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Shaler's Fish
'The poems are particular, discrete responses to particular events & objects, often places. They play with the tension between a high lyric voice...orienting the reader in a field populated by different versions of the self & its relation to the natural world.'
"Helen Macdonald offers one of the most sustained explorations of avian imagery in recent lyric poetry, & this extends to speculative commentary on the human domination of the airwaves for purposes of danger-signalling, sexual display & territorial assertion, from the radio telescope of Jodrell Bank to CNN." (Drew Milne)
"Helen Macdonald offers one of the most sustained explorations of avian imagery in recent lyric poetry, & this extends to speculative commentary on the human domination of the airwaves for purposes of danger-signalling, sexual display & territorial assertion, from the radio telescope of Jodrell Bank to CNN." (Drew Milne)
62 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Helen Macdonald
35 books1,749 followersHelen Macdonald is a writer, poet, and naturalist. They are the author of the bestselling H Is for Hawk and Vesper Flights along with Shaler’s Fish, a history of falconry, and two other books of poetry. They've written and presented award-winning TV documentaries for PBS and the BBC. Prophet is their first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
February 5, 2016
(2.5) I was a huge fan of Macdonald’s memoir, H is for Hawk, so was excited to read her poetry collection, originally published in 2001 but reissued by Atlantic Monthly Press this February. Unfortunately, despite the occasional bird and nature imagery (e.g. in “Monhegan”), I found these poems largely inaccessible. Perhaps it was the sprinkling of archaic vocabulary and spellings, or the general lack of punctuation apart from annoying slashes and ampersands. It didn’t help that most line breaks were lost in my Kindle download, but bringing the book up on a laptop screen to see the poems properly wasn’t much better. I’ve vacillated between a two- and three-star rating but found a few lines worth saving so have gone for somewhere in between:
And above
a splint of mild lightness that is not
light at all that is all there is to love
(the final stanza of “Small Hours”)
Ah, you strawberry
plants at twenty below
you indigent calm from heaven
(end of “Project cirrus”)
And above
a splint of mild lightness that is not
light at all that is all there is to love
(the final stanza of “Small Hours”)
Ah, you strawberry
plants at twenty below
you indigent calm from heaven
(end of “Project cirrus”)
September 10, 2017
Where. Why and etcetera. The head bows & nothing is.
Shielding the harm from further harm is harder than this.
Those are the opening lines of "Walking," my favorite poem from Shaler's Fish. I also liked "MIR" and thought some parts of "letter to america" were disturbingly prescient. And... that's about it. As I mentioned once or twice in the course of my reading, I thought this was one of the most inaccessible poetry collections I've ever read. I could rarely tell what Macdonald was talking about; she seemed to deliberately use obscure words for the sake of being obscure; and on the few occasions when things did seem to make sense, that feeling didn't last for long. There was no rhythm here and very little beauty.
Sure, poetry is sometimes inaccessible at first glance, but what's particularly odd about this book is that there's really nothing I can do about my bewilderment. There are no secondary materials for Shaler's Fish; the author includes no notes in the back. About the only way I could gain more insight would be to speak to Macdonald directly, but given that these recently reissued poems are about 20 years old and there's no new author's foreword or introduction (an odd omission), it's possible that even she no longer knows exactly what she was trying to say.
Of course, this new edition may never have seen the light of day if it weren't for the success of Macdonald's H Is for Hawk—a book I'm still eager to read. I'm certainly not going to hold a 20-year-old collection against the writer Macdonald may be today, although I couldn't really blame the reader who did. It probably would have been a better idea never to have put the reader in that position either way.
Shielding the harm from further harm is harder than this.
Those are the opening lines of "Walking," my favorite poem from Shaler's Fish. I also liked "MIR" and thought some parts of "letter to america" were disturbingly prescient. And... that's about it. As I mentioned once or twice in the course of my reading, I thought this was one of the most inaccessible poetry collections I've ever read. I could rarely tell what Macdonald was talking about; she seemed to deliberately use obscure words for the sake of being obscure; and on the few occasions when things did seem to make sense, that feeling didn't last for long. There was no rhythm here and very little beauty.
