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Corfu Trilogy #2
Птици, животни и роднини
„Птици, животни и роднини“ е вторият роман от трилогията за слънчевия Корфу. Десетгодишният Даръл скита на воля из острова, ходи на гости при рибарите, плува из прозрачните заливи. Навсякъде момчето наблюдава животните и с изненада открива, че те имат ум и характер и може би го наблюдават…
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Gerald Durrell
216 books1,578 followersGerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell was born in India in 1925. His elder siblings are Lawrence Durrell, Leslie Durrell, and Margaret Durrell. His family settled on Corfu when Gerald was a boy and he spent his time studying its wildlife. He relates these experiences in the trilogy beginning with My Family And Other Animals, and continuing with Birds, Beasts, And Relatives and The Garden Of The Gods. In his books he writes with wry humour and great perception about both the humans and the animals he meets.
On leaving Corfu he returned to England to work on the staff of Whipsnade Park as a student keeper. His adventures there are told with characteristic energy in Beasts In My Belfry. A few years later, Gerald began organising his own animal-collecting expeditions. The first, to the Cameroons, was followed by expeditions to Paraguay, Argentina and Sierra Leone. He recounts these experiences in a number of books, including The Drunken Forest. Gerald also visited many countries while shooting various television series, including An Amateur Naturalist. In 1958 Gerald Durrell realised a lifelong dream when he set up the Jersey Zoological Park, followed a few years later by the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.
Gerald was married twice; Jacquie Durrell (1951-1979), Lee Durrell (1979-1995).
Gerald Durrell's style is exuberant, passionate and acutely observed. He died in 1995.
On leaving Corfu he returned to England to work on the staff of Whipsnade Park as a student keeper. His adventures there are told with characteristic energy in Beasts In My Belfry. A few years later, Gerald began organising his own animal-collecting expeditions. The first, to the Cameroons, was followed by expeditions to Paraguay, Argentina and Sierra Leone. He recounts these experiences in a number of books, including The Drunken Forest. Gerald also visited many countries while shooting various television series, including An Amateur Naturalist. In 1958 Gerald Durrell realised a lifelong dream when he set up the Jersey Zoological Park, followed a few years later by the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.
Gerald was married twice; Jacquie Durrell (1951-1979), Lee Durrell (1979-1995).
Gerald Durrell's style is exuberant, passionate and acutely observed. He died in 1995.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 692 reviews
February 9, 2020
"Gollys, Mrs Durrells,"
he said, his face red with wrath.
"Why don'ts yous lets Masters Leslies shoot the son of a bitch?"
In life, Gerald Durrell would light up a room and his books elicit that same warm feeling.
His affection for the natural world lives on in the minds of those, who for decades, have enjoyed his magical stories.
This is the second part of his Corfiot trilogy, continuing from where My Family and Other Animals left off.
The bohemian Durrells have eschewed middle-class English suburbia for an unconventional life in idyllic Corfu. As in the first book, a procession of oddballs, fruit cakes and misfits turn up at their villa.
Best supporting character award goes to leathery-faced Spiro, whose pidgin English sounds exactly like Stavros, the kebab seller from a 1980s UK comedy sketch show.
"Honest to Gods, Mrs Durells, makes me scarce what that boy finds."
Fans of Durrell already know of his transcendent skill for observational detail.
For example, there's Mrs Haddock, the spiritualist, who is incapable of breathing while speaking, andwhosewordslatchtogether like a daisy chain.
And here he describes the beginning of his memorable meal at the Venetian-style villa of eccentric Countess Mavrodiki:
The first course that Demetrios-Mustapha set before us was a fine, clear soup, sequinned with tiny golden bubbles of fat, with fingernail-sized croutons floating like crisp little rafts on an amber sea.
How overlooked is Durrell as a writer? Seriously, how many writers today can compete with that?
This bacchanalian feast continued until his pants were fit to burst, and was washed down with red wine which was 'as dark as the heart of a dragon'.
Other characters include Captain Creech, the salty sea dog whose incautious, uncivil bonhomie (even in the politest company) revolves around tales of Montevidean strumpets and rampant gonorrhoea.
This trilogy was a standard school read for British kids of my generation and there is absolutely no reason why his books cannot be read by adults.
His writing is evidently better than most of the dross that is out there now.
If you haven't yet familiarised yourself with Gerald Durrell, and are wasting your time reading books that have men on the cover who, for some reason, have misplaced their shirts, then please find the time to do so.
Not only a truly gifted writer, he was also a wonderful, wonderful human being!
In life, Gerald Durrell would light up a room and his books elicit that same warm feeling.
His affection for the natural world lives on in the minds of those, who for decades, have enjoyed his magical stories.
This is the second part of his Corfiot trilogy, continuing from where My Family and Other Animals left off.
The bohemian Durrells have eschewed middle-class English suburbia for an unconventional life in idyllic Corfu. As in the first book, a procession of oddballs, fruit cakes and misfits turn up at their villa.
Best supporting character award goes to leathery-faced Spiro, whose pidgin English sounds exactly like Stavros, the kebab seller from a 1980s UK comedy sketch show.
"Honest to Gods, Mrs Durells, makes me scarce what that boy finds."
Fans of Durrell already know of his transcendent skill for observational detail.
For example, there's Mrs Haddock, the spiritualist, who is incapable of breathing while speaking, andwhosewordslatchtogether like a daisy chain.
And here he describes the beginning of his memorable meal at the Venetian-style villa of eccentric Countess Mavrodiki:
The first course that Demetrios-Mustapha set before us was a fine, clear soup, sequinned with tiny golden bubbles of fat, with fingernail-sized croutons floating like crisp little rafts on an amber sea.
How overlooked is Durrell as a writer? Seriously, how many writers today can compete with that?
This bacchanalian feast continued until his pants were fit to burst, and was washed down with red wine which was 'as dark as the heart of a dragon'.
Other characters include Captain Creech, the salty sea dog whose incautious, uncivil bonhomie (even in the politest company) revolves around tales of Montevidean strumpets and rampant gonorrhoea.
This trilogy was a standard school read for British kids of my generation and there is absolutely no reason why his books cannot be read by adults.
His writing is evidently better than most of the dross that is out there now.
If you haven't yet familiarised yourself with Gerald Durrell, and are wasting your time reading books that have men on the cover who, for some reason, have misplaced their shirts, then please find the time to do so.
Not only a truly gifted writer, he was also a wonderful, wonderful human being!
August 4, 2023
"My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood."
—Gerald Durrell
Corfu, Greece, as seen through the eyes of Gerry Durrell, had me digging around for my passport. What a breathtaking world when viewed through his eyes. The animals and other creepy crawlies were enough to keep me reading, but when he delved into the riotously rich characters, I was captivated.
"The island lies off the Albanian and Greek coast-lines like a long, rust-eroded scimitar."
"That August, when we arrived, the island lay breathless and sun-drugged in the smouldering, peacock-blue sea under a sky that had faded to a pale powder-blue by the fierce rays of the sun."
Birds, Beasts and Relatives is the second book in the trilogy. Yes, I started with this book instead of the first one. I should be banned from reading any series. I always start somewhere in the middle! Still, I had no trouble diving right in and polished off all 294 pages in the space of an afternoon. I simply couldn’t stop. The writing is deliciously cinematic. I could hear each character as I basked in the sights, sounds and smells of the island. Gerry allowed me to accompany him on his daily ventures, watching him as he absorbed himself in the discovery of nature. His free-spirited escapades were to the vexation of his family, who wanted no part of the zoo he was building in his room.
'I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to write this book, Gerry.'
'I second that,' said Larry. 'If you publish we’ll sue you in a body.'
Faced with such a firm and united family, bristling in their resolve to prevent me at all costs, there was only one thing I could do. I sat down and wrote this book.
The humor, intertwined with the family theatre, and the island natives' intriguing ways had me rolling with laughter. The characters are full of life and I feel that I know each of them personally.
I will admit that the bugs on the cover gave me pause. However, to my delight, it's not just about the creatures, and I learned more about the beasts of the earth than I ever imagined. This boy’s curious mind had me interested as well. It took me back to my youth when the world seemed magical. It’s something we lose as time marches on, and it’s a shame.
Gerald Durrell’s prose is gloriously vibrant, his dialogue on point. I couldn’t have asked for more. I left the last pages wrapped in the warm fuzzy glow of this family’s splendid life.
Heart-warming, deep and hilarious, the story reminded me to see the magic in everyday things with a childlike curiosity and to laugh often. As a result, I will forever be a fan of Gerald Durrell.
I recommend Birds, Beasts and Relatives to readers of any age. It's absolutely charming!
Corfu, Greece, as seen through the eyes of Gerry Durrell, had me digging around for my passport. What a breathtaking world when viewed through his eyes. The animals and other creepy crawlies were enough to keep me reading, but when he delved into the riotously rich characters, I was captivated.
