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grantahedrick 's review for:
H is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald
Fascinating read about loss, introspection, and the journeys we go on to re-discover ourselves. Macdonald shares the mechanisms of her life and her mind with a studied and observational tone that will at once make you feel like a scientist and a friend. What makes this memoir stand out from the crowd though is the fact that part of Macdonalds process of healing, is the training and companionship of a Goshawk named Mabel.
These two characters are the focus of the story, and their relationship is a wonder to behold. As Macdonald heals from the loss of her father and other upheavals in her life, she takes Mabel in and begins to develop a new world view: that of an alpha avian predator. It is this journey into wildness and isolation that allows her to step out of her own life, with it's confusion and pain, and into that of the Goshawk. In the world of prey and hunter she finds new parts of herself, and old parts that were long buried. And it it only through her disconnect from society that she can grieve and grow and finally return to the streets and buildings of humanity.
If you like memoirs, naturalism, and a strong sense of dichotomy: read this book.
These two characters are the focus of the story, and their relationship is a wonder to behold. As Macdonald heals from the loss of her father and other upheavals in her life, she takes Mabel in and begins to develop a new world view: that of an alpha avian predator. It is this journey into wildness and isolation that allows her to step out of her own life, with it's confusion and pain, and into that of the Goshawk. In the world of prey and hunter she finds new parts of herself, and old parts that were long buried. And it it only through her disconnect from society that she can grieve and grow and finally return to the streets and buildings of humanity.
If you like memoirs, naturalism, and a strong sense of dichotomy: read this book.