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alldebooks's review against another edition
5.0
This is exceptional writing that really takes you on the adventure with her. The chapter on St Kilda was hypnotic. At some points you forget you are reading the words and instead you are living the experience she is describing.
As a poet you, would expect a master of language but Kathleen Jamie goes beyond that. Her command of the written word flows so easily it is an absolute delight.
I can't recommend her highly enough and look forward to reading more of her work.
As a poet you, would expect a master of language but Kathleen Jamie goes beyond that. Her command of the written word flows so easily it is an absolute delight.
I can't recommend her highly enough and look forward to reading more of her work.
clairewords's review against another edition
4.0
The second volume of essays by Kathleen Jamie that I've read, more encounters with birds on lonely, wind-windswept islands that have long been abandoned by humans, though traces remain of their earlier occupation.
In her trademark poetic style, she travels with experts from whom she gleans bits of information, fascinating trivia, or alarming statistics that tell of a significant drop in population of certain species, but mostly she continues her mission of acute observation, of trying to see in the simplest terms something of the lives and patterns of behaviour of these majestical winged creatures (The Gannetry), who make those long migrations each year and return to these islands to continue their heritage.
We learn more of her beginnings, of the archeological dig, where she developed a fascination for uncovering secrets hidden beneath (The Woman in the Field), we accompany her on a boat to the arctic(Aurora), to witness giant icebergs on the move, the green lights of the aurora overhead, a visit to a museum in Norway where ancient whalebones will be cleaned, restored, preserved, the sadness of their demise emitting an odour even after all these years of inhabiting a dusty dry interior (The Hvalsalen).
She muses on Pathologies in a science lab, a lunar eclipse, three attempts to visit St Kilda, Neolithic caves and the passage of time in her own life, marked by the growth of children into adolescence on the cusp of young adulthood.
In her trademark poetic style, she travels with experts from whom she gleans bits of information, fascinating trivia, or alarming statistics that tell of a significant drop in population of certain species, but mostly she continues her mission of acute observation, of trying to see in the simplest terms something of the lives and patterns of behaviour of these majestical winged creatures (The Gannetry), who make those long migrations each year and return to these islands to continue their heritage.
We learn more of her beginnings, of the archeological dig, where she developed a fascination for uncovering secrets hidden beneath (The Woman in the Field), we accompany her on a boat to the arctic(Aurora), to witness giant icebergs on the move, the green lights of the aurora overhead, a visit to a museum in Norway where ancient whalebones will be cleaned, restored, preserved, the sadness of their demise emitting an odour even after all these years of inhabiting a dusty dry interior (The Hvalsalen).
She muses on Pathologies in a science lab, a lunar eclipse, three attempts to visit St Kilda, Neolithic caves and the passage of time in her own life, marked by the growth of children into adolescence on the cusp of young adulthood.
late_stranger's review against another edition
3.0
I was sad to find I really preferred Findings, Jamie's first book. I think it was the personal connection - she sets a few of those essays in Edinburgh, where I live. But this collection was unfortunately average, though enjoyable. I really liked the thruline with the whales, and the focus on islands was interesting, though I'd have preferred it if that had been drawn out more into a book specifically about islands.
robynldouglas's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounding up to 4, because it's not Jamie's fault that I'm not her ideal audience. I think this has lovely bits in it - some gorgeous writing, and the two longest essays (one on whales and a collection of whale bones in a Norwegian museum, the other on St. Kilda) are stand-out. However, I usually look to essay collections like this to teach me new things, and her topics are fairly well-trod ones for me. I did enjoy the memories her essays provoked, especially of my own encounters with whales, and as Scotland is a favourite destination I'm looking forward to treading some of the same ground she does.
trsr's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it! Fine writing, filled with close observations, luminous descriptions and perspectives laced with surprise and never overstated, and with an undercurrent of gentle humour running right through. Essays like they should be written. I'm a fan already.
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