Book Description
In this epic, original novel in which Hawaii's fierce, sweeping past springs to life, Kiana Davenport, author of the acclaimed Shark Dialogues, draws upon the remarkable stories of her people to create a timeless, passionate tale of love and survival, tragedy and triumph, survival and transcendence. In spellbinding, sensual prose, Song of the Exile follows the fortunes of the Meahuna family--and the odyssey of one resilient man searching for his soul mate after she is torn from his side by the forces of war. From the turbulent years of World War II through Hawaii's complex journey to statehood, this mesmerizing story presents a cast of richly imagined characters who rise up magnificent and forceful, redeemed by the spiritual power and the awesome beauty of their islands.
Customer Reviews:
Heavy on the heart read.......2007-07-31
The author has incorporated very accurate documented history into this novel. The incredible brutality is so hard to imagine without "feeling" some of the pain as you read. A sobering account of war.
Good lesson in history of war not often told........2006-11-04
The writting is poetic making the characters real and emphasing their feelings and courage--especially moving is their suffering.
One of the saddest books I've ever read.......2003-09-19
This book was unlike anything else I've ever read. It was incredibly tragic and haunting. It made me feel for those women like Sunny, the ones who became nobody, because their minds couldn't get out of the past yet their bodies moved on through time. It really is haunting and although I didn't like it at first, because it was an unusual style for me, I grew to appreciate it. It's powerful and sad, and wonderful, too.
A Compelling Universal Tapestry.......2003-04-11
I will not recount the story; the other reviewers do it, and for my money, the story is marvelous. Like so many, I did not want this book to end, and rationed reading it for that reason. I cannot think of any other writer I have ever read who can capture in concrete, substantial, palpable images abstractions like jazz, or pain, or love, or wistfulness. The visuals her words sculpt are staggering. Hardly essential to an appreciation of this magnificent work, if you have lived in Hawaii, ever had an appreciation of either or both of its indigenous and diverse cultures, been entranced by music, felt the power and mystery of natural things, it will resonate with you on innumerable levels. You will learn a fair amount of Hawaiian along the way if you care to, and you should, as it is a beautiful and evocative and incredibly musical language. The book is more than poetry--it is, in many ways, a great mele. It speaks of essences, of life's value, its challenges, its losses, its pain. There are parts as profound and compact in that as any philosophy one could want (the small chapterlet recounting Malia's last visit with Pono may be the best piece of writing in that regard I have ever read). The political material through the book is, if you read closely, not polemical, but balanced if with a clear but hardly simplistic preference. And on a societal level, it is a magnificent paean to the power of women, especially their power over men, wanted or not, and the consequences, marvelous and horrific, of that power. If you are a woman, or you truly love them as I do, you will hold this book fiercely to your heart. Those who say Ms. Davenport embraced too much in too complex a way--with which I totally disagree--would probably say the same of Thomas Wolfe, whose prose at times hers resembles, several of whose works I number among my favorites in the language. I would rate this book higher than any I have reviewed on Amazon to date, and among the best novels I have ever read--and I have read thousands.
Get Shark Dialogues instead!.......2003-01-05
I don't know what happened here, but Ms. Davenport's earlier book was much better. This one was such a disappointment. There are two very big flaws in this book. First, there are far too many ridiculous and totally implausable coincidences. Coincidentally meeting old friends and enemies in different parts of the world? Several times??? It's lame. I can't believe how weak this book is... Enough already with the textures and colors again and again...The constant sex dialogue is RIDICULOUSLY graphic and INCREDIBLY uninteresting. Really, the text could have been so much better without having to read the minutae about hairs, girth, etc. Follow me?
"Shark Dialogues" was much better. I recommend that or, better yet, "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez. Also has an island feel, beautiful scenery, interesting culture... revolt and revolution...it's one of the best books I've ever read. And it's based on a true story.
Book Description
This Level 4 book is appropriate for proficient readers.
