James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet
by Graham Lord
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Book Summary Information
Author: Graham LordEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-11
ISBN: 0786705817
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
Book Reviews of James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet
Book Review: Herriot's reality makes his novels the more remarkable.
Summary: 4 Stars
James Herriot's stories about a country vet in the 1930's and 1940's present a warm, fascinating set of yarns about a bygone time. The Herriot reader intuitively understands that the real story is not the literal set of cures and pet names listed in the stories, but instead, a Yorkshire culture that was swiftly passing before what then was considered modernity. The Herriot universe is peopled with charming farmers, the whimsical and amusing fellow vets, the Farnon brothers, and a world of amusing coincidences among the vet cases assigned to Mr. Herriot. In his biography, Graham Lord sets out to show the real vet behind the novelist. In so doing, he portrays a fellow who was, as in the books, a rather shy, quiet, likable man. Some Herriot loyalists in some instances may be alarmed to discover that Mr. Herriot's real life was not as idyllic as the books, and that the books contained a fair bit of fiction. On the whole, though, the reader will understand and appreciate that the Herriot stories are not bounded by inquiries such as "was Siegfriend Farnon really as charming as the character in the books?" or "was the real-life Helen a bit more domineering than the one in the books?". Graham Lord's bio is a straightforward read, which,while largely sympathetic, spends a fair bit of time trying to show that some of the Herriotverse was mythic. The style of the writing is clear and easy. The format of the bio is fairly conventional, though we are in the main spared the sort of speculation about the inner philosophies of grandparents that mar some literary bios. The bio is reasonably short of hyperbole. The real puzzle of the Herriot life is how this natural storyteller developed his craft and evolved such a fully-formed fictive universe. The Lord bio devotes some attention to this issue, but not nearly enough. Instead we are left with anecdotes suggesting that the Herriot novels are only fifty percent fact. This is really beside the point,much as it is irrelevant whether a historical Sir John Falstaff was really a buffoon. I recommend this bio, as it shows a life quietly but in the main well lived, and a writer who developed fascinating material from a creative imagination and a colorful perspective on the everyday.
Summary of James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet
Lord has researched and written a detailed and affectionate biography of a remarkable man whose charm and modesty remained unchanged by phenomenal success and adulation. Alf wrote amazingly little about his parents, his poor childhood in a crowded Glasgow tenement or his schooldays, but Lord describes them all in vivid detail after interviewing friends of Alf's from his earliest days in Glasgow up to the end in Yorkshire, where he worked for over fifty years with his partner Donald Sinclair, whom he called 'Siegfried' in his books, Lord has also uncovered some extraordinary events and hidden tragedies in Alf's life and he asks a series of pertinent questions. How much of the Herriot books was true? How much was fiction? And what was his real relationship with the various characters who inhabit the books. This warm but incisive portrait will be enjoyed by James Herriot's countless admirers but will also dispel the myths that have already grown up around the life of the most famous and deeply loved vet the world has ever known.Authors Books
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