Hey ... I didn't know there were "other" front covers. I've specially saved this up for the 100th post. Like many people of my age, I was discomclobberificated by this book. It hit me like a tank ! A tank full of new perspectives .... a Tank of Liberation !!! Up till then, I had been a specky four-eyed serious scientific survey-doing, bird-counting, behaviour-noting twonk. Just reading the foreword .... called " The author's foreword" was a right kick up the arse. He slags off boring, arrogant, pedantic, selfish birdwatchers. He points out that loads of "loonies" take up birdwatching. He points out that lots of "bird books" are written by people who know nowt about it. He gives Jonathon Livingston Seagull a right kicking ( Yes !) He implores lots of birdwatchers to pack it in ... there's too many of them. He also points out that birds and birding bring out the worst in people. He hits almost every nail bang on the noddle. The illustrations are brilliant. It's full of anarchic ideas. It was breath of fresh air to many of us. Nearly every copy of it I've ever had has fallen to pieces. It only cost £1.50 There's a whole chapter about " brightening up a dull day." And about covering up your disastrous mistakes. A whole chapter helps you to work out what sort of birdwatcher you are. There's revelations about the length of your binocular strap. But that's enough about my attitude to it ... here's two "good" and two" critical" reviews of it .... and it must be said, there was a lot of criticism from some quarters at the time.... but not from me. !!! I bloody loved it. It changed my life. [A] This book is for the fanatic and about the fanatic. It is not about birds. There is a description on what a 'birder' should be called and who will sneer at them by using the term. This is subject matter throughout. It is amusing and a great buy if you are a twitcher or some other list ticker'but there is nothing for those that like to actually watch, rather than spot, birds. As someone interested in the birds themselves, and not 'birder fanciers' or whatever, I found the book superificial, childish and totally uninteresting. Buy this if you want to laugh at people that spot (is 'spot'the permissible phrase) birds, especially if this is you. [B] Very funny and most of it true, probably. Heaps of information about people who are involved in bird orientated pass times. The two main categories are "birders" and "twitchers" though Bill does refer briefly to "ornithologists" and "dudes". "Bird watcher ... is not the correct term." The correct one, "birder", refers to folks who go out looking for birds and involves "ruggedness" and athleticism". So what's a person who watches birds from the comfort of their living room arm chair then? That's me. Persona non grata in the vocabulary of birders and twitchers. This book serves as both a guide and a warning - a bit like a hand book on drugs (I imagine). Don't do it! But if you must do it, you'll need the following clothing, equipment, mentality and so on. If there was ever any danger of my drifting towards a life of birding, then degenerating into a mad twitcher, this book has saved me. Who would want to be "gripped off" by some smug neurotic in a grubby anorak? What bird lovers would mercilessly chase rare (in this country at least) birds that have been blown off course and accidentally landed in Britain, when all the poor little beggars want, is to catch their breath and get their bearings? No, I'll stick with watching my garden birds and recording what I see on the garden bird survey form. Thanks Bill. [C] Unfortunately the book was not factory sealed and wrapped and the cover is slightly damaged ! But it was only a penny so not worth complaining to the supplier about ! Also not as the picture , but black cover ! [D] There are few books that we can truly say affect us throughout our life. My personal list include Lolita, Heart of Darkness, Quo Vadis .... and Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book. To say that it rocked my life's foundations would be an understatement. It unashamedly ripped me away from being a young impressionable young man perfectly content at watching a flock of "waders" wheel dramatically against a winter skyline, to now cursing the low sun because I can't get any feather detail on the end one that looks a "bit small for a Dunlin". This book is about birds and birders, but if you want to look for philosophical debate it will also tell you a lot about why certain people spot trains, collect Toby Mugs, or never miss a match neither home nor away for 23 years. But it's really about birds. If you're a bird-watcher you must read this book. If you're a birder, you already have. And if you're neither it'll turn you off bird-watching for ever, which as Bill says is no bad thing because there's too many of us already. So ... i say, if you've never read it, go on ... why not ? And if you have ... why not read it again. Now here's Wir sind Helden's beautiful song " Ein elefant für dich" totally live ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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