In Joan of Arc, children learn the amazing story of a young peasant girl in the 15th century who believed that she was being directed by the voices of saints to lead the French to freedom in battle against the occupying English. These 48-page books about fascinating subjects like pirates, mummies, and volcanoes are for proficient readers who can understand a rich vocabulary and challenging sentence structure. In addition to the stunning photographs, informative sidebars, and glossary, readers will find archival photographs and paintings. Averaging 4,500 to 5,000 words in length, Level 4 books are 40 percent pictures and 40 percent text. The Dorling Kindersley Readers combine an enticing visual layout with high-interest, easy-to-read stories to captivate and delight young bookworms who are just getting started. Written by leading children's authors and compiled in consultation with literacy experts, these engaging books build reader confidence along with a lifelong appreciation for nonfiction, classic stories, and biographies. There is a DK Reader to interest every child at every level, from preschool to grade 4.
Book Description
"The editors. . . whose work also appears, have presented us with a valuable resource for years to come."
—Peace News
"The strength of The Women and War Reader lies in its both interdisciplinary and geographically diverse approach. It confronts the devastating impact of wartime violence and militarized societies on women."
—Iris
War affects women in profoundly different ways than men. Women play many roles during wartime: they are "gendered" as mothers, as soldiers, as munitions makers, as caretakers, as sex workers. How is it that womanhood in the context of war may mean, for one woman, tearfully sending her son off to war, and for another, engaging in civil disobedience against the state? Why do we think of war as "men's business" when women are more likely to be killed in war and to become war refugees than men?
The Women and War Reader brings together the work of the foremost scholars on women and war to address questions of ethnicity, citizenship, women's agency, policy making, women and the war complex, peacemaking, and aspects of motherhood. Moving beyond simplistic gender dichotomies, the volume leaves behind outdated arguments about militarist men and pacifist women while still recognizing that there are patterns of difference in men's and women's relationships to war.
The Women and War Reader challenges essentialist, class-based, and ethnocentric analysis. A comprehensive volume covering such regions as the former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, Iran, Nicaragua, Chiapas, South Africa, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and India, it will provide a much-needed resource. The volume includes the work of over 35 contributors, including Cynthia Enloe, Sara Ruddick, V. Spike Peterson, Betty Reardon, April Carter, Leila J. Rupp, Harriet Hyman Alonso, Francine D'Amico, Nancy Scheper-Hughes, and Carolyn Nordstrom.
Customer Reviews:
A decent start.......2000-05-06
The intersection of women's experience of and in relation to war is indeed an important and mostly neglected field of study. This book is a positive step towards this direction. However, the essays here are more cursory than substantial. This is a reader, an introduction of sorts, but the best readers collections most often consist of exemplary passages or works in a particular field. None of the essays in this collection have the weight to stand on its own. As a collection, this reader presents a sample of the major issues and areas of study being conducted today. At best, the book contains footnotes to more formidable and groundbreaking works.
Customer Reviews:
Fiction format will grab the most apprehensive reader.......2004-07-18
The text looks at the famous and not so famous women who participated in the Civil War. It is written in a narrative format, more like a fictional text than a non-fiction. The book is filled with original pictures and short informational biographies of the most important women featured. The illustrations are very large and would be nice to use with an opaque projector when speaking about some of the women or events covered in the book. I also think it would be an excellent book for independent reading due to the format.
civil war pic.......2002-05-10
this book has tons of info on women and nurses in the Civil WAr
REAL GIRL POWER!.......1999-11-03
I bought this book while working on a Women's History project for college and also to help with Civil War living history presentations. Because this book is for young readers I have not used if for much more than an overview and to point out photographs (which are wonderful) during my presentations. However, I recommend this book for any young reader interested in history or teacher wishing to include more women into the curriculum. It gives a great overview of women's roles during the Civil War, how their lives changes, what roles they took on, and what struggles they endured! Now that is GIRL POWER!
Customer Reviews:
Grace's Letter to Lincoln.......2000-11-10
I really like this story because it has the President Abraham Lincoln in it. The story has a little girl who wants the president to grow a beard so that he would look more handsome and to free the slaves from freedom and they won't have to be sold to people.
