A poetic, attentive and often rich collection.
Meditative reflections on life, spirituality and nature.
In this slim, lyrical volume, Richane examines her life experiences, framed by the changing of the seasons and the transformation of the natural world. Beginning with the assertion that “the mundane and the profound are seldom far apart,” the author presents a series of one- to two-page chapters meditating on the role of the mystical in everyday things. Birth and family feature heavily, as several chapters reflect on her newborn grandson and his connection to other members of her family. Most chapters, however, are relatively disconnected, from a narrative perspective, and don’t elucidate a central theme so much as they circle around it. Social justice does feature prominently, though, with recurring mentions of global poverty, the environment, racism and gay rights. The book never becomes overtly political, although Richane’s spirituality dovetails with her politics in lines such as, “Hope lies in knowing we have what it takes to inch forward, with halting, clumsy, very human efforts. The question becomes: does this act move us toward the world we desire?” Her spirituality remains more or less undefined, but her mentions of Advent, Christmas and Jesus locate it within a Christian sphere. The depth of the reflections, combined with the disjointed narrative, gives readers a simultaneously vague and intimate sense of who the author is. There are perhaps too many mentions of highly specific details, however, such as people’s names and addresses, and the lack of context may make it difficult for readers to fully relate to these writings. However, Richane’s thoughtfulness, depth of feeling and attention to the world around her may inspire readers to slow down and bring similar mindfulness to their own lives.
A poetic, attentive and often rich collection.Pub Date: May 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499023848
Page Count: 114
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Drawings, words, and a few photos combine to convey the depth of a tragedy that would leave most people dumbstruck.
A new life and book arise from the ashes of a devastating California wildfire.
These days, it seems the fires will never end. They wreaked destruction over central California in the latter months of 2018, dominating headlines for weeks, barely a year after Fies (Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, 2009) lost nearly everything to the fires that raged through Northern California. The result is a vividly journalistic graphic narrative of resilience in the face of tragedy, an account of recent history that seems timely as ever. “A two-story house full of our lives was a two-foot heap of dead smoking ash,” writes the author about his first return to survey the damage. The matter-of-fact tone of the reportage makes some of the flights of creative imagination seem more extraordinary—particularly a nihilistic, two-page centerpiece of a psychological solar system in which “the fire is our black hole,” and “some veer too near and are drawn into despair, depression, divorce, even suicide,” while “others are gravitationally flung entirely out of our solar system to other cities or states, and never seen again.” Yet the stories that dominate the narrative are those of the survivors, who were part of the community and would be part of whatever community would be built to take its place across the charred landscape. Interspersed with the author’s own account are those from others, many retirees, some suffering from physical or mental afflictions. Each is rendered in a couple pages of text except one from a fellow cartoonist, who draws his own. The project began with an online comic when Fies did the only thing he could as his life was reduced to ash and rubble. More than 3 million readers saw it; this expanded version will hopefully extend its reach.
Drawings, words, and a few photos combine to convey the depth of a tragedy that would leave most people dumbstruck.Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3585-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Whether you call this a personal story or nature writing, it’s poignant, thoughtful and moving—and likely to become a...
An inspired, beautiful and absorbing account of a woman battling grief—with a goshawk.
Following the sudden death of her father, Macdonald (History and Philosophy/Cambridge Univ.; Falcon, 2006, etc.) tried staving off deep depression with a unique form of personal therapy: the purchase and training of an English goshawk, which she named Mabel. Although a trained falconer, the author chose a raptor both unfamiliar and unpredictable, a creature of mad confidence that became a means of working against madness. “The hawk was everything I wanted to be: solitary, self-possessed, free from grief, and numb to the hurts of human life,” she writes. As a devotee of birds of prey since girlhood, Macdonald knew the legends and the literature, particularly the cautionary example of The Once and Future King author T.H. White, whose 1951 book The Goshawk details his own painful battle to master his title subject. Macdonald dramatically parallels her own story with White’s, achieving a remarkable imaginative sympathy with the writer, a lonely, tormented homosexual fighting his own sadomasochistic demons. Even as she was learning from White’s mistakes, she found herself very much in his shoes, watching her life fall apart as the painfully slow bonding process with Mabel took over. Just how much do animals and humans have in common? The more Macdonald got to know her, the more Mabel confounded her notions about what the species was supposed to represent. Is a hawk a symbol of might or independence, or is that just our attempt to remake the animal world in our own image? Writing with breathless urgency that only rarely skirts the melodramatic, Macdonald broadens her scope well beyond herself to focus on the antagonism between people and the environment.
Whether you call this a personal story or nature writing, it’s poignant, thoughtful and moving—and likely to become a classic in either genre.Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0802123411
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Grove
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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