- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: National Geographic (April 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0792265289
- ISBN-13: 978-0792265283
- Product Dimensions: 14.3 x 2.3 x 21.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,160,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The islands of Hawaii have often served Susanna Moore as the canvas for her lush and haunting novels. In I Myself have Seen It, she proves the mystery, beauty, and myth of her native islands to be every bit as compelling as her fiction. She interweaves her own memories of growing up in Honolulu in the 1950s and '60s with a concise chronicle of Hawaii's two-hundred-year encounter with the West. Seeking the elusive heart of Hawaii, Moore revisits the small rural island of Kauai. In the breathtaking landscape, she discovers that old, unwritten songs of Polynesia have survived despite the onslaught of missionaries in the early 18th century, the establishment of Hawaiian-language newspapers, and foreign attempts to free Hawaiians of their pagan superstitions. These songs and the ones engendered by them, written by queens and hula masters alike, become the centerpiece for Moore's mesmerizing discovery of the real Hawaii.
About the Author
Susanna Moore was raised in Hawaii and now lives in New York City. She is the author of The Whiteness of Bones, Sleeping Beauties, and In the Cut. My Old Sweetheart, her first novel, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Citation and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hawaiian Insight.,
By
This review is from: I Myself Have Seen It (Hardcover)
I Myself Have Seen It is more than just a travel book. Susanna Moore gives insightful impressions of the Hawaii she grew up in. Through her writing you can see the real and traditional Hawaii which is unfortunately vanishing. What is more is you can see the influence Hawaii and its people have had on her earlier novels especially My Old Sweetheart. If you want to understand Hawaii read Ms. Moore's account as she is a real Island Girl.
2.0 out of 5 stars
This would get a C-minus in 10th grade world history.,
By A Customer
This review is from: I Myself Have Seen It (Hardcover)
Perhaps I had the wrong expectation. The brief amount I heard on NPR made me feel I was going to learn about Hawaiian culture and maybe hear stories. This book was written in the time-honored tradition of one American explaining why other Americans should feel bad about being American. Not that she is wrong or has any of her facts misplaced. But Susanna has written a disjointed, self-serving, whining account of Hawai'i. Maybe she is lamenting the loss of a childhood that she may or may not have ever had. But each chapter is kind of summed up the same way: the noble Hawai'ian, raped literally or figuratively by the Westerner in the name of progress or profit. I am hoping that she has a chance to spend time with her therapist (since she has found reason now to live in New York).
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Look Beneath the Surface,
By
This review is from: I Myself Have Seen It (Hardcover)
The typical one-week trip to Hawaii involves an immersion in lovely sights and scents and leads to a vague realization that this is a very different place from the rest of the United States. If one is lucky enough to spend a month or more then you begin to get an inkling that this is a very complex place indeed. For those who want to have a deeper inderstanding of that complexity this book is highly recommended.Susanna Moore , who grew up in Hawaii, nicely blends a short history of the islands with her own experiences going to school there while slowly becoming aware of the "sociology" class going on all around her. For those who want to develop a Hawaiian sense of place this short straightforward book is a good place to begin.
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