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#THWhite
blurb
llwheeler
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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I do love a how many have you read type list! Even if, as many have pointed out already, this one is very skewed. And of course heaven forbid we get genre cooties on our Serious Best Books list (except Jemisin cause she's exceptional but don't worry Cloud Atlas can't possibly be genre [except it totally is] cause David Mitchell is a Serious Literary Author don't you know - but definitely no romance or fantasy or YA or *gasp* all three!)

wanderinglynn I had the same thought. All hail “serious literature” & the NYT. 4mo
tournevis Very male, very American, very white, and honestly, pretty boring. Also, yes, genre cooties. This is *literature*! Also, no Paul Auster, which is laughable. I've read five and own another five. Also I can't believe Chabon's Kavalier & Clay is there but not Yiddish Policeman. Anyway, moving on.🤷‍♀️ 4mo
34 likes2 comments
review
Soubhiville
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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Pickpick

I liked the parts of this that were memoir of Helen‘s life, her childhood and love for her dad, her fascination with hawking from a young age, and her experience raising and working with goshawk Mable.

As other reviews have said, I could have done without most of the parts about TH White. I ended up skimming a lot of that, and don‘t think the book needed that much info about him.

I am interested in her other books.

Good morning from Sietje 🙂🐕

KathyWheeler Yeah — there was way too much about T H White in this book. Otherwise, I thought it was really good. 6mo
dabbe #sweetestsietje 🖤🐾🖤 6mo
Hooked_on_books I have this one but haven‘t been inspired to pick it up yet. Sietje is so cute! 6mo
93 likes3 comments
review
jenniferw88
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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Pickpick
44 likes2 comments
blurb
mcctrish
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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#midwintersolace #naturalitsy I LOVED this book. I think it was the cover that grabbed me, then I realized HM wrote this about her grief journey when her father died suddenly. My father had died suddenly and I was ( with my sister) suddenly aware of how much work my father had been doing to support my mom and her declining health ( she eventually was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia). Absolutely no falconry aspirations but I got the grief

TheBookHippie ♥️ 10mo
AllDebooks This is still sitting on my bookshelf 📚 10mo
mcctrish @AllDebooks it really is interesting - the parallel story of T. H. White juxtaposed with her adopting and training a goshawk is so good 10mo
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quietlycuriouskate Love this book! ❤️ 10mo
AllDebooks @mcctrish I read the T H White book first but never got around to McDonald's book. Maybe this is the prompt to go find it. 🤔 😍 10mo
mcctrish @AllDebooks I‘m now thinking I should hunt up The Goshawk and read it 10mo
41 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
batsy
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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Pickpick

This was beautiful & sad, with an undercurrent of violence that comes with the territory of "taming" a wild animal. I found it moving in a lot of aspects, & appreciated the biographical aspects of White's life as integral to Macdonald's attempt to work things out within herself. The saddest thing was contemplating these hawks & falcons; do humans have to mess with nature in order to heal themselves? All throughout I just wanted Mabel to be free.

batsy A really stirring read, and a heavy one, not least because it brings to light the vulnerabilities of people in terms of grief, isolation, and depression, but also our worst compulsions in relation to the creatures of the wild. And the cost that these creatures—the natural world itself—bears in order for humans to feel whole again. #TBRTarot @CBee 1y
Tamra Oh, you touched on why I bailed. 💜 I can‘t bear the thought of wild birds in captivity, unless they have been rehabilitated and cannot be returned. 😔 1y
squirrelbrain Great review - I have this on my physical TBR shelf and keep meaning to get to it. Your review has bumped it up the list. 1y
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CBee Really fantastic review! 1y
batsy @Tamra I know, right? It was tough to process that part 😓 1y
batsy @squirrelbrain Thank you! I'd love to see what you think of it. 1y
batsy @CBee Thank you! 1y
jlhammar Wonderful review - glad you enjoyed! I just loved her writing. Good point about wishing Mabel freedom. The relationship between these birds and their handlers seems like it could be one of companionship, respect and affection, but there are definitely ethical considerations. Falconry has quite the history and is fascinating, but one does wonder if it is kind to these wild birds. 1y
Suet624 A wonderful review as usual. Now I‘m wondering why I wasn‘t more concerned about Mabel. 1y
batsy @jlhammar Thank you! You bring up a great point that kind of answers @Suet624 - it felt like Macdonald was considerate and careful, which is why you sense that Mabel was in good hands. Yet the underlying question about why this practice exists still troubles me. Her writing was stunning and I appreciate her never taking her eyes off the ugly stuff. 1y
kspenmoll Such a wonderful review-I just loved this book& learned so much! 1y
kspenmoll @batsy Well said. The ethical questions the book poses regarding our relationship with the natural world are necessary & disturbing to contemplate. 1y
batsy @kspenmoll Thank you! I agree, I learned so much as well. I love that the author had could bring so much into the book because of her love of falconry. There's something beautiful and a bit heartbreaking wrt her devotion to Mabel, as well. 1y
DivineDiana I bought this book for my husband years ago. He did read it, and I have been planning to do the same. Reading your excellent review, I am somewhat hesitant to subject myself to the “worst compulsions”. 1y
batsy @DivineDiana It's a very good book, but yes it can elicit some complex emotions when you read it. In terms of what it takes to tame a wild bird. The excerpts from T.H.White's book are especially difficult because he made a number of mistakes 😟 1y
86 likes1 stack add15 comments
blurb
ImperfectCJ
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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I thought of the tagged book so many times during our 2-hour falconry experience yesterday. This local place has special certifications that allow them to offer interactive presentations to the public in a safe and legal way. I still kind of want to get into falconry, which I imagine would be rewarding, humbling, and very messy, but maybe I can just get my next job with a falconer. (This is me with a Harris's hawk.)

