When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood she'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life.
Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry. Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.
H is for Hawk Details
- Hardcover: 288 pages ( Download PDF:
) - ISBN-10: 0802123414
- ISBN-13: 978-0802123411
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
- Publisher: Grove Press; 1St Edition edition (March 3, 2015)
- Language: English
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H is for Hawk Review
Challenging, mesmerising, poetic
Some of my favourite books have been memoirs of a challenging relationship with an animal - Jane Shilling's Fox in the Cupboard, Gavin Maxwell's otter oeuvre. H is for Hawk belongs alongside them.
If that description 'relationship with an animal' sounds fluffy or cosy to you, think again. These animals aren't pets. They are forces to be negotiated with, embodiments of the wild that pitch you into a different way of life and living. You don't invite an otter, a horse or a goshawk to be your friend. You go to their world. You tune into their mind, their instincts, their priorities, their joys, their fears - and in so doing, you find the places where you are wild yourself. And that wildness doesn't mean uncomplicated freedom. Its values have little in common with human concerns. It is a stripped-away state of being, a universe of survival and struggle, where trust might be life or death.
A remarkable experience for all nature-lovers
This promised to be my kind of book; grief and healing through immersion in the natural world, specifically through training a goshawk. Add to these ingredients a parallel rediscovery of T.H.White's own book on training a bird of prey, 'the Goshawk' (which I haven't read but as 'The Once and Future King was my favourite book throughout adolescence, I knew a little about the writer). I wasn't disappointed.
Beautifully written, this is a book to savour, to read and re-read, slowly. I lived through every moment of frustration and breakthrough in training Mabel. I loved the wealth of falconry detail and appreciated Helen Macdonald's sharp analysis of 'the baggage' in all the advice. Sexism, philosophy, animal rights and - above all - death: this passionate adventure in the company of a wild creature raises some big questions and offers only the experience itself in response.
Very Moving and beautifully descriptive book.
An exceptionally well written book, I looked after a Raptor with a damaged wing, I looked after him for nearly a year. When his wing had healed, we took him up into the mountains and released him, it was one of the most moving experiences of my life, I learnt how to look after him from T.H. White's book, The Goshawk. I wished "H is for Hawk" had been around at the time.
A Wonderful, Wonderful Book for me and my circumstances. We were in Africa at the time and weren't too sure as to what exactly species he was, but he was very, very big. so we called him, "Arry Awk" I beleived I was quite close to him over the period and H is for Hawk brought back so many happy memories.
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