H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (2016 review catch ups)

 This was an impulse buy. Had I given it much thought, I would have left the book in the shop. But I had heard of it on Booktube. The fact that I have no interest in birds, no wish to dig up my feelings of my own father's passing, nor any massive interest in reading a memoir of a woman I had never heard of, didn't quite realise themselves until I got the book home, looked at the cover again, and then realised that I now had to read the damned thing (it cost a fortune). It came as quite the surprise then when I discovered that I really enjoyed it!

One cannot say that this is nature book. Nor is it a literary review, nor is it a book about overcoming bereavement. It is a bit of everything with a side order of some interesting psychology.

“Here’s a word. Bereavement. Or, Bereaved. Bereft. It’s from the Old English bereafian, meaning ‘to deprive of, take away, seize, rob’. Robbed. Seized. It happens to everyone. But you feel it alone. Shocking loss isn’t to be shared, no matter how hard you try.”

― Helen Macdonald, H Is for Hawk

There were parts that really spoke to me. Especially when it came to her struggles with Mable (the hawk). How she internalised the problem and found fault with herself instead of looking at the more practical aspects of all that could be wrong. I know I do that too, and seeing her realise that made me more aware of the times I blame myself for things going wrong when they are completely out of my control.

I did find it difficult empathising with her for her grief over her dad. I too have lost my dad (4 years ago), and although I was also a daddy's girl, I didn't lose complete grip on myself and my identity - and definitely not my humanity. But then I don't have other issues and I had to be the support so I wasn't afforded the luxury of coming apart completely. I was sad for her though.

Mabel was brilliantly depicted. I felt she was alive and could so easily visualise her ducking and weaving and crouching and bating. Yes, I learnt more words reading this too. I don't know if I will ever need to talk about hawkish actions in the right terminology, but it is nice knowing that I could.

This book also spends a lot of time discussing T.H. White's book, The Goshawk. In the beginning, I found this commentary very interesting, especially as she was telling us about White, in preparation for the process he took with his own Goshawk, Gos. Unfortunately, I will have to say I ended up skim reading a lot of this towards the end. I felt disturbed more than anything else, as to how White treated his hawk.

Helen does write well, and her knowledge extends far beyond that for hawking. I liked the lyrical style she used. And just to say it again, she must have loved Mabel a lot, because she captured the hawk and her gestures so well on the page.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (2016 review catch ups)

Who was not finding American politics interesting in 2016? By the time November arrived, I felt that I needed to learn even more. I stumbled across this at Jimmy's Secondhand Bookshop, and decided to give it a read. Maybe I would find some information right out of the horse's mouth.

Obama wrote Dreams from My Father long before he became president of the United States. The book is split into three sections: It follows his childhood (Origins), the beginning of his political interest (Chicago) and ends with him spending time with his father's family in Kenya (Kenya).

“My identity might begin with the fact of my race, but it didn't, couldn't end there. At least that's what I would choose to believe.”

― Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

I found this an interesting read, even though it didn't really give me the information I was wanting (Not that that is the book's fault. It was written long before Obama ran for president.). I liked the unusual childhood Obama had. He did not attend renowned schools, but instead spent a few years with his mother in Indonesia - an experience that was nothing like the regular upbringing most westerners have. (At this point in the story, I was strongly reminded of Peekay's experiences in The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay.)

His view on Kenya and his family there and the stories they shared were really interesting. Coming from Africa myself, those stories fascinated me, because it was either something I could relate to, or showing a new perspective on something I had never considered before.

“This pleased Onyango, for to him knowledge was the source of all the white man's power, and he wanted to make sure that his son was as educated as any white man.”

― Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

I also found his experiences in America interesting too. As I don't come from the US, my general understanding of the culture is very Hollywood-ish (or what is in the news - but headlines barely give one a decent feeling). Reading his experiences and views added a different feeling, and I think I have learnt something.

“All too rarely do I hear people asking just what it is that we've done to make so many children's hearts so hard, or what collectively we might do to right their moral compass - what values we must live by.”

― Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

I could hear Obama's voice narrating this in my head. I think that is a good compliment. It made me feel that this was a more honest account, not a pretentious attempt to impress. There was character in here too. The style matched fiction, with imagery, humour and detail. I must admit that I was nervous picking this up. I had fears that it would read something like a parliamentary speech. It didn't.

Besides the obvious target audience, I would recommend this to people who would like more exposure to racial issues.

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer

“WHO’S GOT A TAMPON? I JUST GOT MY PERIOD, I will announce loudly to nobody in particular in a women’s bathroom in a San Francisco restaurant, or to a co-ed dressing room of a music festival in Prague, or to the unsuspecting gatherers in a kitchen at a party in Sydney, Munich, or Cincinnati. Invariably, across the world, I have seen and heard the rustling of female hands through backpacks and purses, until the triumphant moment when a stranger fishes one out with a kind smile. No money is ever exchanged. The unspoken universal understanding is: Today, it is my turn to take the tampon. Tomorrow, it shall be yours. There is a constant, karmic tampon circle. It also exists, I've found, with Kleenex, cigarettes, and ballpoint pens.”

― Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking

Have you ever had that experience where you are curious about someone and then they go and publish a memoir? I'm sure you have. Well, that is what happened with me here. I adore Neil Gaiman, so I wanted to know what his wife was like. So I bought and read her memoir.

