From 610d0626fe48da561ed3e9716ad9eda6cdaee829 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Josh Cook Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2024 08:21:43 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] hobby: review for Flight Paths --- content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md b/content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md index e6ea6b3..de33115 100644 --- a/content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md +++ b/content/hobbies/reading/reviews/2024.md @@ -474,10 +474,31 @@ This novel just did not have the flair of Hemingway's other classics. +## *Flight Paths* + +**Rebecca Heisman**
+Rating: 2.5 / 5 + +I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it was underwhelming. +To begin, the writing itself is mediocre and it seems like the author did most of her journalism through Twitter. +The number of references to tweets and other messages on Twitter was almost as if the author thought this information on sourcing would interest the reader. +For me, it had the opposite effect, instead coming off as lazy and amateurish (likely because I despise and have become disillusioned by the "news" articles with the headline "Twitter users say..."). +Then there was the unnecessary distractions the author included, in particular on COVID and other random political-adjacent comments. +I understand the attraction of including mentions of COVID (e.g. someone wearing a mask, meeting over video call) because it was such a big event, but I don't think it ages well – even just a few years on, I find it distracting and uninteresting (I understand an author's desire to make references, but editors should really know better). +Then there were miscellaneous political statements, such as explaining why the author would use "community scientist" instead of "citizen scientist" (to then quote a source that used the horrible, no-good, very-bad latter phrase just a few paragraphs later – comes off as a bit condescending). +I think the only people who actually care about the distinction spend too much time on Twitter, which brings me back to my initial critique. + +But all of that would be dismissible were the scientific content of the book more engaging. +I was really hoping for more detail of the technologies and techniques mentioned in the book on the study of bird migration. +Instead, there was more description on the people, settings of particular outings, etc. making the book feel shallow. +I think the author was going for a style akin to John McPhee, but didn't get the balance of adventure and information right. + +I want to finish by clarifying (for the above statements are harsh) that I did not hate the book and harbor no ill-will towards the author. +I think this was a great concept for a book and she has the subject-matter expertise to write it, I am just providing my honest opinions. + --- **Currently reading:** -1. *Flight Paths* by Rebecca Heisman -2. *Across the River and Into the Trees* by Ernest Hemingway -3. *Eight Little Piggies* by Stephen J. Gould +1. *The Power of Habit* by Charles Duhigg +2. *Eight Little Piggies* by Stephen J. Gould