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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Nice to hear someone enthusiastic about their job, life, knowledge, and the fabulous ravens at the Tower of London. I remember my visit there years ago and having my shoes and shoe laces attacked by a very persistent raven, I was enchanted. Listened to this and loved that, too.
It is clear from the start that Christopher Skaife really loves these ravens, and above all else, that completely endeared me to this book. A memoir of his time so far as the ‘Ravenmaster’ at the Tower of London, interspersed with occasional deviations into his early life and career in the army, Skaife combines personal anecdotes with a potted introduction to these incredibly intelligent birds, and the result is absolutely charming. I listened to this book on audio, narrated by the author, and the admiration for his charges is present in every word - I’d highly recommend consuming it in this way. By the end, I felt that I knew the seven current ravens (particularly Merlina, haughty and delightfully dominant), and it made me want to re-visit the Tower to try to spot them in the flesh.
I don’t know if I gave this book four stars because of the time in which I listened to this book, (May 2020 and insanity of the coronavirus pandemic and the fear and uncertainty of the George Floyd riots), that I gave this four stars or because of the book itself. But it was comforting to think of the Tower of London surviving bombing, civil wars, fires, and plagues and to think of the ravens being cared for with such diligence and concern while hell rages all over the world. Anyway, I appreciated the author’s breezy conversational tone and I enjoyed learning about the ravens and the Tower without having to immerse myself in a more intellectual tome. Sometimes I just want to learn a little and be entertained and forget for a bit the everyday challenges of life. Especially this year!
Great read, more like a sit down and chat with a guy with a really interesting job. Some castle lore and raven lore, bit of science, more biography of the ravenmaster , all fun
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
I follow Christopher Skaife on Twitter and his account is absolutely fascinating. I love seeing the ravens at the Tower of London. I visited the Tower several years ago, so it was really cool to learn more about about the history of the place, the significance of the ravens, and more. The production of the audiobook was fantastic as the author read it himself which really helped make it.
This was an absolute pleasure to read. Maybe I found myself so engrossed because the Tower is my favorite spot in London and I love learning about it, but I really enjoyed Skaife's chronicles of his position in the Tower and what that entails.
In my couple of trips to London, the Tower is the one place I have visited multiple times within each trip. There is so much to see, including the famous ravens. I cannot say I knew much about the ravens, other than they are iconic at the Tower. This was a great work to really learn about their role and kind of the history behind their role and the part they play... as well as Skaife's role too.
A very quick and fun read, I really recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Tower and wanting to learn more about a specific aspect of it.
In my couple of trips to London, the Tower is the one place I have visited multiple times within each trip. There is so much to see, including the famous ravens. I cannot say I knew much about the ravens, other than they are iconic at the Tower. This was a great work to really learn about their role and kind of the history behind their role and the part they play... as well as Skaife's role too.
A very quick and fun read, I really recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Tower and wanting to learn more about a specific aspect of it.
An absolutely wonderful book - fascinating and a very easy read. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Very intersting. Now I want to visit (again).
Cannot understand the review saying there is too much talk about his military career. There was only a few instances where he mentions how he came to become Ravenmaster (which I consider important information) and very few annecdotes that are always linked to his work with the ravens.
Cannot understand the review saying there is too much talk about his military career. There was only a few instances where he mentions how he came to become Ravenmaster (which I consider important information) and very few annecdotes that are always linked to his work with the ravens.