The Descendants

The Descendants

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3.81 of 5 stars 3.81  ·  rating details  ·  8,320 ratings  ·  1,475 reviews
Matt King, discendente di una ricca principessa, era considerato uno degli uomini più ricchi e fortunati delle Hawaii ma ora la sua buona stella sembra avergli voltato le spalle. Sua moglie, la fotomodella Joanie, ha un brutto incidente ed entra in coma. Le sue figlie, Alex e Scottie, si dibattono tra problemi di tossicodipendenza e un disperato bisogno di attenzione. A pe...more
Paperback, 285 pages
Published 2008 by Jonathan Cape (first published May 15th 2007)
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Kelly
Have you ever been sitting somewhere, life moving all around you, and in that moment you are completely aware? You can see the pieces of who you were yesterday falling to the ground as today begins to fill in the holes and all you can manage to do is sit there and watch it dissolve. And as much as you know you need to get up, to start assimilating, you find yourself repeating under your breath, "How did I get here? How is this my life?" This is that juncture actualized.

Matt isn't the best father...more
Audrey
Whoa.

I'm not sure where this author came from, but look out! Her characters are in your FACE--funny and scary--with an emotional swirl in the background that makes it hard to breathe.

The premise, which is almost beside the point, is that Matthew King's wife is in a coma. And he has to rise up to the occasion, and be a parent in a way he never was before. You realize, along with him, that these wild, angry girls never really had a parent of any kind.

Characters--daughters and fathers--talk to e...more
Alison
This family melodrama set on Hawaii is an impressively brave, charming and intelligent novel. The themes that it sets out to tackle are tough, no doubt about it - dying, parenting, adolescence, infidelity - yet it handles them with irrepressible warmth, humour and dignity without ever seeming fake or cliched.

The characters are each in turn so hostile, warm, selfish, caring, vengeful, forgiving, idiotic, intelligent and a hundred other things beside that I found them utterly believable and ultima...more
Robert E.  Kennedy Library
Seeing the movie preview prompted me to seek out this book and quickly read it before it left the Palm. The novel, based on a short story, is Hemmings’ first, and its characters grabbed me from the first page. A distracted, work-obsessed father, Matt King, is forced to take a much more hands-on role with his two daughters when his daredevil wife Elizabeth falls into a coma after a boating accident. I know, it sounds like an after-school special or a soap opera Friday afternoon cliffhanger, but i...more
Maria
Bem não foi um livro que adorei ler mas achei simpático. Fiquei com curiosidade de ver como foi feita a adaptação ao cinema pois este livro pede mesmo isso pois quase parece um guião... Fez-me pensar que ninguém é insubstituível mas que algumas pessoas fazem muito falta, algo que eu já sabia obviamente, pois a vida se encarregou de me ensinar essa lição muito cedo...
Mike Mauthor
This book felt like i read a memoir of someone's life. The book is from Mr. King's point of view as I (the reader) took a journey with him in his life while his wife (in a coma) was in the hospital. Mr. King is a likeable character but his parenting, however, is questionable to say the least. What came out of his daughters' mouth were jaw-opening and not acceptable for their age. He(Mr. King) need an instruction book on parenting. But, besides from that issue, I really like the main protagonist...more
Mary
The concise prose exposes the raw terrain of strained family relationships brought into new relief by the wife/mother's debilitating accident.
Ruth
I liked the story line because I love Hawaii. It was an easy read and kept me entertained.
Jennifer Johnson
This book probably suffered a bit as I had already seen the movie, somthing I usually try not to do. It was excellent and very accomplished for a first novel but as I knew what would happen some of the magic was lost on me.
Booksintheburbs
I am probably the only person on earth that does not think George Clooney is eye candy. I find him quite aloof and have never been a fan. Naturally, I didn’t watch this movie at the theaters or on DVD. I came across this book while searching on overdrive.com for a book. I am reviewing another book, Tiger Baby Strikes Back by Kim Wong Keltner, and wanted to read the book Kim writes in reference to: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. When The Descendants popped up on my screen, I read th...more
Esther
Matthew used to be successful and respected because one of his ancestors married a princess, so he is a descendant of royalty (also the reason it is called the descendants). You learn that things seem to have changed and that his life is falling a part. His oldest daughter, Alex, has a drug problem and his younger daughter is becoming more rebellious. His wife is also in a coma and that is when Alex comes home. Alex knows something about her mother that she never talks about. After battling with...more
Natalia Chaves
The Descendants