"The island lies off the Albanian and Greek coast-lines like a long, rust-eroded scimitar."
"That August, when we arrived, the island lay breathless and sun-drugged in the smouldering, peacock-blue sea under a sky that had faded to a pale powder-blue by the fierce rays of the sun."
Birds, Beasts and Relatives is the second book in the trilogy. Yes, I started with this book instead of the first one. I should be banned from reading any series. I always start somewhere in the middle! Still, I had no trouble diving right in and polished off all 294 pages in the space of an afternoon. I simply couldn’t stop. The writing is deliciously cinematic. I could hear each character as I basked in the sights, sounds and smells of the island. Gerry allowed me to accompany him on his daily ventures, watching him as he absorbed himself in the discovery of nature. His free-spirited escapades were to the vexation of his family, who wanted no part of the zoo he was building in his room.
'I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to write this book, Gerry.'
'I second that,' said Larry. 'If you publish we’ll sue you in a body.'
Faced with such a firm and united family, bristling in their resolve to prevent me at all costs, there was only one thing I could do. I sat down and wrote this book.
The humor, intertwined with the family theatre, and the island natives' intriguing ways had me rolling with laughter. The characters are full of life and I feel that I know each of them personally.
I will admit that the bugs on the cover gave me pause. However, to my delight, it's not just about the creatures, and I learned more about the beasts of the earth than I ever imagined. This boy’s curious mind had me interested as well. It took me back to my youth when the world seemed magical. It’s something we lose as time marches on, and it’s a shame.
Gerald Durrell’s prose is gloriously vibrant, his dialogue on point. I couldn’t have asked for more. I left the last pages wrapped in the warm fuzzy glow of this family’s splendid life.
Heart-warming, deep and hilarious, the story reminded me to see the magic in everyday things with a childlike curiosity and to laugh often. As a result, I will forever be a fan of Gerald Durrell.
I recommend Birds, Beasts and Relatives to readers of any age. It's absolutely charming!
August 26, 2009
It takes me awhile to finish Durrell's books. They're not meant to be hurried through. When I do finish I'm a little sad, because I want him to just keep telling me more and more stories.
I was afraid this one might not measure up to the first one, My Family and Other Animals. But this second one was every bit as enchanting and entertaining as the first. The two books give an account of the years the Durrell family spent living on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.
Gerry was the youngest in his family by a far margin, and was only about 10 years old when they moved from England to Greece. He spent these years as a budding naturalist, roaming the island collecting specimens and pets of every variety: insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, and sea creatures. To his family's dismay, he brought most of these critters home to live in his indoor menagerie. More often than not there were disastrous and/or hilarious results.
Meanwhile, Gerry's mother, sister, and brothers entertained a colorful variety of visitors both local and foreign. Some of the zaniest parts of the book are these visitor escapades. I must say, many of these characters were fun to read about but I don't think I'd want them around for long. A little too much of the wrong kind of excitement for me.
I envy Gerald Durell's idyllic youth in such a specatular setting. These are two books I will read again.
I was afraid this one might not measure up to the first one, My Family and Other Animals. But this second one was every bit as enchanting and entertaining as the first. The two books give an account of the years the Durrell family spent living on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.
Gerry was the youngest in his family by a far margin, and was only about 10 years old when they moved from England to Greece. He spent these years as a budding naturalist, roaming the island collecting specimens and pets of every variety: insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, and sea creatures. To his family's dismay, he brought most of these critters home to live in his indoor menagerie. More often than not there were disastrous and/or hilarious results.
Meanwhile, Gerry's mother, sister, and brothers entertained a colorful variety of visitors both local and foreign. Some of the zaniest parts of the book are these visitor escapades. I must say, many of these characters were fun to read about but I don't think I'd want them around for long. A little too much of the wrong kind of excitement for me.
I envy Gerald Durell's idyllic youth in such a specatular setting. These are two books I will read again.
October 1, 2019
It is that time of year when I feel a desperate need for a vacation but I am unable to get away. The next best thing is to take a virtual holiday to Corfu, a Greek island in the sun. For a short spell each day, I looked forward to being back in the company of Gerry Durrell, the ardent ten-year-old aspiring naturalist, his exuberant family and close friends. As with my first introduction to Corfu and the Durrells in My Family and Other Animals, this second book in The Corfu Trilogy is just as charming and exhilarating.
Once again, I was impressed by Gerry’s immense interest in the natural world and amazed at the extent he went to collect specimens of a wide range of animals and learn about them. His extraordinary power of observation was matched by an artful and vivid power of description that was often humorous and painted a jocular picture of the world he saw, studied, and loved. Gerry’s passion for all the insects and creepy crawlies he carted home in his jam jars and biscuit tins was communicated in a language so full of affection that each animal seemed like a sentient being worth knowing.
Gerry’s enthusiasm became my own. I googled pictures of the dung beetle that was said to roll its dung into perfect round balls, pipefishes, and beadlet anemones. It was lovely to read about the spider crab weaving his camouflage, a frond of seaweed at a time, on his carapace. Gerry’s pictorial script is a treat to read. Here’s an example of one of his discoveries at the Bay of Olives: ‘Along the shore, under the rocks, you can find tiny crabs or beadlet anemones like little scarlet-and-blue jewelled pincushions, or the snakelocks anemones, their slender, coffee-coloured stalks and long, writhing tentacles giving them a hair style that Medusa might well have envied.’ I learned that snails are hermaphrodites. I stumbled on a new discovery about seahorses. Thank you, Gerry!
Another aspect that lent this book its charm are the colorful characters and loony family that shaped Gerry’s young life. Spiros, the Corfu native, is a rock solid family friend. George, his first tutor, was affectionately described as a fencer who loved to fight an olive tree with his walking stick. Dr. Theodore Stepanides, a famous medical doctor, biologist, poet, translator, and historian was a significant influence in Gerry becoming a world renowned naturalist and conservationist. There were hilarious episodes such as his brother, Leslie's court case; his sister, Margo’s encounter with a charlatan spiritualist; Gerry’s outstanding luncheon with a Greek countess; older brother Larry’s eccentric friends; and of course, adventures with Gerry’s dog, also an ‘indefatigable student of natural history.’
One gets an insider welcome from mingling with the local Corfu residents. It was lovely to share their hospitality and be part of a wine harvest where one got to witness grapes being trodden in the wine barrels and to taste vicariously a free flow of wine as red as garnet. Gerry wrote so convincingly I felt quite intoxicated just reading about the exchange of goodwill and fellowship in this community. It is a bit sad, therefore, that the brilliance of these heady days were short-lived as war was soon declared.
Below are some lines I enjoyed.
Description of Gerry’s luncheon at the Countess’ mansion:
‘The first course that Demetrios-Mustapha set before us was a fine, clear soup, sequinned with tiny golden bubbles of fat, with fingernail-sized croutons floating like crisp little rafts on an amber sea. It was delicious, and the Countess had two helpings, scrounging up the croutons, the noise like someone walking over crisp leaves.’
Description of a spider crab building a camouflage:
‘Making the best of a bad job, he had decorated the top of his shell with a number of ingredients that I had left him. He looked extremely gaudy and had an air of carnival about him. Striped top-shells had been pasted on, interspersed with bits of coral, and up near his head he was wearing two beadlet anemones, like an extremely saucy bonnet with ribbons.’
Description of a day out at sea:
‘The sea crisped itself along the sides of the boat with the sound of winter leaves, wind-lifted, rubbing themselves affectionately against the trunks of the trees that gave them birth.’
Birds, Beasts and Relatives is a vastly entertaining, enjoyable, and informative read. It is highly recommended. I shall return to Corfu again soon as there is a Part III waiting. What larks!
Once again, I was impressed by Gerry’s immense interest in the natural world and amazed at the extent he went to collect specimens of a wide range of animals and learn about them. His extraordinary power of observation was matched by an artful and vivid power of description that was often humorous and painted a jocular picture of the world he saw, studied, and loved. Gerry’s passion for all the insects and creepy crawlies he carted home in his jam jars and biscuit tins was communicated in a language so full of affection that each animal seemed like a sentient being worth knowing.
Gerry’s enthusiasm became my own. I googled pictures of the dung beetle that was said to roll its dung into perfect round balls, pipefishes, and beadlet anemones. It was lovely to read about the spider crab weaving his camouflage, a frond of seaweed at a time, on his carapace. Gerry’s pictorial script is a treat to read. Here’s an example of one of his discoveries at the Bay of Olives: ‘Along the shore, under the rocks, you can find tiny crabs or beadlet anemones like little scarlet-and-blue jewelled pincushions, or the snakelocks anemones, their slender, coffee-coloured stalks and long, writhing tentacles giving them a hair style that Medusa might well have envied.’ I learned that snails are hermaphrodites. I stumbled on a new discovery about seahorses. Thank you, Gerry!
