Reviews of H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

II
Leaving home

Keys in pocket, hawk on fist, and off we go. Leaving the house that evening is frightening. Somewhere in my mind ropes uncoil and fall. It feels like an unmooring, as if I were an airship ascending on its maiden flight into darkness. Step¬ping over the low railings into the park I head for the thick black avenue of limes and the lamplit leaves beneath. Every¬thing seems hot and clean and dangerous and my senses are screwed to their utmost, as if someone had told me the park was full of hungry lions. Night air moves in the spaces between the trees. Moths make dusty circles about the lamps. I look down and see each pale blade of grass casts two separate shadows from the two nearest lamps, and so do I, and in the distance comes the collapsing echo of a moving train and somewhere closer a dog barks twice and there's broken glass by the path and next to it a feather from the breast of a woodpigeon judging by its size and curl. It lies upon the grass as if held...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. When Helen was young, she remembers her father telling her that 'when you wanted to see something very badly, sometimes you had to stay still, stay in same place, remember how much you wanted to see it, and be patient.' (p8) How is being patient important to Helen throughout this book?
   
   
2. Helen has lost her father and is grieving. Where did you find yourself drawn to her in sympathy or empathy? Were there times when you found her less sympathetic? If yes, when?
   
   
3. "The book you are reading is my story," Helen writes. "It is not a biography of Terence Hanbury White. But White is part of my story all the same. I have to write about him because he was there." (p.38) How does T.H. White's ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers!

Here are some of the comments posted about H is for Hawk.
You can see the full discussion here.


Fiction or nonfiction?
I knew it was non fiction so I expected it to be a memoir. If it had been listed as fiction, I would have questioned the deep connection to her father and her self imposed exile, I think I might have found it too tedious. Since it is non fiction I ... - Windsong

H is for Hawk
I don't remember the particular quote either, but I think it expresses some hope that Helen herself will eventually see the beautiful and "right" things in the world. - juliaa

H is for Hawk
I felt her grief drove her to enter the Mabel's world because her grief was so profound. By imagining how Mabel and White's hawk Gos lived, thought, and hunted, her life rebounded, - Windsong

Helen helps Mabel pluck the pheasant as 'unconsciously as a mother helping a child with her dinner,' but then, as the hawk eats, she starts to cry. Is this a turning point, and if so, why?
The comments in this string were very helpful to me. I agree that in this passage Helen recognizes the nurturing and love of her father as she realizes Mabel is a child that she has nurtured: " A baby hawk that's just worked out who she is." And ... - joanr

How do Helen's views on White's book evolve over time? What books have you changed your mind about over the years?
I think JLPen77 says it pretty well - I like the examples given to support the thoughts. As joanp says: Maturity changes your outlook. I don't think I can improve on the above statements. At this moment I cannot recall rereading books & changing ... - marganna