Author: James Herriot
Age Range: 12+
Genre: Autobiography
Growing up, my mom had this book, along with the sequels, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Lord God Made Them All, on a bookshelf in the family room. It was in a boxed set, and up on a higher shelf. My brother and I, based on the covers, weren't all that interested and so it stayed up there. However, both my brother and I were very strong readers as children, and at one point, I think when my brother was about 10 years old, he picked it up and started reading it.
And I have this distinct recollection of him in his tight polo shirt and tight Op shorts, lying on the sofa reading this book and giggling. He later tried to convince me to like it, but for whatever reason I COULD NOT get past the cover. He assured me over and over I would like it, and when I asked him what it was about, he told me it was about a veterinarian.
Mind you, i'm not that interested in animals. Our family had a dog when I was much older in life, and I think I might have wanted a dog at some point but I am not an animal lover in terms of wanting to be around them all the time. So why in the world would a book such as this, appeal to me?
My brother, smart man that he is, turned out to be right. On a day when I just couldn't find anything to read, I picked the book up. Brother was already on the third or fourth of the series, which mean the first one could be read by me. I picked it up and was immediately engrossed in a world so foreign to me - in Yorkshire, England, countryside, post WWII, reading about a man who was newly out of veterinary school, trying to get a job with a practice.
The stories - things like delivery a cow, fixing a prolapsed uterus, helping a spoiled pampered dog fix his glands, horses that need to have their shoes fixed - the whole set of them are told my a master storyteller. His words, his humor, his total sense of the shape of a story make for for a great read. Each chapter is filled with interesting pictures of the people who hire him (like REALLY ornery men who don't to trust "modern" veterinary medicine) juxtaposed against self-deprecating moments of personal humiliation and shame.
This is a great book for all to read - about a different time and place, a different life, a different lifestyle,but it is absolutely a wonderful read. It's not just for animal lovers, but it is for people who love a great story.
My father used to read this series aloud to us - and we were in our teens! It was great family time and I can't read the book without hearing his voice faking the accents or hearing him laugh through the funny parts.
ReplyDelete