emily’s Reviews > The Gamekeeper > Status Update
emily
is on page 8 of 224
‘Most—novels are a more intimate form of soap opera. Hines’s is more like a handbook—Because this work follows the seasons—when we reach the end we are back at the beginning. He breeds pheasants, so the Duke and his associates can shoot them. Shoot & do nothing else. They do not carry or load their own guns—The book invents its own meaning—stronger than any other & which Hines probably calculated less. (John Berger)’
— Apr 29, 2026 04:20PM
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emily’s Previous Updates
emily
is on page 189 of 224
‘When pellets penetrated its body—energy & tension left it. One second, flying forcefully with purpose, the next, a bundle of feathers flopping to the ground. Not all—died in the air—Some were only wounded—Lord & Lady were surveying the morning’s work—contribution to the carnage. ‘Yes, that was a jolly good drive.’ G watched it happen, even though he could have prevented it. ‘Thank you very much, Sir, much obliged.’’
— Jul 23, 2026 04:34AM
emily
is on page 170 of 224
‘—flowering of the rosebay willow herbs signified the turning of the year—early summer—vital, noisy time of life renewing, was over—horse chestnut trees were already crozzled—ragged at their edges. It was a dull, green, dense time of the year. There were other colours; rashes of poppies—But this detail was lost at a distance—the landscape was composed of block after block of woodland—meadow, green upon green.’
— Jul 18, 2026 12:15AM
emily
is on page 162 of 224
‘—rhododendrons—It rained every day—Crops were flattened all over—predators ate well that week, without having to work hard for their food—some men kill for fun. He never killed anything for fun—not interested in trophies. He only killed to protect his pheasants, which were then killed by other people for fun. He was a functional killer—not proud of it—did not think his work was anything to make an exhibition of.’
— Jul 15, 2026 07:10PM
emily
is on page 138 of 224
‘They looked up to watch a pigeon flying past. In the silence between them they could hear its wings beating the air. It was a red chequer flying—strong—on its way somewhere. ‘I wonder where that’s going? I sometimes reckon that’s what I ought to be doing.’ But he did not shoot birds of prey. He would have done—if they were a hawk or an owl—systematically slaughtering his pheasant chicks—so he left them alone.’
— Jul 05, 2026 04:50PM
emily
is on page 133 of 224
‘By the time the gamekeeper had arrived at the fence, the magpie had threaded its way through the branches—flown away across the field at the other side of the hedge. The gamekeeper looked up at the place where the magpie had flown in through the curtain of blossom and shook his head—he was left standing, shaking his head at events and swearing. ‘The bloody hooligans.’ In one of the fields, a tractor—cutting silage.’
— Jun 10, 2026 05:57PM
emily
is on page 128 of 224
‘There was incessant cawing communication which intensified—fledgelings—A skylark woke him up. The cascading notes dribbled into his sleep, until he realised that he was awake and listening. The field had to be cleared—chicks sometimes choke & die from eating dry grass stalks—rotting heaps of hay might cause the development of fungicidal diseases—aspergillosis and moniliasis. Buttercups were in flower in the meadow.’
— May 17, 2026 07:48PM
emily
is on page 108 of 224
‘—on the radio. ‘It’s only a paper moon/ Sailing over a cardboard sea.’ It was bluebell time—thickly they coloured—darkening to indigo in the shadow of the trees. The air was sweet with the scent of bluebells—He might have sung too if he had not been a gamekeeper. But he could not sing when he was working. How would he catch anybody? They would hear him coming a mile off. New fronds of bracken—unwinding under trees.’
— May 15, 2026 05:20PM
emily
is on page 72 of 224
‘What happened in the sky was important. The weather and the birds which occupied the sky above their territories were important factors in their work. He was not interested in lapwings—Sinatra, ‘When love congeals / It soon reveals’ on the radio. The horse chestnut buds—sticky as a toffee apple. Some of the buds were unwrapping and revealing pale clusters of down-covered leaves. Life quickly returned to the fields—’
— May 10, 2026 06:01PM