Another aspect that lent this book its charm are the colorful characters and loony family that shaped Gerry’s young life. Spiros, the Corfu native, is a rock solid family friend. George, his first tutor, was affectionately described as a fencer who loved to fight an olive tree with his walking stick. Dr. Theodore Stepanides, a famous medical doctor, biologist, poet, translator, and historian was a significant influence in Gerry becoming a world renowned naturalist and conservationist. There were hilarious episodes such as his brother, Leslie's court case; his sister, Margo’s encounter with a charlatan spiritualist; Gerry’s outstanding luncheon with a Greek countess; older brother Larry’s eccentric friends; and of course, adventures with Gerry’s dog, also an ‘indefatigable student of natural history.’
One gets an insider welcome from mingling with the local Corfu residents. It was lovely to share their hospitality and be part of a wine harvest where one got to witness grapes being trodden in the wine barrels and to taste vicariously a free flow of wine as red as garnet. Gerry wrote so convincingly I felt quite intoxicated just reading about the exchange of goodwill and fellowship in this community. It is a bit sad, therefore, that the brilliance of these heady days were short-lived as war was soon declared.
Below are some lines I enjoyed.
Description of Gerry’s luncheon at the Countess’ mansion:
‘The first course that Demetrios-Mustapha set before us was a fine, clear soup, sequinned with tiny golden bubbles of fat, with fingernail-sized croutons floating like crisp little rafts on an amber sea. It was delicious, and the Countess had two helpings, scrounging up the croutons, the noise like someone walking over crisp leaves.’
Description of a spider crab building a camouflage:
‘Making the best of a bad job, he had decorated the top of his shell with a number of ingredients that I had left him. He looked extremely gaudy and had an air of carnival about him. Striped top-shells had been pasted on, interspersed with bits of coral, and up near his head he was wearing two beadlet anemones, like an extremely saucy bonnet with ribbons.’
Description of a day out at sea:
‘The sea crisped itself along the sides of the boat with the sound of winter leaves, wind-lifted, rubbing themselves affectionately against the trunks of the trees that gave them birth.’
Birds, Beasts and Relatives is a vastly entertaining, enjoyable, and informative read. It is highly recommended. I shall return to Corfu again soon as there is a Part III waiting. What larks!
December 29, 2018
Like a gentle sea breeze, Gerald Durrell has created a setting that is meditative, soothing and pure pleasure. His ability to share the humor and quirkiness of his family and friends with the idyllic beauty of Greece and its bountiful creatures is perfect.
‘The Angry Barrels’, the last chapter in this second book of the trilogy, exemplifies the carefree, bountiful, pre-war life the Durrell’s have stumbled upon. It is a beautiful portrait.
This is guilty pleasure reading for me and fulfills my need for all things Greek.
‘The Angry Barrels’, the last chapter in this second book of the trilogy, exemplifies the carefree, bountiful, pre-war life the Durrell’s have stumbled upon. It is a beautiful portrait.
This is guilty pleasure reading for me and fulfills my need for all things Greek.
January 27, 2023
A person who enacted the ‘disappointing sequels’ curse on me, is kindly requested to undo it. It has been working effectively for a while and I feel exasperated.
Speaking seriously, I am solely the one to blame as far as Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) is concerned. I should not have ignored the first warning signal — at the very beginning, it turned out that the book covers exactly the same period as My Family and Other Animals , the first volume of Corfu Trilogy, which I got enamoured of six years ago. Well, what you see is what you get.
It does not take Sherlock Holmes's deductive skills to suspect that the anecdotes and observations here are the ones which did not make it to the first volume. For a reason. Let’s face it, it does not sound like a guarantee of high quality. And indeed, Gerald Durrell tries to be entertaining and hilarious in Birds, Beasts and Relatives but his efforts to elicit laughter and thrills are annoyingly visible and heavy-handed while the humour in My family and Other Animals was completely effortless. An example: the cringe chapter about Mother and Gerry's visit to London. My eyes ached from rolling, especially during the spiritual séance.
Unfortunately, some aspects of Birds, Beasts and Relatives put me off even more. There are a few beliefs behind this book which felt awkward. They were not expressed straightforwardly, just subtly hinted, but perceptible anyway. ‘All ‘Gypsies’ are thieves’. ‘Fat girls are a laughingstock’. ‘A gay man is a wannabe paedophile’ (That man could have been a bad influence on the boy if he had had much to do with him). These ‘truths’ are served here soaking in a humouristic sauce which does not change much, quite the contrary. I know one should not expect our sensitivity from a memoir published in 1969 but, on the other hand, there are books written then which are devoid of such repelling revelations.
In spite of the infantile covers of some editions, I would not recommend this book for children. If at the age of 8 or 9, I had read a detailed description of a tarantula feasting on a baby lark, not to mention a dissection of a turtle or the death of Gerry’s hedgehogs, I would have been devastated while the rest of the book would have put me to sleep for sure.
The things I enjoyed immensely in Birds, Beasts and Relatives were Durrell’s bewitching and vivid descriptions of paradisiac nature and the explosion of warm nostalgia at the end of the book. And that would be it. I wonder if it is enough to embark on the third volume.
Agios Gordios, Corfu, Greece, Anne Durham.
Speaking seriously, I am solely the one to blame as far as Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) is concerned. I should not have ignored the first warning signal — at the very beginning, it turned out that the book covers exactly the same period as My Family and Other Animals , the first volume of Corfu Trilogy, which I got enamoured of six years ago. Well, what you see is what you get.
It does not take Sherlock Holmes's deductive skills to suspect that the anecdotes and observations here are the ones which did not make it to the first volume. For a reason. Let’s face it, it does not sound like a guarantee of high quality. And indeed, Gerald Durrell tries to be entertaining and hilarious in Birds, Beasts and Relatives but his efforts to elicit laughter and thrills are annoyingly visible and heavy-handed while the humour in My family and Other Animals was completely effortless. An example: the cringe chapter about Mother and Gerry's visit to London. My eyes ached from rolling, especially during the spiritual séance.
Unfortunately, some aspects of Birds, Beasts and Relatives put me off even more. There are a few beliefs behind this book which felt awkward. They were not expressed straightforwardly, just subtly hinted, but perceptible anyway. ‘All ‘Gypsies’ are thieves’. ‘Fat girls are a laughingstock’. ‘A gay man is a wannabe paedophile’ (That man could have been a bad influence on the boy if he had had much to do with him). These ‘truths’ are served here soaking in a humouristic sauce which does not change much, quite the contrary. I know one should not expect our sensitivity from a memoir published in 1969 but, on the other hand, there are books written then which are devoid of such repelling revelations.
In spite of the infantile covers of some editions, I would not recommend this book for children. If at the age of 8 or 9, I had read a detailed description of a tarantula feasting on a baby lark, not to mention a dissection of a turtle or the death of Gerry’s hedgehogs, I would have been devastated while the rest of the book would have put me to sleep for sure.
The things I enjoyed immensely in Birds, Beasts and Relatives were Durrell’s bewitching and vivid descriptions of paradisiac nature and the explosion of warm nostalgia at the end of the book. And that would be it. I wonder if it is enough to embark on the third volume.
Agios Gordios, Corfu, Greece, Anne Durham.
September 3, 2019
'I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to write this book, Gerry.’
‘I second that,’ said Larry. ‘If you publish we’ll sue you in a body.’
Faced with such a firm and united family, bristling in their resolve to prevent me at all costs, there was only one thing I could do. I sat down and wrote this book.
If you've ever read "My Family and other Animals" then you can also delight in more humour from Corfu in the second of the series.
The setting...
Our reasons for packing up and leaving the gloomy shores of England were somewhat nebulous, but based loosely on the fact that we were tired of the drab suburbanness of life in England and its accompanying bleak and unpleasant climate. So we had fled to Corfu, hoping that the sunshine of Greece would cure us of the mental and physical inertia which so long a sojourn in England had brought about. Very soon after we had landed, we had acquired our first villa and our first friend on the island.
image:
The friend was Spiro, a waddling, barrel-shaped man with huge powerful hands and a brown, leathery, scowling face. He had perfected an odd but adequate command over English and he possessed an ancient Dodge which he used as a taxi. We soon found that Spiro, like most of the Corfu characters, was unique. There seemed to be no one that he did not know and nothing that he could not obtain or get done for you. Even the most bizarre requests from the family would be met by him with the remark, ‘Don’ts yous worries about thats. I’ll fixes thats.’ And fix it he would.
image:
Surprise...
‘Mornings, Masters Gerrys.
’Thinking, in my innocence, that Spiro would share my enthusiasm for my latest pet, I pushed the jam jar under his nose and urged him to feast his eyes upon it. He took one swift look at the centipede, now going round and round in the bottom of the jar like a clock-work train, dropped the mail on the floor, and retreated hurriedly behind the kitchen table.
‘Gollys, Masters Gerrys,’ he said, ‘what’s you doing with thats?’
I explained it was only a centipede, puzzled at his reaction.