I got over the 'it is by Neil Gaiman's wife' very early into the book. Amanda Palmer became an artist in her own right. To give a little bit of info about Amanda Palmer (all of this I learnt in the book), after she left her record label, she used Kickstarter to fund her next project. She had the most successful Kickstarter project, raising over a million.

While this book does cover her career from start to present, it also covers so much more. It covers relationships with people - not just the 'special someone' in one's life, but everyone, including strangers. Let me touch briefly on one point that is to do with a relationship with that 'special someone': Amanda was really sick shortly after she and Neil Gaiman were married. She ended that chapter rather miserably, saying, surely she shouldn't have to ask. Surely he should know. I thought that was profound. I think it is too easy to assume that the special someone should know when you need help. I think this is where the art of asking really peaks. It is not about 'how to ask' but that you should ask.

Her focus on connecting with people was inspiring. I am going to try and take it to the classroom. Really make the kids feel that I am seeing them. She says in the book that people don't want to get looked at, they want to be seen. It is about making connections with people.

I have included the video to the TED Talk she gave on this topic. The book is a much more fleshed out version of this speech, and it covers new angles and aspects as well, but everything she mentions here is in the book too. It is probably a good way for one to test whether they are interested in it or not.

There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book. One thing that I think is very relevant is the cyclical nature of giving and receiving. Just as with the tampon story above (the is how the book starts) the artist gives their music which helps people, so the financial 'gift' the people give in return helps the artist. But for the rest of us who are not artists, we also fall into the giving and receiving cycle.

“Asking for help with shame says:
You have the power over me.
Asking with condescension says:
I have the power over you.
But asking for help with gratitude says:
We have the power to help each other.”

― Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking

OK, I will stop there. I am finding it very difficult to comment on this because it is not written as a self-help book. The nuggets are there for the reader to unearth and appreciate - which I think gives this far more credibility.

On a slightly more negative side, I should probably say that I did feel that she mentioned being a living statue for a huge chunk of the book. While I understand where she was coming from and the importance that the 'statue trade' had on her outlook, I did start to feel that there was only so much one could say about silently giving someone a flower in response to them putting some money in a hat.

Who do I think will enjoy this? Well, fans of Amanda Palmer's would - but then, they don't need me to tell them that. I think people who are wanting to get into any field that is artsy would get something of value out of this. In fact anyone could get something of value out of this. I wouldn't say that this is for everyone, but it is good to read something of value over something enjoyable occasionally. Because the book is broken up into smaller parts (I am not just talking chapters here), some a few lines, others a couple of pages, this book is actually very good to read over a period of time. There are many places where one can stop for the night and pick up something else.

This is the 40th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads because I really appreciated many of the ideas in this book.

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

I alternated between the audio book and a regular book with this one. The audio book was more enjoyable as it was read by Stephen Fry. It added a lot to the conversational tone, and I have to confess that I abandoned the physical book before the half way mark and just enjoyed listening.

The beginning was the best part. It was informative and quite humorous (his exploits on horses were worthy of quite a few laughs). Although structurally it would have driven the precision-fanatic nuts (chronological order did not exist), the tone was still very conversational and entertaining while still being informative.

Sometimes memoirs tend to knock people off their pedestals. I am sorry to say that this memoir achieved that for me. Yes, I was disappointed to learn that Fry was a coke user, but I also found that some of his humour, particularly in the diary section, very reminiscent of the grade 9 boys I teach. (That is not a compliment.) Do men still get the giggles from words like clitoris, for god's sake? That disappointed me more than the coke - which is probably odd. I think what really happened was that he became a human and not some god-like (amusing comparison for a budding atheist) entity who lauded his intelligence and wit for all to appreciate (which I still do appreciate). I never thought that I would have ever associated the word 'juvenile' with him though.

The latter part of the book was where I began to struggle. If it weren't for the fact that I was listening to it and could get on with crafty things while listening, I would still be stuck there with my next 'Great Train Robbery' (In case you are new here, that is a book that took me 5 months to read because I was bored to death with it.)  I enjoyed the beginning of his diary entries as it was written while he was writing 'The Hippopotamus' and I have a personal interest in the writing process. But then, after the book was written, it became a rather tedious description of social gatherings (generally at The Groucho Club) generally with coke and celebrities that I couldn't claim to know - the effect of not being British, I suppose. While the tone still remained conversational and entertaining, I just can't say I was interested in the content. I think I would have preferred it if he had returned to the initial style and wafted through memories that were more entertaining. I do have to wonder what his intention of it was. Did he want readers (which, let's face it, is synonymous with 'fans' here) to frown upon him? I cannot see how any other response is really possible. Unless I am missing something. Maybe people get excited at the thought of private clubs and cocaine. If anyone out there has read this, I would really love to hear another thought on this.

I rated this book 3 stars on Goodreads. It was OK overall, but the stellar parts were lost with a rather loose ending. (He didn't even mention how he stopped doing coke - or if he did, I zoned out... possible.)

This is the 29th book finished for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge and another number off the PopSugar reading challenge. (I should probably do an update on that at the end of this month too.)

PS: If you have any plans to read The Hippopotamus by Fry, I would read it before this memoir. He spoils a lot of the book (I think, never having read it, although it is on my TBR pile) while he discusses the writing process for it. Grrrr...