I might have read this book just for its awesome cover art. It also appeared in many year-end lists of the best books of 2015.
H is for Hawk is a memoir, but an unusual one. When the author's father dies, she deals with her grief by training a notoriously challenging goshawk. As she works with her bird Mabel, she feels haunted by the ghost of T.H. White, who similarly turned to a goshawk as a way to address emotional issues. The result is a sui generis blend of personal confession, nature writing, history, and literary biography. With falconry tips.
H is for Hawk is a totally literary creation. It belongs to the genre of human/animal stories (like Ring of Bright Water) while also being a meditation on the power of such stories. Macdonald's bereavement feels exaggerated for literary effect, and of course there are long sections about T.H. White. But the story of training Mabel shines through.
Macdonald's descriptions of the natural world are vividly poetic. Mabel becomes a full-blown character without any anthropomorphizing. I learned some of the lore and lingo of falconry.
H is for Hawk is a memoir, but an unusual one. When the author's father dies, she deals with her grief by training a notoriously challenging goshawk. As she works with her bird Mabel, she feels haunted by the ghost of T.H. White, who similarly turned to a goshawk as a way to address emotional issues. The result is a sui generis blend of personal confession, nature writing, history, and literary biography. With falconry tips.
H is for Hawk is a totally literary creation. It belongs to the genre of human/animal stories (like Ring of Bright Water) while also being a meditation on the power of such stories. Macdonald's bereavement feels exaggerated for literary effect, and of course there are long sections about T.H. White. But the story of training Mabel shines through.
Macdonald's descriptions of the natural world are vividly poetic. Mabel becomes a full-blown character without any anthropomorphizing. I learned some of the lore and lingo of falconry.
No comments:
Post a Comment