Tamra Gorgeous! 1y
jlhammar Wow, so cool! I loved H is for Hawk and this one 1y
batsy I just finished reading it! And loved it, so much to think about. Must be amazing to see one up close. 1y
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ravenlee That‘s so cool! 1y
ImperfectCJ @jlhammar I love Sy Montgomery's writing, but I haven't read that one yet...I'll have to pick it up sooner rather than later! 1y
Hooked_on_books I did a falconry experience a few years ago. It was so cool! I‘ll never forget it. 1y
ElizaMarie Such an amazing animal! 1y
51 likes7 comments
quote
batsy
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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Kind of lovely when book serendipity happens. Randomly picked H is for Hawk for the #TBRtarot this month, but as I see now it will feature T.H. White quite heavily because he wrote The Goshawk. It's something I didn't consciously register when I picked this up. Super illuminating to read this though, after reading The Once and Future King for the first time with the #OAFKingalong group!

Suet624 I‘d forgotten about that! 1y
jlhammar Oh yes, I hadn‘t thought about that. Great timing! 1y
batsy @Suet624 @jlhammar The insights are really interesting. Loving this so far. 1y
69 likes3 comments
blurb
batsy
H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald
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Decided on my May pick for #TBRtarot and am very much looking forward to it! @CBee

CBee I‘ve heard good things about this one! 1y
Billypar I thought this was fantastic - hope you like it as much as I did! 1y
batsy @CBee Yes! 1y
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batsy @Billypar So happy to hear that! Just managed the first few pages today and the writing is so good. 1y
jlhammar Loved it. Hope you enjoy! 1y
batsy @jlhammar Thank you! Glad to hear that you liked it. 1y
Suet624 Enjoy! 1y
batsy @Suet624 Thanks! 1y
Fr3NcHtOaSt Love this book and the documentary on PBS was great as well 1y
Goleemn Ohhh, a good book! Enjoy your pick! 1y
batsy @Fr3NcHtOaSt I didn't know there was a documentary! Thank you, I will look it up. 1y
batsy @Goleemn Thank you, I'm finding it quite brilliant! 1y
70 likes12 comments
blurb
AvidReader25
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Guys, this section is LONG!!! I am suggesting we postpone our check-in until next Friday and go by the revised schedule below. Lancelot is one cranky dude and I still have a long way to go. 🤣 #OAFkingalong

April 28: The Ill-Made Knight - Favorite (or least fav) character so far.
May 5: The Candle in the Wind - Pick/So-So/Pan/Bail review

Lcsmcat I‘m ok with that. 2y
RaeLovesToRead I've so far not managed to read much because I'm reading the Tawny Man trilogy too. When I get to it, I will go through all the posts with the hashtag as I read so I still feel like I'm joining in 🥰 (I'm not very good at being in more than one fantasy world at once.) 2y
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AvidReader25 @RaeLovesToRead Catch up with us later! There‘s no hurry. 2y
currentlyreadinginCO Def agree with the revised schedule. OAFK is getting a lot of side eyes on my nightstand ... like I'll get to you when I have a minute! 2y
AvidReader25 @thereadingreference Total side eye! I lost some momentum after the dark turn in book 2. 2y
BkClubCare LOL!! 🤣 maybe I can 🤔 still catch up ⬆️ to y‘all. #sigh 2y
TheAromaofBooks Yes, that would work great! I divided each section by how many chapters I need to read per day to finish that section in a week, and this section is SEVEN chapters a day, which is wearing me down! 😂 2y
MeganAnn @thereadingreference I keep doing that too! @AvidReader25 I lost a lot of momentum also and am having a harder time getting back into it. The extra time will definitely help. 2y
rubyslippersreads Works for me. I haven‘t even started yet. 😏 2y
batsy No problem at all. I'm a bad buddy reader in that I've read ahead. The Lancelot chapter is tough in parts but I also find this book so interesting—totally unlike the straightforward children's lit I mistakenly thought it was. 2y
Vansa @batsy It wasn't written for children at all! 2y
BarbaraJean Yes! Thank you! I‘ve gotten really behind this week. This helps to lighten my overloaded buddy-reading calendar 😆 2y
AvidReader25 @BarbaraJean Same! The final section is much shorter, but this one is tough. 2y
26 likes15 comments