Lift

by Rebecca K. O'Connor

The culmination of a ten-year career in falconry, Lift is a memoir that illustrates the journey and life lessons of a woman navigating a man’s ancient sport. Captivated by a chance meeting with a falconer’s peregrine as a child, the indelible memory eventually brings the author’s life full circle to flying a peregrine of her own. Exploring themes of predator and prey, finding tribe, forgiveness and femininity, the memoir asks universal questions through a unique backdrop.  Lift illustrates the beauty and meaning the sport of falconry can add to a falconer’s life, echoing the challenges and triumphs of being human.

Genres: Birds, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Nature

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Rebecca K. O’Connor is the author of We Were Wilder, Lift, Falcon’s Return, and several reference books on the natural world. She works for a conservation organization in her hometown.

Reviews

[Lonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A First Reads win and I am glad I won, not just because it means a free book for me but I was introduced to Anakin… well, Rebecca O’Connor’s writing. For those that are interested I rate all books with two stringent criteria. Does the writing flow (am I able to be absorbed or am I struggling) and do I care what happens next. I am happy to say that O’Connor’s writing flows very well and I was always curious to what happens next. Her italicized inserts of her childhood and previous experiences were very interesting insights into her past. Do they have anything do with falconry? Sometimes. Do they make you feel like you have opened a little window to take a peak into the author’s private life? Definitely.

As a duck and pheasant hunter I have seen where there is a falconry season and thought it was interesting. I had no idea that the falconer had such a role in flushing the game. Incredible dedication!

[Harvee Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lift, A Memoir does an excellent job of combining a description of the art of falconry with the memories of a woman becoming a confident falconer in spite of growing up with uncertainty in her personal life. Left by her parents at a young age, she learns about birds and the natural world from her grandfather, and develops a love of birds including hawks and falcons. She becomes a bird trainer, a naturalist, and owner of a peregrine falcon. This is her story.

http://bookbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/...

[Melissa Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book. Here's my review of it, from High Country News:

http://www.hcn.org/issues/41.16/confr...

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca O’Connor has written a memoir that works on three levels: it is the story of a falconer training, for the first time, a Peregrine Falcon; of a woman engaging in the male-dominated world of falconry; and of a human soul using both writing and hawking as therapy to wrestle with her demons and come to terms with her difficult past. The book was enjoyable, and full of unexpected moments. I loved the descriptions of the hunts, fly-aways, and O'Connor's relationship with other falconers. It is also obvious that she is very much in love with Anakin, her tiercel Peregrine. O'Connor's exciting, heart-breaking, and vivid descriptions made me want to get started hawking right now, rather than waiting to complete my degree, first. It is not a perfect work: the editing needs a bit of work (typos, etc.) and the writing is occasionally too self-consciously literary for me (personal preference: I'm more of a fan of Norman Maclean than Terry Tempest Williams - though I love them both.) Overall, I recommend Lift as a good read, and I look forward to more of Rebecca O'Connor's works.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been impressed with the sport of falconry since childhood, so you can imagine my excitement when I had the chance to review Rebecca K. O'Connor's "Lift". All centered around falconry, Rebecca's memoirs cover her first year of training her first falcon, Anakin. Anakin teaches Rebecca about relationships, patience, respect, forgiveness, trust, teamwork, faith, love, and wonderment. While she learns these things through her relationship with her bird, Rebecca also comes to terms with her past and the childhood she survived.

Rebecca's love for her bird and the sport pours from every page. Her descriptions take you into the field and you can feel the bird leave your presence as he flies so high up in the air, he looks like a speck. Then your heart plunges with the falcon as he drops to take his mark, making nature a true wonder. Her weaving of the lessons learned and the past events of her life and how she comes to terms with them, is brilliant!

[Naseem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book -- in the style of something Terry Tempest Williams or Gretel Ehrlich would have written -- the story of a woman's relationship with nature and her family told through the lens of her training her first peregrine falcon. For anyone that is a birder, this is a must. For anyone who is drawn to stories about the land and people of the American west, it is also another must. The book captures the sensations of the land, and the sadness one has as we watch that land succumb to development. It also drops into Ms. O'Connor's personal life in poignant ways. A very worth while read.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A First Reads win!

O'Connor is a very talented writer and this book was full of surprises. I knew falconry was time consuming but it really is a lifestyle more than a hobby. and definitely not for the squeamish.

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this through Goodreads first-reads.
Excellent book for those who are interested in learning more about falconry or those who are just in want of a good memoir. I found this book very interesting and informative it provides an indepth look at all aspects of falconry.

[Staci]

http://bookbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/...

