My Family and Other Animals

Не знам дали бих могъл да обясня на някой за какво изобщо пише Джералд Даръл и защо толкова много хора от няколко поколения благоговеят пред книгите му, ако този някой не е събирал буболечки като малък, за да ги отглежда в буркани, не се е грижил поне за няколко хамстера, папагали и риби и не е влачил в къщи кученца и котенца, които е намерил на улицата…

Аз, разбира се, бях изял с кориците по няколко пъти всички show more книги на Джералд Даръл, които можах да намеря, още преди да направя 11 години, а майка ми беше вдигнала ръце от мене и ме беше оставила да се занимавам с менажерията в стаята си, която тогава беше доста по-внушителна – в голямата си част под влиянието точно на Моето семейство и други животни.

Това е една от трите книги, в които Джералд Даръл описва детството си на остров Корфу (Гърция), където по цял ден търчи по слънчевите поляни и рекички и всеки ден открива по един нов свят на дивата природа в лицето на безбройните животинки, които щъкат там. Честно казано, нямам думи да опиша не само езика на Даръл, но и начина по който той описва своето, моето и на толкова много други хора щастливо детство. show less

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I love nature and I love humorous writing, but the combination of the two just didn't work for me in this case. Much of the humour derives from people doing dumb or inconsiderate things, and then suffering the consequences very shortly afterwards. I just couldn't help but sympathise with the person who was wronged rather than seeing the funny side of a meal spoiled by the presence of scorpions or a poorly constructed boat.

The characters were not engaging, seen as they are through the naturally self-centred eyes of a child. And the colonialist elements really grated right throughout the book. I know that Corfu wasn't a part of the British Empire at the time, but just the general attitude show more of moving the whole family there, renting a villa and then admiring the picturesque "peasants" in the fields was too much for me. There's also a colonial aspect the ceaseless conquest of nature that the narrator carries out. Just when I found myself warming to him as he observed the natural world with the wonder of a child, he'd change tack and grab a wild animal and stick it in a cage or a tank. This rarely ended well for the animals, although the reader only finds out about their "amusing" endings, not the many which must have perished in more mundane ways.

Yes, I know that desire to capture and own animals is very normal in children. I also know that this book is not meant to be read earnestly, but somehow I just couldn't warm to it. show less

Another favorite read of the year! My Family and Other Animals is a delightful and humorous memoir that transports readers to Corfu, an island off the coast of Greece, where the author’s eccentric family comes to reside. Although it was published in 1956, the events in the book take place around 1935.

Gerry’s witty narrative captures the quirks of his family with humor and warmth, while the vivid descriptions of the island’s flora and fauna showcase his deep love for nature. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments, from the over-the-top antics of Gerry and his siblings, to the strange and wonderful creatures that he collects in his pursuit of knowledge.

By the time I finished reading this, I had an insanely long list of show more favorite characters. If I had to pick one, it would have to be Dodo, who comes into the story near the end of the book. Described as being "like a dimly conscious sausage," Dodo, a Dandie Dinmont terrier, is pitiful beyond all measure. The sections with Dodo made me laugh so hard I genuinely feared for my life. If you love animals, nature, laughter, or all of the above, you will love this book! show less

This was really the perfect book for me to take to my sick bed with. I have been really ill with a very severe cold, chest infection and major flare up of asthma. I have said before how re-reading old favourites are like meeting up again with old friends, and when better to do that, than when one is feeling rotten.
Gerald Durrell was a world famous conservationist and founder of the Jersey zoo which specialised in conservation of endangered species. He is however just as famous for his series of books about his family and his animals. The first in that series of books is My Family and other animals, and from the moment that Gerald Durrell introduces us to his hilarious eccentric family, the reader is hooked.
“I have attempted to draw show more an accurate and unexaggerated picture of my family in the following pages; they appear as I saw them. To explain some of their more curious ways, however, I feel that I should state that at the time we were in Corfu the family were all quite young: Larry, the eldest, was 23; Leslie was 19; Margo was 18; while I was the youngest, being of the tender and impressionable age of 10. We had never been certain of my mother's age for the simple reason she could never remember her date of birth; all I can say is she was old enough to have four children. My mother also insists that I explain that she is a widow for, as she so penetratingly observed, you never know what people might think.”
When young Gerry and his family move to Corfu it is 1935. The world in general and Corfu in particular are very different places to today. Gerry is allowed at first to run fairly wild, later he is instructed by a series of unusual tutors. This wonderful freedom allows the young boy, who is already fascinated by everything to do with the natural world, to fully explore the beautiful island that he finds himself on. With his trusty dog Roger at his heels Gerry explores, finds all manner of species to further fascinate him, all while making friends with the locals. Over the next five years Gerry takes all manner of creatures home to his long suffering family, an owl, a giant gull, scorpions, and a gecko among other things. Remarkably perhaps, these various pets are greeted by Gerry’s mother with surprising relaxation, although his pompous elder brother Larry is often driven to distraction. The consequences of these animal guests are often hilarious, one memorable incident involving a mother scorpion with dozens of tiny babies fastened round her body being put in a matchbox and left on the mantelpiece by Gerry as he rushes off to eat his dinner. I’m sure you can imagine the rest. Gerry’s family are every bit as entertaining as his animal friends, more so in fact. Larry the future novelist is a small terror, often furiously inconvenienced by Gerry’s animals; he has more interest in literature and writing. Leslie’s passion is shooting and guns, while Margo concerns herself with diets and beauty regimes. For me though it is Gerry Durrells mother who is the real star, at times rather vague, she nevertheless manages to manage her peculiar squabbling family with both charm and a marvellously laid back attitude.
Almost as soon as the family arrive on Corfu they meet the excitable Spiro, who immediately takes the family under his wing. Spiro busies himself arranging their villa accommodation, generally looking after the family and making himself indispensable. The Durrells soon collect around them a collection of good eccentric friends to add to the menagerie at home. As well as Spiro, is Gerry’s tutor the bird loving Mr Kralefsky and scientist and philosopher Theodore Stephanides who befriends Gerry on a wonderfully equal footing, the two regularly exploring and investigating together, their shared enthusiasm taking no account of a vast difference in ages. Gerry seems to have had as much of a talent with people as with animals, as he makes friends with a shepherd, The Rose-Beetle Man and later a convict in his travels around the island.
Gerald Durrell writes with wonderful humour and affection, and into the story of his and his family’s time in Corfu he weaves his immense enthusiasm and curiosity for the natural world. show less

If there was ever a book about the value of a free-range non-traditional education, this might be it.

This book wraps up so many of my favorite genres into one delightfully written book. This is Gerald Durrell's memoir from when his mother and his older brothers and sister packed up and moved from England to the Island of Corfu during the 1930s. Gerry spends his time wandering the island with his dog Roger, learning about nature and collecting his own menagerie of creatures which grow to include a tortoise, magpies, a gull, and scorpions. His family provides more entertainment along with a colorful cast of side characters including a brother obsessed with guns, a boy-crazy sister with acne problems, their local Greek taxi driver who show more manages the family's affairs and the hypochondriac maid. He portrays his older brother (and one of my favorite authors) Lawrence Durrell as a snotty twenty-something nascent author complete with ego. Gerry's tutors also include a world-class natural historian and hunch-backed aviary owning fantasist who tells stories of saving damsels in distress.

Gerrald himself is a first-rate writer. It took me a bit of time to figure out that Roger was a dog and not a brother and I believe that was on purpose. I would come across a paragraph where he would mention Roger and then I would wonder why Roger was lying underneath the table which really isn't all that far-fetched with this family.

This is one of my favorite passages which showcases what Gerry is learning at this time. He meets his tutor's bedridden mother for the first time (and there is a hilarious reason why), but the passage is a lesson from the mother.
"They say,"--she announced--"they say that when you get old, as I am your body slows down. I don't believe it. No, I think that is quite wrong. I have a theory that you do not slow down at all, but that life slows down for you. You understand me? Everything becomes languid, as it were, and you can notice so much more when things are in slow motion. the things you see! The extraordinary things that happen all around you, that you never suspected before! It is really a delightful adventure, quite delightful!" show less

This book is just completely itself: it does what it does to perfection, and it's unlike anything I've ever read. (Oddly, it feels rather like Henderson the Rain King in its laugh-out-loud humor, but it's kinder and gentler--and far more interested in the details of the natural world--and, um, less fictional--than that novel.) Nothing much happens in the whole book, and yet it really is a delight.

My Family and Other Animals combines lovingly detailed descriptions of the Greek island of Corfu's flora, fauna, and landscape with totally hilarious accounts of the author's "eccentric" family and friends. These anecdotes concern young Gerry's many interesting pets (most of which are caught during his ramblings) as well as his lovable and show more rather vague mother, his brothers (Leslie, the manly-man hunter, and Larry, the insufferably bossy and lazy writer), his sister Margo, their Greek protector and assistant Spiro, Theodore (who treats Gerry like an adult and shares his great enthusiasm for natural history and field expeditions), Gerry's various tutors, and assorted locals. Meanwhile, these people are living a wildly enviable life, lounging and rambling about on this gorgeous island without a care in the world. Sign me up!

[re-reading--aloud w/children this time--March 2015; the 8-year-old is highly amused] show less

This was a marvelous light read, with spots of laugh-out-loud humor. I have had it on my shelf for some time, and it sort of leaped out at me in my search for something that would just plain entertain. This is the story of a British family's extended stay on the island of Corfu in the years just before WWII, told from the point of view of the youngest son, a bright 10-year-old with a fascination for all things natural, from birds to bugs, snakes to scorpions, and a knack for introducing them to tea parties and bathtubs without warning. Whacky, over-the-top characterizations of Mother and the sibs, loosely (one hopes) based on Durrell's real family.