The book has no storyline . But once you have read it , you feel a closeness to Helen Macdonald . You have shared her adventures as a young girl and as a mature university professor , and she is now a close friend . The chapter titles reveal something about the eclectic nature , its humor , and the range of subjects . For example , here is a sampling of
chapter titles :
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Nests
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Nothing Like a Pig
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Tekels Park
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The Human Flock
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Sex , Death , Mushrooms
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Winter Woods
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Hares
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Deer in the Headlights
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In Spight of Prisons ( note the English spelling )
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Murmurations
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Goats
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What Animals Taught Me
Book Review
Macdonald tells you of the nests that she has collected and the birds that she raised from their eggs , the collection of poison mushrooms with a friend , her childhood love of hares , her long-time dislike of deer , and the trauma she experienced when she killed one with her automobile . I probably enjoyed most the story she told to her father of the reaction that goats typically display when pushed on the head — they push back and refuse to back down . And how her father tried to demonstrate this knowledge to friends only to have it fail completely when he tried it . The goat fell over , and , to his complete embarrassment , when it scrambled to its feet , it fled .
Helen Macdonald speaks to us in a language that we understand . She describes the murmurations of starlings as they gather at dusk . We here on the Carolina coast don ’ t have many starlings . But , we do have flocks of red knots and of skimmers that do the same . If you feel awe when you watch them , you will enjoy Helen ’ s book . NK
Photo by Pamela Cohen Photo by Linda Albus
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