Play Book Tag discussion

If I were a book critic for the New York Times or some other esteemed literary journal, I'd be forced to give this book a five star rating. Macdonald's prose is exquisite and evocative and very poetic. She managed to blend a memoir, a biography, and a tribute to nature all in one book. So, from that standpoint, it has a certain brilliance about it.

Helen's father, who she loved dearly, dies, and in the wake of his death, she obtains and trains a goshawk - - a large, more wild breed of hawk not often chosen by falconers. The book tells the story of her mourning, her experiences with the hawk (named Mabel), and oddly a biography of T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King and The Goshawk.

Because Macdonald's prose is so blindingly beautiful and descriptive, I feel as though somehow the fact is lost that her memoir really isn't all that revealing. I feel like she held back. We get glimpses of her love for her father, her feelings of loss. The book references T.H. White's story very often, and to me, that also felt very arms length. The highlight for me is how she portrays her relationship with Mabel, and I do like that she doesn't anthropomorphize the hawk in the process. I honestly would have enjoyed the book more if she had hung the entire book on the process of training this hawk, but I can see why she didn't - - there really isn't enough there.

I give the author a lot of credit for her creativity and her truly illustrious writing, and if I were rating the book solely on the prose, it would be five star. But I just wasn't emotionally engaged by this one and found MacDonald's mastery of suspense to be a bit lacking.

Anita wrote: "If I were a book critic for the New York Times or some other esteemed literary journal, I'd be forced to give this book a five star rating. Macdonald's prose is exquisite and evocative and very poe..."

Great review.

I still feel torn about reading this one.

Booknblues wrote: "Anita wrote: "If I were a book critic for the New York Times or some other esteemed literary journal, I'd be forced to give this book a five star rating. Macdonald's prose is exquisite and evocativ..."

Thank you!

I think it is worth a shot if you get it from a library. I got a free version from a website, and I was glad I didn't pay for it.

A lot of people rated it very highly. I can see how you can get sucked in by the hype.

I agree that as a memoir the book feels as if it is concealing something. She was so academic when she talked about T.H. White that it felt like emotional avoidance on her part. I think it reveals just how fragmented she was by her grief. I felt very uncomfortable about her relationship to that hawk when she became clinically depressed.

I am not a fan of memoirs at all and have been unsure about this one. I think after reading your review I might give it a miss.

I am not a fan of memoirs, but this book has gotten such high reviews that I have it on my list to search out at the library. I'll probably give it a shot.

I have a visceral response to the whole idea of this book. As a birder who lost her father in the last several years, taking up falconry just seems like an unproductive way to cope with grief. Get a dog. It will get you outside and moving while offering unconditional love.

Right or wrong, I won't be picking this one up.

It was strange. But not as strange as it might seem. She had trained hawks before. She'd always wanted to tackle the challenge of training a goshawk. She talked about how she became interested in hawking as a child, and how her father supported that. There was a connection. But training a hawk required her to isolate herself with the hawk. I think you are right. Getting a dog would have been healthier.

Susie wrote: "I am not a fan of memoirs at all and have been unsure about this one. I think after reading your review I might give it a miss."

So interesting that you don't like memoirs, Susie. Has that always been the case? What are some initial ones that you read that lead to that distaste?

Denizen wrote: "I have a visceral response to the whole idea of this book. As a birder who lost her father in the last several years, taking up falconry just seems like an unproductive way to cope with grief. Get ..."

Lol, yes, JGrace explains it well. The author always had a fascination with falconry and pursued that interest from childhood with the support of her dad. So I think she tried to distract herself from her grief with this difficult to train goshawk. But it was very isolating, and I have to agree that a dog would have really been a much better idea!! The author definitely struck me as a little on the odd side.

I feel a little better about it knowing that she was already a falconer but still don't think the book will be my cuppa.

I'm not a fan of memoirs either. The only one I can think of that I've read is The Glass Castle although there are probably a few other titles lurking in my reading background. I enjoyed Walls' book, but it's still not a genre I seek out. Not to worry though; I've already got at least three titles in mind if it's our monthly tag;-)

Anita, I'll admit to having a limited experience. I can really only remember recent attempts such as I Am Malala and The Reckoning. I read Just Kids by Patti Smith for my book club and found it mildly interesting but it was still a hard slog to get through. I find them self-indulgent, and I guess I would prefer fiction to real life!