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Timothy; Or, Notes of an Abject Reptile
by
Few writers have attempted to explore the natural history of a particular animal by adopting the animal's own sensibility. But Verlyn Klinkenborg-with his deeply empathetic relation to the world around him-has done just that, and done it brilliantly, in Timothy; or Notes of an Abject Reptile. This is the story of a tortoise whose real life was observed by the eighteenth-ce
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Audio CD, 0 pages
Published
July 3rd 2006
by Tantor Audio
(first published February 7th 2006)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Timothy; Or, Notes of an Abject Reptile
Timothy is such a great character. I'm surprised at how fond I am of him and how much I wish his life could have been more natural, content and at home. His kidnapping and captivity, no matter how humane and gentle, were still an entrapment and narrowing of his life.
I loved Timothy's observations, his earthy outlooks on life, the world and it's inhabitants. In this book, it's the humans that come across as narrow, unseeing, clunky and out of place as they try to re-order Nature into what they f ...more
I loved Timothy's observations, his earthy outlooks on life, the world and it's inhabitants. In this book, it's the humans that come across as narrow, unseeing, clunky and out of place as they try to re-order Nature into what they f ...more
Sometimes the things that draw me to love a book are outside the book itself and relate to events in my own life. That is the case with this little book. It is all about Timothy, a tortoise who belonged to Gilbert White, a country parson who lived in the parish of Selborne in southern England and wrote his famous Natural History of Selborne in 1789.
I had an old copy of Gilbert White’s book when I was a teenager. It was full of beautiful pen and ink drawings of the village, probably dating from t ...more
I had an old copy of Gilbert White’s book when I was a teenager. It was full of beautiful pen and ink drawings of the village, probably dating from t ...more
Jan 03, 2008
Daniel
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
apparently-im-too-stoopid-for-these
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 asparagus. Edge of my umbrageous forest. ...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 asparagus. Edge of my umbrageous forest. ...more
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’s Making Hay, which I read many year ...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’s Making Hay, which I read many year ...more
"Notes" is right: Timothy is an exceedingly impressionistic work, an overgrown garden of fragments of precisely figured images, reflections, and moods. Bonafide sentences, as such, are rarer. But the effect, a cumulative one, an at once wandering and recumbent one, is marvelous -- and in this way it reminds me of another, rather quiet and contemplative work of fiction, the excellent Tinkers by Paul Harding. I should also mention that this volume comes armed with a glossary of terms, which wasn't
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Aug 01, 2007
Adrian
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
animal lovers / poetry appreciators
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 this. this is
one to read and re-read and read again. ...more
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 naturalist, used ...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 naturalist, used ...more
This is an American, current companion volume to Gilbert White's Natural History of Selbourne, narrated by Pastor White's own tortoise Timothy. Many times Timothy cites what Mr White said as there is such "a propensity in mankind towards deceiving and being deceived...that one cannot safely relate any thing from common report, especially in print, without expressing some degree of doubt and suspicion" (85). Timothy soon adds, " Mr White's true music is the repeated, unresolved music of birdsong.
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I loved this lyrical book, written as the musings of Timothy, a tortoise relocated from the Mediterranean to England in the eighteenth century to live out his life in the garden of the naturalist Gilbert White. The author's observations on the human condition as seen through the eyes of a tortoise are perceptive and poignant. This is a lovely and somewhat sad little book.
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 5
Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Emotional impact: 5
Overall rating: 4.5
Favorite quotes
"So it is with humans. Quic ...more
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 5
Plot: 4
Characters: 4
Emotional impact: 5
Overall rating: 4.5
Favorite quotes
"So it is with humans. Quic ...more
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
vaunted advantages as vertical and self-de ...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
vaunted advantages as vertical and self-de ...more
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 "timothy's" weigh-in. Very s ...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 "timothy's" weigh-in. Very s ...more
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.
A tortoise-eye account of an 18th century English botanist and his obsessions. Surprising and quite brilliant
Reading this small pastoral book was something like sitting on a covered porch on a hot summer day, with lemonade. In a rocking chair. Nothing much happens. You're so happy anyway.
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In "Timothy, or Notes of an Abject Reptile" I experienced the strange sensation of nature observing humanity (more specifically, the naturalist Gilbert White) as it, in turn, observes nature-- and in a very human way, missing the point of observation entirely as humans are inclined to do. For the sake of commenting on humans. Though, ironically Klinkenborg falls victim to this same inclination and Timothy spends the majority of her time confounded by human actions and rituals. But despite this,
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It is a gorgeous and whimsically quiet novel. It’s filled with juicy lettuce leaves of wisdom shared through the sage, philosophical musings of a tortoise named Timothy (based on a real tortoise who lived in the garden of the 18c naturalist Gilbert White, and who was in fact a female tortoise but named Timothy because we humans hadn’t figured out how to properly sex a tortoise at that time in history). A favourite few lines: “My voice would shatter his human solitude. The happiness of his breed
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Sep 08, 2019
Marilyn Saul
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
back-to-friends-of-library-sale
Thinly veiled excoriation of the human race as seen through the eyes of a tortoise. If you are unfamiliar with the devastation caused by humans to the planet and all wildlife, perhaps you should read this book. If you have been awake for even a small portion of your adulthood and already are well aware of the havoc we have wreaked, don't bother with this book - it's just a sad rehash of our failings.
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Mar 29, 2018
Yuka
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
poetic-prose,
my-ideal-library
Refreshing new narrative voice and perspective!
Sometimes it's good to look at things from a closer tip the ground perspective.
...more
Delightful.
Did not enjoy. I abhor short sentences. Staggering thoughts throughout.
Jan 18, 2021
Rachel
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2021,
popsugar-2021-challenge
Not sure how to rate, couldn’t make it to the end so skipped to it (not my type of book at all..) Read as part of the Pop Sugar Reading challenge
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
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
As a guy whose favorite animal is a turtle, I really wanted to like this book. Sadly, I did not. I admit to having been swayed a bit before starting by a few of the reviews I had read about it. Nevertheless I was determined to disagree.
It wasnt so much the weird style of writing, which I could totally get over. It was the content. Timothy lives in 18th century England, and his references are to all of this nature around the English town, the townspeople, and just the way life went on in those d ...more
It wasnt so much the weird style of writing, which I could totally get over. It was the content. Timothy lives in 18th century England, and his references are to all of this nature around the English town, the townspeople, and just the way life went on in those d ...more
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 instead of rea ...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 instead of rea ...more
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 hypocrisi
...more
Apr 06, 2009
Riah
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
nature lovers, readers looking for quiet time
Shelves:
travel-nature,
fiction
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 in the position ...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 in the position ...more
Jun 04, 2008
Professor
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Professor by:
BVH
Shelves:
personal-library
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 appro
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“How these humans dispose themselves! Unlike anything else in creation. Or rather like everything else in creation all at once. Legs of one beast. Arms of another. Proportions all awry to a tortoise's eye. Torso too squat. Too little neck. Vastly too much leg. Hands like creatures unto themselves. Senses delicately balanced. And yet each sense dulled by mental acuity. Reason in place of a good nose. Logic instead of a tail. Faith instead of the certain knowledge of instinct. Superstition instead of a shell.”
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