Charles M. Jr. Taylor

I found this book available for free online through the New York Public Library. For my research needs, it was an absolute delight. Taylor describes, in exhausting detail, the full scope of his world travels, departing from Philadelphia by train, by ship from San Francisco to Honolulu, for an extended stay, and then an event longer stay in Japan. His detailed treks across the Big Island were exactly what I needed for my notes. However, his laborious efforts to record everything makes for a tedious read when he's in Japan, as his days because a monotonous log of his driving his poor rickshaw drivers hard through cataclysmic flooding so that he may stay on his predetermined schedule.

Which leads me into another necessary issue: this is a work to be regarded within the context of the times, because wow, is it steeped in white privilege and racism. This is evident from page 1 and his observations of southern blacks, and continues through his adventures in Hawaii and Japan. None of this is a surprise, but it still made me cringe as I read. It was rather nice to see him judged in such a way when he was the odd white man traversing Japan.

If you're curious about Hawaii and Japan in the late 1890s, this is well worth the read.… (altro)