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For James Michener fans - What is your favorite Michener book? (Original Post) RamblingRose Jun 2020 OP
I liked Hawaii and Alaska.. luvs2sing Jun 2020 #1
I didn't know he had a book about Kent State :/ I'll add it to my list n/t RamblingRose Jun 2020 #2
I read it probably in 1982. luvs2sing Jun 2020 #15
That is the correct title - I have it in paperback. Number9Dream Jul 2020 #26
The Source Polly Hennessey Jun 2020 #3
+1. Tel Makor comes to life and reveals its tales through the eras. John1956PA Jun 2020 #14
+2 My mother handed it to me and said "Read this" yellowdogintexas Jun 2020 #22
Space - starts with Nazi's from Germany being spirited to AL (GA?) and development of rocket Hestia Jun 2020 #4
Tales Of The South Pacific Is Not Too Bad, Ma'am The Magistrate Jun 2020 #5
I love that book. bif Jun 2020 #25
Centennial. I also really enjoyed the Covenant and read it twice. vsrazdem Jun 2020 #6
He's good, but he writes by the pound The Blue Flower Jun 2020 #7
It takes me forever to read one of his books and I keep my dictionary app open n/t RamblingRose Jun 2020 #12
I liked The Drifters. I've read all of them and am re-reading livetohike Jun 2020 #8
Chesapeake Dave in VA Jun 2020 #9
Centennial. (Read it twice.) Fires of Spring. blm Jun 2020 #10
The Source was hard for me to get through. I'll have to go back & re-read it sometime RamblingRose Jun 2020 #11
treat The Source as a series of novellas, strung together by a common thread yellowdogintexas Jun 2020 #24
So hard to choose. Ferryboat Jun 2020 #13
You can definitely tell he was in the Navy with his attention to details of ships & sailing n/t RamblingRose Jun 2020 #19
we read Iberia before we went to Spain and when we arrived at a new place yellowdogintexas Jun 2020 #23
Hawaii, and The Source northoftheborder Jun 2020 #16
I love his books. lark Jun 2020 #17
I haven't read it, but "Fires of Spring" is based on the orphanage my grandfather and Michener Patterson Jun 2020 #18
Has anyone read his analysis on the United States' Electoral College system entitled RamblingRose Jun 2020 #20
Centennial, hands down. CrispyQ Jun 2020 #21
I enjoyed Hawaii... but rather depressing. Number9Dream Jul 2020 #27
LOL - I thought it was one of his more upbeat books. I think Mexico wins for depressing. I couldn't RamblingRose Jul 2020 #28

luvs2sing

(2,234 posts)
15. I read it probably in 1982.
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 10:42 AM
Jun 2020

And I’m not sure if I’ve seen it since, I think the title was Kent State:What Happened and Why.

Number9Dream

(1,639 posts)
26. That is the correct title - I have it in paperback.
Sun Jul 5, 2020, 03:27 PM
Jul 2020

It is very detailed, and a must read if one is interested in the Kent State shootings.

John1956PA

(3,334 posts)
14. +1. Tel Makor comes to life and reveals its tales through the eras.
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 10:40 AM
Jun 2020

The narrative about the ancient astronomers marking the vernal equinox sparked my interest in the clockwork of the solar system.

yellowdogintexas

(22,650 posts)
22. +2 My mother handed it to me and said "Read this"
Mon Jun 22, 2020, 07:09 PM
Jun 2020

She did that fairly often actually.

It remains one of my favorite books. Michener's long novels are more like a series of novellas tied together by family, a location, etc. You can finish a segment, not go back to it for a while and pick right up because the next segment will be all new people with a new storyline. Just follow the common thread through the book.

I loved Centennial also. We have been clearing out some things & I found my mom's VHS set of the complete series. I had forgotten we had it.



 

Hestia

(3,818 posts)
4. Space - starts with Nazi's from Germany being spirited to AL (GA?) and development of rocket
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 09:35 AM
Jun 2020

system, how the Nazi's were not allowed off Base without security detail until 1970s, that NASA hated that JFK promised Moon Landing, NASA wanted probes from the very beginning.

The Magistrate

(96,043 posts)
5. Tales Of The South Pacific Is Not Too Bad, Ma'am
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 09:37 AM
Jun 2020

It is readable, and conveys some accurate feel for a unique time and place.