‘Thems bastards are poisonous, Mrs Durrells,’ said Spiro earnestly, to Mother. ‘Honest to Gods Masters Gerrys shouldn’t have things like thats.’
‘Well, perhaps not,’ said Mother vaguely. ‘But he’s so interested in all these things. Take it outside, dear, where Spiro can’t see it.’
'Makes me scarce,’ I heard Spiro say as I left the kitchen with my precious jar. ‘Honest to Gods, Mrs Durrells, makes me scarce what that boy finds.’
Lost in Translation...
Mother’s battle with the Greek language was a losing one. Only the day previously she had spent an exhausting morning preparing a particularly delicious soup for lunch, and having concluded this to her satisfaction, she put it into a soup tureen and handed it to the maid. The maid looked at her inquiringly, whereupon Mother used one of the few Greek words that she had managed to commit to memory. ‘Exo,’ she had said firmly, waving her arms. ‘Exo.’ She then went on with her cooking and turned round just in time to see the maid pouring the last of the soup down the sink. This had, not unnaturally, given her a phobia about her linguistic abilities.
How to raise a family of snails...
‘You mean to say that each snail is both a male and a female?’
‘Yes, indeed,’ said Theodore, adding with masterly understatement, ‘it’s very curious.’
‘Good God,’ cried Larry. ‘I think it’s unfair. All those damned slimy things wandering about seducing each other like mad all over the bushes, and having the pleasures of both sensations. Why couldn’t such a gift be given to the human race? That’s what I want to know.’
‘Aha, yes. But then you would have to lay eggs,’ Theodore pointed out.
‘True,’ said Larry, ‘but what a marvelous way of getting out of cocktail parties – “I’m terribly sorry I can’t come,” you would say. “I’ve got to sit on my eggs.”
’Theodore gave a little snort of laughter.‘But snails don’t sit on their eggs,’ he explained. ‘They bury them in damp earth and leave them.’
‘The ideal way of bringing up a family,’ said Mother, unexpectedly but with immense conviction. ‘I wish I’d been able to bury you all in some damp earth and leave you.’
‘That’s an extremely harsh and ungrateful thing to say,’ said Larry. ‘You’ve probably given Gerry a complex for the rest of his life.’
image:
Stamp collecting is socially acceptable...
Spiro glanced about him to make sure that we weren’t overheard, leaned forward, and whispered, ‘He collects stamps.’
The family looked bewildered.‘
You mean he’s a philatelist?’ said Larry at length.
‘No, no, Master Larrys,’ said Spiro. ‘He’s not one of them. He’s a married man and he’s gots two childrens.’
image:
I was the same as Gerry in this book when I was young. I liked collecting animals and so I read "Birds Beasts, and Relatives" primarily for the Birds and the Beasts. Being much older now I take great delight in observing his truly strange family.
Enjoy!
‘I second that,’ said Larry. ‘If you publish we’ll sue you in a body.’
Faced with such a firm and united family, bristling in their resolve to prevent me at all costs, there was only one thing I could do. I sat down and wrote this book.
If you've ever read "My Family and other Animals" then you can also delight in more humour from Corfu in the second of the series.
The setting...
Our reasons for packing up and leaving the gloomy shores of England were somewhat nebulous, but based loosely on the fact that we were tired of the drab suburbanness of life in England and its accompanying bleak and unpleasant climate. So we had fled to Corfu, hoping that the sunshine of Greece would cure us of the mental and physical inertia which so long a sojourn in England had brought about. Very soon after we had landed, we had acquired our first villa and our first friend on the island.
image:
The friend was Spiro, a waddling, barrel-shaped man with huge powerful hands and a brown, leathery, scowling face. He had perfected an odd but adequate command over English and he possessed an ancient Dodge which he used as a taxi. We soon found that Spiro, like most of the Corfu characters, was unique. There seemed to be no one that he did not know and nothing that he could not obtain or get done for you. Even the most bizarre requests from the family would be met by him with the remark, ‘Don’ts yous worries about thats. I’ll fixes thats.’ And fix it he would.
image:
Surprise...
‘Mornings, Masters Gerrys.
’Thinking, in my innocence, that Spiro would share my enthusiasm for my latest pet, I pushed the jam jar under his nose and urged him to feast his eyes upon it. He took one swift look at the centipede, now going round and round in the bottom of the jar like a clock-work train, dropped the mail on the floor, and retreated hurriedly behind the kitchen table.
‘Gollys, Masters Gerrys,’ he said, ‘what’s you doing with thats?’
I explained it was only a centipede, puzzled at his reaction.
‘Thems bastards are poisonous, Mrs Durrells,’ said Spiro earnestly, to Mother. ‘Honest to Gods Masters Gerrys shouldn’t have things like thats.’
‘Well, perhaps not,’ said Mother vaguely. ‘But he’s so interested in all these things. Take it outside, dear, where Spiro can’t see it.’
'Makes me scarce,’ I heard Spiro say as I left the kitchen with my precious jar. ‘Honest to Gods, Mrs Durrells, makes me scarce what that boy finds.’
Lost in Translation...
Mother’s battle with the Greek language was a losing one. Only the day previously she had spent an exhausting morning preparing a particularly delicious soup for lunch, and having concluded this to her satisfaction, she put it into a soup tureen and handed it to the maid. The maid looked at her inquiringly, whereupon Mother used one of the few Greek words that she had managed to commit to memory. ‘Exo,’ she had said firmly, waving her arms. ‘Exo.’ She then went on with her cooking and turned round just in time to see the maid pouring the last of the soup down the sink. This had, not unnaturally, given her a phobia about her linguistic abilities.
How to raise a family of snails...
‘You mean to say that each snail is both a male and a female?’
‘Yes, indeed,’ said Theodore, adding with masterly understatement, ‘it’s very curious.’
‘Good God,’ cried Larry. ‘I think it’s unfair. All those damned slimy things wandering about seducing each other like mad all over the bushes, and having the pleasures of both sensations. Why couldn’t such a gift be given to the human race? That’s what I want to know.’
‘Aha, yes. But then you would have to lay eggs,’ Theodore pointed out.
‘True,’ said Larry, ‘but what a marvelous way of getting out of cocktail parties – “I’m terribly sorry I can’t come,” you would say. “I’ve got to sit on my eggs.”
’Theodore gave a little snort of laughter.‘But snails don’t sit on their eggs,’ he explained. ‘They bury them in damp earth and leave them.’
‘The ideal way of bringing up a family,’ said Mother, unexpectedly but with immense conviction. ‘I wish I’d been able to bury you all in some damp earth and leave you.’
‘That’s an extremely harsh and ungrateful thing to say,’ said Larry. ‘You’ve probably given Gerry a complex for the rest of his life.’
image:
Stamp collecting is socially acceptable...
Spiro glanced about him to make sure that we weren’t overheard, leaned forward, and whispered, ‘He collects stamps.’
The family looked bewildered.‘
You mean he’s a philatelist?’ said Larry at length.
‘No, no, Master Larrys,’ said Spiro. ‘He’s not one of them. He’s a married man and he’s gots two childrens.’
image:
I was the same as Gerry in this book when I was young. I liked collecting animals and so I read "Birds Beasts, and Relatives" primarily for the Birds and the Beasts. Being much older now I take great delight in observing his truly strange family.
Enjoy!
August 19, 2021
Birds, Beasts and Relatives
(Corfu Trilogy #2)
by Gerald Durrell
This was a collection of memories of the author's life as a boy growing up with his odd British family in Greece. The boy mainly focuses on his love of animals but has other short essays here too. Some are very funny.
(Corfu Trilogy #2)
by Gerald Durrell
This was a collection of memories of the author's life as a boy growing up with his odd British family in Greece. The boy mainly focuses on his love of animals but has other short essays here too. Some are very funny.
March 13, 2013
So when I began listening to this, the second of Gerald Durrell’s Corfu Trilogy,I was thinking this is supposed to be funny, but then I actually caught myself smiling! By the end, when this family had thoroughly taken me in, I was laughing outright. Here, in this book, the naturalist, conservationist and author writes of his youth in Corfu during the thirties. This is a very Victorian, English family, and I don’t usually enjoy the formality and stiffness of Victorian mores. Yet this family is anything but stiff. The author makes insects and spiders and snails and fish, well, exceptionally interesting! His love for all varieties of animals shines through in his writing. These spiders, these insects, and even the ugliest of fish somehow seem marvelous and, yes, downright beautiful. Did you know that a snail is BOTH male and female and mating is quite magical? The male part of each snail shoots out a calcium composed arrow into the female part of the other snail. They are drawn together closer and closer. They tingle …….and the arrows dissolve. That is sex for a snail! Amazing!
Interesting and funny are the words I would use to describe this book. The bizarre antics of this family are amusing, and the dialogs between siblings are real……not sweet talk for a book, but the real thing. Larry, Gerald’s older brother, he does not mince words.