Sure, poetry is sometimes inaccessible at first glance, but what's particularly odd about this book is that there's really nothing I can do about my bewilderment. There are no secondary materials for Shaler's Fish; the author includes no notes in the back. About the only way I could gain more insight would be to speak to Macdonald directly, but given that these recently reissued poems are about 20 years old and there's no new author's foreword or introduction (an odd omission), it's possible that even she no longer knows exactly what she was trying to say.
Of course, this new edition may never have seen the light of day if it weren't for the success of Macdonald's H Is for Hawk—a book I'm still eager to read. I'm certainly not going to hold a 20-year-old collection against the writer Macdonald may be today, although I couldn't really blame the reader who did. It probably would have been a better idea never to have put the reader in that position either way.
December 26, 2015
I received a copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Like many others, I come to Helen Macdonald after reading H is for Hawk, a memoir about grief and raising a goshawk that was incredibly moving. This book of poems was originally published in 2002 and is making a resurgence after the success of H, but I fear that may be a mistake. What I loved about Macdonald's voice in her non-fiction writing - the frank exploration of emotion and action, the ability to pull seeming disparate thoughts into her own experience - these elements are shockingly absent in the poetry as I am reading them.
Part of the problem is the elevated, old-fashioned language Macdonald often employs. I can't understand what purpose words like "doth" and "dost" hold in 21st century poetry but it serves to make the poems they are found in feel inauthentic. I read her voice in these poems as aloof; no warmth, no feeling. I may not have reacted as negatively had I not been hoping for the same person I found in H is for Hawk.
They aren't all a miss for me.
In "Poem" (for Bill Girden) the opening lines are insightful:
To state the discovery of a country
& be in a time without rage...
"the new world" actually seems to refer to another person and her feelings about them, ending with
every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality existing
"Walking" has the poet in nature as I know her best. I felt a moment of recognition there.
I suspect that Macdonald's incredible experience of grief, one she laid out for all to see, has had a positive impact on her writing. I want the next book of poems. She clearly has a mastery of language, I just want it to be her voice and not a voice she is putting on, and that is how the majority of these poems feel to me.
Like many others, I come to Helen Macdonald after reading H is for Hawk, a memoir about grief and raising a goshawk that was incredibly moving. This book of poems was originally published in 2002 and is making a resurgence after the success of H, but I fear that may be a mistake. What I loved about Macdonald's voice in her non-fiction writing - the frank exploration of emotion and action, the ability to pull seeming disparate thoughts into her own experience - these elements are shockingly absent in the poetry as I am reading them.
Part of the problem is the elevated, old-fashioned language Macdonald often employs. I can't understand what purpose words like "doth" and "dost" hold in 21st century poetry but it serves to make the poems they are found in feel inauthentic. I read her voice in these poems as aloof; no warmth, no feeling. I may not have reacted as negatively had I not been hoping for the same person I found in H is for Hawk.
They aren't all a miss for me.
In "Poem" (for Bill Girden) the opening lines are insightful:
To state the discovery of a country
& be in a time without rage...
"the new world" actually seems to refer to another person and her feelings about them, ending with
every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality existing
"Walking" has the poet in nature as I know her best. I felt a moment of recognition there.
I suspect that Macdonald's incredible experience of grief, one she laid out for all to see, has had a positive impact on her writing. I want the next book of poems. She clearly has a mastery of language, I just want it to be her voice and not a voice she is putting on, and that is how the majority of these poems feel to me.
March 2, 2017
There are some poetry collections that rock you, shake you to the core. Some are so beautifully written that you can’t help but read them out loud. Then there are collections in which you find yourself reading, and re-reading, and re-re-reading and just not getting it. That last one was my experience with Shaler’s Fish, a collection that’s dense, and complicated, and cryptic, and stylistically challenging, and just something I didn’t click with.
I really had to push to finish the collection and truly, if you don’t like the first one, skip, because that general feeling of “what did I just read?” was what dominated my experience (without the smiles and wonder). I’m not saying it’s poorly written, I’m saying I didn’t get it and the 2 stars comes because I can see the skill and craft even if I can’t connect or much appreciate it.
