Summary of William Finnegan's Barbarian Days

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I was a haole, or white, kid in a primarily Hawaiian school in Honolulu. The other kids made fun of me, and I didn’t have any friends. I was too scared to say anything.

#2 I was sent to Kaimuki Intermediate School, a racially segregated school, where I was bullied and had no friends. I was bored in class, and spent most of my time watching the trees outside for wind direction and strength.

#3 I was excited to be in Hawaii, and I was surprised by how little surf there was. The waves were small and dark-faced, and the wind offshore. I was worried about the coral reef off the beach.

#4 I paddled west along a shallow lagoon, staying close to the shore, for half a mile. The beach houses ended, and the steep, brushy base of Diamond Head itself took their place across the sand. The reef on my left fell away, revealing a wide channel deep water where no waves broke.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669355939

IRB Media

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Insights on William Finnegan's Barbarian Days

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was a haole, or white, kid in a primarily Hawaiian school in Honolulu. The other kids made fun of me, and I didn’t have any friends. I was too scared to say anything.

#2

I was sent to Kaimuki Intermediate School, a racially segregated school, where I was bullied and had no friends. I was bored in class, and spent most of my time watching the trees outside for wind direction and strength.

#3

I was excited to be in Hawaii, and I was surprised by how little surf there was. The waves were small and dark-faced, and the wind offshore. I was worried about the coral reef off the beach.

#4

I paddled west along a shallow lagoon, staying close to the shore, for half a mile. The beach houses ended, and the steep, brushy base of Diamond Head itself took their place across the sand. The reef on my left fell away, revealing a wide channel deep water where no waves broke.

#5

To learn any new spot, you first must know other breaks and how to read them. But at that stage, my surfing experience consisted of only a few California spots and one in Ventura that I knew well.

#6

I began to surf Cliffs Cove in the early morning, before any other people were out there. The wind was usually light, the sea less seasick, and there were other people surfing. I felt free to explore the margins.

#7

I had a series of fistfights at school, some of which were formally scheduled. I was scared, but I didn’t tell my parents anything. Cuts and bruises could be explained.

#8

I eventually joined the In Crowd, a racist gang that was led by a kid named Mike. They let me know I was welcome to join them under the monkeypod tree. I began to realize that people seemed to know I was now part of the haole gang, and they began to pick on other kids.

#9

I began to notice the smoothness of the regulars at Cliffs. I had never seen such smoothness. The Island style was different from the mainland style, and it was channeled. I began to surf like Roddy Kaulukukui, who was 13 years old.

#10

Roddy began to fill me in on the other surfers at Cliffs. The fat guy who took off far outside and ripped was Ben Aipa. The Chinese guy who showed up on the biggest day I had seen yet was Leslie Wong.

#11

The In Crowd’s racism was situationist, not doctrinaire. They had no historical pretensions. They were mostly military kids who looked disoriented and scared. They seemed to be mainly talking about gang fighting, but most of their energy went into gossip, parties, petty theft, and vandalism.

#12

I learned that Roddy and Glenn had gone to the same school as me, Kaimuki Intermediate. They had lived on the island of Hawaii, which everybody called the Big Island. They had family there. Now they had a stepmother, and she and Roddy didn’t get along.

#13

Roddy believed in Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire. She lived on the Big Island, and people said she caused the volcanoes to erupt when she was displeased. She was famously jealous and violent, and Hawaiians tried to propitiate her with offerings of pork, fish, and liquor.

#14

I learned to love the rights at Kaikoos. It was a deepwater break off Black Point, visible from the bottom of our lane. It was hard to line up, and always bigger than it looked. I found it scary.

#15

I had always had a fear of the ocean, but when I finally went out there and saw how big the waves were, it changed me. I was scared, but I wanted to learn how to surf.

#16

I had a father who worked at least six days a week, and who made sure we got to see the sights of Hawaii. He was building the foundation for a career as a Hawaii specialist, and spent the next decade making feature films and TV shows in the islands.

#17

My father was always worried about bullies, and he would always advise me to pick up a stick if I was ever confronted by