Bears very little relation to the musical, fortunately, and reflects in parts attitudes long out-dated, that might catch younger readers up short here and there.

bif

(23,884 posts)
25. I love that book.
Thu Jun 25, 2020, 11:38 AM
Jun 2020

My dad was stationed in the South Pacific in WWII, so it gives me a sense of what he went through.

The Blue Flower

(5,632 posts)
7. He's good, but he writes by the pound
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 09:44 AM
Jun 2020

Way too much verbiage to wade through to get to the plot. But I've read most of his books. I liked Space and The Source best.

RamblingRose

(1,092 posts)
11. The Source was hard for me to get through. I'll have to go back & re-read it sometime
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 10:13 AM
Jun 2020

My problem is if I go more than a week without reading one of his books I have to backtrack 30 pages to catch up on the 200 characters.

yellowdogintexas

(22,650 posts)
24. treat The Source as a series of novellas, strung together by a common thread
Mon Jun 22, 2020, 07:16 PM
Jun 2020

In this case the well.

Once you have left a section, you are going to meet a whole new set of characters, in a different time.

Centennial is the same way so I suspect the other giant ones are as well.

Ferryboat

(1,005 posts)
13. So hard to choose.
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 10:34 AM
Jun 2020

Iberia was a favorite. Whenever i shipped out i made sure a couple of his books were onboard.

yellowdogintexas

(22,650 posts)
23. we read Iberia before we went to Spain and when we arrived at a new place
Mon Jun 22, 2020, 07:14 PM
Jun 2020

we checked Michener's info on that place just in case he recommended something we should try.

This is how we ended up having white gazpacho at the Alhambra in the dining room of a 16th century convent, smack in the middle of the palace grounds. (You can stay there if (a) you can even get a room and (b) you can pay the room rate.

We also found that gazpacho, sangria and coffee taste different according to where you are at the time. Coffee down in Andalusia is not for the fainthearted. Very strong. Fortunately the Spaniards have marvelous cream which helps.

northoftheborder

(7,606 posts)
16. Hawaii, and The Source
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 10:48 AM
Jun 2020

The last Michener book I read, I couldn't finish: Poland. It's history is so sad, and just repeats itself over and over through the centuries. I've read most of his books, he's one of my favorite authors. I happened to see him at a nearby restaurant table when he was researching Texas. The only thing I had to write on for an autograph was my charge slip. I got up my nerve to ask him for an autograph, and ask how much of the German history of the state's immigrants he would cover; he was very approachable, signed my bit of paper and answered my question with a humorous quip!!!

lark

(24,089 posts)
17. I love his books.
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 11:03 AM
Jun 2020

Being a history buff, I love his stories with all their infinite detail. I've read Texas, Chesapeake, & Hawaii and bought a used copy of Mexico that I will be starting soon. Lately I've been sticking with fantasy and sci-fi so it's time to diversify.

Patterson

(1,579 posts)
18. I haven't read it, but "Fires of Spring" is based on the orphanage my grandfather and Michener
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 12:20 PM
Jun 2020

we're both at in Pennsylvania in the 1910's.

RamblingRose

(1,092 posts)
20. Has anyone read his analysis on the United States' Electoral College system entitled
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 01:57 PM
Jun 2020

"Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System."

It was published in 1969

CrispyQ

(38,115 posts)
21. Centennial, hands down.
Sat Jun 20, 2020, 05:29 PM
Jun 2020

But I was born and raised in that area. A lot of people skipped the first part with the dinosaurs and the beaver, but I thought those parts were fascinating. There were some gut wrenching human stories, though. And we should have paid more attention to the part about water and the future.

I also liked Hawaii. I will never forget Woo Chow's Auntie and how she checked her body for leprosy every night before going to bed. I read some of his other titles, Poland, Chesapeake, Alaska, but it was decades ago for all of them, so I'm more than a little fuzzy. I haven't heard of the last three titles you mentioned.

RamblingRose

(1,092 posts)
28. LOL - I thought it was one of his more upbeat books. I think Mexico wins for depressing. I couldn't
Mon Jul 6, 2020, 08:58 AM
Jul 2020

get through it. Maybe it has a happy ending??

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