The audiobook is narrated by Nigel Davenport, and he is so British! In a good way. The characters in this book, well they are “characters”; their personalities are adroitly reflected in their respective voices. There is a Swede and visitors from other diverse countries; you’ve quite simply got to hear this. Good lines and good narration!
What a family. Did you know that it is Gerald’s brother, Larry, or Lawrence, who wrote the Alexandria Quartet? I will be reading that soon too. Completely different personalities and completely different writing styles. Tell me; are you similar to your siblings? I am not! So why should they be? It is interesting to look at the family that produced these two authors.
Interesting and funny are the words I would use to describe this book. The bizarre antics of this family are amusing, and the dialogs between siblings are real……not sweet talk for a book, but the real thing. Larry, Gerald’s older brother, he does not mince words.
The audiobook is narrated by Nigel Davenport, and he is so British! In a good way. The characters in this book, well they are “characters”; their personalities are adroitly reflected in their respective voices. There is a Swede and visitors from other diverse countries; you’ve quite simply got to hear this. Good lines and good narration!
What a family. Did you know that it is Gerald’s brother, Larry, or Lawrence, who wrote the Alexandria Quartet? I will be reading that soon too. Completely different personalities and completely different writing styles. Tell me; are you similar to your siblings? I am not! So why should they be? It is interesting to look at the family that produced these two authors.
August 1, 2017
Birds, Beasts and Relatives is the second of three books in Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy. All three books cover the five years that the Durrell family spent on Corfu, an idyll sadly interrupted by World War II. My review of the first book in the series, My Family and Other Animals, pretty much sums up my delight in all three books - although, I must say, the first book was magical. However, I found myself again laughing out loud at so many of the episodes as Gerry's animals and insects take over their house, and at conversations among the family and with their friends - especially Spiro! Gerald Durrell had a wonderful gift for humorous dialogue. Even the preface is funny as his family tries to dissuade him from writing another book about their time on Corfu. (His two brothers and sister didn't care much for his depictions of them to say the least!)
Durrell's descriptions of Corfu, everything from animal and insect life (he was a well-known naturalist and conservationist of endangered species) to descriptions of the island and their friends and neighbors make it easy to see why the Durrell family loved this enchanted island and probably would never have left had not the war started.
Again, I envisioned myself on Corfu, next door to the Durrells in the 1930s - what a lovely daydream. Isn't it amazing the way a book can transport us through time and space to another world.
Durrell's descriptions of Corfu, everything from animal and insect life (he was a well-known naturalist and conservationist of endangered species) to descriptions of the island and their friends and neighbors make it easy to see why the Durrell family loved this enchanted island and probably would never have left had not the war started.
Again, I envisioned myself on Corfu, next door to the Durrells in the 1930s - what a lovely daydream. Isn't it amazing the way a book can transport us through time and space to another world.
April 18, 2023
Piacevole, come ritrovare un vecchio amico.
Questo secondo libro dedicato a Corfù ci ricatapulta nell''isola greca infestata dai Durrell e dai tanti strani visitatori provenienti dall'Inghilterra e dal resto dell''Europa.
Cronologicamente il libro si svolge all'interno della cornice più ampia e approfondita delineata in "La mia famiglia e altri animali", e tendenzialmente presenta degli aneddoti svoltisi in quel periodo e rimasti fuori dal primo libro (anticipati dal simpatico siparietto in cui Gerald rivela di stare pensando alla scrittura di questo libro, proprio mentre la famiglia in Inghilterra si lamenta di quanto raccontato nel primo volume).
Ritroviamo la calma e la serenità contadine di Corfù, la stoica sopportazione della madre di fronte alle assurdità famigliari, gli invitati di Larry, l'onnipresente Spiro, e buona parte dei figuranti già incontrati in passato.
E in più, abbiamo una seduta spiritica, un processo, un capitano ubriaco, un suonatore di fisarmonica, un austriaco mammone, una contessa misteriosa, un rospo canterino, un orso ballerino, dei cuccioli di riccio, un barbagianni ferito, un asinello...
Un'epoca che sembra quasi mitologica e irreale, vista con gli occhi di oggi.
Questo secondo libro dedicato a Corfù ci ricatapulta nell''isola greca infestata dai Durrell e dai tanti strani visitatori provenienti dall'Inghilterra e dal resto dell''Europa.
Cronologicamente il libro si svolge all'interno della cornice più ampia e approfondita delineata in "La mia famiglia e altri animali", e tendenzialmente presenta degli aneddoti svoltisi in quel periodo e rimasti fuori dal primo libro (anticipati dal simpatico siparietto in cui Gerald rivela di stare pensando alla scrittura di questo libro, proprio mentre la famiglia in Inghilterra si lamenta di quanto raccontato nel primo volume).
Ritroviamo la calma e la serenità contadine di Corfù, la stoica sopportazione della madre di fronte alle assurdità famigliari, gli invitati di Larry, l'onnipresente Spiro, e buona parte dei figuranti già incontrati in passato.
E in più, abbiamo una seduta spiritica, un processo, un capitano ubriaco, un suonatore di fisarmonica, un austriaco mammone, una contessa misteriosa, un rospo canterino, un orso ballerino, dei cuccioli di riccio, un barbagianni ferito, un asinello...
Un'epoca che sembra quasi mitologica e irreale, vista con gli occhi di oggi.
January 31, 2018
I loved this - book two kept the magic going. Makes me want to move to Corfu in those simpler times. Gerry is ~10 in this novel and spends all his time as a budding naturalist, exploring the island and brining home crazy pets. The funniest parts were some of his animals escapades - such as when he dissected a dead turtle on the porch, or dragged a bear into the house - both had me cracking up.
But as with the first book, what is magical about this book are just the descriptions of life in Corfu - from the locals, to the zany characters that visit the family, to the simply peaceful descriptions of their life.
"The sea played on the beach as though it were an instrument. I lay and dozed for a time in the warm shallows and then, feeling heavy with sleep, I made my way back into the olive groves. Everyone lay about disjointedly, sleeping round the ruins of our meal. It looked like the aftermath of some terrible battle. I curled up like a dormouse in the protective roots of a great olive and drifted off to sleep myself."
But as with the first book, what is magical about this book are just the descriptions of life in Corfu - from the locals, to the zany characters that visit the family, to the simply peaceful descriptions of their life.
"The sea played on the beach as though it were an instrument. I lay and dozed for a time in the warm shallows and then, feeling heavy with sleep, I made my way back into the olive groves. Everyone lay about disjointedly, sleeping round the ruins of our meal. It looked like the aftermath of some terrible battle. I curled up like a dormouse in the protective roots of a great olive and drifted off to sleep myself."
November 24, 2023
4.25 stars
October 10, 2021
"L'isola degli animali" di Gerald Durrell è interamente ambientato a Corfù, isola nella quale la famiglia Durrell ha vissuto per qualche anno, e la voce narrante è quella dello stesso autore, che, ancora bambino, racconta con estremo candore quello che i suoi occhi hanno visto.
I protagonisti assoluti sono senz'altro gli animali dell'isola, una varietà così numerosa di esemplari di ogni specie, di cui non conoscevo nemmeno l'esistenza!
È evidente l'amore immenso del Gerald-bambino per la natura e tutte le sue meraviglie, dal modo in cui il tutto viene descritto e soprattutto dalle ore che egli ha trascorso ad osservare i vari esemplari, sia nell'ambiente naturale, che in quello da Gerald ricostruito in ogni angolo di casa, per la gioia dei familiari. Ma queste lunghe ore di osservazione, di attesa e di pazienza sono state spesso ripagate da accoppiamenti bizzarri e fenomeni incredibili.
A rendere la narrazione coinvolgente ci sono, poi, le avventure della famiglia, alle prese con i pittoreschi personaggi con i quali è venuta in contatto. Si tratta di personaggi e di avventure di ogni genere, che suscitano ilarità nel lettore.
Tra tutti, ho amato profondamente la signora Durrell e le sue compassate reazioni di fronte alle bizzarrie dei figli e degli ospiti della villa a Corfù.
Recupererò senz'altro il primo volume di questa trilogia, "La mia famiglia e gli altri animali"😂
I protagonisti assoluti sono senz'altro gli animali dell'isola, una varietà così numerosa di esemplari di ogni specie, di cui non conoscevo nemmeno l'esistenza!
È evidente l'amore immenso del Gerald-bambino per la natura e tutte le sue meraviglie, dal modo in cui il tutto viene descritto e soprattutto dalle ore che egli ha trascorso ad osservare i vari esemplari, sia nell'ambiente naturale, che in quello da Gerald ricostruito in ogni angolo di casa, per la gioia dei familiari. Ma queste lunghe ore di osservazione, di attesa e di pazienza sono state spesso ripagate da accoppiamenti bizzarri e fenomeni incredibili.
A rendere la narrazione coinvolgente ci sono, poi, le avventure della famiglia, alle prese con i pittoreschi personaggi con i quali è venuta in contatto. Si tratta di personaggi e di avventure di ogni genere, che suscitano ilarità nel lettore.
