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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this - I’m actually not huge on animals, and not particularly interested in birds - but I picked up the proof of this that my shop was sent because it seemed quirky, and as a proud Londoner I’m always interested in books that cover bits of the city I don’t know much about. And I really, really liked this. It’s so warm and the love Chris feels for his life, his job, his ravens, and the Tower shines through from every page. It’s unexpectedly charming and sweet, and I had a really lovely time reading it.
Really quite interesting! I just wish it was longer and even more detailed.
Such an enjoyable book to read! This will be the perfect gift for someone who enjoys reading, but it's hard to figure out what they like. It's light, fun, and easy, with some history, some fascinating information about the ravens, and and a few lovely pictures. Honestly, that's the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars - I truly wish there were more pictures. I've seen some of the gorgeous ones on Twitter, and was hoping for more. However, his Twitter account is pretty neat, so it's well worth checking out in tandem with the book!
I've been following the author on Twitter for a while so I was familiar with his job and what it entails. Despite that, this is still a fascinating look at the care of the ravens at the Tower of London.
If you aren't familiar with the story, there is a legend (which the author casts doubts on) that if the ravens leave the Tower of London, then England will fall. There are seven ravens who live in the Tower. They are free during the day to mingle with the tourists, steal food from the tourists, and observe the general hub bub. At night they have an enclosure to help protect them from the foxes who also live in the tower.
"In the past the Ravenmasters preferred to put the food out around the Tower, but the problem was that a seagull might take a nice juicy piece of ox liver, say, that was intended for a raven, have a little nibble on it and then casually drop it on a visitor from a great height."
The ravens aren't pets. They aren't tame. They don't work on your schedule. They don't sit nicely on the bench when David Attenborough wants to film with them. They are prone to killing and eating pigeons (not always in that order) in front of the tourists. Most of the Ravenmaster's time seems to be taken up with getting them where they are supposed to be and getting them out of places where they shouldn't be.
"[m]ore than once I’ve seen a raven chasing the Tower’s many resident cats and dogs."
Readers of this book will find out not only lots about ravens but about what it takes to be a Yeoman Warder. He discusses The Story - the official tour group talk that takes people about 6 months to learn perfectly before they can start to change it by adding in their own embellishments. The Story is standardized so any Yeoman Warder can step in and take over a tour if the original guide has to step away to help someone (like if they faint after watching ravens murder other birds.)
The book is written in short chapters in a very conversational style which makes it a very quick and entertaining read. I enjoyed this more since I have been to the Tower and could visualize most of the places that he is discussing. If you haven't been there, looking at a map of the grounds would be helpful to understanding the story. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
If you aren't familiar with the story, there is a legend (which the author casts doubts on) that if the ravens leave the Tower of London, then England will fall. There are seven ravens who live in the Tower. They are free during the day to mingle with the tourists, steal food from the tourists, and observe the general hub bub. At night they have an enclosure to help protect them from the foxes who also live in the tower.
"In the past the Ravenmasters preferred to put the food out around the Tower, but the problem was that a seagull might take a nice juicy piece of ox liver, say, that was intended for a raven, have a little nibble on it and then casually drop it on a visitor from a great height."
The ravens aren't pets. They aren't tame. They don't work on your schedule. They don't sit nicely on the bench when David Attenborough wants to film with them. They are prone to killing and eating pigeons (not always in that order) in front of the tourists. Most of the Ravenmaster's time seems to be taken up with getting them where they are supposed to be and getting them out of places where they shouldn't be.
"[m]ore than once I’ve seen a raven chasing the Tower’s many resident cats and dogs."
Readers of this book will find out not only lots about ravens but about what it takes to be a Yeoman Warder. He discusses The Story - the official tour group talk that takes people about 6 months to learn perfectly before they can start to change it by adding in their own embellishments. The Story is standardized so any Yeoman Warder can step in and take over a tour if the original guide has to step away to help someone (like if they faint after watching ravens murder other birds.)