Matt King inherited a lot of land in Hawaii, because he is one of the descendants of a missionary that, a long time ago, married a Hawaiian princess, so now he's one of the biggest landowners of Hawaii. The descendants have to sell it for two reasons: need of money and, after all, they weren't doing anything with the land. He has the biggest say, so it's a lot of pressure, worsened by the coma of his wife, caused by a boat accident. Despite all these problems, he also has to deal...more
Dan
Contains spoilers (as if you haven't already seen the movie, as if you had even heard of this book before the movie, and for some inexplicable reason have held off seeing the movie because you just haven't gotten around to reading the book - spare me - like you're some big aficionado of Hawaii-based literature anyway. But I digress...)
It's impossible for me to evaluate this book independent of the movie. The reason why I read this book is because I loved the movie. I'm always annoyed by people w...more
Yusuf Ashaq
The hook of this book was that Matthew Kings wife is in a coma after facing a tragic boating accident that strikes the Kings family with a journey. With this struggle and him dealing on his inheritance to paradise complicates situations. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings is about the journey of finding the Kings familys history and the secrets of the mother whom is in a coma. The story has exhilarating findings, and comedy that makes this tragicomedy a worth reading book. The main character...more
Kristen
I actually saw the movie before I read this book, and that's OK because the movie did a pretty darn good job of capturing the feeling and characters in this book.

What can I possibly say about this book except that it was phenomenal? I enjoyed it immensely. It was so well-written. It was witty and profound. It was laugh-out-loud funny one minute and achingly poignant the next. I alternately wanted to hug Alex and Scotti King and give them a well-deserved spanking.

I enjoyed the awakening that Mat...more
Louise
As I am writing this, the filming is taking place here in Hawaii. The concept is perfect for the big screen. Joanie, a fun loving model, is critically injured in a boat accident. She has a cross-addicted teenage daughter, also a model, and a precocious 10 year old daughter who blurts out both wise and childish quips. The head on straight, soon to be widowed, sensitive husband (perfect for George Clooney - and yes - he has the part) re-connects with his family values. The movie will have beautifu...more
Cameron
Having the desire to read the source material for what was my favorite movie from 2011, I picked up The Descendants and began reading. One of my first impressions, and one that lasted with me throughout the book, was how amazingly close the Oscar-winning screenplay was to the book. Shockingly close. "Anyone who can command+c and command+v can write a screenplay," I thought.

And then I started to appreciate the real beauty in the book that I was reading. Much like the movie, it is heartbreakingly...more
Kate
I wanted to like this book. It takes place in a beautiful setting, the story is interesting but I just couldn't get my arms around it.

There were a ton of Hawaiian words in it. I thought I would be okay with this because I have family from Hawaii and my knowledge of the language is probably better than most, but I struggled with this book.

The book is also almost entirely dialogue. I felt there was no set up or explanation where I wanted it. The style, while much better written than I what I produ...more
Sheri
Lots of times I've seen movies that were of books I had previously read, but this is the first time I did it backwards (I think). I saw this on the ebookshelf the week before we left for vacation and I was looking for beach reads and thought, why not. Then, I didn't end up reading as much on my trip as I usually do and so came home with it still unread on my kindle. I debated with just returning it, but figured it was short and quick and so I'd just read through it this afternoon.