I don’t need my poetry to be simplistic, but at least somewhat accessible would be nice. Alas, what I found was a collection where I didn’t understand what I was reading and only on occasion did I see lines that were lovely, but were then followed by very elevated language, odd punctuation and line splits, and so much “poetrishness” that I just couldn’t break into the meaning the poems had for me. Oh well, they can’t all be 4 and 5 star books :)
I really had to push to finish the collection and truly, if you don’t like the first one, skip, because that general feeling of “what did I just read?” was what dominated my experience (without the smiles and wonder). I’m not saying it’s poorly written, I’m saying I didn’t get it and the 2 stars comes because I can see the skill and craft even if I can’t connect or much appreciate it.
I don’t need my poetry to be simplistic, but at least somewhat accessible would be nice. Alas, what I found was a collection where I didn’t understand what I was reading and only on occasion did I see lines that were lovely, but were then followed by very elevated language, odd punctuation and line splits, and so much “poetrishness” that I just couldn’t break into the meaning the poems had for me. Oh well, they can’t all be 4 and 5 star books :)
February 8, 2016
Despite the title, there is no specific mention of Shaler’s fish – which was a real fish – following the introductory quote. The sentiment, however, runs through these poems. That is, studying the subject at hand, be it a fish in a pan or a book on a stand. Agassiz’s lesson is carried out here, in full explorations of natural science and everyday life itself.
“Shaler’s Fish” is halved, first “SAFETY CATCH,” complemented and completed by “SHALER’S FISH.” Even if you know how to read poetry, this collection, under 100 pages, merits repeated visits. Macdonald uses scientific terms in artistic ways. If you read “H is for Hawk” and were hoping for more of her bird observations, you will be pleased. Those are some of the images that stuck out for me.
I wish, when poetry is taught in class, we’d learn more about poetry without specific form(s), let alone rhyming. Poetry, the way I see it, can be anything, and so without such limits, poets are free to express exactly what they need to. That’s good. One technique that did stand out is that almost no words, save a few proper nouns, are capitalized. punctuation is not strictly enforced
Partly due to my scant literacy regarding poetry, I did not know what was going on at first reading. This is no fault of the writer’s: Helen Macdonald is a master wordsmith, and I have to do my work to get to that point. Reading through the lines twice or more led to “I got it!” moments. This is heavy – in a good way. I have to get my literary chops up to snuff. The reward will be a richer experience.
Note: this e-book was provided through Net Galley. For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/
“Shaler’s Fish” is halved, first “SAFETY CATCH,” complemented and completed by “SHALER’S FISH.” Even if you know how to read poetry, this collection, under 100 pages, merits repeated visits. Macdonald uses scientific terms in artistic ways. If you read “H is for Hawk” and were hoping for more of her bird observations, you will be pleased. Those are some of the images that stuck out for me.
I wish, when poetry is taught in class, we’d learn more about poetry without specific form(s), let alone rhyming. Poetry, the way I see it, can be anything, and so without such limits, poets are free to express exactly what they need to. That’s good. One technique that did stand out is that almost no words, save a few proper nouns, are capitalized. punctuation is not strictly enforced
Partly due to my scant literacy regarding poetry, I did not know what was going on at first reading. This is no fault of the writer’s: Helen Macdonald is a master wordsmith, and I have to do my work to get to that point. Reading through the lines twice or more led to “I got it!” moments. This is heavy – in a good way. I have to get my literary chops up to snuff. The reward will be a richer experience.
Note: this e-book was provided through Net Galley. For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/
December 13, 2015
Helen Macdonald is best known as the author of H is for Hawk, which won the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book Award. Previous to this, Helen published poetry and worked as an Affiliated Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science.
In this collection of 42 poems we see the lyrical writing we loved in H is for Hawk put to perfect use for its ability to be read aloud and shared, for the beautiful beat the poems are set to, and the musical phrasing.
Helen beautifully shows the reader/listener the way she sees the world around her, capturing elements of nature that few go near these days, and even if they do, they're not often able to experience the land as Helen has.
These poems capture the call of a wren in full song, death in both nature and creativity, falling and flying, and deep things surely over my head yet remain beautiful to read.
From "the new world":
What is a hand for, but to be held? It is raining
in Georgia it is raining all over the world [. . .]
every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality ever existing.
The wonderful thing with poetry is how they can be read again and again, always finding new meaning as your life progresses, giving you new interpretations of things around you. If only in school we’d had poetry like this to study, rather than the dull and dreary things we slogged through instead.
Highly recommended.
