H Is for Hawk (2014)

Nature writers have their own fingerprint of natural whimsy and adventure. The writers of the genre seem to glean a magic from the natural world that an untrained eye cannot always see. Macdonald is one of these magicians. Through the art of falconry, and an unfortunate dash of personal heartbreak, she uses beautiful and breathtaking prose to tell her story about herself and her hawk, and the challenges that comes with it. ( )

H is for Hawk
Helen MacDonald’s memoir about dealing with the grief from her father’s death is a skilfully if overly written book. But it is about so much more than just grief. Macdonald is a falconer. From a young girl she was obsessed with nature, and eventually became fascinated with hawks and falconry. She carried this throughout her life, even after she became an historian and academic. Her memoir recounts the experience of the period directly following her father’s sudden death and her decision to try to train a Goshawk. Through her research into ancient falconry books she learned Goshawks, of all birds of prey, were difficult to train and handle. She read The Goshawk by T. H. White when she was a girl and during her recovery she read it again and began to study White and his relationship with his Goshawk. She found a lot to feel sorry for in White and his story, and that is partly reflected in her book. She is a much better trainer than White ever was, but she identified with his story an his wanting to be the Goshawk and escape from life. I enjoyed the writing even if she tried to stuff too many things in to the book. We read it for our book club and it was interesting either people really enjoyed it or disliked or even hated it. ( )

I want to give this book to everyone I've ever met. I want to press it on them and insist they read it. It is luminous bravery of a book. I'm so glad these words are in my life.

Read this. I'm serious. ( )

(...)

But maybe the main critique I have on this book is that all things considered it’s a variant of the noble savage trope. The goshawk as the Strange, Wild Other, unspoiled by consciousness, grief, society. It is no coincidence Mabel is very much like a child to Macdonald: like the savage, also the child was a Romantic ideal, pure and free, innocent.

While I understand Macdonald’s emotional need for some kind of bond with the animal, there is a level of sanctification I’m a bit uncomfortable with. Not that it’s bad writing, not at all, it’s just that I experienced a subtly growing dislike for that aspect of Macdonald’s character as the story progressed.

On the other hand, maybe I cannot hold that noble savage stuff against her. Nature – and death – is very much a cruel, sublime, wild mystery to behold indeed, and as such the goshawk aptly serves as a pars pro toto.

Read the full review on Weighing A Pig ( )

Very different. I listed to this on audio because of a long drive. Grieving her father, the author decides to raise a Goshawk, which is quite a different challenge that the other types of birds of prey that she's raised in the past. ( )