[Grrlscientist · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s rare indeed when I read a bird book by a previously-published author whom I’ve never heard of before, but a few months ago, I was contacted by a published writer who was unknown to me, asking if I wanted to read her story about what it’s like to be a woman falconer. Of course! eagerly replied this wannabe falconer. After a few postal mix-ups and delays, the book finally arrived at my door in Germany. This slim paperback, Lift (Los Angeles: Red Hen Press; 2009), is an appropriately named gem of a memoir by Rebecca O’Connor.

This lyrical tale is about the ancient art of falconry but it’s also about a whole lot more than that. Beginning with the author’s realization that she cannot kill the duck that her peregrine falcon has just knocked from the sky, a grisly act that requires the falconer to tear the duck’s still-beating heart out of its chest barehanded, the reader watches as O’Connor bravely reaches into the very heart of her own life, examining her love for birds and her relationship with her estranged mother, the gentle guidance provided by her grandfather, the progress of her blossoming and sometimes turbulent romance set against the backdrop of her passion for falconry.

The story starts when O’Connor declares to her falconer boyfriend that she is going to purchase a captive-bred peregrine falcon — her first. But learning how to successfully work with a bird that can soar a mile high is challenging. During their first year together, we learn that her headstrong falcon, Anakin, flies away — more than once, which left me worriedly reading as fast as I could about the author’s frantic efforts to find and recover her little bird in a vast world filled with larger and more powerful predators. As we learn in the book, this closely mirrors the author’s troubled childhood world.

O’Connor’s decision to mature as a falconer by training a young peregrine, the epitome of falconry, parallels her decision to work at developing an adult relationship with her formerly estranged mother — a healing choice for both. Throughout the book, the author works with her readers like she works with her peregrine, skillfully weaving separate threads together into this powerful memoir, so when mother and daughter come to a mutual understanding, respect, and indeed, a genuine fondness for each other, it isn’t at all contrived. It works. Beautifully.

Even though O’Connor is telling a true story, her relationship with Anakin also serves as an allegory for her own life. Interspersed throughout the narrative are flashbacks to the author’s dark and difficult childhood; her abandonment by her parents and other important life events. But these are more than mere flashbacks: a careful reading reveals these scenes are important, providing an intense emotional undercurrent to the main storyline. These flashbacks illuminate the reasons for O’Connor’s sometimes confusing life choices made during her first year with Anakin.

Despite her honesty, I was disappointed that the author’s personal relationship with her falcon remains a closed book, except for what was my favorite scene in the book — when O’Connor and Anakin got into an argument after a failed attempt to hunt ducks:

I screamed at [Anakin] to get back into the air, gesticulating my desires with waving arms and skyward jazz hands.

The falcon didn’t give me the response I wanted. Instead, he bowed his head, raised his tail and began to scream back in the shrill tongue of peregrine, both our voices escalating. We could have been a couple arguing over who was doing the better job of shirking their responsibilities, if only we had been speaking the same language. [p. 146]

We also learn a little about falcon training techniques, such as swinging a meat-baited lure on a slender rope as an enticement to a free flying falcon to return to the falconer. Indeed, I could almost imagine myself as a hungry peregrine, chasing the author’s plot suspended by an almost invisible storyline, coming closer each time before it spun away again, until I finally pounced on my prize. As a reader, I also see how training Anakin provides O’Connor with a deeper respect for relationships, patience, forgiveness, trust, teamwork, and love, as she works through her inner demons.

Lift is a surprisingly fast and absorbing read that is a superb airplane or subway book, or even a great bedside book — although I would not recommend starting to read this book on a work night because you will not put it down until you’ve finished it! (I read it in one sitting — yes, in the middle of the night). This book soars as a memoir, interweaving the author’s battle to rise above her personal struggles and challenges with an engaging narrative of flying a falcon. Anyone who loves birds, falconry or hunting, who enjoys strong nature writing by female authors like Barbara Kingsolver, or who likes reading about great obstacles overcome and lives lived well will find much to value in this engaging and intelligent book.


NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 21 June 2010.

[John Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, for a number of reasons.
I actually got this book several years ago but after reading the first four chapters, I just stopped reading it. I cannot remember why, other than it was a time in my life when I was having trouble finishing just about any book I started, for some reason.
I picked it up again a day ago and read it pretty much right through in two days. Go figure!
It’s partially the story of the author’s trials and tribulations while training a peregrine falcon how to hunt. A bird trainer by profession - as well as a writer - she shares all the ups and downs and emotions she feels as she’s learning from their triumphs as well as their mistakes.
It’s much more than a book about falconry, though. It’s also a personal memoir of some of the not-so-great things that she had to experience as a youngster and young woman growing up. She’s very courageous and honest, sharing through a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout the description of her training Anakin the falcon, almost in a form of stream of consciousness, what she experienced and what she felt through some of her childhood years. And some of those experiences are reflected in what she feels while working out a relationship with her falcon. I suspect it was cathartic for her to write this particular book.
Kudos to her for her determination in training the bird and in dealing with her other issues as she does throughout this story, and in the powerful way she wrote it all down to share with us.

[Florinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca O'Connor has recorded the story of a developing relationship between a woman and her bird as they become hunting partners. It's a rocky journey, marked by failures, frustrations, and fly-offs early on, but it gets easier. O'Connor understands that their success as a team depends on the two of them learning from one another.

This relatively short (just over 200 pages) memoir has a natural narrative arc, centered on Rebecca's acquisition of Anakin and their progress toward - and sometimes away from - the goals she's set for them as hunters, but the telling of the story is less straightforward than that. Periodic flashbacks to O'Connor's past - which includes abandonment by both parents at one time or another and victimization by sexual predators - offer insight into her motivations, and there is additional context in the challenges she faces in her relationships with other falconers, her boyfriend, and her mother during the time she begins working with Anakin.

O'Connor's writing style is quite direct for the most part, but there are passages where it's very expressive and nearly poetic. I was completely drawn into this story - agonizing over Rebecca and Anakin's setbacks, cheering their successes, and rooting for them both all the way. At the same time, I felt frustrated at times by a sense that I was getting glimpses into Rebecca, but not really being given the chance to know her; I think this came from wanting her to expand more on some of the flashbacks. Once I was further into the book and had a better sense of how the flashbacks fit into the larger narrative, I was able to let go of that frustration and enjoy the story much more.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so what is Lift? Lift is author, Rebecca K. O’Connor’s memoir regarding her love for Peregrine Falcons. When Rebecca was just a little girl, she got a chance to see a Peregrine Falcon up close. Ever since that moment she knew she had found her dream job. She raising and trains Peregrine Falcons. She has attended many events. People who raise Peregrines are called a “Falconer”.

These people are very special. I don’t say this because it takes a lot to get chosen to be a falconer but because it requires you to have a lot of patience and dedication to train a peregrine. This book didn’t really read like the type of memoirs that I am used to reading. I usually stray from memoirs only because if not written and done right, these books can be dull and uninteresting. I am excited to say that Lift does not fall in this category. Lift gives you wings to soar, far above the clouds.

Rebecca fuses her life story about how her love grew into a reality. There were some funny, sad and proud moments in this book. I thought one of my favorite times was when Rebecca was just a little girl and her grandfather told her that if she threw salt at some birds and if the salt landed on their tail, they would not be able to fly away and she could keep it. Sadly to say, this was not true. After reading Lift, I appreciate peregrine falcons more than I did before. This is a good book.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by Lift after reading some comments from the author about the importance of writing about animals without anthropomorphizing, and after reading the book I'm really impressed at how well that was accomplished -- Anakin and the other birds in the story are real and complicated characters, but because they've been so well depicted as birds, not humanized. The grace with which that gets accomplished carries through the rest of the book, too: the balance between past and present, and between details of personal history and details of training and hunting in the present, feels natural. Though the darker emotional side of the story is powerful, it never becomes melodramatic because of the way connections are left to the reader to make instead of overexplained as they sometimes are in memoir (and fiction, for that matter). Admittedly, though, I'm not as familiar with nature memoirs as I am with more academic natural history, and that's probably why I sometimes wanted more detail about falconry itself: the history, the biology, the political battles fought about the right to hunt and the right to breed, etc. Those elements are well explained in the course of the story, and certainly don't feel undeveloped, but they were intriguing enough that I would have enjoyed learning more about them along the way.

[Susan Eubank · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is a fifty-minute drive to this place west of home and just outside of the desert proper. It's a long drive, but I'm starting to love it. I cross from one world to the next every morning. Out of the dry desert and into the last reaches of the ocean air, the misty cool of the June gloom, its tendrils of fog making it all the way in to Banning. I can see the bank of clouds from miles away, marking the boundary to this foreign place." p. 89

Here are the questions we discussed at the Reading the Western Landscape Book Club at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

How did falconry help the author?
What about falconry helps the author reach peace or control, or …..?
Is this an inspirational story?
How does the land/Southern California fit into the story?
Is there anything false about the memoir?
What happens to the grandfather?
What happens to the father?
Is there anywhere in the book that helps with the steps from sexually abused to stripper to bird rehabilitator, bird show person?