In this collection of 42 poems we see the lyrical writing we loved in H is for Hawk put to perfect use for its ability to be read aloud and shared, for the beautiful beat the poems are set to, and the musical phrasing.
Helen beautifully shows the reader/listener the way she sees the world around her, capturing elements of nature that few go near these days, and even if they do, they're not often able to experience the land as Helen has.
These poems capture the call of a wren in full song, death in both nature and creativity, falling and flying, and deep things surely over my head yet remain beautiful to read.
From "the new world":
What is a hand for, but to be held? It is raining
in Georgia it is raining all over the world [. . .]
every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality ever existing.
The wonderful thing with poetry is how they can be read again and again, always finding new meaning as your life progresses, giving you new interpretations of things around you. If only in school we’d had poetry like this to study, rather than the dull and dreary things we slogged through instead.
Highly recommended.
February 28, 2016
2,5*
"every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality ever existing".
It took a fairly long time for me to read this short book of poems. MacDonald's poetry is anything but an easy read. It's heady, dense, non-linear and sometimes made me feel like I was chasing straws that would allow to tie the never-ending flood of words into meaning. An image. A sense of understanding. More often than not I failed. That is not to say it never happened. There are lines of intense beauty, a brilliant image captured, while a stream of botanical, scientific, archaic words fly by and suddenly they form into something that deeply resonates even if it's not actually intellectually understood.
Her range of themes is wide: nature first, but there's grief, there's love, there's politics as well.
I couldn't help but wonder whether certain elements of her poetry were formal choices or mannerisms. The archaisms, the (seemingly) arbitrary use of 'and' and '&'.
I like to get lost in poetry. And sometimes that's just what I did. Sometimes however I couldn't help the impression of words heaped upon words, and their substance being pulverized underneath their weight.
With thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC
"every moment describes some other music
and I cannot remember banality ever existing".
It took a fairly long time for me to read this short book of poems. MacDonald's poetry is anything but an easy read. It's heady, dense, non-linear and sometimes made me feel like I was chasing straws that would allow to tie the never-ending flood of words into meaning. An image. A sense of understanding. More often than not I failed. That is not to say it never happened. There are lines of intense beauty, a brilliant image captured, while a stream of botanical, scientific, archaic words fly by and suddenly they form into something that deeply resonates even if it's not actually intellectually understood.
Her range of themes is wide: nature first, but there's grief, there's love, there's politics as well.
I couldn't help but wonder whether certain elements of her poetry were formal choices or mannerisms. The archaisms, the (seemingly) arbitrary use of 'and' and '&'.
I like to get lost in poetry. And sometimes that's just what I did. Sometimes however I couldn't help the impression of words heaped upon words, and their substance being pulverized underneath their weight.
With thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC
April 25, 2018
I actually read this for a couple reasons. I was preparing a course plan utilizing ecofeminist criticism for 11th and 12th graders. I was simultaneously doing some work with nature poetry for my job at the Horatio Colony Nature Preserve. Helen McDonald does a beautiful job of connecting science and the literary arts in her collection of poems. Amanda mentioned in her textbook review that she would like to see more holistic connections within the science field to things like history and literature. McDonald does a beautiful job of this. While not all the poems are suitable for little ones there are some that would be great to share aloud before science lessons or as ways to inspire students own creation of poems related to ecology or scientific concepts.
November 14, 2015
What a treat! Thanks NETGALLEY for the ARC. I haven't read a book of poetry in years but am glad you granted me this one. Poetry is a very personal read- what one person loves, another might find inaccessible. This collection was a pleasure to dip in and out of. Not one to gulp down in a sitting but rather something to put on your nightstand for read before turning out the light.
June 7, 2016
Loved H is for Hawk. Went to see Helen MacDonald when she came to town. Bought Shaler's Fish and got it autographed. But, I just didn't get into this.
August 28, 2023
I did like them but not as much as her creative nonfiction. Heady, vocab-rich, nice to read out loud.
October 8, 2020
Shaler's Fish by Helen Macdonald is a collection of poetry from the author H is for Hawk and Falcon. Macdonald is a writer, poet, historian, illustrator and naturalist. She's worked as a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge. She is an affiliate of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.
