In her latest offering, "Be More Bird," Candida Meyrick attempts to distill the essence of life from her pet Harris hawk's experiences. The result is a puzzling collection of 20 brief "life lessons" that often feel like little more than tired cliches strung together.
Rather than truly exploring the complexities of Bird's existence, Meyrick instead anthropomorphizes her feathered friend to impart wisdom on human readers. We are told that Bird prefers to hunt her own dinner, rather than accepting substitutes from her owner, as a lesson to "stay true to your higher self." When faced with threats from other birds, she remains calm and composed, serving up advice to "hold your ground" when we feel uncertain about ourselves.
However, the more one delves into Meyrick's musings, the more it becomes apparent that these lessons are nothing more than shallow truisms. Her fixation on Bird's supposed inner life feels like a shallow exercise in anthropomorphism, with the hawk's physical characteristics and behaviors being reduced to mere metaphors for human emotional states.
For instance, Bird's sex and size differences have little bearing on her abilities as a hunter or her status within the pecking order of birds. Her bodily needs, such as hunger and weight fluctuations, are brushed aside in favor of more esoteric musings about "higher selves" and "inner truth." These observations feel more like Meyrick's inner monologue than any genuine insight into Bird's nature.
When Meyrick does attempt to delve deeper into Bird's experiences, she often stumbles over her own metaphorical language. Her descriptions of the hawk's physical state, such as its ideal hunting weight or shedding of old feathers during molting, feel like forced attempts to imbue these natural processes with symbolic meaning.
Ultimately, "Be More Bird" feels like a shallow attempt at self-help writing, one that relies on tired cliches and shallow metaphors rather than genuine exploration of the natural world. While Meyrick's intentions may be noble, her execution falls flat, leaving readers feeling as though they are being preached to by a bird-brained (pun intended) author who has lost sight of her subject's true nature.
Rather than truly exploring the complexities of Bird's existence, Meyrick instead anthropomorphizes her feathered friend to impart wisdom on human readers. We are told that Bird prefers to hunt her own dinner, rather than accepting substitutes from her owner, as a lesson to "stay true to your higher self." When faced with threats from other birds, she remains calm and composed, serving up advice to "hold your ground" when we feel uncertain about ourselves.
However, the more one delves into Meyrick's musings, the more it becomes apparent that these lessons are nothing more than shallow truisms. Her fixation on Bird's supposed inner life feels like a shallow exercise in anthropomorphism, with the hawk's physical characteristics and behaviors being reduced to mere metaphors for human emotional states.
For instance, Bird's sex and size differences have little bearing on her abilities as a hunter or her status within the pecking order of birds. Her bodily needs, such as hunger and weight fluctuations, are brushed aside in favor of more esoteric musings about "higher selves" and "inner truth." These observations feel more like Meyrick's inner monologue than any genuine insight into Bird's nature.
When Meyrick does attempt to delve deeper into Bird's experiences, she often stumbles over her own metaphorical language. Her descriptions of the hawk's physical state, such as its ideal hunting weight or shedding of old feathers during molting, feel like forced attempts to imbue these natural processes with symbolic meaning.
Ultimately, "Be More Bird" feels like a shallow attempt at self-help writing, one that relies on tired cliches and shallow metaphors rather than genuine exploration of the natural world. While Meyrick's intentions may be noble, her execution falls flat, leaving readers feeling as though they are being preached to by a bird-brained (pun intended) author who has lost sight of her subject's true nature.
It's like she took all these generic self-help phrases and just...just slapping them together with some bird-related stuff. And don't even get me started on how shallow it is, like she literally glosses over the hawk's basic needs just to focus on this whole "higher self" nonsense. I mean, come on, can't we just appreciate the natural world for what it is without all the fluffy metaphors? 
The book itself sounds super weird and more like a bunch of random observations strung together than some deep meaningful exploration.
I gotta say, this whole thing got me thinking... sometimes we try so hard to find meaning in the simplest things, but end up overcomplicating it. Like Meyrick is trying to make Bird into this symbol for human self-discovery, but in doing so, she's actually taking away from what makes her unique. I mean, Bird's just a hawk, doing bird things. We shouldn't be projecting our own thoughts and feelings onto her like that. It's like when we try to force ourselves into these preconceived notions of what success or happiness should look like... it's all just a bunch of shallow stuff 
. The whole thing felt like she was reading between the lines of Bird's natural behaviors and making up these super vague, generic life advice that we've all heard before *yawn*. I mean, come on, a hawk doesn't actually care about "staying true to your higher self" or whatever - it's just trying to survive in the wild 
. And don't even get me started on how she shoehorns these metaphors onto Bird's physical characteristics... like, no one cares that Bird is hungrier when her feathers are molting 
. It just felt like Meyrick was projecting her own inner thoughts onto this poor hawk and calling it wisdom 
.
she takes this amazing creature and tries to turn it into some kinda human self-help guru 
its like, bird is a hawk not some mystical being who has deep inner thoughts 
. It's like she took some basic bird behaviors (hunting, nesting, etc.) and turned them into pseudo-philosophical musings that are more confusing than inspiring 
the whole "anthropomorphizing" thing just feels so forced 
. I feel like the author is trying too hard to make this hawk's life into some kind of self-help lesson plan, but it just doesn't work out. The lessons are all so vague and shallow - like, what does it even mean for a bird to "stay true to her higher self" 
. Overall, I'd say "Be More Bird" feels more like a lazy exercise in self-help writing than an actual exploration of the natural world 
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But honestly, the more I read through this book, the more I felt like I was reading a bunch of watered-down self-help nonsense 
. Like, yeah, stay true to yourself and all that jazz... but can't we do better than just throwing around cliches? 
And don't even get me started on the whole "Bird's inner life" thing... I mean, come on! The hawk's not some mystical being with a deep understanding of human emotions 
So yeah, Meyrick's book is like, totally disappointing 
Candida Meyrick's book "Be More Bird" seems like a total publicity stunt to me. I mean, who comes up with the idea that a hawk's sex and size differences have no bearing on its hunting abilities? That's just plain weird. And don't even get me started on how she shoehorns her own spiritual nonsense into every aspect of Bird's life. It's like she's trying to sell us a bill of goods here... 
But you know what really gets my goat? The whole thing feels so... manufactured. Like, have you seen the reviews on Amazon? They're all glowing and stuff. I'm calling foul! 
. and what's up with her fixation on bird's supposed "higher self"? isn't that just code for "follow your passion" or something equally cheesy 
?