Non-Fiction

Museums Matter, written by James Cuno (former president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago) is pretty much what you’d expect it to be – a response to those who believe museums have outlived their usefulness.  A wee bit of a stuffy response, as is to be expected.

But, lurking in between the somewhat dry paragraphs, were some thought provoking ideas and questions.

It took me about four hours longer than it should have, to read this book, because I kept putting it down to think about museums I’ve visited and I kept putting it down to ask TW questions about her own museum visits.

How much do you think about the hows and whys of museum displays and organization? Do you ever stop to wonder whether you’re seeing the displays as the curator hopes you are? Do you ever feel like the curator is forcing his (or her) ideas on you, by choosing a particular layout or design? Do you ever feel like you’re being fed propaganda rather than being left to sort ideas and discoveries out for yourself?

If you were going to design a room in a museum, would you select pieces and place them in ways that allowed them to work together to tell a larger story – or would you display them in some other way? When you visit a museum are conscious of the greater story being told through the display choices? Does it really matter to you at all?

And of course, now I’m craving a museum visit (or two.)

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Which travel guides are the best? I mean really? Fodors vs Frommers? And what about the Mobile guides? They all seem pretty much the same – so which do people prefer? 

Here are the ones I’ve read so far:

Frommer’s Honolulu and Oahu Day By Day: I like the day by day kind of guides, the ones that give you sample itineraries for days/interests. But, it’s pretty rare for me to find a full day/itinerary that is perfect. I always want to skip some things and add others but I’m never sure whether what I’m adding will really fit in (time/location) with what I’m keeping/dropping. So complicated!

Hidden Oahu: I’m not sure sure that my definition of Hidden is the same as theirs but – I liked some of their recommendations since they weren’t always the same as Fodor/Frommer standard tourist must see recommendations. However, I hated the paper this was printed on.

Oahu: Fodors in Focus: This one was pretty standard – Frommer’s Day By Day-like. Nothing surprising was lurking in there.

Lonely Planet Honolulu, Waikiki & Oahu: This was my favorite of the bunch. I’m a Lonely Planet kind of person. If I buy a guide, it will be this one. Or if I download one to my iPad/iPhone, it will be this one.

Adventure Guide Honolulu, Waikiki, & Oahu (Hunter Guides): This one causes me and TW to spend about a half hour calling various weather and time phone numbers (don’t ask) and I liked the section about local culture, Hawaiian language, and native foods/plants. Again, I hated the paper it was printed on. This was probably my second favorite because it did have some shops and restaurants that none of the other guides included.

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