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Summary: One Funny Book
Review: Ok your eleven years old and have to move from jolly old England to Greece. Ahh Greece with its meditteranean climate and diverse culture who wouldn't want to live there? Well in Mr. Durrell's book based on his experiences living on a tiny island in Greece, you get all this and more. "My Family and Other Animals" is a delightful and amusing book that you just can't put down. In his book Gerald, as the naturalist wannabe in his younger days, stuffs spiders in his older brother's matchbox( you can imagine what happens when he tries to smoke)and scares his mother out of her mind with the exotic animals he brings home. He even ends up having a 'zoo' in his attic complete with snakes, owls, lizards and the occasional magpie. In conclusion, if your looking an amusing book to read that will also make you quite the intellectual (people dig others who are knowledgable about animals) than "My Family and Other Animals" by Gerald Durrell is the book you want.
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Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: I first read this book when I was a child, and have reread it more times than I can count. Every time I read it I laugh out loud until tears are streaming down my face. It is interesting, educational, and hilarious. Gerald Durrell's rich use of the English language is also one of my favorite things about this book. Go get it!
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Summary: Don't miss this one!
Review: What a tribute to Gerald Durrell - to see how his writings have made so many people laugh! I, too, became an avid reader of Gerry Durrell's stories as a 11 year old kid growing up in Kenya. The whole family developed a passion for observing the small "beef" of the Kenyan highlands and an enduring appreciation of nature and ecology. Don't stop with "My Family and Other Animals" if you love Durrell's sense of humor and affection for animals! Try "The Bafut Beagles", "A Zoo in My Lugage", and whatever else you can get your hands on. Durrell had a rare and precious ability to find the humor in most any situation, often at his own expense. His deep love of the animals and people he encountered shines out from behind the funny stories. He paints masterpieces with words.
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Summary: A delightful family tale, I couldn't stop laughing
Review: When the Durrell family decides to relocate to the Greek island of Corfu, they each have a decidedly different agenda. Oldest brother Leslie is off in search of his writing muse, brother Larry just wants to shoot guns, sister Margo is long suffering in love and Gerald cannot wait to explore. Told from the recollections of a ten year old this delightful tale is populated by these family members, headed by the benignly forgetful mother and faithful dog Roger, along with a series of characters from the island. Adding to this mix are animals collected by young Gerry, the narrater. Consumed with a love for all nature he adds an owl, watersnakes, puppies, seagull, various insects, and the infamous magenpies to the mix. I cut my reading teeth on the Cheaper By the Dozen books and I think this measures up. After reading a description of the mating ritual of tortises, as observed by a ten year old, I cannot look at one of the beast without laughing. This book is not only funny but suffused with a genuine affection for the people who inhabit it.
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Summary: On Durrell and His Contemporaries
Review: Durrell has often been compared to some of his cntemporaries, and has fallen short, especially paling in comparison with the likes of Henry Miller. Readers are strongly encouraged to try some of Miller's great works, such as "The Turn of The Screw". Readers who enjoyed Durrell' book should examine the works of Miller, and some others as well; Proust, Flaubert, Joyce, Kafka, and some postmodernists, Rushdie,per se. I am of the persuasion that readers will find that Durrell's work is not on par with those of his contemporaries, or predecessors, at that.FN Cambridge, Massachusetts 2000 A.D.
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Summary: Wow! Humorous, creative, and well-written!
Review: I REALLY loved this book! It is the story of Gerald Durrell, a 10-year-old boy in Corfu, a beautiful island off of Greece. It is a comic tale of Durrell's family, friends, and, most importantly, animals. I laughed my way through this book at the antics of Roger, the dog, Achilles, the tortoise, Widdle and Puke, the puppies, the Magenpies, a fierce sea gull, pigeons, a gecko, Gerry's hilarious family and friends, and much, much more! Don't waste too much time reading the reviews... get out and read this book!
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Summary: I cannot hold on to this book
Review: I am now ordering a second copy as I have lent the first one so many times I cannot keep track of it. This is a delightful series of essays that makes one laugh out loud and insist on reading the best parts out to friends and family. Having read a great deal of Lawrence Durrell, I was enchanted by his younger brother's irreverent view of the "literary" member of his family. The descriptions of people and animals on Corfu bring tears to the eyes -- tears of laughter and regret that the island life Gerry describes is gone forever.
Rating:
Summary: pure delight
Review: i've read this book a couple of times. every time it refreshes the memories of one's childhood and all the animal friends that one's imagination added so many human qualities to. besides, in a world where everything is turning into a concrete jungle g. durrel's book is a gentle reminder of so many wonderful things that nature has created. All thanks to durrels simple yet so imaginative writing.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Magic!
Review: This is a most charming story told from the view point of a young Gerald Durell, budding naturalist, and the title informs of his priorities: Animals #1, then his rather eccentric family. The former are treated with proper respect and interest; the latter with impatient tolerance. One cannot feel but drawn to the vastly superior sense in animals!
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Summary: Best book of my life!
Review: In all my life I've never read a book as wonderful as this. This book is enchanting, hilarious, and all around spectacular. I would recommend this book to any animal-lover with a good sence of humor! (Gerald Durrel certainly has a talent for writing.)
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