tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post4795535934303418012..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: Natural Born Killers: J. A. Baker's The Peregrineseraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-72673687124226578612012-03-14T20:00:17.861-07:002012-03-14T20:00:17.861-07:00Thanks, Mary-Anna. You can handle it :).Thanks, Mary-Anna. You can handle it :).seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-26415975106738874142012-03-09T16:20:30.730-08:002012-03-09T16:20:30.730-08:00Birds and poetry? I'll read it! But can I ha...Birds and poetry? I'll read it! But can I handle the "grisly details"? Loved the whimsy in your writing, too: "saying that The Peregrine is a book about birds is like saying that Moby Dick is a book about…well, I don’t need to complete that."Mary-Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226436663987582960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-39182408839190850802012-03-01T16:18:03.611-08:002012-03-01T16:18:03.611-08:00Guy - I have not, but wow, bird of prey + Ken Loac...Guy - I have not, but wow, bird of prey + Ken Loach? One of these days when I'm feeling overly cheerful I'll have to watch it (kidding - thanks for the tip).seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-87844854774154677092012-03-01T14:53:00.741-08:002012-03-01T14:53:00.741-08:00Have you seen the film, Kes?Have you seen the film, Kes?Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-91334203840849538232012-02-29T19:00:04.134-08:002012-02-29T19:00:04.134-08:00Richard - I'd completely forgotten about the b...Richard - I'd completely forgotten about the birds of prey in <i>By Night in Chile</i>. Raptors apparently make for good metaphors. Your parents might like <i>The Peregrine</i> despite the brutality; most of the reviews I've read skirt it altogether and focus on Baker's intense lyricism and unusually poetic style (I'd read the Bayer book first, so blame that for my more cynical perspective). There's certainly enough rapturous appreciation of the natural world here that I'd imagine most bird lovers would be far more fascinated than appalled.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49934515824135451062012-02-28T20:57:45.725-08:002012-02-28T20:57:45.725-08:00I hope you'll forgive me for adding yet anothe...I hope you'll forgive me for adding yet another Bolaño reference here, Scott, but it's hard to think of the attack scenes you describe without thinking of similar fictional scenes in Bolaño's <em>By Night in Chile</em> where bird of prey attacks on pigeons in Europe recall the Pinochet-era Operation Condor war on "subversives." As for Baker's work more generally, it sounds like a powerful but unsettling read. I think I might appreciate reading it at some point, but I'm glad you warned me about how gruesome it is because I'm not sure my parents, bird lovers both, would have appreciated this as a gift!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.com