Il dolore è una cosa con le piume

You Cannot Prevent the Birds of Sorrow from Flying over Your Head, but You Can Prevent Them from Building a Nest in Your Hair – Chinese Proverb I picked this up because the title struck me like a poem in itself, sounding like an titillating modulation on that wonderful poem Hope is the thing with fe Leggi tutto

Moving on, as a concept, is for stupid people, because any sensible person knows grief is a long-term project. This is a book about two boys and their father dealing with their mother's death. It's a very unusual book. Unusual because their "grief counsellor" is a crow. Yes, a black bird. Unusual b

‘ But I care, deeply. I find humans dull except in grief. ’ Grief is a natural response to loss, yet it is something we struggle with giving space to and processing as a society. This is particularly prevalent in Western societies—often criticized as being death-denying cultures —where we push death asi Leggi tutto

When I first saw this book I kept thinking about how familiar the title sounded, and then I remembered the Emily Dickens poem “Hope is a Thing With Feathers “ is what rang a bell here - hope not grief. While this novella is about the depths of grief, I couldn’t help but have hope for these character Leggi tutto

Largely incomprehensible rubbish. A story of a father and two sons grieving and coming to terms with the death of their mother. The reason we know that...? Because the synopsis tells us that's what this "novel" is about. If it hadn't, and we were just to read this nonsensical crap, we would be utter Leggi tutto

This is no ordinary book. It's part short story, part myth, part poetry, partly narrated by a massive metafictional crow. It's unlike anything I've ever read and it's absolutely wonderful. We are plunged into the aftermath of a woman's tragic death. Her husband (a Ted Hughes scholar) and two young so Leggi tutto

First Read: November 2016, Rating: 5 starsSecond Read: January 2019, Rating: 5 stars Have you ever read something and thought of what an utter privilege it is that this book came into your life? I have. About this book. The synopsis of this sounds pretty simple – two boys and their father are grieving Leggi tutto

A Ted Hughes scholar and his two young boys grieve over the death of their wife/mother. Enter some magical realism! A Crow appears and hangs out with the sad family as they deal with their loss. I hate the cover design of the paperback edition. Anything that’s plastered with blurbs like this one is Leggi tutto