Westernersfrom early missionaries to explorers to present-day artists, scientists, and touristshave always found volcanoes fascinating and disturbing. Native Hawaiians, in contrast, revere volcanoes as a source of spiritual energy and see the volcano goddess Pele as part of the natural cycle of a continuously procreative cosmos. Volcanoes hold a special place in our curiosity about nature.
"The Burning Island" is an intimate, multilayered portrait of the Hawaiian volcano regiona land marked by a precarious tension between the harsh reality of constant geologic change, respect for...