Book Review |
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My Family and Other Animals |
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“My family and other Animals” was
written by Gerald Durrell in 1956. It is an autobiography of his childhood on the I think that
Gerald Durrell (born 1925 – dies 1995) must have had a wonderful, exciting, fun and
adventurous childhood. The book describes in detail the adventures that Gerald had as a
boy. It lets you join him as he experiences an action-packed childhood full of
expeditions, pets and laughter. The language
used in My Family and Other Animals can be quite complex at times. Words such as
“Faunae” are often used in the text but you can generally get the meaning from
the context – or, of course, a good dictionary. Don’t let it put you off though,
the book contains beautiful passages of description that are almost poetic to read and
pages upon pages of interesting wildlife facts. Top that with the hilarious dialogue
between the members of Gerald’s family and you end up with a great book! I started this
book because I read an extract in a comprehension I had to do and the extract was so
interesting I had to try the book. I think it is the best autobiography I have ever read.
Not only can Gerald write very well but he also had a very comical, interesting life to
write about. He tells you about his thoughts and feelings, the silent conversations he has
with himself or his wildlife; it is not just a collection of facts about what he did and
when he did it. My favourite
parts were the funny bits which included many memorable quotes such as when Leslie
(Gerald’s brother) sees his mother’s new dog and exclaims, “Good God, it
looks like a sea slug!” The whole family seem quite mad and the title “My family
and other Animals” certainly seems very appropriate. Many of the things Gerald is
allowed to do – going off by himself for hours on end, maybe even out on the ocean in
his little boat – would never be allowed these days and it seems a shame that it is
not safe to do these things because I think I would have liked to go wandering and
collecting wildlife the way he did. He also did not have to go to school! I recommend this
book very highly – it is one of my favourites and it will certainly give you a good
laugh! It is suitable for age 10 up to adults but parents should be aware that the quoted
speech occasionally contains swear words. Iestyn
Evans 19.10.01 |
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