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as a First Reads book and was excited to learn more about the world of falconry. I'm an avid birder and have seen falconers at bird shows but that is the extent of my knowledge on the topic. I liked reading about how O'Connor got Anakin and I really liked the description of Tom. I can just picture his skepticism and hard-headedness. The reason I didn't give Lift 4-stars was due to the random childhood flashbacks. I would have liked learning more about the author's childhood but it seemed incomplete. Also, some of the stories had nothing tying them to what was currently going on in the story. I never got a cohesive sense of what was trying to be accomplished by them. I would have liked more detail, especially in the story when O'Connor was living in Australia.

[Jaylia3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduced me to a pastime I knew nothing about, building a trusting relationship with a wild falcon pet. Over and over Rebecca O'Connor had to risk letting her beloved bird fly free in order to train it to work together with her as a hunting partner--a process of muddy, out-of-breath, heart-racing trial and error and steadfast perseverance. As a vegetarian I was surprisingly moved and fascinated. O'Connor has a love and respect for animals, both predator and prey, not too far from my own vaguely held beliefs. The evolving relationships O'Connor has with her mother and boyfriend also add to her story.

[JC · Rating 3 out of 5]

You're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one just captivated me. I loved the idea of a memoir about falconry called "Lift". The book isn't quite what I pictured it would be--it has its moments of being uncomfortable (recalling a very challenging childhood), but you can't fault a book for being true to itself. I imagine it took a lot of courage to write this book, and the storytelling is really quite good. Maybe it's because of where I'm at in my own life or my unfair expectations of the book, but I didn't just fall in love with it. Still, I'm glad to have it on my bookshelf as part of my "bird" library.

[MariNaomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book of this memoir, read by the author.

I never knew much about falconry, and was captivated by all the details, which were woven beautifully into the fabric of the rest of her (selected) life's experiences. Eloquent metaphors tuck themselves into these (audio) pages, sad and haunting experiences, suspense and elation. There were times when listening to this book I found my shoulders hunched up to my ears, terrified or excited about what was about to happen next.

If you love animals (especially if you love birds, which I do!), and if you appreciate a great memoir, then you should check out this book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focusing on her love of falconry, the author presents her experiences with the sport, from her first experience seeing a falcon in her neighborhood as a child, to learning how to work with a peregrine. The author intermixes her life experiences with the fears and joys of training her falcon. It is obvious that her childhood was not easy, and those experiences affected her adult life perspective. I learned a great deal about falconry and began to appreciate the costs and rewards of the lifestyle that this love demands. Dipping into and out of her past like a falcon on the hunt, this is a short, but involving memoir and is well worth reading.

[Barbara Schaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this on First Reads and thoroughly enjoyed it. With a great deal of passion for her sport, Rebecca O'Connor gives a vivid account of the ups and downs of training a peregrine falcon while reflecting on her painful childhood. No wonder she excels in doing what she loves the most--being a falconer! This memoir reveals a wonderful transformation that occurs but only after years of dedication, understanding and forgiveness. And then there's Anakin who makes your heart flutter every time he's released......

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea the world of falconry was so detailed and involved and as the author tells it, somewhat obsessive. This book is a memoir about a bird trainer who does free flight shows at the local zoo, who decides it's time to get her very own peregrine falcon and teach it to hunt with her. It's a fascinating look into the world of falconry and raptor training in general and also tells a bit of the author's personal background.

[Jennifer Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my recent enthrallment with birds of all sorts, this book was a great education about the culture of falconers and the amazing species they care for. And as someone very much interested in the landscape of the west, it provided good descriptions of the natural world in which the falcon, and the author, hunt their prey. The parallel memoir was interesting as well with a good intertwining of both. Recommended.

[Nick]

I won this on first reads.

My mom got into this really easy so here is her review.

Wonderfully written! I understand this book and really got into it. I will have to keep a copy in my personal library forever so I can reread it whenever I get the chance.

[Patricia Solla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. It is a great book. I was absobed in finding out about falconry. The book also reviews the life of the author and the love and abuse she was dealt. Training a falcon makes the auther a better person.

[Avocados · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a vegetarian and someone who is generally averse to memoirs, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy a book about falconry. The author's voice was clear and the story and characters engaging. In the end I really enjoyed the book, especially the falconry parts. A nice read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fierce. Dazzling. A must read. In Lift: A Falconry Memoir, Rebecca O'Connor does what M.F.K. Fisher did with food & Norman McLean with fly-fishing - creates a fresh metaphor for life.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

O'Connor is a great writer. I learned a lot about falconry, which I now believe is a horrible "sport" because it's animal cruelty.