Scan barcode
bluestarfish's review against another edition
5.0
I was slightly worried when I picked this up that it would be a bit of a busman's holiday reading this, but I needn't have worried. It's a delightful read and Aberdeen is different enough to London for the urban wildlife to be wildly different. Taking us through a year Field Notes provides musings on the seasons, life in its many forms, the coexistance of humans with nature, individual animals the author knows or comes across, historical facts and modern research, and other fascinating things. Woolfson is a sympathetic observer of creatures great and small, and there were plenty of asides that had me laughing out loud when reading this on the train. It is a great reminder of the joy of observing "ordinary" wildlife and of all the wonder that lives alongside us humans.
tucholsky's review against another edition
1.0
Self indulgent self pitying .basically a diary of whining that involes seeing a little bit of wildlife. The self is much more prominent than the wildlife in this book
ingridboring's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed parts of this. Had to skip the chapter about slugs *shudder* it is definitely a slow read which you can dip in and out of
cnoelle's review against another edition
2.0
I'll be honest...I read the first 94 pages of the book, skimmed through a few chunks then skipped to the last 20. After reading reviews, I had such high hopes for this book, but they fell flat. Other people mentioned it was an illuminating environmental philosophy that presented an urban contrast to Thoreau's secluded wilderness writings. I saw none of that in the parts that I read and frankly found myself offended on Thoreau's behalf! Woolfson's work is nothing more than a personal diary where she writes about the mundane details of her day with some scatterings of thoughts on a few wild animals or weather. In Walden, Thoreau may write about his daily doings and seasonal changes etc. but his writing expounds on environmental philosophy. He never talks about something without there being a point to it. I struggled to find meaning in everything Woolfson wrote and it reached its lowest when I got to page 41 and there were 3 pointless journal entries about her family arriving. It literally reads like a Facebook status update:
"December 23. The family arrive home, Bec and her daughter Leah from Edinburgh, Han and Ian from London.
...
December 25. Christmas day. Still white but gently dripping."
There has to be a better book out there that talks about the relationships between humans and nature in the city for those of us who don't want to read about a stranger's family coming home for Christmas or how it sucks to walk in the snow.
"December 23. The family arrive home, Bec and her daughter Leah from Edinburgh, Han and Ian from London.
...
December 25. Christmas day. Still white but gently dripping."
There has to be a better book out there that talks about the relationships between humans and nature in the city for those of us who don't want to read about a stranger's family coming home for Christmas or how it sucks to walk in the snow.
obstinateheadstrongcurl's review against another edition
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea what the hidden city of the title was until I picked up the book, and it's Aberdeen, a place I have never been, and of which my sum total of knowledge was that it was very far north in Scotland, full of granite, and it rained a lot there. (There's a joke of doubtful truth, here in New Zealand, that when the Scots first settled here they chose Nelson, but the weather was too nice there so they went to Dunedin instead. I don't know where I heard that one, but heard it I have.) Woolfson's diary tracks the changes through the year, and it starts and ends in winter. The pages are full of snow, and rain, and her constant desire to see the aurora borealis, a desire which never eventuates though freezing winds are all too common, and not, I think, much compensation.
Most of the focus, though, is given to the creatures that live in her house and garden, the majority of which are birds. There's not a lot of what you'd call fancy wildlife here. Woolfson seems to have a particular predilection for the common and the disdained; she focuses on creatures like pigeons, sparrows, and rats, wondering how far she should go to make room for them in her house. A little mouse who wants to spend the winter inside and steals the odd tiny bit of food from her birds, fine. The rats that make a home under the house are less fine, but the guilt she feels in having them poisoned is constant. There's a strong focus here on learning to value common creatures for themselves, and the moral consequences of choosing to cause them harm. Why are her Aberdeen neighbours so vicious towards the grey squirrel, for example, and so welcoming to the red? (Though it's a late welcoming, given the national history of slaughter towards those same red squirrels.) It's a very thoughtful book, anyway, and if I do find it a tiny bit slow in places, I still really enjoyed it. And I want to visit Aberdeen now, so there's that.
Most of the focus, though, is given to the creatures that live in her house and garden, the majority of which are birds. There's not a lot of what you'd call fancy wildlife here. Woolfson seems to have a particular predilection for the common and the disdained; she focuses on creatures like pigeons, sparrows, and rats, wondering how far she should go to make room for them in her house. A little mouse who wants to spend the winter inside and steals the odd tiny bit of food from her birds, fine. The rats that make a home under the house are less fine, but the guilt she feels in having them poisoned is constant. There's a strong focus here on learning to value common creatures for themselves, and the moral consequences of choosing to cause them harm. Why are her Aberdeen neighbours so vicious towards the grey squirrel, for example, and so welcoming to the red? (Though it's a late welcoming, given the national history of slaughter towards those same red squirrels.) It's a very thoughtful book, anyway, and if I do find it a tiny bit slow in places, I still really enjoyed it. And I want to visit Aberdeen now, so there's that.
halfmanhalfbook's review against another edition
3.0
Written ove the course of a year, Woolfson takes us on a stroll throughout Aberdeen, looking that the natural world around her in this very northern city. Looking at the the wild creatures that inhabit it, and the ones in her house too, she writes short and long entries on subject such as pigeons, slugs foxes and plants.
Some of the passages and entries are beautifully written, they are eloquent and inspirational. There are longer sections of the where she expands on subjects that are she is passionate about, but it feels like these haves been included in to add substance to the book. If only they had just left it as a diary it would have been much better. Really a 2.5 star read.
Some of the passages and entries are beautifully written, they are eloquent and inspirational. There are longer sections of the where she expands on subjects that are she is passionate about, but it feels like these haves been included in to add substance to the book. If only they had just left it as a diary it would have been much better. Really a 2.5 star read.
sandyd's review
5.0
This non-fiction will not be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy nature writing or slow, reflexive essays, give it a try. It starts out with winter in Aberdeen in the north of Scotland, so maybe begin the book in June in North America so you aren’t overwhelmed with the cold and dark.
There's a lot about birds in this book - did you know starlings are a threatened species in Britain? That house sparrows are endangered there? Weird to think they're dwindling in their native lands while we think of them as invasive pests. Woolfson probably provides more details about pigeons, crows, rooks, oystercatchers, baby birds, bird rescue, and jackdaws (apparently reviled in Scotland) than most Americans want, but if you're in the right mood it is fascinating.
There are also interesting sections on spiders, arachnophobia, slugs, urban foxes, rats, shrews, native vs. introduced species and red & gray squirrels, some reflections on how we talk about and treat animals and how this relates to how we treat people (invasive species=immigrants), a philosophy of nature, weather, climate change, and Jewish culture and life outdoors.
Wonderful insights, poetic prose, well-grounded research. Now can someone write something like this for the Midwest US?
There's a lot about birds in this book - did you know starlings are a threatened species in Britain? That house sparrows are endangered there? Weird to think they're dwindling in their native lands while we think of them as invasive pests. Woolfson probably provides more details about pigeons, crows, rooks, oystercatchers, baby birds, bird rescue, and jackdaws (apparently reviled in Scotland) than most Americans want, but if you're in the right mood it is fascinating.
There are also interesting sections on spiders, arachnophobia, slugs, urban foxes, rats, shrews, native vs. introduced species and red & gray squirrels, some reflections on how we talk about and treat animals and how this relates to how we treat people (invasive species=immigrants), a philosophy of nature, weather, climate change, and Jewish culture and life outdoors.
Wonderful insights, poetic prose, well-grounded research. Now can someone write something like this for the Midwest US?