H for hawk

[jumpingpowder.livejournal.com]

I think this book has only been discussed briefly here, but apologies if I've missed it. Has anyone else read it? It has some fascinating ideas about T H White, sadism, hawk training as a way of recuperating and repeating the horrors of boarding school/harsh parenting; and especially hawking as a slight marker of inversion or perversion, as well as introversion. Suffice it to say it seems even more suitable as occupation for both Patrick and Jon than I had previously thought.

Comments

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I've got a copy borrowed from my father on my shelf at home, but haven't yet read it. Dad's opinion was that it was interesting, he didn't like the author, and how could anyone write a book about hawking, and hawking as an obsession, without mentioning Kes. I assume that it didn't mention the Marlows, either, but he hasn't read those!

[jackmerlin.livejournal.com]

I couldn't resist buying it, as it was only three pounds in the supermarket, but I haven't read it yet. I'm stuck, Nicola-fashion on a book I'm struggling with, but have to plough on through before I can start anything else.

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

I'm actually reading it at the moment and was wondering when Macdonald was going to get round to Kes... So she, er, doesn't, then?

[serriadh.livejournal.com]

I'm halfway through and the only other austringer discussed in anything other than passing mentions is White.

[jumpingpowder.livejournal.com]

Reading about T H White (and really a lot of it is about White, and his misinterpretation of 16th century hawk training - staying awake, etc) made me also wonder if there was any connection between Forest and another Dorset Catholic convert, Sylvia Townsend Warner's partner Valentine Ackland (STW wrote a White biog). It's a bit of a leap, though I can see Ackland hawking.

[jackmerlin.livejournal.com]

Having not read it yet, I'm not commenting on this particular author, but in defence of various falconry/hawking acquaintances I've known over the years I expect the people who choose to write intense books about it aren't typical of all the people who practise it!

[(Anonymous)]

I've read Hawk; and have also read Goshawk
Hawk explores loss, bereavement and mental breakdown and is a beautifully crafted book. It is also a deeply unhappy book. Macdonald compares Whites experiences with her own, when manning and training a goshawk: and in many ways his experiences mirror her own. Using this device enables her to chart what is essentially a severe breakdown, caused in her case by the intense grief felt after the death of her father.

Kes is a work of fiction, whereas Whites book was, to a great extent, factual as is Macdonalds. The only real link between Kes and Hawk is the fact that hawks play prominent roles in both books. Whilst it is true that emotive and painful issues are explored in both books I do not believe that referencing Kes would have been useful, or indeed appropriate in the context of Hawk.

As someone who has in the past kept and flown hawks and falcons I personally don't see hawking as an indicator of inversion, perversion or introversion ( well, I wouldn't would I?) However I do see it as an attempt to connect with the wider natural world and wonder if this is why people think that this is why Macdonald should have referenced Kes?

Many thanks for the readings of A.F's work. I would have commented earlier if I had had internet access.

Lesley

[lilliburlero.livejournal.com]

Macdonald does, from what I've read so far, focus on goshawks and the differences between goshawks and other hawks quite a bit, so I'd expect a lot of White to be in there. I was sort of expecting some mention of Kes for the reason you suggest--that Hines' novel and Loach's film are about connections with the natural world--but also because it's one of the best-known representations of falconry in popular culture, and also because it's about falconry from the perspective of a working-class boy who's nonetheless an outsider in his community, which might offer an interesting parallel and contrast to White's class uncertainties from a different point on the social scale.

[antfan.livejournal.com]

I've read it and was underwhelmed initially, maybe because I didn't enjoy the sections on White and the cruelty to Gos, and didn't really see how they related to the other strands of the book. I did like the ending though. Basically, I'd have preferred more writing actually about Mabel and hawking and less of a sense that she was constantly trying to make the subject matter more profound than was needed.

H is for Hawk

[mheloyse.livejournal.com]

Just spotted this in the supermarket for £3.50 so bought a copy. Thanks to those who have discussed it for bringing it to my notice!

[kate constable (from livejournal.com)]

I've bought it (interest largely piqued through comments here) and am about two-thirds through. I agree that it's a deeply unhappy book, but the writing is reminding me of Forest. Given that Macdonald as a child seems to have devoured everything she could lay her hands on that even mentioned falconry in passing, is it too much of a stretch to think she must have at least read Falconer's Lure?

Having finally read it...

[jackmerlin.livejournal.com]

I was a bit slow getting into this but having finally finished it I can now say I mostly enjoyed the book but with some quibbles. I agree with Antfan that at times she's trying to make the subject more profound than it really is, and there are a few passages that seemed contrived in order to link a chance event to her reflections.
She also came across as rather pretentious at times - who really drinks 'caffeinated soda'? Don't most people call it coke? At a barbecue, tomato sauce drips down her arm 'like a wound' - just in case we hadn't realised how sad she is.
But when writing about watching wild hawks, or Mabel, or her father's diary, her writing can be sublime. There were a few lines that I thought so perfect that I had to turn back to them and read them again - they were just perfect poetry.
I liked the way she inter-weaved White's story with her own, and analysed why White got it so wrong with empathy and understanding. I hadn't known much about White before and he seems a truly tragic character.
I found her writing about her own grief quite uncomfortable to read. As a 'don't let your feelings show' sort of person I just found that level of exposure of feelings a bit brutal. And sometimes it made me cringe, as when she described herself as being orphaned. Her mother is still alive! And can you call yourself an orphan if your parents die when you're a fully grown adult? We all have to face life without our parents in the end - and I think that is my criticism - that she doesn't try to elicit a reaction from the reader based on the universality of that situation. It's all very self-obsessed. This is perhaps an unfair thing to say as clearly she is not just mourning but having a breakdown. But for me there was something missing from her writing which meant I distanced myself from her grief rather than sympathising.
I liked the ending. I also liked her ultimate realisation of the hawk's self as a hawk, free from the meanings and ideas that she had projected onto her throughout her training.