The Goshawk

by T.H. White

     Relates a time when the author bought a young wild goshawk and attempted to tame it, using several old books on falconry as a guide- with outdated methods. I am not, of course, a falconer myself but I've read just enough about it to recognize when things were going wrong. White admired and loved the bird for its fierce beauty, but also seemed to mostly want to dominate it and take pride in forcing it to his will- so it seemed to be all one step forward and two steps back. He didn't have a mentor and succumbed to very human failings- frustration, impatience, brash decisions. Some of the scenes are hard to read, I cringed for the bird. But there's also riveting descriptions, and interesting little asides (also many that really wandered or at least I had no frame of reference). My favorite passage was how the hawk carefully examined water when once he was set on a board in a small pool, and eventually dipped his feathers to bathe. I liked very much the author's joy and satisfaction in figuring out and making things to use in his endeavors. Also appreciated how brutally honest the whole account was- White tells at the end, how later on he successfully trained other hawks (using more modern methods I gather) and explains plainly how many of his efforts didn't work and why, in hindsight. If I hadn't read H is for Hawk I might not have approached this one, so I'm very glad I read the other first, as it gave me more perspective. 

Rating: 4/5            215 pages, 1951

more opinions: Vulpes Libris

anyone else?