The book is written in short chapters in a very conversational style which makes it a very quick and entertaining read. I enjoyed this more since I have been to the Tower and could visualize most of the places that he is discussing. If you haven't been there, looking at a map of the grounds would be helpful to understanding the story. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
This book made me laugh and cry. It was informative and very much like sitting down and listening to a man talk about what he loves, with some old or odd stories tossed in for measure.
Very chatty book on a fascinating topic - and very prescient as I’m going to the Tower tomorrow. I’ll certainly have my eyes peeled!
Love me some regular-man memoirs. And yeah, doesn't hurt that I also love birds.
This was such a fun audiobook! I love hearing books as their authors intended for them to be read, and Skaife performs enthusiastically. He's a great storyteller.
This wasn't a topic I had ever given much thought, much less studied, but it's a fascinating subject that I'm happy to know more about.
This wasn't a topic I had ever given much thought, much less studied, but it's a fascinating subject that I'm happy to know more about.
ENG: There is an urban myth that there must always be ravens kept at the Tower of London, or else “the kingdom will fall”. The Tower appoints a team to care for the ravens, which is currently headed by the Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife. I first heard of him through his highly entertaining and sometimes educational Twitter account (which I recommend you follow! @ravenmaster1) and have been wanting to read his book ever since.
He is a natural storyteller and answers the most commonly asked questions not as a dotted list, but as a highly engaging story. The book is brief, eloquent and to the point, and as an author, Skaife has the ideal combination between cleverness, humility, and humor that makes his tales so pleasantly readable. I would gladly sit around to hear this man tell me more stories about anything in general.
Sometimes he’ll tie the stories into really interesting autobiographical details that are relevant to his experiences with and lessons from the ravens. Other times he’ll go into the history of The Tower, including his own hypotheses about the origin of the raven myth.
I would recommend this book if: you want some light non-fiction reading that is still interesting and educational, if you are interested in birds, if you are curious about The Tower of London and its legends, or if you follow The Ravenmaster on Twitter.
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ESP: Existe un mito urbano que cuenta que siempre deben haber cuervos en la Torre de Londres, o sino “el reino caerá”. La Torre mantiene un equipo encargado de velar por los cuervos, el cual es liderado por el Maestro de los Cuervos, Christopher Skaife. La primera vez que escuché sobre él fue a travez de su muy entretenida y a veces educativa cuenta de Twitter (¡la cual recomiendo que sigan! @ravenmaster1) y he estado queriendo leer su libro desde entonces.
Él es un cuenta cuentos de nacimiento y responde las preguntas más frecuentes, no como una lista enumerada, sino como una historia que engancha bastante. El libro es breve, elocuente, y da al punto. Como un autor, Skaife mantiene una combinación ideal entre perspicacia, humildad, y humor, lo cual hace a sus relatos muy placenteros de leer. Yo felizmente me sentaría por ahí a escuchar a este hombre contar más historias sobre cualquier tema en general.
A veces él combina estos cuentos con detalles autobiográficos sumamente interesantes, los cuales son relevantes a las experiencias y aprendizajes que los cuervos le han brindado. Otras veces se mete más con la historia de La Torre, incluyendo su propia hipótesis sobre el origen del mito sobre los cuervos.
Recomendaría este libro si: quieren leer algo ligero pero que aún es interesante y educativo, si les interesan los pájaros, o si tienen el más ligero interés en La Torre de Londres y sus leyendas.
He is a natural storyteller and answers the most commonly asked questions not as a dotted list, but as a highly engaging story. The book is brief, eloquent and to the point, and as an author, Skaife has the ideal combination between cleverness, humility, and humor that makes his tales so pleasantly readable. I would gladly sit around to hear this man tell me more stories about anything in general.
Sometimes he’ll tie the stories into really interesting autobiographical details that are relevant to his experiences with and lessons from the ravens. Other times he’ll go into the history of The Tower, including his own hypotheses about the origin of the raven myth.
I would recommend this book if: you want some light non-fiction reading that is still interesting and educational, if you are interested in birds, if you are curious about The Tower of London and its legends, or if you follow The Ravenmaster on Twitter.
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ESP: Existe un mito urbano que cuenta que siempre deben haber cuervos en la Torre de Londres, o sino “el reino caerá”. La Torre mantiene un equipo encargado de velar por los cuervos, el cual es liderado por el Maestro de los Cuervos, Christopher Skaife. La primera vez que escuché sobre él fue a travez de su muy entretenida y a veces educativa cuenta de Twitter (¡la cual recomiendo que sigan! @ravenmaster1) y he estado queriendo leer su libro desde entonces.
Él es un cuenta cuentos de nacimiento y responde las preguntas más frecuentes, no como una lista enumerada, sino como una historia que engancha bastante. El libro es breve, elocuente, y da al punto. Como un autor, Skaife mantiene una combinación ideal entre perspicacia, humildad, y humor, lo cual hace a sus relatos muy placenteros de leer. Yo felizmente me sentaría por ahí a escuchar a este hombre contar más historias sobre cualquier tema en general.
A veces él combina estos cuentos con detalles autobiográficos sumamente interesantes, los cuales son relevantes a las experiencias y aprendizajes que los cuervos le han brindado. Otras veces se mete más con la historia de La Torre, incluyendo su propia hipótesis sobre el origen del mito sobre los cuervos.
Recomendaría este libro si: quieren leer algo ligero pero que aún es interesante y educativo, si les interesan los pájaros, o si tienen el más ligero interés en La Torre de Londres y sus leyendas.
I vividly remember the day of Brexit. Nobody knew what the hell was going on and the pound fell off a cliff and we saw the leading Brexiteers looking nauseous and terrified as they realised their actions had catastrophic consequences, and the Prime Minister's resignation only made it to #3 on the news agenda. It was chaotic and terrifying in the days when that wasn't standard practice. I was on Twitter of course, and there I saw a tweet from the Ravenmaster with a picture of the Tower ravens that read, simply, "We are still here."
I welled up. It meant a lot.
This is a marvellous book about a bizarre job. Mr Skaife is a Yeoman Warder and in charge of the Tower ravens because if they ever leave the Tower, the country will fall. He actually shows that to be a relatively recent myth, but that doesn't make it any less true IMO: it's deeply embedded in the national consciousness and every story has to start somewhere.
This is very much a book of stories, one of those reads that feels like you're in the pub with a really interesting bloke. Chatty, discursive, a lot about the life that brought him to this point, and loads about the ravens he adores. You learn about raven flight feathers and bird distribution globally and raven myths and Army drumming and what it was like to be on Army duty in South Armagh or Belize and how the Warders cope with the visiting public (taking the mickey, basically), and it's all just a really interesting slice of human life. I'm now desperate to go to the Tower again, tourist trap that it is, just to check out the birds. A lovely book.
I welled up. It meant a lot.
This is a marvellous book about a bizarre job. Mr Skaife is a Yeoman Warder and in charge of the Tower ravens because if they ever leave the Tower, the country will fall. He actually shows that to be a relatively recent myth, but that doesn't make it any less true IMO: it's deeply embedded in the national consciousness and every story has to start somewhere.
This is very much a book of stories, one of those reads that feels like you're in the pub with a really interesting bloke. Chatty, discursive, a lot about the life that brought him to this point, and loads about the ravens he adores. You learn about raven flight feathers and bird distribution globally and raven myths and Army drumming and what it was like to be on Army duty in South Armagh or Belize and how the Warders cope with the visiting public (taking the mickey, basically), and it's all just a really interesting slice of human life. I'm now desperate to go to the Tower again, tourist trap that it is, just to check out the birds. A lovely book.