Well, I'll start by confessing that I've never been very fond of birds, a bit bird-phobic in fact. However, now i live in Norfolk it's a bit hard to avoid them so I'm learning to admire them from a distance. Also, I've never read 'The Snow Goose' (something I intend to remedy in the future) but I did see the lovely film with Jenny Agutter and Richard Harris. Having said all that I absolutely loved this book. It was a bit slow to get started whcih probably explains why so many haven't finished it but it's well worth persevering. I thought the author's powers of observation were so acute - I loved the description of the quilter's cabin where he stayed in Canada, I could picture it exactly. The other aspect of the book which I found fascinating were the bits about homesickness or 'nostalgia' and how he tied this in with the way he was feeling and with the geese making their journey back to their homelands.
Lovely choice.