It was slightly...more
Bücherplanet
Das Thema hat mich total interessiert, habe mir viel von dem Buch versprochen. Ich muss sagen, beim ersten Drittel des Buches war ich drauf und dran, das Lesen abzubrechen, weil es mich nicht wirklich gereizt hat weiterzulesen. Danach bin ich richtig reingekommen und dann hat mich die Geschichte mitgerissen. Man hat richtig die Angst und die Überforderung von Matthew gespürt. Was ich persönlich nicht nachvollziehen konnte, war sein teilweise starkes Verständnis seiner Frau gegenüber. Wahrscheinl...more
Alec Scott
Soon to do a travel piece on Hawai'i, and how it's been seen in various books, from Melville, R.L. Stevenson, Jack London forward. This is rather taut family drama, nearly a thriller -- especially so for me since I didn't see the supposedly excellent film. (Though knowing Clooney was in the main role changed the reading, probably utterly.) After a boating accident, the wife and mother -- a pushing, sexy pistol of a woman, a model and flirtatious trophy wife -- lies in a coma. Her husband is one...more
Will
This is a hard book to read, and ironically it's because the language is so easy. Matt King, the protagonist, isn't trying to impress you with his intelligence or make beautiful words. He's just trying to make sense of his life -- his wife is in a coma in the hospital, and his two girls, Scottie and Alex... are acting like children. Or teenagers. He's a father without any guidebook or external support, and he's telling himself that things are going to be okay, and his wife is going to come out o...more
Lizzy Hinkle
The book The Descendants is about an older man Matthew King who is struggling with his family to pick someone to by off the big property they own in Hawaii and he is struggling to get rid of it because it has been apart of there family for the longest time. through out the book it also talks about the hard ships of his relationship with his daughters and how there life is changing because there mother got into a comma and might not live. I gave the book four stars because it was a quick easy re...more
Cathy
I'm not sure if I would have appreciated The Descendants as much if I wasn't able to place George Clooney in the lead role. Perhaps I would have conjured a different image of Matt King, and it would have completely changed my perception of the novel. Fortunately or not, the role is inextricably linked to Clooney in my imagination, and it is very nearly a perfect imagining.

Matt King is a character who, in other circumstances, a reader would love to hate. He is an attorney who prioritizes his work...more
Nena
Kindle Edition:

Simply not up to my reading standards. It's written in a that oh so annoying and awkward present tense (much like that other piece of trash book The Friendship Bread by Darien Gee). Horrible writing style.

The writing voice sounds as though it were written by a 12 year old. I had to check three times to make sure this was not on the juvenile or young adult list. It's not although God only knows why.

I couldn't even finish this. About half way through, I realized that the characters...more
Josee
I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn't sure what to expect, and had only seen commercials for the movie, but I was immediately drawn into the story. I felt for all the characters, especially Scottie and Alex. Hemmings did a great job making you see things from the eyes of these kids - and the view points were so different and so sharp, she didn't try to do a generic 10-year-old voice or a generic 18-year-old voice and I liked that. I felt like Matt K...more
Book Concierge
Audio book performed by Jonathan Davis
3.5***

Most everyone thinks Matthew King is one of the luckiest men in Hawaii. His great-grandfather was a missionary who married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and owner (with his cousins) of one of the largest pieces of undeveloped real estate in the islands. But that is not his focus these days. His wife Joanie lies in a coma after a boating accident and he is left trying to deal with his two daughters – 10-year-old Scottie and 17-year...more
Rrshively
Three-fourths of the way through this book, I would only have given it 2 stars. I have been an elementary teacher, and I find the 10-yr.-old's language beyond the pale and unbelievable. Who would have put up with it the first time it came out? Where did she get it? I understand the dad being at sea as to what to do about it. I didn't find the coma-stricken wife a sympathetic character in any way. There are ways to be strong and bold without being the person she was. However, the way the father a...more
Grace
Author: Kaui Hart Hemings
Title: The Descendants
Description: This is one of those books that became famous as a movie. I haven’t seen the movie yet (you know I always read the book first). This one was one of our book group selections. Matthew King’s wife Joanie is in a coma and has been for the past twenty-three days. Not only does he have to make decisions about continuing her care, he has two daughters he hardly knows. Matthew and his girls have to redefine what it means to be a family.
Plot: T...more
Melissa
I think this book would have been better told from the older daughter, Alex's, point of view, which to me, was more intriguing. I didn't find Matt's voice to be entirely convincing as male; he sounded like a woman at times. I didn't completely buy the fact that when his wife is knocking on death's door, he'd leave with his daughters for a few days to find the man she had been cheating with. Seemed like that could wait. He was trying to pass it off as somewhat altruistic, in that he was doing wha...more
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The Descendants (Hardcover)
The Descendants (Paperback)
The Descendants (Paperback)
The Decendants
The Descendants (Paperback)

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I'm the author of The Descendants and House of Thieves. Visit my website:
www.kauiharthemmings.com
More about Kaui Hart Hemmings...
House of Thieves

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