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bgg616's review
5.0
The word "orison" is not one that comes up in everyday language. It means prayer, and is appropriate as part of the title. The title and the beauty of the book cover attracted me to it, a book I hadn't come across since its publication three years ago. I don't often read books about wildlife, but books about birds probably appeal to me the most. Recently I read [b:Apeirogon|50732671|Apeirogon|Colum McCann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577772020l/50732671._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71466820] by Colum McCann, which goes into detail about the migration paths of birds through Israel and Palestine. I was amazed at the sheer numbers of birds that take this route on their winter migration to Africa. The slender-billed curlew were, at one time, among these birds. Now commonly known as the rarest birds in the world, it is uncertain if any survive.
The author searches for the sites in the Balkan Peninsula and Eastern Europe where some of the last sightings were reported. He visits Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and introduces us to heroic, and in some cases a bit "crazy", people who on their own, or as employees of local or national governments, have tried to locate surviving slender-billed curlews. Birds, their survival and demise, is closely linked to environmental factors. This bird has disappeared because most of its nesting and breeding places have been destroyed in the name of development. This book makes a strong argument that birds are an important indicator of the relative health of our planet.
This slight volume is filled with beautiful prose, and passionate portrayals. It is complemented by art which complements the text. You do not have to be a birdwatcher, or even someone who has bird feeders in their yard, to love this book. I am neither, but I am highly recommend it.
The author searches for the sites in the Balkan Peninsula and Eastern Europe where some of the last sightings were reported. He visits Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and introduces us to heroic, and in some cases a bit "crazy", people who on their own, or as employees of local or national governments, have tried to locate surviving slender-billed curlews. Birds, their survival and demise, is closely linked to environmental factors. This bird has disappeared because most of its nesting and breeding places have been destroyed in the name of development. This book makes a strong argument that birds are an important indicator of the relative health of our planet.
This slight volume is filled with beautiful prose, and passionate portrayals. It is complemented by art which complements the text. You do not have to be a birdwatcher, or even someone who has bird feeders in their yard, to love this book. I am neither, but I am highly recommend it.
stewart_monckton's review against another edition
4.0
Most books about conservation concentrate on the species in question - how it lives, where it lives and why it is dying. This book is different.
The slender-billed curlew is a bird that exists almost outside of knowledge - we know very little about - and we are not completely sure if it still exists or not. So this brief, but wonderful, book concentrates as much on the often remarkable, sometimes strange, people who are trying to know this bird as on the bird itself.
Recommended.
The slender-billed curlew is a bird that exists almost outside of knowledge - we know very little about - and we are not completely sure if it still exists or not. So this brief, but wonderful, book concentrates as much on the often remarkable, sometimes strange, people who are trying to know this bird as on the bird itself.
Recommended.
kingjason's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The Slender-billed Curlew has been on the almost extinct list for a long time now and when I picked up this book I was wondering how Clare was going to be able to write about something he hadn’t seen and is unlikely ever to see. What Clare has written is a homage to the bird through the eyes of those that have seen it and the work they have dedicated their life to in it’s honour….and as an added bonus there are plenty of trains.
Clare travels between Greece, Romania and Bulgaria to locate those bird watchers who have had confirmed sightings of this special Curlew. When he finds one he interrogates them about the time they saw it, how they got into birdwatching and about their life to date. From their words you can see their love of all birds come through and it’s not surprising that they have spent their life on conservation and have been on the frontline getting their governments to start protecting it’s wildlife and creating safe spaces for them.
I particularly enjoyed Claire’s descriptions of places and scenery as he travelled, I’ve not really read any good travel books for Romania or Bulgaria and this book gives you a good taster of what the country has to offer.
A wonderful homage to the Slender-billed Curlew and for those who care for it.
Blog Review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
Clare travels between Greece, Romania and Bulgaria to locate those bird watchers who have had confirmed sightings of this special Curlew. When he finds one he interrogates them about the time they saw it, how they got into birdwatching and about their life to date. From their words you can see their love of all birds come through and it’s not surprising that they have spent their life on conservation and have been on the frontline getting their governments to start protecting it’s wildlife and creating safe spaces for them.
I particularly enjoyed Claire’s descriptions of places and scenery as he travelled, I’ve not really read any good travel books for Romania or Bulgaria and this book gives you a good taster of what the country has to offer.
A wonderful homage to the Slender-billed Curlew and for those who care for it.
Blog Review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
4.0
One of the world’s rarest birds is the Slender-billed curlew. It breeds in Siberia in the brief summer and then heads south across the vast landscape to over winter in the much warmer Mediterranean region. It used to be a common enough bird, being seen often in Italy and Greece as well as the Balkans on the wetlands and estuaries. Then within a few years it stopped being a regular sight and almost vanished completely, just the odd speculative glimpse, but nothing confirmed. Horatio Clare wants to see if this fine bird has become extinct, or if there are the still some around. He travels from its wintering sites across Europe meeting conservationists who are trying their best to save habitats and creatures across a landscape undergoing dramatic changes.
Too much certainty is a miserable thing, while the unknowable has a pristine beauty and a wonder with no end.
Clare is engaging with all those he meets as he crosses Europe looking for these elusive birds and talking to those that remember them returning in the winters. It is quite a moving book as he searches for the elusive curlew and considers the reasons behind the decline. There are echoes of his book, A Single Swallow, and it is written in the same lyrical style, making this a joy to read. If it has one tiny flaw it is that it is very short, it felt like it took no time at all to read. 4.5 stars
Too much certainty is a miserable thing, while the unknowable has a pristine beauty and a wonder with no end.
Clare is engaging with all those he meets as he crosses Europe looking for these elusive birds and talking to those that remember them returning in the winters. It is quite a moving book as he searches for the elusive curlew and considers the reasons behind the decline. There are echoes of his book, A Single Swallow, and it is written in the same lyrical style, making this a joy to read. If it has one tiny flaw it is that it is very short, it felt like it took no time at all to read. 4.5 stars
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