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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Masterful. Somehow better than her follow-up work which I read first last year. An amazing story of grief, desire, wild animals, and what it means to tame our own desires. A brilliant book that weaves the twin narratives of the loss of the author's father into her learning to fly a goshawk with a third narrative about T.H. White, his life, and his experiences flying a goshawk and writing his own book on the subject. A book bigger than any of its subjects that tries to reach for truth in the talons, beak, and wings of a raptor.
An exceptional book. There are times, perhaps after a cleansing bout of rain, or a prolonged and insistent spell of wind, when it seems as if one can see the world more sharply. The obviously illusory feeling that, NOT that the world is "cleaner", but rather that our minds can take more in. This book's writing stimulates a similar confidence. Some of McDonald's descriptions of training her goshawk are so vivid, so spare, so perfect that you might effortlessly recall them afterwards. Or they might leave you feeling exhilirated, bruised, even bloodied. ..and for that, feeling more alive. How often does reading do that?
A beautiful and poignant book on grief, falconry and T.H. White. The author suddenly loses her beloved father and distance herself from humanity by adopting a notoriously difficult to train species of hawk. In the process, she studies the sad life of T.H. White and his efforts to find fulfillment of self through falconry.
I was so moved by the author’s relationship with their father. My goal in life is to be the best dad I can be. I often find it very depressing how many bad dads there are in fiction and in real life. It was wonderful to see the impact of a positive father in a person’s life for once.
Every aspect of falconry and the writer’s relationship with her hawk Mabel was extraordinary. The history of falconry, the insights on the beauty and personality of hawks and man’s relationship with wild animals is explored with love, respect and brilliant creativity. There’s something so satisfying about reading someone passionately and clearly explaining a subject they love.
Last, but not least, T.H. White was a fascinating figure. His struggles with the alienation of being gay in the early 19th century was tragic. How his internal darkness impacted his stories was eye opening. I feel so sad for him and by extension all non-hetero people who were forced to live in fear and shame.
I was so moved by the author’s relationship with their father. My goal in life is to be the best dad I can be. I often find it very depressing how many bad dads there are in fiction and in real life. It was wonderful to see the impact of a positive father in a person’s life for once.
Every aspect of falconry and the writer’s relationship with her hawk Mabel was extraordinary. The history of falconry, the insights on the beauty and personality of hawks and man’s relationship with wild animals is explored with love, respect and brilliant creativity. There’s something so satisfying about reading someone passionately and clearly explaining a subject they love.
Last, but not least, T.H. White was a fascinating figure. His struggles with the alienation of being gay in the early 19th century was tragic. How his internal darkness impacted his stories was eye opening. I feel so sad for him and by extension all non-hetero people who were forced to live in fear and shame.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
There is not a huge amount of plotline in H is for Hawk – the dust jacket probably tells you everything you need to know including that the writer comes to terms with the death of her father, and sometime after obtains a Goshawk to train which had been a lifelong fascination. I found the writing throughout to draw one effectively into the mind and motivation behind everything and absorb one throughout. Reading this coincided with viewing the documentary Tiger King: though the author of Hawk is no Joe Exotic, I do wonder about people who keep and train very wild animals (I’m sure some would argue that falconry has a much deeper pedigree than keeping wild tigers captive, but both are depicted on Egyptian walls). It seems that on balance both in their way assist in keeping up wild population numbers, although Macdonald is decidedly much less flashier than Joe Exotic. Luckily for the reader, what she lacks in sequined shirts is made up for in engaging prose.
Content warning: death of a parwnt
A book about the goshawk and grief
Beautifully written.
She had scars on the outside from Mabel but she had also healed the scars on the inside
A book about the goshawk and grief
Beautifully written.
She had scars on the outside from Mabel but she had also healed the scars on the inside
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced