Reviews for Kidding around the Hawaiian Islands

The average rating for Kidding around the Hawaiian Islands based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-06-17 00:00:00 Robert Cortez I read this for research. I hoped for heavier emphasis on the mythological aspect, especially on Pele, but even so I found it to be a very intelligent, enlightening read. Frierson is not a native Hawaiian but was raised on the islands. She approaches the material with immense respect for native Hawaiians and a blunt assessment of the biases and damage done by missionaries and western encroachment. Her chapters on more modern issues are just as frank as she discusses modern developments near volcanoes that have erupted in the recent past and how the religion of Hawaiians is being ignored. I agreed with much of what she said, but even so, by the end it felt preachy. I was also left torn. Her vivid descriptions left me with an intense desire to visit Hawaii for myself--but I want to see the real Hawaii, not the tacky version most tourists see. I don't want to be part of the problem. Even though the book was skewed in a different way than I expected, I still made a dozen notations, and this is a book I will definitely keep for mythological reference.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-07-22 00:00:00 Stephane Charbonneau I had read one other of Frierson's works, "The Last Atoll" which was one of the best pieces of "nature" writing that I've read. The Burning Island was also very fascinating. At this point, the book is dated in the sense that a lot more has happened to the Big Island since its publication in 1991, but Frierson approaches the subject with a nuance and interest that I haven't found in many other books. It would be wrong to say that this is just a book about volcanos, as it is also an examination of Hawaiian religion, worldview, and the failings of Western society to pay respect or try to understand nature's power.