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59th out of 114 books
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My Family and Other Animals (Corfu Trilogy)
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...more
Mass Market Paperbound, 301 pages
Published
1959
by Penguin Books
(first published 1956)
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The first from te trilogy and the first of Durrel I've ever read. No words can match my love for this author and his immense sense of humor, pure and light, nothing topical or burning beneath. I remember vividly laughing out loud on the streets and on buses while reading it, so wisely consider your reading spot! Howling of laughter in public places might cause you troubles, but the best part - you won't care a bit and will always consider it worthy!
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This is a wonderful account of a 10-year old boy's childhood years on the greek island of Corfu after his family moves there from England in the 1930s. The boy is a rabid naturalist, and is always collecting poisonous, slithering, leggy, and/or hostile creatures home (much to his family's dismay) to study and keep as pets. Parts of the book are laugh-out-loud funny, especially descriptions of the antics of his bizarre family members.
One thing did keep nagging me throughout the book- I ...more
One thing did keep nagging me throughout the book- I ...more
Melody
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Shelves:
comfort-read,
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1/2010 Review:
I inhabit this book. I walk through the olive groves and swim in the crystal seas of pre-war Corfu. I think I can never go to Greece because of this book. I would want the taxis to be horse-drawn, and the small boys to be ranging freely about the island.
I love so much about this book it's hard to pick and choose. I love that Gerry was so devoted to animals from the very beginning. I love the self-centered, irascible Larry (who grew into the genius Lawrence Durrell...more
I inhabit this book. I walk through the olive groves and swim in the crystal seas of pre-war Corfu. I think I can never go to Greece because of this book. I would want the taxis to be horse-drawn, and the small boys to be ranging freely about the island.
I love so much about this book it's hard to pick and choose. I love that Gerry was so devoted to animals from the very beginning. I love the self-centered, irascible Larry (who grew into the genius Lawrence Durrell...more
I read and carried with me everywhere Durrell's "My Family..." as a child. Growing up in Cyprus and Tuscany, I sympathised endlessly with the plights of the family abroad, and crawling through olive groves and overgrown streams, spending the day wandering through valleys forgotten by my family (who were drunk at the picnic table) allowed me to not become Gery Durrell but to become friends with him. Beyond how it related to myself, it is a hilarious and brilliant tale of moving to Cor...more
It is sad to me that many of this author's books are out of print. This book is not. Gerald Durrell is dead now, but his influence on wildlife conservation is really beyond measure. He coined the term "extinction is forever", and was the first to champion captive breeding as a way to preserve species so that they can be reintroduced into the wild. He wrote books to support his causes, and travelled the world over to study animals and educate the public about them. This book is about hi...more
I was recently asked to name some of my all-time favorite books and this is one of them. A terrific memoir of a life that must have been absolute perfection for a 10-year-old boy. I was filled with delight and pure pleasure while reading this. The synopsis below gives you an overview.
***
Synopsis:
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...more
***
Synopsis:
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...more
I first read this book several decades ago, and it has lost none of its charm on this latest of many re-reads – but now I can fully appreciate the quality of the writing! It’s demoralising to realise that Mr Durrell wrote this book – his first - when he was in his mid-thirties, and that for fifty years it has never been out of print. A wonderful record of the sort of golden childhood that most of us never experienced, and that Mr Durrell has been kind enough to share with the world.
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What a fantastic book! Highly recommended..
I listened to the audiobook version after it came up on quite a few "best biography" lists on Amazon. I must say that I had seen the book floating around for a few years and knew that it was a bit of a classic, but I'd always ignored it thinking that it would be slightly dull and antiquated. How wrong I was!
Firstly, the manner in which Durrell writes is simply astonishing. His descriptions are absolutely brilliant, and brin...more
I listened to the audiobook version after it came up on quite a few "best biography" lists on Amazon. I must say that I had seen the book floating around for a few years and knew that it was a bit of a classic, but I'd always ignored it thinking that it would be slightly dull and antiquated. How wrong I was!
