I’ve read pretty much all of them. I didn’t care for Alaska, as it seemed he was just pasting together the reports of his research assistants. *The Source *was the first one I ever read, and the first quarter of it was a slog for me at that age. I really enjoyed Caravans for the descriptions of the Karakorum and the Hindu Kush. I also liked The Drifters for its descriptions of Spain. I was able to travel to Torremolinos and Malaga years after reading it.
Well??? What did he say?
[QUOTE]
James Michener was genuinely appreciative of his fans, and always tried to answer letters personally, although sometimes the sheer volume of mail made it difficult. I’m curious about his response to the “twenty years after” question…would you mind divulging some of what he said? I’ve speculated on that question a bit myself, since The Drifters has always been one of my favorite novels. FWIW, here’s what I came up with:
Joe would go to Canada to avoid prosecution for dodging the draft… probably ends up a forester working a national park somewhere.
Britta would grow old roaming the world with Harvey Holt. I figured she would lose her looks and gain a lot of weight.
Cato once a revolutionary, always a revolutionary. He’d probably be shot down in the street or wind up in prison.
Gretchen Writer or just possibly, a musician.
Yigal Finally gains tenure at Harvard or MIT
The Drifters was, I think Michener’s best novel, although Centennial was nearly as good. But the Michener book I personally enjoyed the most was his own autobiography, The World is my Home.
SS
It’s not quite a ‘location’ novel, but a similar theme (and not mentioned yet): Space is one of my favourites of his. It’s based around four families who play a part in a fictionalised version of the US space program in its early days. Dieter Kolff is a German engineer who escapes to the US; Norman Grant is a Pacific-war hero become senator; John Pope is a Korean-war aviator turned astronaut; Stanley Mott is an engineer who initially plans to rescue Kolff and ends up as one of the fledgling NASA’s star engineers. Historical characters - Von Braun, LBJ, some of the astronauts - are visible as silhouettes, but the main action is with fictional characters.
I read Caravans a few times in my early teens and have had a weird fascination with Afghanistan ever since.
I have always wanted to travel there, but there hasn’t really been a good time to do that in the last 30 years or so.
I liked the few books of his that I’ve read. However, I thought Chesapeake told the same story over and over again, at times.
I think my (extremely well-read) uncle summed it up best when he saw what I was reading: “Michener? He wasn’t a writer, he was a typist.”
He meant it as a joke.
Historical novels present history as it could have happened within the historical record. Having the last mission to the moon end in fatalities on the moon’s surface represents a MASSIVE change to history, one which would have had major consequences for the space program, the country, and, potentially, the world.
I love Michner’s writing, but I can’t forgive him for this.
I guess I’ll never read that book…
What? Not even a mention of Tales of the South Pacific? It’s not technically a novel, but a series of interconnecting short stories, that still are far more interesting as a story than the R&H musical. Plus, it isn’t 1000+ pages long, nor does it start with the creation of the Earth (Jimmy did get self-indulgent and under-edited after he got famous).
I like to read an author’s works in the order they were written, if that can be determined. It’s usually, but not always, the same order they were published. It’s interesting to see how the author has developed his style and ability over the course of a lifetime of writing.
I had the impression that in his later books Michener had lost his love of writing but he was still one of the best.
I loathed The Drifters. I hated every character and hope they all were dead 20 years later.
I loved Hawaii, must have read it a half dozen times.
For the OP, after you finish the Michener books (which should take you a few years), you should start in on the Leon Uris books, if you haven’t already read them. Mila 18 was probably his best and Exodus his most well-known.
Mitchener wrote novels like “Sunlife” made movies. He had a research division that came up with ideas that people liked. Then he had a staff of ghostwriters who wrote the body of the novel-Mitchener himself would fill in the details.
he was like a “Old Master” painter-he paid assistants to do the bulk of the picture-while he painted in the faces.
Nothing wrong with that-Tom Clancy does it all the time.
Which is why his stories all read alike.
Or John Gresham with his “idealistic young lawyer takes on corruption” series of 'novels"-you only have to read the first chapter, and you will know exactly how things turn out.:smack:
That particular rumor got repeated a lot, even during his lifetime. Michener, however, catagorically denied it. Per his autobiography, he did hire (at his own expense) research assistants to search out reference material that pertained to the work-in-progress, but he did all the research himself as well as all the writing. He was meticulous in constructing his books, and did solicit input and suggestions from his editors for the extensive rewriting he did, but again the words were all his own.
For his large novels, he would move to the area he was writing about and spend on average three years on each book. The first year was generally spent in research, the second, at the seven-day/week job of writing the draft, and the third at rewrites and publishing. He did the initial draft more-or-less off the top of his head, then spent a great deal of time revising and refining the work. Michener said, only half-jokingly, “I am not a good writer, but I am a masterful re-writer”.
I am unable at the moment to locate my hard copy of “The World is my Home” to get an exact cite, but the author was sensitive to the charge that he did not do his own work, and went to some lengths to disprove it.
SS
Good call. Michener is a great writer of “light” reading material. IMHO, Uris is a bit more serious. I really enjoyed Trinity. Of the Michener novels, I’d definitely say *Centennial *was my favorite. The mini-series was not bad, either.
ETA: For the OP, I’d recommend *Hawaii *next. Either that or The Source.
Light! You must be kidding! I swear all of his books weigh 10 pounds at least! ;)
I enjoy reading his books, and they are great in “desert island” situations where you need something that is light but still takes a long time to get through.
But I can never quite get past his inability to write female characters. Obviously he’s not known for his nuanced characters, but this flaw is especially apparent when he writes women. They are all beautiful, busty, a little bit feisty but still sensual, etc. It really grates on my nerves.
Apologies for a huge oversight on my part as I adored this book. Yes, a fantastic series of shorts. Remember the one about the pilot that was shot down near an Japanese-held island? He started to drift toward it and the soldiers began to fire at him so the still circling members of his squadron began to strafe the island until they ran low on fuel. Then a PBY came in to rescue him and it too was shot down. Another rescue effort finally was sucessful and, afterwards, the point was made that despite the huge cost for all the planes and effort, the PR bonus alone probably made it all worthwhile. American servicemen knew that no matter what they were going to be protected and the Japanese knew that their country would never ever mount such an operation to save one life.
Anecdotally, I was working in the Texas Panhandle back in the 80s and got to talking to a grizzled, old veteran that owned an area store. Our conversation turned to the war and I mentioned Michener, that I was reading Tales of the South Pacific and about this story in particular. His eyes began welling up with tears, he got very choked up and then said three or four times “Son, I was there, I WAS THERE!” I asked if he meant in the war and he said no, he was part of that actual rescue effort.
We talked for probably another hour and I stopped by frequently afterward just to visit. The stories that old man had would reach into my very soul and hold me spellbound.
I liked Alaska, Hawaii and…one about somewhere in
Spain, hrm…Iberia, that’s it. Admittedly I don’t think I’ve read any others, but I sure did like those.
*Iberia *is not a novel, but it’s a great book. Most of my itinerary in Spain was influenced by it.