My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
| My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell | |
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| Category: Autobiography | |
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Reviewer: Angus Reid
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| Summary: A book to feed the imagination of any teen or adult and highly recommended by Angus Reid (our first competition winner) and by Bookbag. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 304 | Date: February 1999 |
| Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd | |
| ISBN: 0140282599 | |
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I remember when reading was a necessity rather than the luxury time affords me these days. Back when reading two or three books a week was normal for me, I had my favourites, Blyton, Tolkien and Adams to name a few. Yet the only authors I could have claimed to have read all their books were Herriot and Durrell.
I always wanted to be a vet but gave up when I realised seeing animals suffering was not a glamorous occupation, (Thanks to All Creatures Great and Small and those bods down the BBC!) so my next choice was to travel to the countries Gerald Durrell frequented and to find those trap door spiders and fish that illuminated the waters of Corfu at night.
This short intro takes me to the book I am going to review for your perusal, My Family and other Animals, by Gerald Durrell. (This was made into a BBC series which I refused to watch as my precious childhood memories were too important to be released.)
As a child, young Gerald Durrell was removed from London for family health reasons and taking to the Island of Corfu to be educated in life by life. This book chronicles his early pubescent life from the ages of 10 to 14, where he nurtured his youthful enthusiasm for nature to what was to evolve to possibly the best Zoo the world has ever seen and the safe existence of many threatened and endangered species of animals.
Gerald tells of his family and their eccentricity and of the people they acquaint themselves with over the 4 year period they were in Corfu. He describes the characters so well they come out of the pages and join you in an imaginary world which only certain authors can take you to. Durrell has a way of describing things almost optically and very little thought is needed to visualise any scenario his somewhat eventful days would uncover.
He leaves no leaf unturned when he characterises his family and I shudder to think had he been my brother, what he would have made of me. His family are larger than life and had that Victorian British stiff upper-lip aristocracy and Gerald was more the Attenborough type, adventures and an enjoyer of risk. The creatures he came across from the now infamous Trap Door Spiders, Tortoises and lizards, to the less desirable scorpions he introduced to his suffering siblings, were described as if you had found them yourself.
The book itself carries on through his adolescent years and enduring family fiascos but the most readable of all were the times he just packed a sandwich and explored Corfu for her natural beauty and animalistic treasures and took you with him.
It's not the thinking mans book and certainly not for the lateral thinker, this book is an adventure of imagination and vision and if your children have an inkling for nature and reading, this book is the thinking child's Harry Potter.
Treat your children to the pleasures of life and let them rediscover 70 years of history.
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