Firstly, the manner in which Durrell writes is simply astonishing. His descriptions are absolutely brilliant, and brin...more
This classic book is thought of as a young adult book, and I have yet to see a copy of it that doesn't have a juvenile cover. And yes, the narrator is the young Gerald Durrell (age 10 when the book begins). However, these are reminiscences of a childhood very much shaped by an adult mind. Witty, irreverent in tone, and as full of rich and varied vocabulary as it is of Corfu wildlife, I can't help but think that adults will probably appreciate it much more than children. Still, it is the perfe...more
One of my comfort reads....fell in love with it again when looking for a piece of humourous fiction for a literature event.
"Dodo was a breed known as a Dandy Dinmont. They look like long, fat, hair-covered balloons, with minute bow legs, enormous and protuberant eyes, and long flopping ears. Strangely enough it was due to Mother that this curious misshapen breed of dog made its appearance among us.
A friend of ours had a pair of these beasts which had suddenly (after years o...more
"Dodo was a breed known as a Dandy Dinmont. They look like long, fat, hair-covered balloons, with minute bow legs, enormous and protuberant eyes, and long flopping ears. Strangely enough it was due to Mother that this curious misshapen breed of dog made its appearance among us.
A friend of ours had a pair of these beasts which had suddenly (after years o...more
I read Durrell's The Aye-Aye and I a couple of years ago and LOVED it and always meant to read more of his books, but this is the first time I've returned to him since then. I was under the mistaken impression that the "family" in this story would be Durrell and his wife and children, but it's actually a memoir about his childhood years on the Greek island of Corfu. Durrell's books focus on animals and travels, but he injects a lot of humor into his storytelling, too, and this book and...more
I cannot believe how long I had this book on my shelf without reading it...years! First of all, I did not realize it was an autobiography. That would have made me pick it up much sooner. As would having read the back which alludes to how humorous it is. It is about Gerry and his mom and older siblings moving to sunny Corfu. The people in the books from the family to the peasants are delightful! Many animals are personified as well and added to the family - Widdle and Puke (pups), Quasimodo...more
This book is a sheer delight, from beginning to end. Gerald Durrell moved with his widowed mother (she insisted, he tells us, that he add that she was a widow, for "you never know what people might think") and three rather eccentric siblings to a Greek island for a time. That they did so more or less on a whim is in itself telling of their way of living together as a family and viewing the world. Endlessly fascinating are not only the delightful squabbles and the constant presence of m...more
Utterly delightful autobiography of Gerald Durrell's (English naturalist and brother of author Lawrence Durrell) childhood in Corfu. The author has a humourus way of explaining situations that are funny per se, making fun of himself and his whole family in the process.
I was so captured by his quirkyness that I went on reading more or less everything he wrote.
His funniest books are perhaps those about how he came to collect animals for his own zoo and the whole establishing of that zo...more
I was so captured by his quirkyness that I went on reading more or less everything he wrote.
His funniest books are perhaps those about how he came to collect animals for his own zoo and the whole establishing of that zo...more
The dude is funny, and I learned a TON about bugs and animals.
He started my obsession with National Geographic magazine (because of the articles on bugs and animals), caused me to have a gigantic crush on him (until I found out he was like, 75 when I was 16), and made me desperate to visit the island of Corfu.
The only unfortunate side effect of reading him is that I felt obligated to pick up Lawrence Durrell's books, and boy was that ever a disappointment. Not funny at al...more
He started my obsession with National Geographic magazine (because of the articles on bugs and animals), caused me to have a gigantic crush on him (until I found out he was like, 75 when I was 16), and made me desperate to visit the island of Corfu.
