My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell
List Price:
Our Price: $8.49
You Save: $6.51 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.65 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Gerald DurrellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-06-29
ISBN: 0142004413
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Penguin Books
Book Reviews of My Family and Other Animals
Book Review: My family and other animals
Summary: 5 Stars
Not many adults ever reminisce about their childhood dreams. Those who do, generally label these as wishful thinking and sigh them away. Rarer are those who live lives of fulfilled dreams. Gerald Durrell, an eminent author, naturalist and expeditionist, was one of those uncommon individuals whose life's entirety was one long childhood dream come true. "My Family & Other Animals" is his most famous work, and is the first of his Corfu Trilogy.
The kid Gerald Durrell, or Gerry, was eight years old when his family moved from England to the Greek island of Corfu. Through the eyes of the young, fauna-loving and ever-inquisitive Gerry, Corfu seems to be the strangest place on Earth, and all humans, whether inhabitants of Corfu or not, appear to be strange people. The book describes Gerry's meticulous observations and detailed experiences in Corfu amongst dogs, cats, toads, snakes, scorpions, owls, magpies, gulls and other creatures he keeps as pets in his house, and his family members who are bemused as well as troubled by Gerry's love for these animals and insects. Young Gerry's mother and siblings stay engrossed in their own worlds, leaving Gerry alone to spend his days as he wishes, free from burdens such as going to school and being nagged by elders. Thus begins Gerry's exploration of Corfu, starting with the garden in his villa, and eventually his domain of knowledge crosses over to the neighboring islands.
The book will make you roar with laughter right from the preface itself. Descriptions of animals are unconventionally funny. Humans also are not spared. Imagine an entire family changing residence from one villa to another, just because one of them foolishly invited his friends so many that they would not fit in the current villa. After animals and humans, the third elaborately portrayed element is nature. Detailed descriptions of fig trees and setting suns create a Wordsworthian aura. Once Gerry sets on describing some of these, he can be drawn back only by some exquisitely crafted squirrel or a raucously howling dog.
The best way to savor the book is to read it over several sittings, by allowing the excessive laughter to brighten many a dull day. An enlightening perspective of the work can be seen through Gerry's eyes. Animals, unlike humans, know exactly what they want. They are easier to please and easier to be understood. Most importantly, animals are easily befriended and are almost always loyal. When the book ends, it feels as if an intimate and jocular friend has left you forever.
"My Family & Other Animals" is a beautiful comedy, and is highly recommendable for reading by people of all ages.
http://readsafe.blogspot.com
Summary of My Family and Other Animals
When the unconventional Durrell family can no longer endure the damp, gray English climate, they do what any sensible family would do: sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the island but ended up as a delightful account of Durrell?s family?s experiences, from the many eccentric hangers-on to the ceaseless procession of puppies, toads, scorpions, geckoes, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, bats, and butterflies into their home.
As a self-described "champion of small uglies," English writer Gerald Durrell (1925-1995) devoted his life to writing and the preservation of wildlife, from the Mauritius pink pigeon to the Rodriques fruit bat. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the Greek island of Corfu, but ended up as a delightful account of his family's experiences that were, according to him, "rather like living in one of the more flamboyant and slapstick comic operas."
As a 10-year-old boy, Gerry left England for Corfu with "all those items that I thought necessary to relieve the tedium of a long journey: four books on natural history, a butterfly net, a dog, and a jam-jar full of caterpillars all in imminent danger of turning into chrysalids." Durrell's descriptions of his family and its many eccentric hangers-on (he stresses that "all the anecdotes about the island and the islanders are absolutely true") are highly entertaining, as is the procession of toads, scorpions, geckos, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, the puppies Widdle and Puke, and the Magenpies. This is a lovely book.
Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Memoirs Books
Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Centuryby Hunter S. Thompson
Penguin Books, Limited (UK); Published: 2008-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.11
Price in other shops:
Never Have Your Dog Stuffedby Alan Alda
Arrow Books; Published: 2007-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, and Ambitionby John DeLucie, Graydon Carter
Ecco; Published: 2009-05-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.63
Price in other shops:
Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Unitsby Aaron Cohen, Douglas Century
Ecco; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops:
Not Lost Forever: My Story of Survivalby Carmina Salcido, Steve Jackson
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Unlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insiderby Louis Ferrante
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Writing Places: The Life Journey of a Writer and Teacherby William Zinsser
Harper; Published: 2009-05-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.09
Price in other shops:
Got the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Kornby Fieldy
William Morrow; Published: 2009-03-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.14
Price in other shops:
The Ride of My Lifeby Mat Hoffman
It Books; Published: 2003-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.95
Similar Books and other products
Gilgamesh: A Novelby Joan London
Grove Press; Published: 2004-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
The Whispering Landby Gerald Durrell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-05-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.71
Price in other shops:
Fillets of Plaiceby Gerald Durrell
David R Godine; Published: 2008-04-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsawby Isaac Bashevis Singer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Published: 1986-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Menagerie Manorby Gerald Durrell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops:
A Zoo in My Luggageby Gerald Durrell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops:
Birds, Beasts, and Relativesby Gerald Durrell
Penguin Books; Published: 2004-06-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Agesby Harold Bloom
Scribner; Published: 2002-09-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.64
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Theatre: My Family and Other AnimalsWgbh Wholesale; Release date: 2006-06-27; DVD
Best price: $9.81
Price in other shops: