Thursday, November 1, 2012

Lost Kingdom: Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America's First Imperial Adventure - November 2012

November 2012 Book Selection

Special Author Event Thursday Evening

Join us to discuss our November book choice,
Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure
with the author, Julia Flynn Siler


The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, November 8th  at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our November book: Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure by Julia Flynn Siler.

Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:


The author’s blog – with interesting notes about her book, Lost Kingdom

NY Times Article: Mark Twain’s Hawaii


Two short excerpts from documentaries, Hawaii’s Last Queen andNation Within




Coming up, we have the following titles to look forward to reading:


December 13              The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
January 10                  One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
February 14                 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library




DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen by Julia Flynn Siler

1.      Whose story is Lost Kingdom and who should be telling it? Do you think Julia Flynn Siler, a haole or white foreigner to the islands, does a good job of showing all sides of this story about nineteenth century Hawaii? Do you think it is an important story?
2.      Is there a hero/heroine or villain/villainess in this story?
3.      How do you feel about Lili'u? Could she have done anything to alter the course of historical events? Should she have? Do you consider her a tragic figure?
4.      Was King David Kalakaua a good sovereign for Hawaii? How responsible was he for the course of events?
5.      How do you feel about the way the United States handled the annexation of Hawaii? Grover Cleveland claimed "Hawaii is ours...as I contemplate the means used to complete the outrage, I am ashamed of the whole affair." Do you agree/ disagree with him?
6.      How did the Hawaiians handled the annexation of Hawaii? Did you get a good sense from the book as to how and why they behaved as they did?
7.      There have been strong ties between San Francisco and Hawaii over the last 150 years, but the author states in an interview, “Many mainlanders have a very tenuous grasp of Hawaiian history.” Were you familiar with this history of Hawaii before reading the book?
8.      How did Claus Spreckels affect the history of Hawaii? What about Sanford Dole? Are there other characters in the book that you feel played a pivotal role and you'd like to know more about them?
9.      What surprised you about the original missionaries, and how do you feel about their descendents? Was everyone generally well-intentioned, or was self-interest paramount?
10.  The title of this book calls the annexation of Hawaii America’s First Imperial Adventure. Do you agree? Some consider that the United States always had expansionist tendencies, always looking to the west for expansion. Consider the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Texas annexation in 1845, the purchase of Alaska in 1867 among other acquisitions.  Was Hawaii an inevitable acquisition?
11.  What is the relevance of this history for us today?
12.  Is there any significance in the fact that President Obama was born in Hawaii?
13.  Can you imagine an alternate history for Hawaii and the monarchy? Where would Hawaii be today if the US hadn't annexed it? Where would the US be today without Hawaii?
14.  Do you think this particular history of Hawaii could be better told as 'historical fiction'?


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