- Hardcover: 337 pages
- Publisher: Granta Books; First Edition edition (4 Aug 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847080294
- ISBN-13: 978-1847080295
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 15 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 95,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Corvus: A Life with Birds
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Sunday Times
`Nature writing at its best'
Spectator
'This book is so entertaining and intelligent'
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Corvus is an enchanting book. There is no sentimentality here - indeed, Esther Woolfson goes to rigorous lengths to avoid anthropomorphism - and yet the entire book is infused with warmth, charm and humanity, whilst the birds themselves - very much the stars of the piece - are quite wonderful. The episodic narrative, charting the author's own journey of avian experience and discovery - punctuated by digressions on topics such as birds in folklore, bird physiology, bird evolution, bird flight and bird song - is completely compelling: I could barely put it down. The expositions themselves are equally interesting, hugely informed and informing, but never daunting. Beautifully written, the prose is spare but elegant, seemingly almost taking on the metre of bird song itself. Other significant themes also run, almost imperceptibly, through the book: the art of 'seeing' and observation, the scientific method, the idea of 'North', the comfort of home and family. This is not a 'heavy' book - it first came to my attention through hearing a very brief extract on (BBC) Radio 4 - but there is great sensitivity and wisdom here. If you've ever stood at a window or sat on a bench and watched a bird walk or hop or feed or fly, then Corvus will almost certainly enrich your life and provide a fresh, new perspective the next time you see a rook, crow, magpie or one of their feathered relations. A joy from cover to cover.
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The main theme of Corvus is the story of a baby rook owned by the autor but it also concerns broader subjects such as natural history and wild birds.
The parts about Woolfsons pet birds are a funny and touching potrait of a family and their pets, a little remeniscent of "my family and other animals".
The parts about natural history are more serious and require concentration but well worth it particularly the parts discussing birds relationship to dinosaurs.
I really loved this and hope that Esther Woolfson writes more of the same.
The parts about Woolfsons pet birds are a funny and touching potrait of a family and their pets, a little remeniscent of "my family and other animals".
The parts about natural history are more serious and require concentration but well worth it particularly the parts discussing birds relationship to dinosaurs.
I really loved this and hope that Esther Woolfson writes more of the same.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Maybe Robert Macfarlane and Jay Griffiths should be forced to read this book, because without a single overdressed metaphor, without a single unnecessary word of any kind, it tells a series of subtle, clear and profoundly moving stories. It's a delight to meet Spike, and Chicken, and the other birds who soar and wing through the pages, the rhythmical, shapely pages. Envy! I wish I'd written this. Observation wonderful. Interesting that birds are so despised. I read this because having kept chickens I've also come to know and feed jackdaws and rooks, and all three kinds of bird are so bright and so interesting that I simply can't see why we once despised them. I shall read the sequel, if any.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Chicken's No Chicken!
I am just coming to the end of this delightful book and would recommend it to others without hesitation if you have an interest in birds. I would love it if Ms. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jane Britcher
Insights Into the Intelligence of Crows
Given that title, you may say, how can this book possibly be worth reading? Well, I can assure you this is one of most outstanding books about nature I have ever read, and one... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Keith M
An interesting account of life with rook, magpie and crow
'Corvus' is Esther Woolfson's account of living with birds - in particular, with three foundling corvids: a rook, a magpie, and, at the very end of the book, a crow. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Paul Bowes
An enchanting book full of profound insights and also very funny
Esther Woolfson's "Corvus: a life with birds" is an enchanting book. The vast majority of readers have praised it very highly indeed and I will simply add that, in addition to its... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Hywel James
Home birds
This is an enthralling read for anyone interested in birds and our relationships with them. The writer shares her experience of living with 'wild' birds in her home and revealing... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mary Sumner
A life with talking birds
"Corvus" is a book by Esther Woolfson, a strange lady in Britain (where else?) with an even stranger taste in pets. Her main pet is a rook! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ashtar Command
Enchanting and informative
This is a great read and a must for all slightly geeky, warm-hearted nature lovers. Although I'm already a keen birdwatcher, my eyes were opened to the intriguing world of these... Read more
Published 16 months ago by bunnyw
Corvus
Highly enjoyable book, the author makes her accounts both intimate and informative. Great mix of observation, humour and science. Read more
Published 18 months ago by stripey
Questionable motives
I found this book mildly enjoyable but it left me feeling distinctly uncomfortable and more than a little sceptical about the author's motives. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Angelica Pickles
Recondite!
There were times when reading this book that I was pleasantly reminded of Gerald Durrell and his stories of his family and other animals on Corfu. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Denzil Walton
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