Few writers have attempted to explore the natural history of a particular animal by adopting the animal’s own sensibility. But Verlyn Klinken...
read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Sundry
rated it: 
A wonderful book for reading in the back yard, or outdoors anywhere. Not a lot of plot, not a lot of conflict. Exactly the kind of book they warn you not to write.
I liked it for its observations of humans and nature. And I got choked up at the end.
“This is the story of a tortoise whose real life was observed by the eighteenth-century English curate Gilbert White, author of The Natural History of Selborne.” (from the Random House blurb)
I also liked Klinkenborg’ More...
I liked it for its observations of humans and nature. And I got choked up at the end.
“This is the story of a tortoise whose real life was observed by the eighteenth-century English curate Gilbert White, author of The Natural History of Selborne.” (from the Random House blurb)
I also liked Klinkenborg’ More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 31, 2009
Melanie
rated it:
Timothy, or, Notes of an Abject Reptile - Verlyn Klinkenborg
What can I say about a tortoise whose vocabulary is wider than mine? Within the first 20 pages, I had to look up umbrageous, tegument, venerey, borecole, hirundines, and sainfroin. (Thank heavens, Timothy provided a glossary.) Timothy, the eponymous abject reptile, was not showing off. He simply was using the best, most precise words he needed for his observations - the same vocabulary that Gilbert White, a 18th-century nat More...
What can I say about a tortoise whose vocabulary is wider than mine? Within the first 20 pages, I had to look up umbrageous, tegument, venerey, borecole, hirundines, and sainfroin. (Thank heavens, Timothy provided a glossary.) Timothy, the eponymous abject reptile, was not showing off. He simply was using the best, most precise words he needed for his observations - the same vocabulary that Gilbert White, a 18th-century nat More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Adrian
rated it:
i wish i could give this book 1 million stars.
it is SOOOOOOOO beautifull written. i dont know
if i've read a book that has ever taken my breathe
away just by the powerfully poetic mastery.
it's told from the perspective of an old tortoise
who is actually a girl but has been named Timothy.
Timothy's observations of humans is so accurate &
will make u sad but is so beautiful it will lift
your heart.
if only there were more books like More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 04, 2011
Shahirah
rated it: 
18th century naturalist Gilbert White made numerous observations of the nature around him in the town of Selborne, England. Among the subjects of his interest was a displaced turtle named Timothy. Timothy was plucked from the ancient ruins and Mediterranean warmth of Cilicia and unceremoniously deposited into the garden of Mr Gilbert White, braving the harsh English weather and all manner of human interactions.
This book provides Timothy's perspective to life in Selborne, and a slightly contrast More...
This book provides Timothy's perspective to life in Selborne, and a slightly contrast More...
Feb 05, 2009
Although Timothy technically lives on a shelf in London's Natural History Museum, in Klinkenborg's hands she's alive and kicking in White's garden. On the editorial board of the New York Times and author of "The Rural Life" column and three books, Klinkenborg (through Timothy's voice) turns small observations about nature into powerful ideas about beauty, nature, humanity, and our role in the natural world. In wise, opinionated, and truncated language, Timothy captures the vagaries and
More...
Oct 10, 2007
Beatty
rated it:
Timothy the tortoise riffs on nature, humans, human nature, reason, instinct, religion, and the English countryside.
Beautifully written. This book did induce more than a few pleasant naps -- but Timothy would find this perfectly appropriate.
Beautifully written. This book did induce more than a few pleasant naps -- but Timothy would find this perfectly appropriate.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 21, 2011
Judy
rated it:
Found this book on a neighbor’s stoop.
Later that day I met a 17 year old Russian speaking parrot, all white with pale blue around his black eye. He was in a cage on the sidewalk outside a vacuum cleaner store. I then went into the fruit store next door. When I came out I looked back at him, he was watching me with his head tilted. My landlords have a 50 year old parrot held captive in the windowless basement, alone, in a padlocked cage. His name is Shakespeare. I often hear him screami More...
Later that day I met a 17 year old Russian speaking parrot, all white with pale blue around his black eye. He was in a cage on the sidewalk outside a vacuum cleaner store. I then went into the fruit store next door. When I came out I looked back at him, he was watching me with his head tilted. My landlords have a 50 year old parrot held captive in the windowless basement, alone, in a padlocked cage. His name is Shakespeare. I often hear him screami More...
Jan 04, 2008
Tom
rated it: 
A tortoise-eye account of an 18th century English botanist and his obsessions. Surprising and quite brilliant
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 02, 2011
Mary
rated it:
Exquisite little book by the guy who writes, at the bottom of the
NYTimes editorial page, that occasional casual little paragraph
about what's up with the animals and plants on his NY state farm.
This book recreates the plant, animal & human life of the English
village of Selborne as recorded in the late 1700's by naturalist
Gilbert White. All from the viewpoint of a tortoise (mis-)named
Timothy who has many perceptive observations about humans and their
More...
NYTimes editorial page, that occasional casual little paragraph
about what's up with the animals and plants on his NY state farm.
This book recreates the plant, animal & human life of the English
village of Selborne as recorded in the late 1700's by naturalist
Gilbert White. All from the viewpoint of a tortoise (mis-)named
Timothy who has many perceptive observations about humans and their
More...
Nov 04, 2009
Sandra
rated it: 
Not a fast read, but it is from a turtle's perspective, so what to expect. To be honest I skimmed the turtle's description of the birds and other nature. The vocabulary was quite intense. I didn't realize that there was a glossary until I finished the book (darn, that would have helped).