Tra tutti, ho amato profondamente la signora Durrell e le sue compassate reazioni di fronte alle bizzarrie dei figli e degli ospiti della villa a Corfù.
Recupererò senz'altro il primo volume di questa trilogia, "La mia famiglia e gli altri animali"😂
April 16, 2020
This was very similar to the 1st one (which I very much enjoyed)... with new stories and shenanigans involving Gerald Durrell's family, friends, and relatives. Just like the first one, I enjoyed most of the nature/ animal writing and observations. However, some of it I didn't really care about. Anything involving his family is absolutely hilarious. His brother Larry and his Mother are the best! I could read a 500 page book of just their conversations! I will be reading the last book in the Trilogy soon!
April 6, 2021
A tremendously entertaining story of a little naturalist in the making, living in Corfu in the 1930's. In days gone by at any rate, although I'm not sure exactly how long ago this was. Observations on natural life, dissection of a giant turtle on the veranda, lots of lovely pets. Hilarious family life, with lots of drinking and swearing, also among children - so definitely not recommended for 'tweens, for which the content would otherwise be perfect. I would have loved to read this when I was ten years old, since so much of the content and curiosity was the same on my part. No drinking and no swearing, little blonde missionary kid that I once was - just the general fascination with the natural world and wanting everything as a pet.
October 27, 2015
This book is beautiful, funny, full of reverence, mischief and curiosity. I can't say I loved it as much as the first book of the Corfu trilogy, but maybe that is only because I am no longer surprised by Durrell's storytelling skills.
Some of my favorite comic scenes: the arrival of Max and Donald and the whole first encounter (brilliant). The story of Sally the donkey. Gerry's meal with Countess Mavrodaki. The London interlude and encounter with Mrs. Haddock.
I also really loved reading about the grape harvest, wine-making, night-fishing; encounters with hedgehogs, seahorses, diving bell spiders, migrating eels, barn owls, scorpion fish, Pavlo the bear, I could go on and on.
But rather than do that, I will post below some passages I thought were particularly striking and that's all for now.
One day we had one of those freak storms when the sky turned blue-black and the lightning fretted a silver filigree across it. And then had come the rain – great, fat, heavy drops, as warm as blood. When the storm had passed, the sky had been washed to the clear blue of a hedge-sparrow’s egg and the damp earth sent out wonderfully rich, almost gastronomic smells as of fruit-cake or plum pudding; and the olive trunks steamed as the rain was dried off them by the sun, each trunk looking as though it were on fire.
Now winter was upon us. Everything was redolent with the smoke of olive-wood fires. The shutters creaked and slapped the sides of the house as the wind caught them, and the birds and leaves were tumbled across a dark lowering sky. The brown mountains of the mainland wore tattered caps of snow and the rain filled the eroded, rocky valleys, turning them into foaming torrents that fled eagerly to the sea carrying mud and debris with them. Once they reached the sea they spread like yellow veins through the blue water, and the surface was dotted with squill bulbs, logs and twisted branches, dead beetles and butterflies, clumps of brown grass and splintered canes. Storms would be brewed in among the whitened spikes of the Albanian mountains and then tumble across to us, great black piles of cumulus, spitting a stinging rain, with sheet lightning blooming and dying like yellow ferns across the sky.
Summer gaped upon the island like the mouth of a great oven. Even in the shade of the olive groves it was not cool and the incessant, penetrating cries of the cicadas seemed to swell and become more insistent with each hot, blue noon. The water in the ponds and ditches shrank and the mud at the edges became jigsawed, cracked and curled by the sun. The sea lay as breathless and still as a bale of silk, the shallow waters too warm to be refreshing. You had to row the boat out into deep water, you and your reflection the only moving things, and dive over the side to get cool. It was like diving into the sky.
It was a bright, clean morning when we set off and it looked as though it were going to be ideal for both sailing and picnicking; but by the time we reached the other side of the island and had unpacked the picnic things, it began to look as though we were in for a sirocco. Theodore and I made our way down through the trees to the edge of the bay. The sea had turned a cold steel-grey and the wind had stretched and starched a number of white clouds across the blue sky. Suddenly, along the rim of the sea, three water-spouts appeared, loping along the horizon like the huge undulating necks of some prehistoric monsters. Bowing and swaying, graceful as swans they danced along the horizon and disappeared.
There was the time when we watched, entranced, two hedgehogs, drunk as lords on the fallen and semi-fermented grapes they had eaten from under the vines, staggering in circles, snapping at each other belligerently, uttering high-pitched screams and hiccups. There was a time we watched a fox cub, red as an autumn leaf, discover his first tortoise among the heather. The tortoise, in the phlegmatic way they have, folded himself up in his shell, tightly closed as a portmanteau. But the fox had seen a movement and, prick-eared, it moved round him cautiously. Then, for it was still only a puppy, it dabbed quickly at the tortoise’s shell with its paw and then jumped away, expecting retaliation. Then it lay down and examined the tortoise for several minutes, its head between its paws. Finally it went forward rather gingerly and after several unsuccessful attempts managed to pick the tortoise up with its jaws, and with head held high, trotted off proudly through the heather. It was on these hills that we watched the baby tortoises hatching out of their papery-shelled eggs, each one looking as wizened and as crinkled as though it were a thousand years old at the moment of birth, and it was here that I witnessed for the first time the mating dance of the snakes.
Some of my favorite comic scenes: the arrival of Max and Donald and the whole first encounter (brilliant). The story of Sally the donkey. Gerry's meal with Countess Mavrodaki. The London interlude and encounter with Mrs. Haddock.
I also really loved reading about the grape harvest, wine-making, night-fishing; encounters with hedgehogs, seahorses, diving bell spiders, migrating eels, barn owls, scorpion fish, Pavlo the bear, I could go on and on.
But rather than do that, I will post below some passages I thought were particularly striking and that's all for now.
One day we had one of those freak storms when the sky turned blue-black and the lightning fretted a silver filigree across it. And then had come the rain – great, fat, heavy drops, as warm as blood. When the storm had passed, the sky had been washed to the clear blue of a hedge-sparrow’s egg and the damp earth sent out wonderfully rich, almost gastronomic smells as of fruit-cake or plum pudding; and the olive trunks steamed as the rain was dried off them by the sun, each trunk looking as though it were on fire.
Now winter was upon us. Everything was redolent with the smoke of olive-wood fires. The shutters creaked and slapped the sides of the house as the wind caught them, and the birds and leaves were tumbled across a dark lowering sky. The brown mountains of the mainland wore tattered caps of snow and the rain filled the eroded, rocky valleys, turning them into foaming torrents that fled eagerly to the sea carrying mud and debris with them. Once they reached the sea they spread like yellow veins through the blue water, and the surface was dotted with squill bulbs, logs and twisted branches, dead beetles and butterflies, clumps of brown grass and splintered canes. Storms would be brewed in among the whitened spikes of the Albanian mountains and then tumble across to us, great black piles of cumulus, spitting a stinging rain, with sheet lightning blooming and dying like yellow ferns across the sky.
Summer gaped upon the island like the mouth of a great oven. Even in the shade of the olive groves it was not cool and the incessant, penetrating cries of the cicadas seemed to swell and become more insistent with each hot, blue noon. The water in the ponds and ditches shrank and the mud at the edges became jigsawed, cracked and curled by the sun. The sea lay as breathless and still as a bale of silk, the shallow waters too warm to be refreshing. You had to row the boat out into deep water, you and your reflection the only moving things, and dive over the side to get cool. It was like diving into the sky.
It was a bright, clean morning when we set off and it looked as though it were going to be ideal for both sailing and picnicking; but by the time we reached the other side of the island and had unpacked the picnic things, it began to look as though we were in for a sirocco. Theodore and I made our way down through the trees to the edge of the bay. The sea had turned a cold steel-grey and the wind had stretched and starched a number of white clouds across the blue sky. Suddenly, along the rim of the sea, three water-spouts appeared, loping along the horizon like the huge undulating necks of some prehistoric monsters. Bowing and swaying, graceful as swans they danced along the horizon and disappeared.
There was the time when we watched, entranced, two hedgehogs, drunk as lords on the fallen and semi-fermented grapes they had eaten from under the vines, staggering in circles, snapping at each other belligerently, uttering high-pitched screams and hiccups. There was a time we watched a fox cub, red as an autumn leaf, discover his first tortoise among the heather. The tortoise, in the phlegmatic way they have, folded himself up in his shell, tightly closed as a portmanteau. But the fox had seen a movement and, prick-eared, it moved round him cautiously. Then, for it was still only a puppy, it dabbed quickly at the tortoise’s shell with its paw and then jumped away, expecting retaliation. Then it lay down and examined the tortoise for several minutes, its head between its paws. Finally it went forward rather gingerly and after several unsuccessful attempts managed to pick the tortoise up with its jaws, and with head held high, trotted off proudly through the heather. It was on these hills that we watched the baby tortoises hatching out of their papery-shelled eggs, each one looking as wizened and as crinkled as though it were a thousand years old at the moment of birth, and it was here that I witnessed for the first time the mating dance of the snakes.
