Hawaii Books

Initially I was worried this book might be a polemic. However, it is not. In fact, despite the title, I found the book to be a reasonably balanced account of Freeport's involvement in Indonesia and a comprehensive history. The book breaks it down into subjects such as business dealings, human rights, development, environment, etc. The author does seem to try to give Freeport credit and the benefit of the doubt when it is due. However, the picture she paints is appropriately depressing.

A must for students of Indonesian studies, development, or corporate social responsibility.

This is a good book. I would reccomend it to anyone that is learning Pohnpeian. It is an older book and could afford to be updated but is very valuable nonetheless. Kaselel

I was delighted by Anne Birrell's book "Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China" when I first read it. The author was well informed of the current progress in related studies by international authors and their Chinese counterpart. I found the translation of 77 carefully selected ballads particularly useful for both experts in sinology and general, non-expert readers interested in but less familiar with the topic. Despite a few necessary errors (or points of controversy) in interpretating the original text, I'd say this book is a remarkable achievement. It's my pleasure to recommend this book to my fellow Chinese readers since I find a refined foreign mind often surprises me with pleasant insight to the topics in concern.

"Portrait of America" was a popular video documentary series in the mid-eighties, a product of collaboration between Superstation/Turner Broadcasting Corporation and Ambrose Home Video. Well-researched, each video is divided into 5 segments covering most unique historical, social, and cultural aspects of each state. Watching such an interesting documentary, each being roughly about 50 minutes long, without advertisements and other interruptions seems to be a privilege in these days!

If you want to include excellent review of this book I suggest you include the following: Chris Tiffin. Mana. 3(1) p.140-142; Oct 1978 James Bertram. Listener. 88(1995) p.54-5; Mar 25 1978. World Literature Today. 52 p.696; Autumn 1978. World Literature Today. 52 p.247; Spring 1978. Sally Lodge. Publishers Weekly. 218 p.83; Oct 31 1980. Library Journal. 106 p.473; Feb 15 1981.

While visiting Hawaii, I bought this book for my 12-year-old son. I decided to read it also. It was excellent. Certainly, it was a fun adventure story, but the thing that made it stand out from the rest was the wealth of Hawaiian terms that are woven into the story. There is even a dictionary in the back, although most of the words' definitions are also carefully woven into the story. My son is hoping for a sequel!

This is not a plant picture book - it's meant to be used. So much so that it comes with a chapter named "Words of Warning." The first part of the book covers tools and techniques for gathering, transporting and preparing Hawaiian plants, including using the modern version of the Hawaiian O`O (digging stick). Following that is a chart of what plants grow at what elevations (I've never seen one like it anywhere else). The next (and largest) section is an alphabetical listing of 54 major medicinal plants (one page each) with descriptions, comments and drawings. The only negative is that the plant drawings aren't in color - readers will probably want a supplemental plant guidebook to help with plant identifications. The final section is an alphabetical listing of ailments that the plants can be used to cure, AND complete instructions on how to prepare and use them.

I wouldn't hesitate to use this book at all for my personal health. I didn't know that awa would stop a headache cold (it does) until I read it here. The author has been interested in medicinal plants since childhood and obviously believes in them. At the same time he is realistic and doesn't hesitate to point out when modern medicine works better (like aspirin for fever reduction, for example). If you live in the islands, you need this book near your medicine cabinet! It's great.

A truly excellent scholarly study like Janine Sawada's "Practical Pursuits" is a treasure indeed. First of all, each chapter is full of a wealth of new knowledge and information. Religious movements and traditions previously unknown or at best understudied are explored here with much original research and hard work in rare and well-nigh inaccessible sources. I've studied Japanese religions for a long time now, and I can't say I've even heard of some of the fascinating Edo-period divinatory and purificatory systems discussed earlier in the book. As for the Meiji forms of Zen Buddhism developed at Engakuji Temple of which I was somewhat aware, this book goes into amazingly great depth and analysis. In short, if you like learning something new, you'll definitely get your money's worth on that score alone.

But there's much more to this book, too. All this wonderful variety of detail is held together by a common theme, the discourse of personal spiritual cultivation underlying these diverse religious forms. This is a compelling approach that successfully transcends compartmentalizing the traditions as separate and unrelated entities (for Sawada convincingly demonstrates that they don't operate that way) while not glossing over the distinctive vocabularies and approaches of each. Furthermore, a key concern of Sawada's research here as a historian is the complex political ramifications (primarily but not exclusively "conservative") of this religious paradigm of self-cultivation, but she deftly avoids the tendency to be reductive here and keeps in view the spiritual significance and meaningfulness of this paradigm and its practices to those whose ideas and beliefs she describes and analyzes.

The overall result is a well-balanced, finely nuanced, and (most of all) intensely interesting study, one that should by rights exert a great influence on the way Japanese religions are conceptualized. If you liked Sawada's prior book, "Confucian Values and Popular Zen", then you'll find that in many ways this book picks up where that one left off but also moves beyond it. And if you are at all interested in Japanese religions, especially their modern vicissitudes, or in Meiji intellectual history more generally, then you absolutely should not go without this fine book.

Having lived from the 40s to the present in Hawaii, this made me remember what it was really like then. Remember the dock strikes and the racial prejudices? A must for Hawaii history buffs.

I had to write an economics paper, and one particular chapter was very helpful for me. The chapters were all editorials on different aspects of the finances of living in Hawaii. They are very throughough and appear to be accurate. The dialog is easy to read, and there are amusing cartoons. It is a fun and easy book to explore if you want this sort of information. The topics are interesting, which I didn't think was possible since the overall subject is economics. Overall, interesting and informative.