kgraham10's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this especially in the beginning. TH White, Hawks, birding, woods, grieving. It did drag a bit from about 70-90%.
chrispyschaller's review against another edition
4.0
Well-told memoir of grief over the loss of a parent and time spent with a goshawk.
ury949's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't expect to like this book so much - I don't know why - but it was quite beautiful, and I loved it. I think I will give it five stars! I don't know why I'm surprised to find the author's deep love for animals - all hunters love animals. And even though I'm not a hunter and never could be, I love animals and find it thrilling to encounter another human who truly loves all animals, such as Helen Macdonald.
The author refuses to anthropomorphize, which so many people do with pets. Her hawk, Mabel, is not her pet. Interestingly, though, there are moments when she can see the hawk in herself, or the prey in herself, or the hawk reacting to parts of herself she doesn't see are there. The author is grieving, and this struggle trickles throughout the book, creating the distinct story of her first year with Mabel.
The whole experience is contrasted with T. H. White's The Goshawk which tells of his first goshawk. Much of the book is spent summarizing that book and his life struggles, which I didn't like so well, but I did like the descriptions of other falconers' goshawks, especially when they are compared to sulky women. One of my favorite descriptions is of an overweight Mabel as a "hot-tempered, choleric , hot spur on coke, revenge tragedy protagonist goshawk." The writing is beautiful - I never tire of her descriptions of Mabel's ruffled feathers; the pewter sky; the English countryside. I love when she compares holding her new hawk to balancing a stack of china. To write, as she does, so thoughtfully on the topic of patience cannot be easy, and yet is mastered.
True there were parts of the book that were slow or made me cross - her temper seems irrationally short at times, but then I recall that she's grieving, and remember how easy it is to forget how impossibly difficult invisible things can be. That we are all people, as she discovers again and again when she reluctantly allows herself to interact with any community, even while trying with all her might to turn away; humans who need each other; it is almost as easy to forget, for some, as is the fact that all animals are living, more than just objects, complex, not human, unique, important, and vital.
This story, though not perfect, continued to ring true and continued to find its way back to relevance, for me - maybe it's one of those ratings that I should leave blank because my personal opinion is probably quite skewed from most for one reason or another. But I think this is just that sort of book. My recommendation is, I'm not sure if you'll like it or not. But I'm so glad to have read it.
The author refuses to anthropomorphize, which so many people do with pets. Her hawk, Mabel, is not her pet. Interestingly, though, there are moments when she can see the hawk in herself, or the prey in herself, or the hawk reacting to parts of herself she doesn't see are there. The author is grieving, and this struggle trickles throughout the book, creating the distinct story of her first year with Mabel.
The whole experience is contrasted with T. H. White's The Goshawk which tells of his first goshawk. Much of the book is spent summarizing that book and his life struggles, which I didn't like so well, but I did like the descriptions of other falconers' goshawks, especially when they are compared to sulky women. One of my favorite descriptions is of an overweight Mabel as a "hot-tempered, choleric , hot spur on coke, revenge tragedy protagonist goshawk." The writing is beautiful - I never tire of her descriptions of Mabel's ruffled feathers; the pewter sky; the English countryside. I love when she compares holding her new hawk to balancing a stack of china. To write, as she does, so thoughtfully on the topic of patience cannot be easy, and yet is mastered.
True there were parts of the book that were slow or made me cross - her temper seems irrationally short at times, but then I recall that she's grieving, and remember how easy it is to forget how impossibly difficult invisible things can be. That we are all people, as she discovers again and again when she reluctantly allows herself to interact with any community, even while trying with all her might to turn away; humans who need each other; it is almost as easy to forget, for some, as is the fact that all animals are living, more than just objects, complex, not human, unique, important, and vital.