November 16, 2012
This was my personal favourite of Gerald Durrell's works that I read as a child. It is as wittily dry as My Family and Other Animals and the prose is also as rich and lush.
Where Durrell excels, and what I remember him for, is in how he creates an entire book consisting of fragments of short stories. It really reads as an entire story chronicling his life, though many details are no doubt highly exaggerated. If you are a fan of humour, autobiographies, short stories and full novels then this is the book for you. It is a classic in my mind, a book that like the first, everyone should read.
Gerald Durrell in this book continues where he left off with his first (um, novel?) volume. The opening story, which follows a kind of foreword depicting Durrell's decision to write a sequel, is brilliantly humorous and serves to draw you into the rest of the novel. This story as I recall is about Durrell's sister attempting to lose weight medically and ending up getting involved in seances. Which all ends up brilliantly chaotic.
Since this is a book that is autobiographical in nature it tends to jump from story to story with connecting threads between them. It's really a journal that follows the life of one young naturalist as he discovers the creatures around him (including the ones he lives with and the strange friends of his siblings).
Sadly this book is currently out of print and I no longer own a copy. But no doubt there are copies floating around available for people to get their hands on. And if you do get your hands on these books they are worth it, so very worth it. The writing remains with me and the character depictions remain with me to this day. This is a book about the ordinariness and the extraordinariness of life, the adventures we go on and the characters we meet. It is one of the best autobiographical type books I have ever read and I give it the highest recommendation.
October 30, 2015
I love Durrell. Can I please move to Corfu?
June 7, 2020
Un soplo de aire fresco, para mi, entre tanta lectura de novela negra. Sigue la divertida narración de los líos de una familia muy particular en un ambiente totalmente distinto a su Inglaterra natal. Risas aseguradas. Muy tierno.
June 10, 2017
This memoir is totally addicting and I loved being back with the eccentric Durrell family. No matter how ridiculous things managed to get for them and the real characters that they meet you can't help but smile. Overall, I don't think I fell in love with book two to the same degree as I did for the first in the trilogy, but it was still wonderful. I need to try book three, The Garden of the Gods soon.
September 7, 2017
Secondo libro della trilogia di Corfù. Altre divertentissime avventure di Gerald "Gerry" Durrell durante il suo soggiorno nell'isola greca. Durrell è sempre Durrell, scrittura semplice, ironico nel modo di descrivere la sua famiglia e tutti i personaggi che ci girano intorno. Per me va sempre bene come lettura quando si vuole qualcosa di divertente, quando non si ha moltissimo tempo per concentrarsi e sopratutto si vuole un libro da portare in viaggio.
November 16, 2021
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
I cannot express my enjoyment of this book better than Kevin Ansboro
It was a different world.
I cannot express my enjoyment of this book better than Kevin Ansboro
It was a different world.
July 12, 2014
This is the second book of the "Corfu trilogy" which I am loving even more.
Its sequel is The Garden of the Gods.
Its sequel is The Garden of the Gods.
August 18, 2022
The second book in the series is just as enchanting and witty as the first book. Gerald Durrell's curiosity shines through and allows the story to flow ever-so-gently - like the moonlit gentle waves of the Ionian sea. I can honestly not get enough of the author's beautiful writing which places the reader in the magical Ionian island of Corfu in the 30s when life was untainted by the atrocities of the second world war. The descriptions reveal the author's love for Corfu and I could feel this through his eloquent descriptions: how this time had transformed his young life and enabled him to really find out what was important to him. Nature was always his love but the interesting animal life on the island fascinated him so much that he evolved into the remarkable naturalist that he was destined to become. Even the most squirmy readers like myself would find his observations on many creatures fascinating. I actually read pages pertaining to the behaviour of insects (of all things) with wide-eyed intrigue and surprising enjoyment.
Aside from the nature lessons, the book is, once again, peppered with good humour, family dynamics and antics, and such diverse and eclectic characters that I found myself wishing to be part of it all. I was so delighted to be in the company of the Durrells: to be transported to the shade of the olive groves, to feel the eeriness from the imposing cypress trees, to be a guest at the dinner table and to listen to the rambunctious laughter from the family and their many guests, and to also be privy to their conversations which always entailed clever wit, refined sarcasm, and of course, to enjoy Louisa's delectable and exotic cooking.
I was also overjoyed that the characters from the first book such as Spiro, who seems to have super powers as no task is too great or weird for him, were once again joining the family. Theodore also graces the pages again with his intellect and charm, and with his shared curiosity for nature. It was so interesting to compare a young boy's reactions regarding the creatures they studied on their many expeditions, compared to an adult's reactions - it revealed that continuous learning and being intrigued by the wonders of nature has no number - it keeps us all young and innocent. The characters of this book ranged from the intellectual, to the downright vulgar but it was always done in a light-hearted and entertaining way. Gerald Durrell's lovely prose always ensured that the island's beauty and its other inhabitants that lived in the ocean and on land were always invited (literally and figuratively) to their many soirees, and family moments they all shared - or rather were forced to share.
I am so sad to part with the characters but so glad there is another book where I can share the magic of Corfu with this wonderful family and their many interesting guests - however, they can keep the crass and mostly drunk Captain Creech. This was such a delightful and a most enjoyable reading experience!
Aside from the nature lessons, the book is, once again, peppered with good humour, family dynamics and antics, and such diverse and eclectic characters that I found myself wishing to be part of it all. I was so delighted to be in the company of the Durrells: to be transported to the shade of the olive groves, to feel the eeriness from the imposing cypress trees, to be a guest at the dinner table and to listen to the rambunctious laughter from the family and their many guests, and to also be privy to their conversations which always entailed clever wit, refined sarcasm, and of course, to enjoy Louisa's delectable and exotic cooking.
I was also overjoyed that the characters from the first book such as Spiro, who seems to have super powers as no task is too great or weird for him, were once again joining the family. Theodore also graces the pages again with his intellect and charm, and with his shared curiosity for nature. It was so interesting to compare a young boy's reactions regarding the creatures they studied on their many expeditions, compared to an adult's reactions - it revealed that continuous learning and being intrigued by the wonders of nature has no number - it keeps us all young and innocent. The characters of this book ranged from the intellectual, to the downright vulgar but it was always done in a light-hearted and entertaining way. Gerald Durrell's lovely prose always ensured that the island's beauty and its other inhabitants that lived in the ocean and on land were always invited (literally and figuratively) to their many soirees, and family moments they all shared - or rather were forced to share.
I am so sad to part with the characters but so glad there is another book where I can share the magic of Corfu with this wonderful family and their many interesting guests - however, they can keep the crass and mostly drunk Captain Creech. This was such a delightful and a most enjoyable reading experience!
December 21, 2009
This is the second in a trilogy of books about his childhood on Corfu that Gerald Durrell wrote in part to subsidize his collecting habit. Durrell, the brother of Lawrence Durrell, was an author, naturalist, and conservationist. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo.
I was first introduced to him by my Seattle grandparents, Wayne and Lorene, who I remember sitting up in their big king-sized bed with me, all of us reading Gerald Durrell books and laughing and stopping to read bits aloud to each other. That's a really great memory.
These books gave me my long-time not-so-secret desire to run away to live on Corfu. Maybe some day I'll get to do that.
Durrell writes wonderfully about animals and about his hilarious family and their friends. These books will make you laugh out loud and will teach all kinds of things you didn't know about all kinds of animals. I turned my son on to these books when he was 10 and recommend them often.
I was first introduced to him by my Seattle grandparents, Wayne and Lorene, who I remember sitting up in their big king-sized bed with me, all of us reading Gerald Durrell books and laughing and stopping to read bits aloud to each other. That's a really great memory.
These books gave me my long-time not-so-secret desire to run away to live on Corfu. Maybe some day I'll get to do that.
Durrell writes wonderfully about animals and about his hilarious family and their friends. These books will make you laugh out loud and will teach all kinds of things you didn't know about all kinds of animals. I turned my son on to these books when he was 10 and recommend them often.
March 24, 2020
entertaining anecdotes of an English boy growing up with his family in corfu , his descriptions of becoming a "natural historian" and the human parade of characters visiting their villa are quaint, profound, and beautifully written
authors brother is Lawrence Durrell
authors brother is Lawrence Durrell
November 18, 2017
Another memoir about naturalist Gerald Durrell's childhood spent on the Greek island of Corfu before World War II. This memoir is written so that those who haven't read the first volume can read this without a problem. Gerry is less specific with his time frame here. He relates an anecdote about his birthday BEFORE he met Theo, before he had a boat. Here we find out how Gerry met Theo and all the animals they collect. Gerry is really too much! I don't know how his mother could stand having all those creatures around. As in the first book, he annoys his siblings with his collection. The animals I liked the best were the hedgehogs. I also loved Sally the donkey but felt sorry for her. I didn't care for the lengthy observation of the dung beetles near the beginning or the mating habits of snails and snakes. I did love the "episode" with the bear and the Durrells reaction. It was priceless!
Larry's friends pop in and out for visits, including Sven, a large accordion-playing Swede who stays briefly and returns to his lover in Athens! Spoiler for the TV series season 1 Also briefly appearing are Larry's friends Max and Donald. This is the funniest "episode" in the book. Max makes me laugh with his devotion to "Muzzer." There's also Captain Creech. If you've seen the TV series-he's even WORSE in the book! Completely inappropriate and disgusting and yet one of the funniest sections of the book.
The other "episode" I found amusing and engrossing is Margo's visit to London and her involvement in the spiritualist community. There is some racism here but it's not the worst that comes out of this time period. Margo's spirit guide is so funny!
This book could have used a bit more editing. Here Gerry's mother is called Louise where she is really Louisa and the maid here is Lucretia and not Lugaretzia, the way she is in the first book. Also Margo is referred to as Margaret a lot and I got confused.
This book wasn't quite as good as the first one but I plan to read the third one and a book of Gerry's stories. I think his fiction writing skills are better than his nature writing!
Larry's friends pop in and out for visits, including Sven, a large accordion-playing Swede who stays briefly and returns to his lover in Athens! Spoiler for the TV series season 1 Also briefly appearing are Larry's friends Max and Donald. This is the funniest "episode" in the book. Max makes me laugh with his devotion to "Muzzer." There's also Captain Creech. If you've seen the TV series-he's even WORSE in the book! Completely inappropriate and disgusting and yet one of the funniest sections of the book.
The other "episode" I found amusing and engrossing is Margo's visit to London and her involvement in the spiritualist community. There is some racism here but it's not the worst that comes out of this time period. Margo's spirit guide is so funny!
This book could have used a bit more editing. Here Gerry's mother is called Louise where she is really Louisa and the maid here is Lucretia and not Lugaretzia, the way she is in the first book. Also Margo is referred to as Margaret a lot and I got confused.
This book wasn't quite as good as the first one but I plan to read the third one and a book of Gerry's stories. I think his fiction writing skills are better than his nature writing!
April 25, 2011
Having read the first installment "My Family and other Animals" quite recently I was looking forward to reading more about the young Durrell and his hilariously eccentric family. Continuing the story of Gerry Durrells life on the island of Corfu` As with the first memoir Gerald Durrell demonstrates how his fascination - verging on obsession with all creatures began, and how it really is no surprise that he became the man that he did. His enthusiasm for even the most unappealing creatures is quite infectious. In this book we meet again the marvelous Spiro, a whole host of entertaining creatures including Sally the donkey, some tragic baby hedgehogs and a barn owl. We also meet Larry's friends Max and Donald a reclusive countess and the highly amusing but slightly repulsive Captain Creech. I must say I did frequently find myself laughing out loud at some of the antics of Gerry, his pets and various members of his highly entertaining family. These memoirs do make a childhood in the days before WW2 on the island of Corfu appear totally idyllic. I do have the third volume of this memoir, and I suspect it will not be all that long before I read that too. Admittedly this isn't quite as sparklingly wonderful as "My family and other Animals" but it is still fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable.
April 25, 2020
Kto pamięta zaskakującą rodzinkę ekscentryków, która swojego czasu narobiła sporego zamieszania na greckiej wyspie Korfu? Durrellowie powracają w klasycznych już, bestsellerowych autobiograficznych opowieściach pióra Geralda Durrella, czyli "Moja rodzina i inne zwierzęta" oraz "Moje ptaki, zwierzaki i krewni", które rozpoczynają Trylogię z Korfu.
Ich dziwaczne, zaskakujące losy tym razem poznajemy dzięki najmłodszemu członkowi rodu, czyli Geraldowi. Ach, ci Durrellowie! Te beztroskie lekkoduchy, ekscentryczna rodzinka marzycieli, błękitnych ptaków, lekko oderwanych od prawdziwego szarego życia i rzeczywistości zwykłych śmiertelników. Po lekturze "Mojej rodziny i innych zwierząt" oraz "Moich ptaków, zwierzaków i i krewnych" nic się nie zmieniło! Barwni, niemal przerysowani stanowią niemal szablonowy obraz rozpieszczonych Brytyjczyków z wyższych sfer, którzy swoje długie wolne godziny spędzają na beztrosce i nicnierobieniu. Na Korfu przeżywają najpiękniejszy czas swojego życia pełen przezabawnych perypetii, intrygujących spotkań, wypełniony lekturami, spacerami i bacznemu obserwowaniu przyrody. To właśnie przyrodzie i zwierzętom w szczególności Gerald Durrell poświęca wiele stron swoich opowieści, bo to na Korfu złapał właśnie przyrodniczego bakcyla i zrozumiał, czym chciałby zająć się w swoim dorosłym życiu.
Ale Trylogia z Korfu to także pocztówka ze świata, który przeminął i zniknął niemal całkowicie wraz z końcem II Wojny Światowej. Między kartami można poczuć można ducha nostalgii, tej snującej się między słowami melancholii. Gerald Durrell spisuje swoje dziecięcej wspomnienia z perspektywy czasu, już po wojnie, która ten ich bezpieczny, baśniowy świat obróciła w pył. Powraca na Korfu, by pokazać ten niewyobrażalny już rodzinny azyl, pełen radości, śmiechu i spontanicznych wybryków. W tamtych latach, młodym Durrellom wydaje się, że wszystko jest możliwe, że świat jest otwarty i beztroski, tak jak otwarci i beztroscy są oni sami. Czytelnik trochę im zazdrości, ale przede wszystkim zaraża się ich entuzjazmem, przepada w tych wspomnieniach wiecznych wakacji, wakacji, które trwały przecież kilka tak szczęśliwych lat.
Kto chciałby na moment zniknąć, przenieść się w lepszy, piękniejszy czas sprzed katastrofy, to niech pozwoli się porwać Geraldowi Durrellowi i jego rodzinie. Przy lekturze "Mojej rodziny i innych zwierząt" i "Moich ptaków, zwierzaków i krewnych" spędzi piękny czas, radosny czas i na chwilę zapomni o wszelkich smutkach.
Ich dziwaczne, zaskakujące losy tym razem poznajemy dzięki najmłodszemu członkowi rodu, czyli Geraldowi. Ach, ci Durrellowie! Te beztroskie lekkoduchy, ekscentryczna rodzinka marzycieli, błękitnych ptaków, lekko oderwanych od prawdziwego szarego życia i rzeczywistości zwykłych śmiertelników. Po lekturze "Mojej rodziny i innych zwierząt" oraz "Moich ptaków, zwierzaków i i krewnych" nic się nie zmieniło! Barwni, niemal przerysowani stanowią niemal szablonowy obraz rozpieszczonych Brytyjczyków z wyższych sfer, którzy swoje długie wolne godziny spędzają na beztrosce i nicnierobieniu. Na Korfu przeżywają najpiękniejszy czas swojego życia pełen przezabawnych perypetii, intrygujących spotkań, wypełniony lekturami, spacerami i bacznemu obserwowaniu przyrody. To właśnie przyrodzie i zwierzętom w szczególności Gerald Durrell poświęca wiele stron swoich opowieści, bo to na Korfu złapał właśnie przyrodniczego bakcyla i zrozumiał, czym chciałby zająć się w swoim dorosłym życiu.
Ale Trylogia z Korfu to także pocztówka ze świata, który przeminął i zniknął niemal całkowicie wraz z końcem II Wojny Światowej. Między kartami można poczuć można ducha nostalgii, tej snującej się między słowami melancholii. Gerald Durrell spisuje swoje dziecięcej wspomnienia z perspektywy czasu, już po wojnie, która ten ich bezpieczny, baśniowy świat obróciła w pył. Powraca na Korfu, by pokazać ten niewyobrażalny już rodzinny azyl, pełen radości, śmiechu i spontanicznych wybryków. W tamtych latach, młodym Durrellom wydaje się, że wszystko jest możliwe, że świat jest otwarty i beztroski, tak jak otwarci i beztroscy są oni sami. Czytelnik trochę im zazdrości, ale przede wszystkim zaraża się ich entuzjazmem, przepada w tych wspomnieniach wiecznych wakacji, wakacji, które trwały przecież kilka tak szczęśliwych lat.
Kto chciałby na moment zniknąć, przenieść się w lepszy, piękniejszy czas sprzed katastrofy, to niech pozwoli się porwać Geraldowi Durrellowi i jego rodzinie. Przy lekturze "Mojej rodziny i innych zwierząt" i "Moich ptaków, zwierzaków i krewnych" spędzi piękny czas, radosny czas i na chwilę zapomni o wszelkich smutkach.
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