This is probably the most difficult collection of poetry I have read since Eric Linsker's La Far. There is a definite lyrical quality to the poems. In fact, the reader will get caught up in the flow of words there is a beauty to the words and phrasing but very difficult to create imagery. From "Poem:"
small fowles
rain runs from their back in nomadic immortality holes
for each eye, pygostyle, furcula, pinions oiled & the grease
directs neat beads from throat chat chat hatching barbs
and sills broken white a flint egg.
There is still something that needs to be discovered in this collection. It has the appeal of a song you like and keeps popping into your head, but the words elude you. Eventually, however, everything comes together. I imagine it will take several more reflective reads before it all clicks together. The vocabulary is difficult, but the rhythm created keeps calling the reader back. For those with a taste for interesting and complex poetry, this is a worth read.
This is probably the most difficult collection of poetry I have read since Eric Linsker's La Far. There is a definite lyrical quality to the poems. In fact, the reader will get caught up in the flow of words there is a beauty to the words and phrasing but very difficult to create imagery. From "Poem:"
small fowles
rain runs from their back in nomadic immortality holes
for each eye, pygostyle, furcula, pinions oiled & the grease
directs neat beads from throat chat chat hatching barbs
and sills broken white a flint egg.
There is still something that needs to be discovered in this collection. It has the appeal of a song you like and keeps popping into your head, but the words elude you. Eventually, however, everything comes together. I imagine it will take several more reflective reads before it all clicks together. The vocabulary is difficult, but the rhythm created keeps calling the reader back. For those with a taste for interesting and complex poetry, this is a worth read.
Read
May 18, 2016I'm not qualified to write a review on this collection of poems. I believe Macdonald is a very gifted writer from a book and an article I've read of hers; my brain is just not wired to absorb much of this type of writing. I got through this telling myself, "Just find one you like." That didn't happen although with electronic help I did discover the meaning of many new words including many bird varieties (scaup, good Scrabble word) and ornithology anatomical parts as well as other references (Pantagrel and Auden) .
What I'd like and need is a poetry reading of this and then being told the interpretation.
What I'd like and need is a poetry reading of this and then being told the interpretation.
June 27, 2016
Gearing such good things about 'H is for Hawk', I refused to give up on this title. Poetry is something you really can't critique, but this book was just so difficult to get through. I went into it with high expectations, but after struggling to understand anything she was saying, I was disappointed. Too many "big words" were used, and not enough punctuation or line breaks. The old-timey language was not an issue, but rather how she went about it. Nothing stuck out for me; most of the time I found myself getting droopy eyes. Had I grabbed this book off the shelves (I received an advance reading copy courtesy of the publisher), I would have read the first page and put it back.
June 25, 2016
SHALER'S FISH
Written by Helen Macdonald
2001 (reissue: February 2016); 62 Pages
Genre: poetry
★★★
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)
With the success of Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk, her 2001 poetry collection has been reissued. Unfortunately, I did not really feel anything for the poems. I think it is her style that turns me off a bit. I found myself skipping about a quarter of them. I am still looking forward to reading H is for Hawk.
Written by Helen Macdonald
2001 (reissue: February 2016); 62 Pages
Genre: poetry
★★★
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)
With the success of Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk, her 2001 poetry collection has been reissued. Unfortunately, I did not really feel anything for the poems. I think it is her style that turns me off a bit. I found myself skipping about a quarter of them. I am still looking forward to reading H is for Hawk.
November 3, 2017
Stunningly gorgeous & inspiring.
November 28, 2017
I picked up this poetry book because I loved H is for Hawk but was quite disappointed.
Couldn’t make sense of any of the poems and after reading other people reviews I see I’m not the only one...
Couldn’t make sense of any of the poems and after reading other people reviews I see I’m not the only one...
April 30, 2023
As seems to happen these days, my copy isn't a Goodreads copy.
I doubt there is a difference in the poetry or the quality, simply the details. My copy is copyrighted 1997, is published by Atlantic Monthly Press, is hardback, is stated First Edition, and is in association with Etruscan Books, UK. The ISBN code matches. You figure it out if you want.
April has been National Poetry Month and Ms. Macdonald has been my poet for April. Her work is not the casual stuff one might expect from a writer whose major prose titles have been about birds. If one has not read those books, one probably does not realize what an extraordinary writer Macdonald is.
