Welcome to Litsy!

Gorgeous poetic prose, a book with is both beautiful and heartbreakingly honest and sad. Loved!

(...continued) for liking nature or being slightly ‘different‘ will get this, even if not the boiling down of animals‘ heads! I think parents of children with Asperger‘s might find it helpful. In many ways it‘s a brave book.

I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, and hearing it in his voice (and knowing who he is from TV) made a difference. I admit I used to find him annoying (smug) but now I know about his Asperger‘s and saw a documentary about him feel empathy, and listening to this book even more so. There are some lovely lyrical passages and searing honesty, without affectation. Those of us who even in a comparatively mild way were bullied for liking

I don't care for cool: I prefer peculiar fervour. Chris's experiences with birds (especially his darling kestrel) and beasts are incandescent but it is not a "nice" nature book. There's heaps of death and suffering, from innumerable invertebrates in jam jars to therapy sessions following a suicide attempt. Stylistically, the timeline jumps around and he often goes into adjectival overdrive, which is exhilarating at first but becomes exhausting.?

Well, check you, tiny plastic dimetrodon!
(I love this chapter heading so much!)

#shadesofblue
#somethingforsept