A Wonderful Historical Novel.......2000-04-08
This book is a very interesting way to read about U.S. history during the times before the Civil War. It is based on the true story of a young girl who wants to help Lincoln get elected in order to stop slavery. Many important details of the time period help to make the reader understand what life was like then. It also includes photos of the actual letters written between Grace and Mr. Lincoln.
Customer Reviews:
A Little Off-Balance.......2007-07-26
"God, he's just a little off balance," thought Maisie Dobbs about Officer Tucker while he was questioning her. For Maisie is investigating the death of an artist who supposedly accidentally fell from a scaffold while he was preparing to mount his mysterious triptych (3-piece art work) in a museum in England. Off balance is right, and Georgina Bassington-Hope, a famous journalist in her own right, is convinced that her artist brother, Nicholas, was pushed off the scaffold to his death. Hired by Georgina, Maisie sets of to slowly, methodically investigate the Bassington-Hope family, friends and acquaintances. Her method is fascinating reading as she quietly intuits each vital step in this formidable process, punctuated by significant opposition from the police and some smugglers.
The reader through Ms. Winspear's carefully detailed presentation meets these characters and gets to share in the intimate knowledge about their finer and gauche personality aspects. A psychologist as well as Investigator, she's got the talent with which one is born and that which can't be taught! Astute and compassionately honest she is!
Depression England and the awful World War that preceded it are frankly and carefully presented, leaving no doubt how these events created suffering and incomparable struggle for all who are surviving both. Indeed these characters somehow manage to thrive out of some deeper fine qualities that slowly emerge as Daisie continues her exploration into the seamier side of men and women of both the upper and lower class British citizens.
This is a fine, fine novel that will thrill the true mystery lover who really doesn't want to figure out the puzzle on page 1 or 100 but wants to relish the truly intriguing art divided into successive canvases of a classic, wonderful mystery!
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on July 25, 2007
Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel.......2007-07-24
The book is well written, a good story line and makes for enjoyable light reading.
A Maisie Dobbs Novel .......2007-07-18
Some books you read as a main course dinner others you save for the dessert. This book could fall into either category. A top read when you
choose to read. The person of Maisie Dobbs has been building for the past three books, and has proven to be a top notch detective and a business person. Be prepaired to find that you will have a hard time putting this book down.
Maisie Dobbs #4.......2007-07-14
I love this series! A thinking woman! Looking forward to the continuation of the series.
A dry watershed.......2007-06-24
This is Jacqueline Winspear's fourth novel about Maisie Dobbs, "psychologist and investigator." Fans of the series may be slightly disappointed, but should still enjoy it. First-time readers will wonder what all the fuss is about. For, as I suspected already in the third novel, PARDONABLE LIES, the narrative span is becoming difficult to sustain over four books.
But Winspear's sense of period seldom lets her down, and there are still many interesting things here: her view of the vibrant art scene between the wars or the heady night world of jazz clubs and cocktails, contrasted with the effect of the Depression on the out-of-work poor and the lamentable state of public health. And those parts of the story which have to do with the rags-to-riches rise of the heroine (housemaid, war nurse, Canbridge graduate, private investigator) are mercifully shorter -- though Maisie's emotional problems would mean very little to those who had not read the earlier books. But Winspear seems caught on a difficult watershed: on the one hand, continuing to write about the legacy of the First War, which no longer has the resonance that it had in her first books; on the other, exploring the life of a nation moving inexorably towards the Second. There are aspects of both here, but they do not blend easily. If she is to continue, the author needs to move forward rather than back -- and also develop the inner life of her heroine so as to make her interesting for who she is now, rather than as the product of previous books in the series.
Readers who want to read more about the role of artists in the first War -- an important element in this book -- might be interested in REGENERATION by Pat Barker. Although Barker's novel deals with poets (Sassoon and Owen among them) rather than painters, it tackles head-on the conflict between war's brutality and artistic sensitivity, which has been a persistent theme in Winspear's books, and a moving one.
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