I love his writing in The Once & Future King. The animal, feral experience achieves such strangeness & power. And unbearable sadness. The hedgehog’s farewell.
All I know of White’s life, I learned through reading Helen Macdonald’s ‘H is for Hawk’ and he comes across as thoroughly strange. The sort of man who’s a stranger to himself.
Btw, Henry. Hope you’ve enjoyed ‘The Wizard of Earthsea. Would love to know how you would describe Ursula Le Guin’s voice, if you ever write about it one day. Makes me think of Old English poetry and the Bible. Keep hearing Germanic sort of rhythms in the sentences.
Seems like an interesting book. I completely agree with your point about letting the person speak for him or herself. (To use an American example, the best writing in almost any book on the Civil War comes in the quotations of Lincoln's own speeches and letters.)
Re: White, I loved The Once and Future King as a young man but the book of his I've found most interesting and most useful as an adult is his complete translation of a medieval bestiary. I've drawn upon it quite a bit in my own writing.
I love his writing in The Once & Future King. The animal, feral experience achieves such strangeness & power. And unbearable sadness. The hedgehog’s farewell.
Any similarities to J A Baker, The Peregrine?
All I know of White’s life, I learned through reading Helen Macdonald’s ‘H is for Hawk’ and he comes across as thoroughly strange. The sort of man who’s a stranger to himself.
Btw, Henry. Hope you’ve enjoyed ‘The Wizard of Earthsea. Would love to know how you would describe Ursula Le Guin’s voice, if you ever write about it one day. Makes me think of Old English poetry and the Bible. Keep hearing Germanic sort of rhythms in the sentences.
I remember reading The Goshawk as a young boy and feeling transported to another world, full of magic and life.
Seems like an interesting book. I completely agree with your point about letting the person speak for him or herself. (To use an American example, the best writing in almost any book on the Civil War comes in the quotations of Lincoln's own speeches and letters.)
Re: White, I loved The Once and Future King as a young man but the book of his I've found most interesting and most useful as an adult is his complete translation of a medieval bestiary. I've drawn upon it quite a bit in my own writing.