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The Shimmering, Ka Olili
Voted one of the best books of 2002 by the Honolulu Advertiser. This collection of original stories of island adventures and contemporary legends speak of the place where modern and ancient Hawaii meet.
- GenresFiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 17, 2009
a wonderful collection of short stories by acclaimed musician, keola beamer. full of rich imagery. steeped in history and mythology. loved it! he's a great storyteller!
March 28, 2019
As an amateur musician and aficionado of Hawaiian slack key music, I’ve enjoyed the music of Keola Beamer. Because of this, when I saw a book of short stories written by him on my library shelf, I was excited. I was really looking forward to see what his writing would be like. And I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ is an astonishing, beautiful book. With this collection of independent standing short stories, Beamer shows his ability to transform the art of talking story into wonderfully crafted literature.
What I found so delightful and was amazed by with these eight stories was how unique each piece was compared to its counterparts. Each story was told in a completely different voice, a different tone, and different genre. The collection geographically covers the entire state, including the Kau region of the Big Island to the mountains of Kauai. Some of the stories have the sense of a person telling a tall tale in a bar, others seem like the haunting poetry of a prophet. I in turn laughed at one story and was brought to tears by one in particular, and was glad that Beamer didn’t leave me there by bringing me back to laughing in the next story.
The edition I had also came with a CD, containing a narration of the story’s namesake ‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ by Beamer. I highly recommend this edition. The first time I read the story, I read it silently. But it was a great experience to hear the audio version the second time around. I felt like I was hearing a friend tell me a fascinating tale.
Throughout this story and its counterparts, Beamer brings a sense of Hawaii that reflects its deep and long history, and utilizes an overall tone of inclusiveness, beauty and wonder for not only the people today but all those who came before. ‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ is simultaneously modern and timeless, and resonated with me long after I finished. I could easily reread each story again and again, and the story would never grow old for me.
‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ is an astonishing, beautiful book. With this collection of independent standing short stories, Beamer shows his ability to transform the art of talking story into wonderfully crafted literature.
What I found so delightful and was amazed by with these eight stories was how unique each piece was compared to its counterparts. Each story was told in a completely different voice, a different tone, and different genre. The collection geographically covers the entire state, including the Kau region of the Big Island to the mountains of Kauai. Some of the stories have the sense of a person telling a tall tale in a bar, others seem like the haunting poetry of a prophet. I in turn laughed at one story and was brought to tears by one in particular, and was glad that Beamer didn’t leave me there by bringing me back to laughing in the next story.
The edition I had also came with a CD, containing a narration of the story’s namesake ‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ by Beamer. I highly recommend this edition. The first time I read the story, I read it silently. But it was a great experience to hear the audio version the second time around. I felt like I was hearing a friend tell me a fascinating tale.
Throughout this story and its counterparts, Beamer brings a sense of Hawaii that reflects its deep and long history, and utilizes an overall tone of inclusiveness, beauty and wonder for not only the people today but all those who came before. ‘The Shimmering - ka ’olili’ is simultaneously modern and timeless, and resonated with me long after I finished. I could easily reread each story again and again, and the story would never grow old for me.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews