Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir

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Episode 1: Chris begins his recollections as an introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school. It’s written largely in the third person, offering a glimpse of his life from the age of six to 16 in the Sixties and Seventies, an awkward, socially inept child who was bullied and became a solitary observer of wildlife, from ladybirds, grass snakes and tadpoles to fox cubs, bats and otters. The writing is atrocious. There are compound words galore, often made up by the author. That's not always a bad thing, with a deft touch it's something that can add a lot to a book. It's not adding anything here though other than moments of unintentional hilarity. I was reading some of the book out loud so I wasn't the only one suffering, and it took me several minutes to get through the first sentence of one early chapter, because it began with the word "Upfalling" and I couldn't stop laughing.

Fingers in the sparkle jar - A memoir - Gift books - The RSPB

Summary: A young boy is viewed as an outsider by his neighbours, but finds solace in his love of the natural world. This is not a misery memoir full of self-pity: his descriptions and adventures into the world of nature soar as high as his love for his kestrel. His emotional pain is tangible, he is unable to cope, and so he begins to ‘separate’ from a world he perceives as confusing, unintelligible, and untrustworthy: Chris takes a kestrel from its nest, forming an all-consuming friendship which will eventually teach him hard lessons about love and loss. I'm sad to say that I was bored and found the book tough to get through. I wish there was more about the wildlife rather than random perspectives of other people on Chris and his actions. This was a really relatable read in lots of ways and the writing was very lyrical and poetic and he seems a gifted storyteller.

Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence. The biggest surprise was the honesty with which a champion of nature preservation admits to collecting rare birds eggs, snaring foxes, and taking a young falcon from the nest as a pet. There are also harrowing accounts of the bullying Chris suffered at school - without understanding the reason. At one point he asks his therapist, 'How could anyone be happy as a child?' These italicised passages reveal the troubled, even suicidal legacy of a childhood living with undiagnosed illness.

Fingers In the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir - Listening Books Fingers In the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir - Listening Books

If you are expecting a book of rather sweet wildlife tales from your favourite TV personality then this book may not be for you. This is a brave and powerful book. This illuminating book contains a great deal of insight into Asperger’s syndrome and is definitely worth reading. Chris concludes his painfully honest memoir. He is a confirmed outsider - almost overwhelmed - but determined to do things his way, on his terms.

In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds’ eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him. Bookbag also enjoyed A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson which will appeal to anyone with a passion for wildlife. There’s lots of Chris’s unhappy school times, unhappy home times, and happier times out with nature. There’s the discovery of punk. There’s the relationship with a Kestrel. As an adult, Chris was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which may explain his social awkwardness as a child and intense obsession with nature; an obsession that he managed to forge into a successful career. When other children were playing together in the street, young Chris was out collecting bugs in jars, birds eggs, wings, pellets and other specimens for his curious collection. He was also fascinated by dinosaurs and amassed an incredible amount of knowledge about his favourite subject. Who edited this book? Do they speak English and read other books? It's a stupid and facetious question, clearly nobody edited this book, it's a rank and steamy mess of adjectives and adverbs with no substance. Well, that's not true, there's some small substance there in the story of how the author (I think it was the author, I'm not certain) stole a baby kestrel from its nest and took it home to keep. That wasn't really the substance I was looking for though, on the face of it that's pretty horrific and the airy fairy waffle surrounding it doesn't exactly put it in any kind of context to alleviate the sense of a dirty sort of PETA-baiting larceny.

Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir by Chris Packham Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir by Chris Packham

In other parts of the book he sees himself as he would have appeared through other people's eyes (the ice cream man, or an elderly neighbour). These passages were some of the most heartbreaking and poignant. We chose this for our next Bookclub meeting. My friend (who is an avid reader) and I gave up. Very boring. Why do tv celebrities always think they can also write? We chose this for our next Bookclub meeting. My friend (who is an avid reader) and I gave up. Very boring. Why do tv celebrities always think they can also write? When his kestrel becomes ill and dies, the world loses meaning and the loss without perspective is magnified: ‘I didn’t fit in so I didn’t mix in.’ Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir is well written and highly original: non-linear, multiple points of view, and rooted in Chris's Asperger's Syndrome condition. By running, by never stopping, by constantly trying to make it better, do it better. By never giving up, by always believing that I can, I must, I will.’In terms of style the language reminds me of Robert MacFarlane and the author does admit that MacFarlane was given a draft of it and provided support. This is an autobiography. An alleged autobiography. It is written almost entirely in the third person. Think for a moment, if you will; have you ever read an autobiography written in the third person? No, you haven't, because it's an outrageously obnoxious way to write an autobiography. I have no doubt it's some sort of commentary on his autism and maybe it's even explained, I didn't get far enough to find that out, but it's still obnoxious. Just because there's a reason for you making your book annoying to read doesn't mean it's not annoying to read.

Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham | Open Library Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham | Open Library

I am.’ He replied quietly, ‘I’m the enemy, my enemy. And I’m chasing myself and when I finally catch me I’m going to kill me.’ A silky mist was rising from the marbled surface of the stream, stirred by the sun, which was dropping sequins into all its dimples and gilding the surface with lemon.”Unusual, honest memoir about a boy obsessed with the natural world. I can appreciate his interest in the natural world as I too had a (somewhat smaller) collection of skulls, birds eggs and the like in my bedroom and saved my money for binoculars for bird watching, but not to the extent of his obsessions. A fascinating insight into living within society whilst coping with a problem that causes a feeling of alienation, alongside a wonderful description of a childhood absorbed in the study of wildlife. A fascinating insight into living within society whilst coping with a problem that causes a feeling of alienation, alongside a wonderful description of a childhood absorbed in the study of wildlife. Behind the Binoculars: interviews with acclaimed birdwatchers by Mark Avery and Keith Betton is published by Pelagic – here’s a review. Chris decides that animals are easier to trust than people. He makes a nocturnal escape through his bedroom window, finds treasure up a tree and falls in love.