Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands on + 1187 more book reviews
Mark Twain traveled to the Hawaiian Islands in 1866 (then called the Sandwich Islands) and spent 4 months there as a correspondent for a prominent West Coast newspaper. He sent the newspaper 25 articles and used them later, along with his notes, to supplement the chapters in his book Roughing It. This volume is actually a republication of 13 chapters from Roughing It plus a section of photos and a 33 page introduction. I've never read Roughing It so this was new to me but I did wonder before I read it why I had never heard of Twain's travel to Hawaii.
The book was very enjoyable and covered Twain's observations about the islands along with the people that lived there. He also throws in some history of them prior to his visit including the death of Captain Cook and the Hawaiian religion and leaders prior to the coming of the white missionaries and their conversion of the natives. With Twain's usual humor, he describes the pests of the islands including mosquitoes, scorpions, centipedes, and cockroaches "as large as peach leaves--fellows with long, quivering antennae and fiery, malignant eyes...I had heard that these reptiles were in the habit of eating off sleeping sailors' toe nails to the quick." He also describes the native culinary treats like poi and various fruits like tamarind that were so sour they pursed up his lips and he "had to take sustenance through a quill for 24 hours."
He goes on to lampoon the government and thinks that the natives were basically savages before the missionaries came to convert them. He also talks about surfing and his failed attempt at it. But overall, he really seemed to enjoy his visit to the islands and vividly describes his trip to the big island and the Kilauea volcano including a trip into the crater at night with the glow and the bubbling of the lava below them. He says at one point that the islands should have been called the "Rainbow Islands" because of the frequent rainbows and color.
The introduction to this volume was also very informative. It says that Twain was at one point writing a novel about Hawaii but he later changed the venue for this and turned it into A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Overall, I thought this was well worth reading but now I need to read the rest of Roughing It as well as some of Twain's other travel narratives.
The book was very enjoyable and covered Twain's observations about the islands along with the people that lived there. He also throws in some history of them prior to his visit including the death of Captain Cook and the Hawaiian religion and leaders prior to the coming of the white missionaries and their conversion of the natives. With Twain's usual humor, he describes the pests of the islands including mosquitoes, scorpions, centipedes, and cockroaches "as large as peach leaves--fellows with long, quivering antennae and fiery, malignant eyes...I had heard that these reptiles were in the habit of eating off sleeping sailors' toe nails to the quick." He also describes the native culinary treats like poi and various fruits like tamarind that were so sour they pursed up his lips and he "had to take sustenance through a quill for 24 hours."
He goes on to lampoon the government and thinks that the natives were basically savages before the missionaries came to convert them. He also talks about surfing and his failed attempt at it. But overall, he really seemed to enjoy his visit to the islands and vividly describes his trip to the big island and the Kilauea volcano including a trip into the crater at night with the glow and the bubbling of the lava below them. He says at one point that the islands should have been called the "Rainbow Islands" because of the frequent rainbows and color.
The introduction to this volume was also very informative. It says that Twain was at one point writing a novel about Hawaii but he later changed the venue for this and turned it into A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Overall, I thought this was well worth reading but now I need to read the rest of Roughing It as well as some of Twain's other travel narratives.
