My Animals and Other Family

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I should like to pay a special tribute to my mother, to whom this book is dedicated. Like a gentle, enthusiastic, and understanding Noah, she has steered her vessel full of strange progeny through the stormy seas of life with great skill, always faced with the possibility of mutiny, always surrounded by the dangerous shoals of overdraft and extravagance, never being sure that her navigation would be approved by the crew, but certain that she would be blamed for anything that went wrong.” For a precocious child with a burgeoning interest in natural history, that time in Corfu was an exhilarating immersion in the richness nature had to offer. Gerry also had the benefit of being mentored by Dr. Theodore Stephanides, a Greek doctor, naturalist, poet, and author. Those years, I surmised, laid a firm foundation for Gerry’s pioneer work in zoo biology years later. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1959. I have always admired Clare Balding, a sports presenter for British television. I know her from the racing coverage the BBC used to carry, but she has since gone on to do all sorts of events, including the Olympics and Paralympics. I have always admired her a lot. She comes across as an intelligent, knowledgeable and most of all genuine human being. I decided to listen to this book on Audible. It makes sense to me to listen to memoirs narrated by the author and I had a lot of fun with this one. First of all, Balding's take on the technical writing of a biography is completely unique. She devotes each chapter of the book to a different dog or horse present in her life until later adolescence. Whilst this device could be somewhat unusual to most readers, I feel it adds individuality and believability whilst giving true meaning to the book's title.

Gradually the magic of the island settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen. Each day had a tranquility, timelessness, about it, so that you wished it would never end. But then the dark skin of night would peel off and there would be a fresh day waiting for us, glossy and colourful as a child’s transfer and with the same tinge of unreality.”I laughed at so many of the personal anecdotes, savored the beautiful descriptions of the island, and was entertained by his interactions with many of the island locals. The encounter with the Rose-beetle Man (what a fantastic figure this man must have been!), a meeting with a convict let out for a temporary jaunt, and the appointments with various tutors (including one with quite the impressive bird collection) all pointed to the fact that Gerry lived quite an extraordinary young life. I expected to be amused by and pleased with this story, but what I found to be a pleasant surprise was that Gerald Durrell could really write! I didn’t just highlight the funny stuff (although there are loads of those bits marked up too), but passages like this one left me gaga over his choice of words: Like, when the family moves into a new villa on the island, and they inherit a Greek housekeeper named Lugaretzia, who is known for her ailments, and your Uncle writes: With summer comes the tortoises. Gerry watches their mating rituals on the hill behind the villa and even collects an egg from his favorite tortoise, Madame Cyclops. Larry's friends arrive in waves. The poet Zatopec arrives first, followed by the three young artists Jonquil, Durant, and Michael. Though they all want to work, none of them make any art during their stay. Larry also invites a countess named Melanie, who suffers from a skin infection. Mother mistakenly believes that Melanie has a venereal disease and calls Theodore to assess the situation, and she's mortified to discover her mistake. At dinner that night, Theodore tells the table about a theatre production gone wrong. When Larry insists that such a thing couldn't have happened, Theodore explains that anything can happen in Corfu.

The Durrell School in Corfu, established in 2002, offers an academic course and tours in the footsteps of the Durrells in Corfu. Botanist David Bellamy has conducted field trips in Corfu for the school. The book is full of humour and she tells amusing stories such as the time when the Queen joining the family for breakfast before going to see her horses in the stables (Claire managed to not only turn up in grubby clothes after being out with the horses but flung a sausage across the table!), to racing alongside Princess Anne (do you curtsey when you are in your underwear in the changing room?). However she doesn’t shy away from some of the more difficult parts of her childhood, from getting in with the “wrong crowd” at school in an attempt to be liked, to the pressures of being “overweight” for racing. Each chapter in the book covers one of the stages or milestones of her life, and focuses on the animal that played a key role at the stage. I liked the format of the book, as well as her writing style. It's very well written, fluid and with just the right amount of detail to keep you engaged. I loved to see her bond with her brother, and the constant support of her mother. I didn't like her father too much, who seems to be a little self-absorbed and very chauvinistic. But her grandmother comes across as a really mean person who is particularly scathing to her, and I didn't like her at all. The Gerald Durrell Memorial Funds, launched in 1996, are granted in the field of conservation by the Wildlife Trust every year.

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The journal Biodiversity and Conservation brought out a special volume of the journal in tribute to Gerald Durrell, on the theme of "The Role of Zoos" in 1995, following his death. Gerry's teacher. One of the most comical characters in the book. Known for his chivalry and wrestling skills. Which turned out to be quite virtual. Siamo tra il 1935 ed il 1939 a Corfù dove i Durrell si trasferiscono per fuggire dall'inclemente tempo inglese. It's that bloody boy ... he'll kill the lot of us ... Look at the table ... knee deep in scorpions ..."

bimbo, και ο Τζέρυ δεν έχει κανένα πρόβλημα να ζει κάτω από την ίδια στέγη με τον άλλο αδερφό του τον Λέσλι που έχει αρρωστημένη μανία με τα όπλα και σκοτώνει ασταμάτητα ζώα, δεινός κυνηγός που διατυμπανίζει τα κατορθώματά του. I remember finding a box of Gerald Durrell stories on the shelf as a twelve year old and reading them in luxury. They captivated me as Durrell told the story of his childhood in Corfu hunting animals. Not only was it full of interesting facts about the animals he caught but also about the people in his life. Told with wit, humour and the pure ability of a natural storyteller this is a sort of autobiography that you can read as a novel full to the brim with short stories.Durrell featured in the United Nations' Roll of Honour for Environmental Achievement in 1988, becoming part of 500 people ("Global 500") to be given this honour in the period 1987–92.

But it isn’t just his love of these creatures, or his love of nature in general that moves this story along, it’s this delightfully quirky family he happens to belong to, and their various reactions to coming home to yet another new strange “pet” that he has brought home. A curious boy and a lenient, loving mother together make this a wildly eccentric ride, in the best way. Shared with a sprinkling of nostalgia, a love of family and a captivating humour throughout, he managed to make me wish I’d been there through it all (well, almost all… I think I would take a pass on the incident with the scorpions.)

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Although My Family and Other Animals is presented as autobiographical, the events described are not always true. In particular, Larry lived in another part of Corfu with his first wife Nancy Durrell, whom Gerald does not mention at all. The chronology of events as they occur in the book is also inaccurate, and the reason for the Durrells' departure from Corfu (imminent outbreak of World War II) is not given; instead, it is implied that the family returned to England for the sake of Gerald's education. Durrell was better known as a leading naturalist and conservationist, but it would be a huge mistake to disregard his skill as an author. Hughes, David (1997). Himself & Other Animals: A Portrait of Gerald Durrell. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-180167-2. Clare's personality is infectiously warm and endearing and this tome expertly reveals how this came to be. She describes her formidable grandmother's reaction to the birth of a girl as "It's a girl, nevermind, keep trying!" before dumping the basketed child on the floor. This constant debouching over her gender no doubt has spurred Balding on to become one of the UK's best known and well-loved broadcasters, all before her early forties.