"Approach to Armageddon: One Christian’s Speculation About the End of This Age," by Keith Robinson (Destiny Publishers, $24.95)
Robinson, who simply calls himself an "ex-cowboy," is of the Kauai/Niihau Robinsons and was raised a strict Scotch Calvinist with implicit faith in the Holy Writ as defined by the King James Bible. He is appalled both by what he defines as liberal excesses in society and by the destructive power of nuclear weapons, and both scenarios seem to be foretold in the Bible. After some scary and life-defining incidents Robinson encountered while trying to hold a ranching interest together on Kauai, he began an intense study of the Bible, searching for clues about a possible coming Armageddon and tying in Scripture with modern scientific and political developments. This massive collection of essays on speculative theology is the result, and Robinson has a clear and distinctive writing voice.
Whether you agree or not, anyone who can draw a line from the blood-soaked hills of Megiddo (origin of the term "Armageddon") straight through to socialist hippies of the Great Society and the recent ill-conceived invasion of Iraq has clearly done a lot of heavy pondering on the subject.
"From the Master’s Heart," by Norma Ching (Naturally Hawaiian, $34.99)
This unusual book-and-CD package features the poems and prose of Norma Ching, who hails from Kona. A devout Christian most of her life, in the late ’90s she suffered a stroke that was closely followed by brain surgery. This book illustrates her joy in life and the guiding principles of religion. It is well printed and features the superb paintings of son Patrick Ching, probably Hawaii’s foremost nature artist. The CD features her voice on most tracks, reading her works, as well as faint music. Available online and from the family Naturally Hawaiian shop in Waimanalo.
"Now, That’s Livin’!" by Capt. Alex W. Kane (Wandering Stock, $25)
This is an updated edition of Kane’s rather jolly memoir first published about a decade ago. He’s still with us, full of stories about growing up on an isolated farm in New Zealand after emigrating from Scotland during the Depression. World War II gave Kane the opportunity to become a pilot, leading to an adventurous life spattered all over the globe and finally settling in Hawaii in the late ’60s. Since then he’s hung up his pilot’s license (except for the occasional jaunt in classic aircraft like the C-47) and become a successful representative of New Zealand’s export products. "Now, That’s Livin’!" is a cheerful read by someone who’s certainly had challenges thrown his way and survived them with good humor. Forty percent of the book’s cover price goes toward Rotary International’s Polio Plus Eradication Program.
"First Class: Nisei Linguists in World War II," by David W. Swift Jr. (National Japanese American Historical Society, $26.95)
The men who formed the core of Japanese-language military interpreters during the Pacific War are a family affair for University of Hawaii professor Swift, whose father was one of only two Caucasian graduates of the Military Intelligence Service (Nisei) school. These soldiers, chosen for their language and critical-analysis skills, were almost all Japanese-Americans, and thus viewed with suspicion by military authorities. Unlike the more celebrated soldiers of the 442nd and 100th organizations, the MIS nisei fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia and the blasted beaches of hard-fought Pacific atolls against an enemy who looked just like them but, as this collection of memoirs makes clear, did not think like them. Swift has assembled a couple of dozen illuminating interviews that make these soldiers’ contribution to victory a personal triumph as well as an emotional ordeal. The large format of the layout does not make the text easy to read, although it does make the illustrations and collected photographs more striking.
