seriously. In reality, very few native Hawaiians take her or her politics seriously either
Trask's personality really casts her argument into a deep, dark shadow. It's unfortunate that a more level headed person didn't undertake the writing of this book because it is actually quite interesting, and even enlightening at times.

Trasks book is definetly worth reading. She has some wonderful critiques of the tourist industry and its effect on the economy,politics, and sustainability of Hawai'i. I also believe that Trask provides of very long over due and pertinent analization of the historic events that led to the occupation, overthrow, and takeover of the Hawai'ian Islands. In response to one of the reviewers, native Hawai'ians were friendly to you because they are paid to do so. To compare Trask to Hitler or David Duke is utterly ignorant and white backlash against a scholarly critique of white supremacy, imperialization, and colonization. The fact that Trask is not "100 %" Hawai'ian reminds us of the fact that the reason indigenous people are dying off is because of the colonial system that Trask critiques. On the other hand, I do believe that Trask leaves certain things to be desired. The diversity in opinions of various sovereignty groups in Hawai'i are all together left out and I have to disagree with her brand of extremist nationalism which tends to be not only exclusive but conservative as well. However, a critique of the colonialist exploitation of Hawai'i is often ignored and Trask fills in a void left by scholars and the general community alike.

Trask's work, From a Native Daughter, is quite an interesting read. .... ... Trask's twelve page indictment of tourism as a form of cultural colonialism is both accurate and delivered with such fortitude that analytical opposition is virtually insurmountable. ...

Whispers is still my favorite book of the Glenbrooke series, although I haven't yet read Wildflowers.

I thought the characters were great. Scott got on my nerves though! Arrogant and fake as can be! I sometimes wanted to smack her and say can't you see?? but she was looking for fireworks, and they were there with Scott. It took lectures from Anita and time with Gordon and Scott revealing his true character for her to realize there's more to a relationship than fireworks.

I really liked Gordon. He sincerely loves God, and Teri, and he doesn't care who knows it, or what people think of him. I didn't see anything wrong with the communion bit. I think it was there to demonstrate how clumsy he is, but he's charming and devoted to God, so he continued with the communion service anyway, and the congregation loved it. I don't think the intent was to mock communion or degrade it. He's got some great lines and illustrations for things, like his benediction "Until that day, and may we always live today as if tomorrow were that day" and how he unknowingly explains the relationship between law and grace to Teri.

I did like Teri's struggle with law and grace and legalism, but I do kinda wish it had been developed a little more fully. It isn't a struggle that gets resolved by dancing or not dancing or an analogy.

I loved the scene at the beach where her mom and grandma told her she was in love with Gordon and she thought they were nuts and got mad. She says Gordon doesn't need her, and her mom says of course he doesn't, but he wants you! Go! And the end where he tells her he'll wait till it's a yes. I love stories like that!

I thought the book was well written, and I enjoyed it. I've read it over and over now, and I'll probably read it some more. I only wish that Teri and Gordon didn't live in Hawaii so we can find out what happens to them in the rest of the series.

You will want to read the entire series! Robin Jones Gunn is a fabulous Christian fiction writer and this series does not disappoint! Start with the first in the series, Secrets and make your way through! Enjoy!!!!!!

One of the reviewers said that they didn't like the characters and mentioned that the worldly guy was so false that they couldn't understand why Terri didn't see through him. I respect everyone's opinions, but I would like to offer a different perspective. When I read this book, a light bulb the size of a lighthouse came on for me because I recognized almost every guy I had ever dated in the character of Scott Robinson. And I didn't see it then just like the fictional Terri in the book because when emotions get involved, we can be very stupid - especially when we want so badly for something or someone to be what they are not. I thought this was a great book - like all of the Glenbrooke series - and I highly reccommend it!

The Floating City does a wonderful job of bringing Hawaii in the 1890s to life. Ball's descriptions are so wonderful you can almost smell them. Her writing is lovely and carries the reader along not wanting to stop. But what the books fails at is completing the story. There are far too many unanswered questions - not the least of which is how a woman from Norway (and not a very well schooled one at that) is managing to communicate with the Hawaiians and haoles. There's no explanation for why our heroine, Eva, suddenly decides to play detective despite everything telling her to run. Many of the books I read often leave me feeling that a good editor should have trimmed some of the story, this is the first in which I wish more had been added.

Interspersed between the chapters of Floating City, are short historical vignettes, documenting the events that destroyed Hawaiian society in its original tribal innocence and system of government.. Near the end of the novel, the historical events merge into actual time with the story line. Ultimately, Hawaii's self-governance is destroyed by the consummate greed of her conquerors, a fertile territory to poach and plunder, until Hawaii is finally attached to the U.S. as a state.

As the main characters are introduced, they are defined by the perceptions of Eva Hanson, a haole, native for caucasian, with reputed psychic abilities. However, Eva's unusual talents exist in the form of psychic intuitions, often experienced as a hyper-awareness of imminent personal danger. Because of her race, Eva's attempts to remain in the background of events are virtually impossible, and she remains disconcertingly visible to government officials. Nothing, and no one, is what it seems, and Eva is constantly reminded of the delicacy of her position. This heightened awareness of the unexpected persists, coloring all the events with a certain air of unreality.

1890's Hawaii is a country caught in the accelerating turmoil of political upheaval, the characters churning through this historical evolution that will determine the future of their culture, from innocence to corruption, greed and decay. With haunting familiarity, an ancestral way of life is cannibalized by an amoral society whose value system is defined by acquisition of much for the few, particularly the rapacious European/American investors. History continually repeats itself; today the locusts have moved on to the next part of the world with natural resources vulnerable to exploitation, leaving the residue for the survivors to reconstruct.

It's 1895 and Royalist rebellion threatens in Hawaii. When a well-dressed Hawaiian man washes up dead on the beach at Honolulu, disrupting the women's morning fishing, Eva Hanson - the only white woman - is drafted to report the news to the police. Eva, on her own and far from her native Norway, living as a fortuneteller under the stolen name of a dead woman, agrees reluctantly and only because her roommate, Lehua, saw her slip a jade necklace off the dead man and into her pocket.

But the body is missing when Eva returns with the police and her worst fears are realized when the police - accompanied by a white political type - come knocking the next day, asking about her connection to the dead man. Upstairs a Royalist rebel hides, given shelter by Lehua. Though frightened and angry, Eva resists the police questions, shelters the fugitive. She is being drawn in despite herself.

Though her hard life has made her cynical, Hawaii seemed to offer a new start. "There was an orphanage for Hawaiian girls across the street, and old whalers next door with a pet rooster. There was the Widow, locally famous for outliving all her husbands and winning the orchid show every year for the last twenty-two years, and a shamisen player who made enough racket to drive away the living as well as the dead. There was Lehua, who was half our of her mind with grief and opium, and for the first time in her life, Eva fit right in."

But it is two years since the white mans' overthrowing of the monarchy and the country is in turmoil. "Everyone points to someone else as the cause of the country's woes. Sailors blame the missionaries, the missionaries blame the opium dealers, sugar cane planters blame the rulings of the legislature, and the legislators blame the end of the American Civil War; which poured Southern sugar back into the market. The prostitutes blame the foreigners for bringing the kiss of death, and everyone else blames the Chinese."

Outside the palace of the deposed queen (Eva is hoping the queen will hire her palm reading services and make her reputation) Eva is caught up in a rally turned riot and rescued by a Scot - McClelland, a man of talents and secrets. "A man that quiet was someone to be wary of." And "A man as smooth with a lie as she was. It was disconcerting to recognize your traits in someone else." But Eva is not wary and love sweeps her up, though its path is rocky. And the authorities seem inexplicably determined to pin the still-missing dead man on her.

Ball, ("Lava") who was born and raised on Oahu, immerses her characters in the atmosphere of Hawaii, capturing the tropical lushness and poverty, the devastation of foreign diseases, the anger of the dispossessed and disenfranchised Hawaiians, the greed of Western sugar barons and the cold rigidity of the missionaries. Her characters are damaged, but ardent, full of hope in the midst of hopelessness. A fine novel from an award winning writer.

We stumbled into the Snorkel Bob phenomenon early in our first visit to the Kona Coast, and we were grateful for the no-poop attitude. We found a couple of lovely little restaurants, a terrific massage place, and even used some of the snorkel advice.