Here she does call upon nature but swells her universe well past any expectations. Scientists of most ilks will find references to their specialties; politics resides; insight and surprises await the close reader. The language is remarkable, the sensibility fathoms deep. Probably if I, the reader, had a wider perspective or were more willing to research the poems, I would rate this a 5 Star effort. In any event, for readers of poetry, this is
Recommended.
I doubt there is a difference in the poetry or the quality, simply the details. My copy is copyrighted 1997, is published by Atlantic Monthly Press, is hardback, is stated First Edition, and is in association with Etruscan Books, UK. The ISBN code matches. You figure it out if you want.
April has been National Poetry Month and Ms. Macdonald has been my poet for April. Her work is not the casual stuff one might expect from a writer whose major prose titles have been about birds. If one has not read those books, one probably does not realize what an extraordinary writer Macdonald is.
Here she does call upon nature but swells her universe well past any expectations. Scientists of most ilks will find references to their specialties; politics resides; insight and surprises await the close reader. The language is remarkable, the sensibility fathoms deep. Probably if I, the reader, had a wider perspective or were more willing to research the poems, I would rate this a 5 Star effort. In any event, for readers of poetry, this is
Recommended.
November 22, 2020
Brings to mind Gertrude Stein's "Gertrude, Matisse and Picasso". This too is a work of poetic art, words crafted into an abstract-ish aesthetic form, but less relatable than Stein. I usually enjoy a challenge and like listening to songs in languages I don't understand, for their purely artistic qualities. I tried to find some in this collection of poems. Got lost over and over. I suspect it's just beyond my capabilities, so feel free to take this review personally (yet I see from reading others' reviews I'm not alone.)
March 1, 2021
I don't like being negative, but the poetry was beyond abstract and was simply incomprehensible. I questioned at times whether I forgot the English language because it felt like I was reading a mishmash of random words presented in no particular order without an apparent discernible intention to communicate a thought or a feeling beyond disorientation and confusion. Usually, even with highly abstract poets, you can at least guess at what the author is trying to do. With Shaler's Fish, I literally have no idea.
June 30, 2020
I’ve been reading all sorts of poetry for as far back as I can remember, and I have an Evolutionary Biology M.S. I feel like this collection should have clicked for me on a number of levels but experience didn’t match expectation. I had high hopes that it would be a beautiful melding of two rather distinct realms of academia, both of which I hold dear...but nope. There were lines and moments of resonance but most of it registered more or less as word salad.
January 12, 2023
This little 82 page book took me an entire month to read. Every single poem was utterly incomprehensible. The experience of reading it was so unpleasant. Every poem made me feel like I was having a stroke. I could not find any semantic meaning to guide me between words. If it weren't for the clearly deliberate arrangement of sounds, I would assume each word was picked from a hat. And because each poem felt completely devoid of meaning, each one slipped from my mind the moment I stopped reading it. Remembering which poems I had already read was nearly impossible. Is this what people who hate poetry feel like whenever they read any poetry? I can't call this book bad because I can't shake the feeling that I'm just too dense to understand it, and if I were smarter or had a guide, I could unlock something special. But I'm not smarter and I don't have a guide, so I hated it. I feel awful.
February 20, 2025
Too obscure for me.
Perhaps it's me, but I struggled with this. Pity, because I loved her 'h for hawk'
For me some of the poems had the feel of crossword clues. It all seemed cluttered with difficult words which, having to be looked up, ruined the flow.
Perhaps it's me, but I struggled with this. Pity, because I loved her 'h for hawk'
For me some of the poems had the feel of crossword clues. It all seemed cluttered with difficult words which, having to be looked up, ruined the flow.
July 22, 2026
Some really lovely individual poems and lines, but I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Which is a pity because I love Macdonald’s prose.
October 16, 2016
Very dense. If I were a little more interested, I might take the time to go through this volume with Merriam-Webster, Wikipedia, and several cups of tea, but I couldn't get into it. Macdonald has certainly fine-tuned her poetic intuition into mellifluous prose in H Is for Hawk, and you can see her naturalist and imagist background and lexicon here, though her voice has much matured since this collection. Not what I'd recommend for light evening reading.
Did Not Finish
August 30, 2017I am glad that I gave it a try, as I love Macdonald's prose, but her poetry does not work for me.
Read
November 10, 2018marking this as DNF. just not my style of poetry, & was giving me more of a headache than it was worth.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews