What readers think of H Is for Hawk, plus links to write your own review.

Loved the (1) falconry aspect and the interspersed (2) references to T. H. White's own struggles with birds of prey as well as writing. Found the (3) author's remembrances of her late father less interesting. Overall enjoyed the memoir and found myself pursuing the subject of falconry in other books.

H IS FOR HAWK is Helen Macdonald's book about herself and her hawk, a goshawk. This is why I wanted to read it. I didn't realize that it is also about her mourning over the death of her father and about T.H. White, writer of, among other well-known books, THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING and THE SWORD IN THE STONE. I enjoyed Macdonald's wonderful descriptions of her goshawk, Mabel, and her need for Mabel upon her father's death. But I could have done without all her critique of T.H. White's training of his own goshawk, which he described in THE GOSHAWK.

White's training of his goshawk was mostly failure. It was difficult to read Macdonald's retelling of the failures because White unknowingly tortured his goshawk. Plus, it sounded to me like he was full of psychological problems. H IS FOR HAWK devotes too much time and space to White.

I found this book depressing. At least, unlike most books about animals, Macdonald doesn't end H IS FOR HAWK with death.