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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
sad
slow-paced
I almost never don't finish a book, but I just couldn't read this one after the first half. There are just too many great books out there to read one I am not enjoying at all.
I can’t do it. Made it 77 pages in and I just don’t like this book.
Misc. thoughts:
- it feels very “literary” like one of those books your English teacher would hand you and you know you’re supposed to think it’s brilliant and interesting and says something profound about human nature but you just can’t ever get into it
- I know I quit early but falconry in as much as I understood in 77 pages feels wrong (and bougie). I just don’t “get” keeping healthy birds of prey for hunting with.
- I know grief takes a lot of forms but I find it strange that the loss of a parent would lead one to conclude they have no purpose in life until getting a goshawk.
Misc. thoughts:
- it feels very “literary” like one of those books your English teacher would hand you and you know you’re supposed to think it’s brilliant and interesting and says something profound about human nature but you just can’t ever get into it
- I know I quit early but falconry in as much as I understood in 77 pages feels wrong (and bougie). I just don’t “get” keeping healthy birds of prey for hunting with.
- I know grief takes a lot of forms but I find it strange that the loss of a parent would lead one to conclude they have no purpose in life until getting a goshawk.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Tor me, the best -- and compelling-- parts of this are the day-to-day interactions with her hawk, when she's not so conscious of being literary. The style becomes quite purple at important stages at critical moments, and for me her references to White seem forced about halfway through.
Would this have been improved without these faults, as something shorter and more focussed on the ket story? Yes I think so.
Mixed feelings.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
In short: I am very taken with Macdonald’s writing voice and their distinctive way of noticing the world around them. It turns out I’m just not that interested in hawks.
I picked up this book knowing literally nothing about it except that readers I trust have, for years, raved about it. The mixed book I encountered was a memoir that is two parts grieving the death of a father, two parts How to Train Your Dragon (Goshawk), one part a history of falconry, one part the life of English author T. H. White (famous for writing the Arthurian classic, “The Once and Future King.”)
You would think I am the target audience for this book. Naturalism and nature writing! Lyrical prose! Fascination with obscure subject matter! And yet. I just could not get into the sections on falconry and Macdonald’s relationship with their goshawk companion, Mabel. Something simply didn’t click for me. And given that these are about half the book (or more), that posed a challenge. Giving it three stars, though, because the writing is absolutely gorgeous, because I was deeply moved by their writing on grief, and because I was actually really intrigued by their account of T. H. White.
It wasn’t a total hit for me, but I can see why people love it — and for many, I am sure this is a five-star read!
I picked up this book knowing literally nothing about it except that readers I trust have, for years, raved about it. The mixed book I encountered was a memoir that is two parts grieving the death of a father, two parts How to Train Your Dragon (Goshawk), one part a history of falconry, one part the life of English author T. H. White (famous for writing the Arthurian classic, “The Once and Future King.”)
You would think I am the target audience for this book. Naturalism and nature writing! Lyrical prose! Fascination with obscure subject matter! And yet. I just could not get into the sections on falconry and Macdonald’s relationship with their goshawk companion, Mabel. Something simply didn’t click for me. And given that these are about half the book (or more), that posed a challenge. Giving it three stars, though, because the writing is absolutely gorgeous, because I was deeply moved by their writing on grief, and because I was actually really intrigued by their account of T. H. White.
It wasn’t a total hit for me, but I can see why people love it — and for many, I am sure this is a five-star read!
Could be my favorite book. Was so interesting to see the author use falconry, a hobby she is an expert in, to deal with experiences and emotions that she never imagined. The bird is a backdrop to words on human nature that left me stunned on multiple occasions.
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
I would benefit from reading this on a different time. Now that I know what to expect from this book, I would appreciate this book better a later time.