This story, though not perfect, continued to ring true and continued to find its way back to relevance, for me - maybe it's one of those ratings that I should leave blank because my personal opinion is probably quite skewed from most for one reason or another. But I think this is just that sort of book. My recommendation is, I'm not sure if you'll like it or not. But I'm so glad to have read it.
randyrasa's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting memoir about a woman working through grief by connecting with nature, with a place, with history, and with her own memories. I found the story very relatable, and the details about the life of British writer T.H. White, and the training of a goshawk, quite engaging and fascinating. A good read.
raven_morgan's review against another edition
5.0
***An eARC was provided of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
This is an extraordinarily beautiful book, and well deserving of the awards that it has won.
After the death of her father, Helen Macdonald fulfils a lifelong ambition: to train a goshawk. "H is for Hawk" follows her through the training of the goshawk, whom she named Mabel, and through her own healing from grief for the loss of her father. Running parallel to Macdonald's story is the story of T.H. White and his own goshawk, Gos, which Macdonald discovered through White's book "The Goshawk".
Macdonald's use of language is absolutely wonderful - throughout the book, she evokes the English landscape so vividly that the reader might be walking along the tracks with her, their own goshawk on their glove. And Mabel herself is realised exquisitely; the reader can feel the love that Macdonald had for her goshawk, and feel the despair when Mabel is thought lost, or Macdonald doubts her own training.
I am in debt to the friends who reviewed this book and brought it to my attention. It is a glorious book full of truth and beauty, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys books about nature, animals, or simply memoirs.
This is an extraordinarily beautiful book, and well deserving of the awards that it has won.
After the death of her father, Helen Macdonald fulfils a lifelong ambition: to train a goshawk. "H is for Hawk" follows her through the training of the goshawk, whom she named Mabel, and through her own healing from grief for the loss of her father. Running parallel to Macdonald's story is the story of T.H. White and his own goshawk, Gos, which Macdonald discovered through White's book "The Goshawk".
Macdonald's use of language is absolutely wonderful - throughout the book, she evokes the English landscape so vividly that the reader might be walking along the tracks with her, their own goshawk on their glove. And Mabel herself is realised exquisitely; the reader can feel the love that Macdonald had for her goshawk, and feel the despair when Mabel is thought lost, or Macdonald doubts her own training.
I am in debt to the friends who reviewed this book and brought it to my attention. It is a glorious book full of truth and beauty, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys books about nature, animals, or simply memoirs.
lilliangretsinger's review against another edition
3.0
I was surprised by this book, I enjoyed it. The story is simple and complicated at the same time.
The audio-book was easy to listen to and at times hypnotic.
The audio-book was easy to listen to and at times hypnotic.
morgan_watches_birds's review against another edition
4.0
This is a hard one to review...first, the writing is so beautiful. If nothing else, this book is worth the read because you get insight into into falconry in an almost magical style. I also loved the way that Macdonald interweaves T.H. White's story into her own. I walked away from this book with a better appreciation for two writers I had not previously known (White and Macdonald).
Parts of the book can get a bit tedious. At one point, I said, "This lady is overidentifying with her bird. She needs to see a doctor for depression." Three chapters later, she says pretty much the same thing. At another point, I thought that she was treating her oshawk as if it were not its own creature, and I didn't appreciate that. Well, she acknowledges this toward the end of the book. Macdonald is setting the reader up to get to this point, but she takes a bit too long to get there. As a result, the reader can get lost in the beauty of the writing and the reality of the situation gets lost, too. For example, she spent so much time romanticizing her relationship with Mable (the oshawk) that the acknowledgement that she's not allowing Mable to be her own creature feels a bit like a side issue, and it's definitely not.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book! It was really good!
Parts of the book can get a bit tedious. At one point, I said, "This lady is overidentifying with her bird. She needs to see a doctor for depression." Three chapters later, she says pretty much the same thing. At another point, I thought that she was treating her oshawk as if it were not its own creature, and I didn't appreciate that. Well, she acknowledges this toward the end of the book. Macdonald is setting the reader up to get to this point, but she takes a bit too long to get there. As a result, the reader can get lost in the beauty of the writing and the reality of the situation gets lost, too. For example, she spent so much time romanticizing her relationship with Mable (the oshawk) that the acknowledgement that she's not allowing Mable to be her own creature feels a bit like a side issue, and it's definitely not.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book! It was really good!
musty_dothat's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75