well, i finally finished...er, no that's not completely true. ahem. start over. well, i finally read most of another book on the shelf that i own and have possessed for a number of years but had previously not read at all: conversations with an eagle: the story of a remarkable relationship, by brenda cox. it's a nice looking little book--well-designed inside and out. you can read the blurb about it on the link above (amazon.com). it sounds like a great book: an outdoorsy woman describes in vivid detail her experiences at a wildlife rescue center in british columbia, focusing primarily on an injured eagle that she is drawn to and everyone else is afraid of. then the eagle dies (don't worry, that wasn't a plot spoiler). despite all of these interesting points, the book was BORING. maybe boring isn't the right word...but the problem with the book is that it's driven by rather insignificant little events, but you know that all these things mean SO MUCH to the author. and here's another thing: she LOVES birds (and horses, too)--wakes up crying from a dream she had where the injured birds at the rescue center couldn't ever fly again. and although she tries really hard, i really don't think she manages to successfully imbue ichabod (the eagle) with human traits. there is no conversation in this story. ichabod is a wild animal--a dangerous, injured, poorly-understood wild animal. ok, so i did skip about 30 pages, so maybe i missed it, but there was really very little evidence, to me, that ichabod even liked brenda--barely tolerated, maybe, but brenda gushes about every aspect of her interactions with the bird with vivid details and raw emotions. i'm not trying to be harsh, brenda seems like a great person; i guess i just couldn't relate to her or the things she cares so deeply about.
also, if anyone wants to buy a certain book for a dollar...well, there's no reason for me to keep it.
