The Goshawk cover art

The Goshawk

With a foreword by Helen Macdonald

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The Goshawk

By: T. H. White
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

This modern classic of nature writing by the author of The Once and Future King was an inspiration for and featured in Helen Macdonald's prize-winning H Is for Hawk.

"No hawk can be a pet. There is no sentimentality. In a way, it is the psychiatrist's art. One is matching one's mind against another mind with deadly reason and interest. One desires no transference of affection, demands no ignoble homage or gratitude. It is a tonic for the less forthright savagery of the human heart."

First published in 1951, T. H. White's memoir describes with searing honesty his attempt to train a wild goshawk, a notoriously difficult bird to master. With no previous experience and only a few hopelessly out-of-date books on falconry as a guide, he set about trying to bend the will of his young bird, Gos, to his own.

Suffering setback after setback, the solitary and troubled White nonetheless found himself obsessively attached to the animal he hoped would one day set him free.

©1979 Lloyd's Bank Trust Company (P)2015 Blackstone Audio Inc
Animals Biological Sciences Birds Birdwatching Outdoors & Nature Pets & Animal Care Science Heartfelt

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A beautiful autobiographical account of the authors relationship with a bird he attempts to train to kill game in late 1930s England. War is on the horizon and the narrator is content to seclude himself in his countryside cottage amongst nature, his hawk and his dog. A simply stunning read and account of time past. Great presentation.

A Simply stunning listen

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