No, it's not a complete guide, but it helped us to avoid some of the standard-tourist pitfalls and to enjoy the place, not the prefab experiences offered by some of the land sharks.

And, yes--horrors--occasionally he mentions environmental and native-Hawaiian political issues. We think they're worth bringing up.

It's a relaxed bunch of hints from someone who lives there. Take it for what it is and enjoy it.

This edition is dated 1997. If you are reading this review, then you will be far better served by the '02 edition. amazon doesn't have it, but snorkelbob dot com does. It's updated with a reference index and many excellent maps. I, Snorkel Bob, cannot get penetration with the phantom amazon, so here's hoping you can get this right. Hail Atlantis! & Hana Hou!

Sometimes you take a trip to a perfect place, for instance, Hawaii, but you feel strange--where do you find the instructions for the beach barbeques, snorkel gear, luaus, and umbrella drinks that you have enjoyed from afar in many a Gidget movie, but never really had hand's on experience with? Answer: in Snorkel Bob's cool little book. We lost or gave away our old copy, from a former vacation, and I'm ordering a second one before another trip now. Snorkel Bob is the tongue in cheek John Muir of Hawaii, with his adventures, attitude, and strangely lovely philosophy helping you plan a trip & enjoy it. "What is the feeling? What is the not feeling?" he asks. I feel that this book is amazing and as lulling as an umbrella drink, almost.

I bought this book for my friend to learn with. Its good to learn with someone who knows Korean. It would be very hard to study by yourself. Some prounciation is incorrect. When they explain the letters in the beginning some are incorrect. Its a very good book unlike others because in the rest it shows you words and phrases in korean.

Korean language learners have to face the fact that Korean language learning materials are generally few and poor. This is without a doubt the best I have seen so far and is near or the same as the quality of texts out there for some of the more commonly taught languages. Some of the grammar explanations leave a little to be desired in terms of differentiating them from other grammar patterns, but some of that may just come with practice and exposure to the language. There are apparently a couple issues here and there with dated or odd vocabulary (or so native koreans tell me).

Bottom Line: I haven't found any Korean texts that compare to the KLEAR series. Definitely the way to go, especially with the upcoming Advanced volume.

If you are reading this you are probably aware that good Korean texts are hard to find. Of the Korean learning materials out there I have sampled including the Korean Through English series, College Korean, FSI Tape set & book, and books published by Korean unversities not available in the US, the Integrated Korean series is by far the best. The Integrated Korean series stays away from using the arcane linguistic terminology of College Korean, avoids the oversimplification of KTE, and presents much more natural Korean usage than the textbooks published by Korean universities(including SNU, Yonsei, and Korea U). The grammatical explanations are great, the vocabulary is useful, and the cultural notes are also interesting and pertinent. Audio files for the dialogues are also available online for free on the U of Hawaii publishing webpage.

This ambitious work tells the true story of one family's resistance to the wrong-headed efforts to quarantine victims of Hansen's disease (i.e., leprosy) on the Hawaiian islands. The narrative itself is surprisingly involving, with three-dimensional characters, beautiful scene painting, and propulsive drama. Merwin's poetry here takes a roughly anapestic form, somewhat similar in sound to Longfellow's "Evangeline" meter. (And "The Folding Cliffs" has many other interesting parallels with that 19th-century classic.) The language is at times too prosy for my taste, and Merwin's aversion to punctuation often gives the tale a breathless quality that fights against the narrative tempo. Neverthless, this is a great artistic achievement that deserves to be read and (hopefully) imitated.

I agree with most of the comments in the reviews to date (five, prior to mine). Some patience is required for reading this book. At times it's somewhat "foreign" (and unless you're Hawaiian and/or know Hawaii well, you're probably entitled to feel strange), but its language is uniquely rich and its construction and thought are stunningly insightful, very rewarding. Don't be surprised if you're rather inarticulate after reading this book. It's complicated, worth re-reading, and certainly a recommendation for adventurous readers.

