miguelf 's review for:

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

4.0

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There is not a huge amount of plotline in H is for Hawk – the dust jacket probably tells you everything you need to know including that the writer comes to terms with the death of her father, and sometime after obtains a Goshawk to train which had been a lifelong fascination. I found the writing throughout to draw one effectively into the mind and motivation behind everything and absorb one throughout. Reading this coincided with viewing the documentary Tiger King: though the author of Hawk is no Joe Exotic, I do wonder about people who keep and train very wild animals (I’m sure some would argue that falconry has a much deeper pedigree than keeping wild tigers captive, but both are depicted on Egyptian walls). It seems that on balance both in their way assist in keeping up wild population numbers, although Macdonald is decidedly much less flashier than Joe Exotic. Luckily for the reader, what she lacks in sequined shirts is made up for in engaging prose.