The only unfortunate side effect of reading him is that I felt obligated to pick up Lawrence Durrell's books, and boy was that ever a disappointment. Not funny at al...more
I read this book when I was in my early teens. It was instrumental in
setting my compass on a journey much travelled since then. It opened my
eyes to the pleasures of reading. It made me fall in love with the Greek Islands and set the scene for dozens of trips there in the years to follow. It confirmed and stimulated my love of nature and wild-life. More than anything in the world I wanted (at the time) to become an animal collector - and travel to exotic places. My imagination was set...more
setting my compass on a journey much travelled since then. It opened my
eyes to the pleasures of reading. It made me fall in love with the Greek Islands and set the scene for dozens of trips there in the years to follow. It confirmed and stimulated my love of nature and wild-life. More than anything in the world I wanted (at the time) to become an animal collector - and travel to exotic places. My imagination was set...more
Gerald Durrel's book is account of his family's 5-year stay in Greek island of Corfu. The strength of this book is detailed, almost lyrical writing that lets you visualize the scene just as it may have been. Book is seasoned with humorous events of his family members each with their eccentric habits and characteristics and peccadilloes of his queer variety of pets.
I can only imagine from the account of book, that 10-year-old Gerry's room was a menagerie of sorts (of course, to the ex...more
I can only imagine from the account of book, that 10-year-old Gerry's room was a menagerie of sorts (of course, to the ex...more
I've read and re-read this many times over the years and it still draws me in. He gives an evocative description of his childhood spent exploring Corfu after his somewhat eccentric mother decided on a whim that she had had enough of England and rain. All things told it is probably as well that his mother was as loosely-tethered to normality as she was given Gerald tended to bring home anything that moved, one brother was a drama queen and the other was somewhat gun obsessed, his sister was prone...more
I keep a running list of book recommendations culled from several sources, listed alphabetically by author. I don't write down where the recommendation stemmed from, and I never read the back of the dustjacket before reading (it gives way too much away!), so quite often the books are a complete surprise to me, particularly if I've strayed from the mystery or fantasy genres. This book was a nice little surprise - a series of vignettes from the POV of a 10-year-old boy who has just moved from En...more
I went back and decided to write a review on this novel which is considered by some to be a modern classic.
I remember finding a box of Gerald Durrell stories on the shelf as a twelve year old and reading them in luxury. They captivated me as Durrell told the story of his childhood in Corfu hunting animals. Not only was it full of interesting facts about the animals he caught but also about the people in his life. Told with wit, humor and the pure ability of a natural storyteller thi...more
I remember finding a box of Gerald Durrell stories on the shelf as a twelve year old and reading them in luxury. They captivated me as Durrell told the story of his childhood in Corfu hunting animals. Not only was it full of interesting facts about the animals he caught but also about the people in his life. Told with wit, humor and the pure ability of a natural storyteller thi...more
One of my all-time favourites- funnily it became a favourite even after the dreaded Mrs Clack assigned it to us in Year 9, and made us all write a one page summary of each chapter over the school holidays!!!!
A collection of annecdotes told from the humorous eyes of Gerry Durrell, circa the time when he was aged 10, when the whole of his family packed up and moved themselves, along with all of their quirks and eccentricities to the Greek Isle of Corfu.
The colourful, exube...more
A collection of annecdotes told from the humorous eyes of Gerry Durrell, circa the time when he was aged 10, when the whole of his family packed up and moved themselves, along with all of their quirks and eccentricities to the Greek Isle of Corfu.
The colourful, exube...more
Inadvertently isolated from Rome & Jerusalem, I picked this up for a quick re-read. Where it's funny, it's hilarious; where it's not funny, it's still interesting.
Durrell massively overuses modifiers in a way that would be unacceptable in fiction, but somehow gets away with it (most of the time). His great love for his family, for Nature, for Corfu, gleams off the pages. Not for cynics!
Durrell massively overuses modifiers in a way that would be unacceptable in fiction, but somehow gets away with it (most of the time). His great love for his family, for Nature, for Corfu, gleams off the pages. Not for cynics!
This is a hilarious childhood favorite, which I have read repeatedly even as an adult. It depicts an English family that never ceases to entertain as it moves to Greece in search of a new way of life. The neurotic family pets also manage to hold their own amongst their less than sane humans. If your family is at all quirky (whose isn't) you should definitely read this book.
