All Creatures Great and Small/All Things Bright and Beautiful

Rating:
Summary: Books for a lifetime
Review: I first read James Herriott's series about 25 years ago, and I've re-read them numerous times since. The paperbacks in my original boxed gift set are falling apart, with missing pages and loose bindings. Now I'm buying them in hardcover to make sure that I have them available to read again and again for the rest of my life and to pass on to my children and grandchildren.

Rating:
Summary: Very visual - - A ton of fun
Review: I have been reading excerpts of 'All Creatures Great and Small' in publications such as 'Reader's Digest' for years and have always enjoyed them. When I came across a hardcover copy of the two combined books on the sale table at the local mall, I bought it. Let me tell you, the excerpts didn't do it justice. James Herriot is a superb writer, combining humor, insights, sadness...the list can go on and on. He writes as if he's sitting right next to you talking directly to you. I caught myself tearing up in some places and belly-laughing in others. I had such a good time reading it that I now own all of his books (except for the children's books).

Rating:
Summary: Tremendously enjoyable read
Review: I have been reading excerpts of 'All Creatures Great and Small' in publications such as 'Reader's Digest' for years and have always enjoyed them. When I came across a hardcover copy of the two combined books on the sale table at the local mall, I bought it. Let me tell you, the excerpts didn't do it justice. James Herriot is a superb writer, combining humor, insights, sadness...the list can go on and on. He writes as if he's sitting right next to you talking directly to you. I caught myself tearing up in some places and belly-laughing in others. I had such a good time reading it that I now own all of his books (except for the children's books).

Rating:
Summary: Read This!
Review: James Herroit is a small town vet in England in the 1920s-1930s in these books. As he vivedly remembers the perks and pains of the practice, the words and memories become your own, laughing with him as the letter he sends to a pampered pekenese, Trikki Woo,(who's owner calls Herroit "Trikki Woo's favorite Uncle") and gets rebbuffed for sending it to "Mister Trikki Woo" instead of the obvious "Trikki Woo, esq." Or his encounters with Helen, a lady every guy in town has tried thier luck with, and his blow-up-in-his-face mistakes trying to impress her. Or when he had tried everything to cure some cattle going down the drain, and the answer was right in front of his face (litteraly)! There are some sad parts too, but it is the good parts that will keep you reading. Once you read this book you will go away a little more satisfied than you were before. I recommend all 5 of the James Herroit animal stories I've read : All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord Made Them All, & James Herroit's Animal Stories. These books should be read in the order above cronologically, but it really doesn't matter. I love these books, and I hope everyone will get the chance to read them!

Rating:
Summary: Very visual - - A ton of fun
Review: Mr. Herriot's journey through life as a veterinary surgeon is a heart-warming tale. As he goes about day to day, he meets some difficult tasks and is challenged by them. He pulls through almost all of them with extreme care towards the animals that are loved by many. He shows compassion while going about the work that many would get sick to their stomach just thinking about it. An awesome story.

Rating:
Summary: A Book for the Family Book that Well Read Aloud
Review: One day when we were looking for a good book to read, my husband picked this book from the clearance shelf despite my protests. Truthfully, I thought the book sounded a bit boring...not my type of storyline at all. But I must admit that I was wrong, this turned out to be a charming book with memorable characters. This particular edition is also a good value because you get two works in a one hard cover edition at a very reasonable price. And once you read "All Creatures Great and Small," you will want to read "All Things Bright and Beautiful" because it continues where the first story leaves off.

One nice thing about both books is that the chapters are, for the most part, self-contained. This makes it easy to read one story, and if you don't have time to get back to the book for a few weeks, you can pick up right where you left off. There is a general plot that unites the whole and some characters reappear or run throughout, but overall it is an easy book to keep up with.

I also found it fascinating to learn about the life of a country vet. Through the stories I discovered the ins and outs of veterinary medicine and little facts about farm animals. The individual chapters vary a great deal in topic or mood. Some are comic, others tragic, and others just make you pause and ponder some aspect of life. The main character's life is so different than my own that it was nice to escape into his world. And, by the end of the first book, the characters and their animals had won my heart.

Herriot is most skillful with his indirect characterization. He rarely comes right out and tells you what to think about a character. Instead, he has a knack for telling you about people through their own dialogue and actions. Then, you are left to draw your own conclusions from those details. Personally, I enjoy this method as I find it more interesting to think about things myself than to be "told" them.

Another positive is that this book is excellent to read aloud. My husband and I read aloud to each other at night, and this has been one of the easiest books to follow. It wasn't too complicated, and the stories were interesting and generated conversation. I think it'd be a super book to read as family because it appeals to a broad spectrum of ages and teaches little lessons about life along the way.

These stories are a good investment--I'm glad we have the hardcover edition because I'm sure we'll read them again.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Children and Adults!
Review: This book cronicles the adventures of a vet in pre-World War II Yorkshire, England. I must reccomend it to anyone that loves animals, young and old! The tales are wildly hilarious and incredibly emotional at the same time. This is an excellent way to instill compassion in younger children and I have actually read it every Summer since I was a child. I must warn parents that there a some parts describing veterinary practises that may be a bit too much for very young children. It would be easy to leave out some chapters for a few years or buy James Herriot's Treasury for Children, which has been written with them in mind. Enjoy this book and savor its flavour!

Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: This is a feel-good book - the sort of book that gives you that warm-and-fuzzy-feeling' - the sort of book that convinces you that there is still hope for this sad-world-of-ours. I make it a point to read this book at least once a year.

James Herriot is successful not because of the beauty of his sentences or the brilliance of his plot, but for the warmth he radiates. He handles the humourous and the poignant with equal ease, and sometimes you wonder why he ever became a vet when he had such a wonderful gift with words. Perhaps it was just as well.

All Creatures Great and Small is, along with 'Every Living Thing' my favourite of his books. He manages to achieve a perfece balance between simplicity and originality - something so many writers fail to do. If I ever visit England, I know I have just _got_ to see the Yorkshire Dales, if for no other reason than that this was where James Herriot lived and worked.