Almost Like Being There | Tales of the South Pacific

Worthy of that Pulitzer | Tales of the South Pacific | James A. Michener

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	• Tales of the South Pacific James A. Michener Fawcett, 1984 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Bali-ha'i

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see the revival of "South Pacific" at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was a wonderful experience and it got me to thinking about the book upon which the musical was based, so I bought the book on my way home.

This book was written over 50 years ago, but still holds up well as a chronicle of wartime in the Pacific theater. Many of the characters from the musical are in the book, but not necessarily in the same situations. The real "hero" of this book is the South Pacific itself, and the feeling for the islands instilled in the men who were serving there.

I've read elsewhere that the writing is not first quality and the plots of the stories (there are 19 of them) rather thin. Accepting these things to be true, the book is still well worth reading, because it does give the modern reader some insight into the thoughts and actions of the men fighting, and waiting to fight, on the many islands scattered throughout a vast expanse of ocean.

You'll also read the subtle racism that existed at that time, even if it is not highlighted by the writing. Reading this book does show how far we've come from those days when "you've got to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made, and people whose skin is a different shade".

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Almost Like Being There

James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" is one
of those unforgettable books that take you into the heart of
a time and place and make you really feel it.

Written during the early dark days of the Pacific War against
the Empire of Japan (1942), it follows the adventures of
a U.S. Navy liaison man as he island-hops around American bases
besieged by the twin perils of jungle rot and marauding
enemy planes. Interesting characters abound, playing out their
roles in the great drama of war and history.

It's a winner.

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Worthy of that Pulitzer

Tales of the South Pacific is a book of interconnected short stories that take place during World War II. Each story is told from the perspective of a different military officer. Some of the characters make repeat appearances in other stories later in the book. It was a nice touch because we were able to find out what happened to them after the stories they were featured in were over.

I must admit when I read the first few stories, I was pretty sure this book wouldn't warrant a very high rating from me. First of all, I tend to avoid books about war. They just don't appeal to me. Secondly, these early stories didn't grab my attention. As I kept reading, I found myself totally immersed in the lives of these soldiers. I really felt for them and the situation that they were in. I think my favorite story in the book was "Fo' Dolla". It was longer than the other stories, the character development was deeper, and the emotional impact was higher. Overall, this was a great read. I can see why it won the Pulitzer. The only reason I didn't give the book a five star rating is because I just didn't feel those first few stories. It took me a bit to warm up to them. This was my first book by Michener, but it won't be my last.

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Some enchanted evenings

My first Michener novel.

I was listening to an NPR show talking about the unexpected hit that the current (2008) Broadway revival of South Pacific has been. In the show they started talking about this book, the inspiration for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. I was just finishing a book and this sparked my interest. I also heard it won a Pulitzer Prize, so I went out and picked it up.

I had never read anything by the fabled James Michener before, but this (his first book) seems a far cry from the bricks of historical fiction that would later make his name. Instead, Tales of the South Pacific is an interconnected series of short stories detailing the lives of the Naval men and women serving in the South Pacific. It covers the inactive period between the battle of Coral Sea (1942) though the landing on Kuralei (1944).

Though the main characters are in the Navy, the stories that make up the book are almost entirely land based and are about the day to day life on the islands rather than details of battle. James Michener has a real storyteller's knack for pacing and characterization. His dialog however felt very stiff and awkward. His characters actions and reactions seemed believable enough, but reading his characters speech reminded me of watching a movie from the early forties.

A couple of times he or his narrators would wax philosophic and it would come off pretty clumsy. On the other hand he was very good when he would show rather than tell about the long days of boredom or the difficulty of understanding a different culture. The best parts of the book were the bits dealing with soldiers from little Midwest towns that were in awe of the beauty of a place they'd never even heard of before the war, or showing the soldiers trying to deal with the natives they shared the islands with.

I was very put off by the racist attitude presented in the book, not by the characters but by the narrator. I understand that this is the forties and these attitudes were prevalent and would have accepted it, but the two most famous stories in this book (Our Heroine and Fo' Dolla') are about accepting other cultures. Elsewhere in the book however black soldiers or natives were portrayed in very stereo-typed or derogatory ways. I guess it seemed like Mr. Michener wasn't following his own advice.

Also, I realize that this was written just after the war, but I kept wishing that he would have been a little more descriptive of the various planes that were such an important of the stories. He would mention PBYs or F6Fs and not tell you what those were.

You are probably thinking that most of the negatives I've mentioned are unfair or due to the time the book was written. I'd suggest you check out The Caine Mutiny which was written around the same time and has none of these problems.

In the end, the book was interesting and I did enjoy it, but for me it wasn't a classic.

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"Truly one of the most remarkable books to come out of the war. Mr. Michener is a born story-teller."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Winner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Enter the exotic world of the South Pacific, meet the men and women caught up in the drama of a big war. The young Marine who falls madly in love with a beautiful Tonkinese girl. Nurse Nellie and her French planter, Emile De Becque. The soldiers, sailors, and nurses playing at war and waiting for love in a tropic paradise.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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