"Timothy's" observations about humans are very touching. For example, Timothy pities us because we have to wear clothes and can't be in touch with nature. I enjoyed the description of " More...
"Timothy's" observations about humans are very touching. For example, Timothy pities us because we have to wear clothes and can't be in touch with nature. I enjoyed the description of " More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 11, 2008
Daniel
rated it: 
Ugh, awful book. Christmas gift from Mom. Usually recommends awesome books. Moves at a snail's pace. Or a tortoise's. Guess that's the point. Narrated by snobby, snotty, snooty reptile. Better than humans. Humans use complete sentences. Tortoise too cool for that. Speaks in fragments.
Really. Here's a paragraph from the first page:
"Through the meadow. Past the alcove and down the brick-walk. Wicket-gate clicks shut behind us. Thomas sets me down beside the More...
Really. Here's a paragraph from the first page:
"Through the meadow. Past the alcove and down the brick-walk. Wicket-gate clicks shut behind us. Thomas sets me down beside the More...
4 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 17, 2010
Steve
rated it:
It took a while to settle into Timothy's chelonian voice, because my first thought was that a tortoise's narration should be slow and unwinding. But as Timothy's personality emerged, her direct, deliberate sentences and the way she take the world in one specific observation at a time made that voice perfect and inevitable. Klinkenborg takes the traditional naturalist's method of making order of the world through observation over time, looking for systems and secrets in all that occurs, and turns
More...
Jun 04, 2009
Riah
rated it:
I will say that this book is stylistically genius, and plot-wise a huge risk. So I would give it 5-stars for style and narration, but only 2-stars for the story. Therefore, I've compromised with the 3-star rating above.
I give 5-stars for style because written in the perspective of a turtle, this book somehow (with very short sentences) sort of moves like one, which I think is very well done. The perspective both philosophically and physical descriptions put the reader immediately More...
I give 5-stars for style because written in the perspective of a turtle, this book somehow (with very short sentences) sort of moves like one, which I think is very well done. The perspective both philosophically and physical descriptions put the reader immediately More...
May 19, 2008
I genuinely don't know how to rate this. I fell asleep over it more often than with any other book in my recent memory. On the other hand, it sent me into a place that was peaceful and green and comforting. Where nothing ever happened, ever. Sometimes things would turn out to have happened, but there was less forward motion than in any other novel (is this a novel?) I've ever read.
I think all of this would have been less of a problem if I'd sat down with the book over a cup of tea i More...
I think all of this would have been less of a problem if I'd sat down with the book over a cup of tea i More...
Dec 07, 2011
Brenda C
rated it:
Fictionalized ruminations of a turtle creatively realized by the author who read the journals of an eighteenth century naturalist and clergyman, specifically during The Age of Reason. Pure poetry, great truths. This little animal explains us very well and our odd place and power in the natural world.
Aug 05, 2008
Professor
rated it:
An interesting book apparently based on an actual naturalist's works and the fact that he really did own a tortoise from the Mediterranean, named it Timothy when it was in fact a female. The book is from the tortoise's point of view, so it's kind of a natural history of tortoises along with a critique/observation of mankind. I thought that it was both good and bad that the author gave the book the sort of slow and methodical feel that you would expect a tortoise to have-good because it was app
More...
Aug 03, 2011
Janetiegan
rated it:
If you ever wondered what life with Gilbert White of The Natural History of Selborne felt like to the tortoise he wrote about, this is for you. For starters, Timothy is actually female.
Mar 16, 2011
Katharine
rated it:
Beautifully written. Important things are said in a hidden sort of a way. I was surprised to find this small book about a tortoise to be a great commentary on humankind.
Aug 17, 2011
Laura
rated it:
This is one of my favourites ever. My mum wrote about Gilbert White and I know all the places he mentions in Selbourne from my childhood.
Nov 18, 2009
based on 18th century naturalist's journals; told through viewpoint of turtle; poetic
Apr 12, 2011
Magila
rated it:
disclosure: i listened to the book. i got about a fifth of the way through. it's interesting, but i cannot get over the reader. a british angela lansbury reads it. timothy, the story of a tortoise dude, given voice by a snooty sounding lady. can't do it. imagine for a moment nemo, children's favorite clown fish, having the voice of dolly parton. it's distracting, and it makes me like the book less. it might deserve a 3 in reality, but for now it's getting put to the side with a 1...
Jul 25, 2011
This is one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. I adored this book.
Nov 03, 2011
Tanya
rated it:
Beautiful writing from a tortoise perspective. Some great observations. A little slow for me (duh, it is a tortoise!)
Nov 04, 2010
Meg
rated it:
Not much going on here. The slow and stilted notes of a tortoise living in the 1700s.
Jul 04, 2007
Alex
rated it:
To reviewers who say this book is beautiful but slow: of course it lingers and drags; Klinkenborg is writing from the perspective of an 18th century tortoise. I give him props for accomplishing such a feat with grace, intrigue, and a shit ton of research. This book is a refuge from the modern, the urban, the gray, a pleasant detour from current literary trends, such as the memoir (of geishas or otherwise).
Bottom line: I'd rather spend my time in a turtle's head than Eggers' any day
Bottom line: I'd rather spend my time in a turtle's head than Eggers' any day
Jan 08, 2009
I saw this book on a locker in the workout women's room and it looked so good, I am reading it now.
