James A. Michener
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 384 pages Rating: 4.04 | 13942 Users | 410 Reviews
Details Books Toward Tales of the South Pacific
| Original Title: | Tales of the South Pacific |
| ISBN: | 0449206521 (ISBN13: 9780449206522) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | South Pacific,1943 Solomon Islands Norfolk Island |
| Literary Awards: | Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1948) |
Ilustration Concering Books Tales of the South Pacific
1948 Pulitzer Prize winner.This was the book that caused the Pulitzer committee to change the name of the category from novel to fiction. That's because this is actually a group of 19 short stories, and they are similar in themes and subject matter, and they are sequential or chronological which gives it the feeling of a novel.
It's about WWII in the Pacific. An ugly, horrific disaster taking place in paradise; talk about a contradiction. But it's historical fiction at a high level; you don't come away from a Michener book saying I didn't learn anything. And where most historical fiction writers lean heavily on the fiction and less on the history, Michener leans on the history.
This book spawned a successful Broadway musical, South Pacific, and a feature film. It was also the basis for Michener's television series, Adventures in Paradise. If you are a Michener newbie I wouldn't start with this one. I always recommend Hawaii. I think it is his best novel, and if you are only going to read one, that should be the one.
4 stars.
Be Specific About Regarding Books Tales of the South Pacific
| Title | : | Tales of the South Pacific |
| Author | : | James A. Michener |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 384 pages |
| Published | : | September 12th 1984 by Fawcett Books (first published 1947) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Short Stories. War. Classics. World War II |
Rating Regarding Books Tales of the South Pacific
Ratings: 4.04 From 13942 Users | 410 ReviewsArticle Regarding Books Tales of the South Pacific
Easily more than the sum of its parts, this collection of stories is an eye-opening account of life in wartime: not the horrors of war (though theres a bit of that), but the waiting, the selfless heroism, the bottled-up passion, the thankless endless toil, the vast logistics of a campaign, the suddenness of death and loss and love. The omission of this work from the academic canon is utterly incomprehensible to me; its everything that All Quiet on the Western Front is said to be, and more.Interesting. More about the racial, social and sexual mores of the WWII-era than anything else. Compared to similar novels of the era, this one probably seemed a little more jaded, not to mention controversial. A little too much romance in it for me, but maybe that's what his editor thought would be needed to sell the book. Otherwise it would only have been a bunch of stories about Sailors and Marines going nuts from boredom while waiting for another invasion to kick off. All in all, probably
1948 Pulitzer Prize Winner.I read this book for my Pulitzer Prize Reading Challenge. I'm probably already prejudiced when reading any PP winner, but I really tried to remain neutral while reading this book. With the amount of WWII literature I have been reading, I'm finding myself wondering if I am in fact a Pacifist - or at least against war. Because I'm NOT against someone physically defending themselves. This book was heart wrenching. So many men died. So many men committed adultery on their
James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, a collection of related stories of rear-echelon service in the Solomons and New Hebrides during World War II, received a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948, inspired the Broadway musical South Pacific, and served as the foundation for the early-1960s TV series Adventures in Paradise. I found it rather boring. In trying to describe the tales, the words over-rated, flat, cliched, repetitive, and dated kept coming to mind. The book has not withstood
This was Michener's first book and it is obvious why it won the Pulitzer. Written in 1946 and published a year later, it must have been one of the first epics on the Second World War, and one that focused entirely on the Pacific theatre would catch the eye of the jury even easier. Although widely fictional - as always with Michener - the excellent short stories and tales take the reader along some of the U.S. Navy operations between 1942 and '44, focusing on the Solomon and Russell islands, as
Interesting. More about the racial, social and sexual mores of the WWII-era than anything else. Compared to similar novels of the era, this one probably seemed a little more jaded, not to mention controversial. A little too much romance in it for me, but maybe that's what his editor thought would be needed to sell the book. Otherwise it would only have been a bunch of stories about Sailors and Marines going nuts from boredom while waiting for another invasion to kick off. All in all, probably
Ive always loved the musical South Pacific. We had to read a Pulitzer Prize winning book this month for our book club and I remembered this had won one way back when. It was/ is a good book and I think holds up well over time. Mitchner served in WWII and drew on his experiences to create this story. The play did a good job of moving book characters to the stage. The book explores racial issues in more depth and I found the last chapter very moving. All in all its a good look back at our time in
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