Comments | bluewillowtree: Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

bluewillowtree

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

May 15, 2011 22:50

I'm always excited to see Sarah Vowell on The Daily Show, especially when it means that she's written a new book. I was delighted to learn from her appearance a month or so ago that she had a new book, Unfamiliar Fishes, about the history of Hawaii and how it became part of the United States.

( Unfamiliar Fishes )

books

Comments 4

atomgal May 16 2011, 16:01:01 UTC

I saw the title and was wondering if she actually talked about the fishes themselves. Per our conversation yesterday about the Hawaiian language/alphabet, the state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

For real. My mom knows how to say it (of course).

bluewillowtree May 16 2011, 16:09:43 UTC

Wow, that's the greatest fish name ever!

But no, she doesn't write much about fish, though there's a little bit about coral. The title comes from a quote from David Malo, a 19th-century Hawaiian historian and minister. I had to return the book to the library, so I can't give you the exact quote, but he was referring to haoles.

stardust_20 May 16 2011, 16:20:57 UTC

I find Hawaii so fascinating. I would love to visit someday. My inlaws went for a month last winter and of course brought us back tacky shirts. Go figure. My MIL has no imagination whatsoever!

I wonder if Sarah Vowell is related to Tom Vowell. His daughter is in my son's class at school - they live here now but he's originally American. I can't say as I've ever seen the name Vowell before -- I wonder if it's common?

Thanks for the rec. We'll be heading to the library today after school so I'm taking your list of books with me. :)

bluewillowtree May 16 2011, 17:52:01 UTC

I very much hope to visit Hawaii someday. The pictures just look so beautiful! And now if I ever go, I'll have much more of a historical background, which I think will enhance the experience.

I'm not familiar with Tom Vowell, but I think you're right that it's not a super common name. I think Sarah Vowell only has the one sister (her twin) whom she frequently travels with for book research, but I'm not positive about that.

Have fun at the library! I'm glad I can provide some recs and hope you'll enjoy them as much as I have :)