Play Book Tag discussion
November 2016: Animals
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H is for Hawk
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Yup, I really thought this was just okay when it came down to it.
I also rated it 3 stars. Half the time it bored me, other times it horrified me. And I found the writing mediocre.
I rated it 4 stars but I listened to it rather than read it and probably for two reason. I like birds and have an interest in falconry and I like books about grief. It wasn't the best book because it was a bit lose, not really pulled together well. I didn't mind her voice and specifically noted that I thought she did a good job even though she was the author.
Interesting, Linda. I thought the prose was beautiful, but that the book, ultimately, was neither emotionally engaging nor especially revealing (which I expect from a memoir). Definitely had boring parts. Only 3 stars for me too.
I rated it 4 stars too, but I tend to be generous. However, any book that will send me off to do some background research deserves 4 stars. I had to do that twice, once for more info on White and the other time for the chalk hills. I agree though that sometimes I was bored but I think those might have been times when she was drawing a picture for my head of the geography which actually stuck pretty well. I had some problem with her "becoming" the hawk - which was probably part of her grief. I lost my father when he was just 56 and I was 30, it was very hard but we knew it was coming (lung cancer in the 70s), McDonald didn't and that suddeness tipped her over the edge I'm sure.
I also enjoyed the writing and some of the anecdotes about the hawk. I did think that the parts about T H White were distracting; perhaps if they were more self-contained, but they were sprinkled throughout the narrative and I did find my mind wandering during those sections.
I wanted to love this book and there were elements about it that I truly enjoyed. Specifically, I liked the way this book connected the process of grief with falconry and how it was a mix of genres. The writing was truly beautiful and the author has true skill. Yet, I found myself bored at times and found the extensive notes about White to be a little tedious.
I listened to the audio which was narrated by the author and I didn't love the audio. I found her voice to be the kind that lulled me into a stupor and I lost track of time when driving. Don't get me started about her attempt to read one of the characters with an "American" accent. I really struggled through the first half of the book but I did warm up to it over the course of the narrative. There were some elements that were very clever but other elements that were dreadfully boring (to me).