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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Helen Macdonald delves into the brambles of grief and the soaring heights of ecstasy that come out of our communion with the natural world and its creatures. I know way more about falconry than I thought possible.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
what a beautiful beautiful book. part memoir, part meditation on grief, part falconry 101, part psycho-analysis, part biography of TH White—it could’ve easily become disjointed or muddled but I found that Macdonald wove these aspects together masterfully. her nature writing is gorgeous, and the bits about TH White were fascinating. thanks to Lucy for the rec !
Probably between a 6 or a 7 out of 10.
What I liked: The writing was good. The author accomplished the very difficult job of communicating the complex pain of her grief. Mabel the goshawk was magical yet real, with a personality of her own as well as an alien raptor mind. I've kept birds as pets, and I recognized the body language that the author described. Birds really do have a lot of personality! Nature is also described richly. I loved "The Once and Future King" so I was interested to read the parts about T.H White.
What I had a problem with: a common issue I have with nonfiction is trying to find a strand of a plot. I know that real life doesn't have plot, but part of an author's job is to have some sort of through-line or theme. I think that the theme of this book was the grief process, but I had a hard time connecting her pieces on T.H White with her own story. I think what the author was trying to say is that our own emotional limitations and damage will always blind us to how we interact with the world (or hawk) and that breaking out of those preconceptions is necessary for healing. But I think I needed it spelled out for me a bit more- the dotted lines a bit more obvious. When I read "The Once and Future King", part of what really spoke to me was the compassion for his characters and the gentle highlighting of human and fatal flaws. I always thought of White as a pacifist, and it was news to me that he flirted with fascism. I didn't get the sense that the author had an especially positive view of White, which bothered me a bit- although that could be my own ignorance of his nature. The book also felt somewhat un-ended. The author did find a logical stopping point, but I didn't get a sense of closure.
In the end, while I enjoyed reading the book, it was easy to put down, and I ran into several of the problems I often have with nonfiction- maybe that's just a genre I have difficulty with.
What I liked: The writing was good. The author accomplished the very difficult job of communicating the complex pain of her grief. Mabel the goshawk was magical yet real, with a personality of her own as well as an alien raptor mind. I've kept birds as pets, and I recognized the body language that the author described. Birds really do have a lot of personality! Nature is also described richly. I loved "The Once and Future King" so I was interested to read the parts about T.H White.
What I had a problem with: a common issue I have with nonfiction is trying to find a strand of a plot. I know that real life doesn't have plot, but part of an author's job is to have some sort of through-line or theme. I think that the theme of this book was the grief process, but I had a hard time connecting her pieces on T.H White with her own story. I think what the author was trying to say is that our own emotional limitations and damage will always blind us to how we interact with the world (or hawk) and that breaking out of those preconceptions is necessary for healing. But I think I needed it spelled out for me a bit more- the dotted lines a bit more obvious. When I read "The Once and Future King", part of what really spoke to me was the compassion for his characters and the gentle highlighting of human and fatal flaws. I always thought of White as a pacifist, and it was news to me that he flirted with fascism. I didn't get the sense that the author had an especially positive view of White, which bothered me a bit- although that could be my own ignorance of his nature. The book also felt somewhat un-ended. The author did find a logical stopping point, but I didn't get a sense of closure.
In the end, while I enjoyed reading the book, it was easy to put down, and I ran into several of the problems I often have with nonfiction- maybe that's just a genre I have difficulty with.
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Dysphoria
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Torture, Toxic relationship
Macdonald's relationship with her goshawk, Mabel, and her own grasp on the scope of her grief after the sudden death of her father is present in this book in ways that are both gentle and stirring. I was given an ease into sorrowful memories and learned along with her about how one can embrace life again rather than escape into wildness.
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
This book walks the line of an account of keeping and working a specific breed of hawk - and falconry as a sport in general - and a memoir on grief and loss. And. It’s wonderfully written. At times deep, sometimes embarrassingly awkward, and reflective.