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marycat203 's review for:
H is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald
Despite the glowing reviews and awards, for six years I resisted picking up this memoir of a woman training a goshawk while grieving the death of her beloved father. I had a prejudice against memoirs in general (Aren’t they usually just self-absorbed sob stories?) and training a hawk in particular was not my cup of tea. Then last fall I read an article by Helen Macdonald in the New York Times Magazine. “The Comfort of Common Creatures” is about the solace we can get during a pandemic lockdown from close observation of nature. Even watching an ordinary sparrow or spider outside a suburban window can calm you, lift you out of yourself, and connect you to the world. Macdonald is a thoughtful writer, her language lovely, and I was converted. When I was lucky enough to find a copy of H Is for Hawk at my local used bookstore, Bad Animal Books, I bought it without hesitation.
Macdonald is indeed a marvelous writer, with elegant syntax and surprising but effective word choices. She is skilled in describing a scene, telling a story, evoking emotion, and I like the way she interwove T.H. White’s story with her own, but …. my initial instinct was right. I read through to the end because I like her spectacular prose, but I’m just not interested in falconry, and the book never captured me. That said, her new collection of essays, Vesper Flights, is at the top of my TBR pile, and I’m eager to pick it up.
Macdonald is indeed a marvelous writer, with elegant syntax and surprising but effective word choices. She is skilled in describing a scene, telling a story, evoking emotion, and I like the way she interwove T.H. White’s story with her own, but …. my initial instinct was right. I read through to the end because I like her spectacular prose, but I’m just not interested in falconry, and the book never captured me. That said, her new collection of essays, Vesper Flights, is at the top of my TBR pile, and I’m eager to pick it up.