I have just finished reading this delightful book. I am also a book editor and publisher, and would like to offer some suggestions should the book ever be reprinted or issued in a new edition. I am very aware of how errors creep in, and I have made a large number of bloopers myself, so no one is perfect, but I would hope a publisher with the vintage prestige of Knopf would make every effort to employ knowledgeable proofreaders. The book is very inconsistent in the spelling of Hawaiian words, with a large number of 'okina (apostrophes) and kahako (macrons) left out. There is at least one spelling error, the name of the newspaper Ka Leo o ka Lahui incorrectly spelled Ka Leo o ka Lauhui ("Voice of the Nation"). The list of personal and geograpnic names at the end is very useful, but far from complete, and it is very difficult to follow some of the text not knowing who some of these people or places are, or having to look back further in the text to identify them. Some of these may be misspelled, I don't know, although I am familiar with the island of Kaua'i (sometimes spelled Kauai in the book), its history and geography. I am also a friend of Frances Frazier, who very kindly recommended the book to me. I hope you give this book wide publicity, and that you have very successful sales. Best wishes,

Lonely Planet is best for long trips because the reading and anecdotes are interested. For short trips when you are not sure what you want to see, it gives a fine general overview and good suggestions for restaurants. I felt that I saw everything I wanted to see and then some. The guidebook merely supplemented my trip just to make sure I caught the interesting points---which is exactly what a guidebook is for.

The collaborative effort of Glenda Bendure, Ned Friary, and Sara Benson, Hawaii: From Oahu To Niihau, All-Island Coverage is an superbly organized and thoroughly "user friendly" guide for travelers visiting the beautiful and memorable islands comprising the state of Hawaii. Packed from cover to cover with a wealth of solid information concerning lodgings, activities, tourist attractions, dining, and much, much more, Hawaii is enhanced with maps, phone numbers, world wide web sites, prices, details, as well as color and black-and-white photography. Hawaii is a magnificent useful, highly portable, and strongly recommended trip planning resource for business travelers and vacationers alike.

On 5 trips to 4 of the islands, I've consistently found that this guidebook steers me in the right direction, and leads me to some out of the way places. The listing of B&B's & condos is extensive, if you are more interested in hotels, the Fromers guides have better listings. This book provides directions to some sights you would almost definitely miss otherwise. For example, on the drive to Hana there is a lovely swimming hole (with waterfall) about 30 meters from the road but with no signs leading to it. I would never have found this, and it was a higlight of the drive. Numerous other examples (this is one of the few books with details about Molokai), but the bottom line is that while most of the guidebooks list identical sights, this one goes into much more detail. If you are looking to lose the crowds and find some quiet places on your own, you need this book.

I used this guide on a recent and very enjoyable sojourn in Kauai. While I enjoyed the guide's expertise on Hawaiian history and culture and the information on the hidden beaches, I felt that the author does a great disservice to his readers when he equates budget or affordable dining and lodging options as very basic while dubbing very expensive options as "ultra-deluxe." Hawaii can be very expensive, but paying a lot of money for a hotel room or a restaurant dinner does not automatically insure that one receives ultra-deluxe treatment. Often the same thing can be had at a more affordable price by looking around--the information a reputable travel guide is supposed to give. Paying 40 dollars for a restaurant entree--something all too easy to do when eating at a resort restaurant on the island--often provides no better quality food than eating at a cheap but good restaurant. Look for places full of happy locals as opposed to tourists. The expensive Bali Hai restaurant, recommended in the guide, served very mediocre if overpriced food, with very mediocre service. However, the Hanalei Mixed Plate, a village take out stand, served superb fresh fish everyday for less than 10 dollars. The food was better, only you ate it outside on wooden tables surrounded by local people as opposed to other tourists. You be the judge of how you want to spend your money. In my opinion, the 8 dollars I spent to rent a boogie board one day yielded far more fun than a 40 dollar restaurant entree could ever manage to do.

If you enjoy touring on your own, this is a great drive along reference. We found many of the things to see were off the main track. Hidden Hawaii guides you to attractions in sequence as you drive. The only thing missing is flora and fauna. This should be the bible for first time Hawaii visitors!

I also disagree with the reviewer who did not find Hidden Hawaii to be helpful... My husband and I purchased Hidden Hawaii to provide us with the opportunities not available in the larger tourist trap books - we were thrilled! We prefer the more secluded, unusual sites, which we were treated to time and again. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a sense of adventure and direction.