Possibly my favourite book, my father gave me this to read a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling down. I cannot begin to describe what it has done for me and I will always be grateful to Gerald Durrell for writing it.
I am not an animal lover, but Durrell's skilled writing and vibrant, hilarious descriptions meant that I was captivated no end by each and every single one of his animals...and family!
In this brilliant book Durrell does more than just describe his "so...more
I am not an animal lover, but Durrell's skilled writing and vibrant, hilarious descriptions meant that I was captivated no end by each and every single one of his animals...and family!
In this brilliant book Durrell does more than just describe his "so...more
Richard Craig
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Young Naturalists Interested Adults
Shelves:
natural-history
I seem to remember that I was eleven or twelve when I read this wonderful childhood autobiography by the late great Gerald Durrell and I have reread it many times since.
Gerald paints the most wonderfully lucid picture of pre war Corfu 1935-39.It is his colourful record of the flora and fauna of this beautiful little island that was his back yard,I should also say that a great deal of Corfu's fauna was cheerfully invited into his home at his poor mothers horror.
My Family and Other Anima...more
Gerald paints the most wonderfully lucid picture of pre war Corfu 1935-39.It is his colourful record of the flora and fauna of this beautiful little island that was his back yard,I should also say that a great deal of Corfu's fauna was cheerfully invited into his home at his poor mothers horror.
My Family and Other Anima...more
Allison
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
animal lovers, naturalists, conservationalists
I loved this book and my only regret is that I have not stumbled on Gerald Durrell sooner. This is a hysterical memoir of Gerry's 4 years in Corfu, Greece in the 1930's when he was 10-15 years old. Even at a young age Gerry was a born naturalist and his constant collecting of birds, reptiles, and other specimens provides a wealth of comic situations while also giving the reader a historic look at one of the Greek Isles.
Gerry went on to write 40 books, and I can't wait to read more of them...more
Gerry went on to write 40 books, and I can't wait to read more of them...more
Gerry's marvelously eccentric family and his fabulous pets are a total delight, and Gerald Durrell re-creates the most wonderful childhbood in this the first of a series of autobiography's about this time in his life. I adored Gerry's long suffering mother, who thinks nothing of packing up one villa and moving to another, and greats the most baffling disasters with marvelous equanimity. There is a world in the pages of this book that has vanished from view, but the voices of the Durrell ...more
Reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (brother of Lawrence, author of one of the greatest books ever written, The Alexandria Quartet) was a total joy and the perfect tonic for the "blues" but certainly a wonderful read in almost any state of mind. It concerns the hilarious adventures of a young British naturalist living aboard on the island of Corfu with his family members (no mincing here; this is autobiographical fare) during the 1950s. Many thanks to my friend Ang...more
I originally read this book at the same time I read the James Herriot books, so maybe when I was 9 or 10 years old. It was the era of read-everything-on-the-bookshelf-behind-my-parent's-bed . At the time I though GD was nothing compared to JH. I couldn't understand what was so alluring about this overly hot, overly sunny place called Corfu and all the annoying family. Mea culpa. I just reread (actually listened) to this recently and it's been wonderful! Maybe it's age, maybe it's been a long win...more
I loved this book. Usually, when one uses the word "pleasant" one is trying to come up with a polite way to not really weigh in with any force of emotion or feeling. But this book is honestly pleasant. Durrell has a wonderful way of sketching his amusing, quirky family, his adventures as a boy living on the Greek island of Corfu and his adventures with the animals he finds there, the peasants and convicts he befriends and the carefree life he is allowed to live.
Though Du...more
Though Du...more
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Gerald Durrell was born in India in 1925. His family settled on Corfu when Durrell was a boy and he spent his time studying its wildlife. He relates these experiences in the trilogy beginning with My Family and Other Animals, and continuing with Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods. In his books he writes with wry humour and great perception about both the humans and the animals ...more
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“I do wish you wouldn't argue with me when I'm knitting.”
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