Honolulu

By: Alan Brennert

Narrated by: Ali Ahn

Best-selling author Alan Brennert blends history and fiction to showcase Hawaii's dynamic past in this captivating novel.

Set in the 1920s and 1930s, Honolulu explores the stark contrast between the image of the glamorous Hawaiian paradise portrayed to the mainland and the harsh reality of life on the island. With characters as vivid and richly descriptive as the history of Hawaii itself, this novel is sure to enthrall listeners.

©2009 Alan Brennert (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Fantastic Vacation Read

I purchased this book in preparation for a trip to Hawaii with my husband. It was perfect to get me in the mood for our trip as well as a great beach read. It was very interesting to get a taste of the history of the island of Oahu before visiting and definitely helped me to see the island and its people in a different light. I think the book was well researched and really gave me a view into a completely different world than my own. I would highly recommend it.

Very disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This could have been a great book but the main character was like a stick figure, going through life with almost no personality. There was nothing emotionally at stake for her and nothing that happened seemed to have any impact that we could really feel.

Would you ever listen to anything by Alan Brennert again?

Probably not since I get the sense that his other books are like this one.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Only if the adaptation gives it more depth.

Korea to Hawaii

I really enjoyed this immersive historical story of a young Korean woman finding a life for herself in Hawaii. There is a lot of interesting detail about Korean culture, as well as some history of Honolulu in the 1920's-1930's. There are some great characters, too, some funny (Jade Moon and Maisie) and some poignant ( Little Sister ). If you like the books by Lisa See, this has a similar feel, although more history and less character-driven. I don't agree with the negative comments about the narrator, I thought she was excellent.

absolutely loved!

I love all of Alan's books, he's such a way of drawing you in from the very beginning and keeping attention throughout. The story truly spoke to me, and educated me about the struggles in Hawaii and Japan. highly recommend!

In depth look at an immigrant to Hawaii

Slow start but what a story. I loved how it wove pieces of Hawaiian culture that has evolved to current day.

Such a beautiful story!

I have to say this is the best book I've read this year and the second best book I've ever read.

I love historicals with rich views on other countries and cultures. I also love books about family. But this book was so much more. This was a book about a strong woman, who despite every single obstacle she was faced with, rose above. And it's important to know that not only did she continue but she accomplished so much more than anyone could have ever imagined. Her road was difficult and filled with so many twists and turns, rights and wrongs, and happy and sad moments.

The author had a wide group of side characters that quickly became very important. He brought them all alive and gave them strong roles in the story. He was able to bring out so much emotion in me that I hadn't sobbed or laughed this much since I read The Shoemaker's Wife by Adrianna Trigiani.

Not only did the author succeed in throwing us into the lives of these characters, but he took us on a tour of Korea and Oahu. His descriptions were vivid and amazing and made me feel that I was there seeing it with my own eyes.

This is one of those books that will "stick" with me forever and I recommend this for anyone that wants to be a part of a rich vivid tale of a strong woman.

The audio performance was okay ... pronunciations were not the best and that is important in audio books but the story was so good it was almost forgivable.

A good read

I liked this book, which tells the story of a group of immigrants to the US (Hawaii) and how they are frowned upon by so called better people (ordinary Americans and other immigrants). How they fight for their lives and how they survive and finally suceed (in a way) by sheer perseverance and doggedly hard work is a very good story, not lacking in suspense. Well told and well worth listening to.

Interesting

Glad I got this one. It was very interesting about the history of the introduction of Asian people into the fabric of the Hawaiian culture.

America through an immigrants eyes

Although I liked Molokai better than this book;Honolulu wasn't bad either. This is really historical fiction, since we travel back in time to Hawaii just as America wrested it from the natives. They used Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese and, as is the star of our story, Koreans to cut the sugarcane fields at the time.Our heroine is a young Korean picture bride who is at first thrust into this shocking poor life. Suddenly married to a cane cutter who drinks, gambles and beats her. She does everything to try and make herself useful and desirable, but in the end has to flee from her abusive husband. She runs into a hooker who helps her out temporarily and they become fast friends. She sees some torn dresses in the trash one morning and recalls how it was to sew back home with her mom. The hooker finds her skill quite good and she and the others begin paying her for her work. The hooker moves to Samoa and our heroine goes on to make her own way in a pineapple factory, where she meets her future husband. They have a family and open a Korean restaurant. There are many meeting between our heroine and her friends who also came along from Korea and had varying levels of success. Her former husband comes back to attack her and she rebuffs him and he is sent to jail. Her children learn to surf and become friends with the locals, who share their culture with them. The book proceeds through the Great Depression and the Koreans all manage to stay tightly together; each pursuing their version of the American dream. Later in life the heroine begins to make Hawaiian shirts for a Chinese businessman and they are very fortunate to succeed with this endeavor. She is employed as the factory manager for the man, but finds the work unfullfiling. She start her own modest sewing operation and finds greater happiness.The narrator was really good. She changes voices which gave the characters life and even though I didn't find this story as believable as Molokai it was pretty good. There were many characters and I usually don't like that, but here it was well paced and easy to follow and lots of threads were drawn to connect the costars with the heroine. I hope Mr. Brennert comes out with other books about the islands.

Fantastic Read

I absolutely loved Moloka'i and was excited to pick this up. Brennert did it again with Honolulu. Fantastic read and again learned more about a part of history I was unfamiliar with. Loved the story and loved the performance!