Birds, Beasts, and Relatives - Softcover

Durrell, Gerald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142004405 ISBN 13: 9780142004401

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2004

Synopsis

Volume two in The Corfu Trilogy, now the inspiration for The Durrells in Corfu on PBS Masterpiece

Part coming-of-age autobiography and part nature guide, Gerald Durrell's dazzling sequel to My Family and Other Animals is based on his boyhood on Corfu, from 1933 to 1939. Originally published in 1969 but long out of print, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives is filled with charming observations, amusing anecdotes, boyhood memories, and childlike wonder.

About this title

Review:

A delightful book full of simple, well-known things: cicadas in the olive groves, lamp fishing at night, the complexities of fish and animals?but, above all, childhood molded by these things and intimately recalled in middle age. ("The New York Times Book Review")

Synopsis:

The Durrell family returns to live on the island of Corfu, and they continue the story begun in My Family and Other Animals. Already an ardent naturalist at the age of ten, the young Gerald lives in an unconventional and disordered household with his mother, sister and two brothers. Convivial and open, the family plays host to a constant stream of quirky guests. But for Gerald, the main attraction is the wildlife of Corfu. In the sun-lit olive groves or along the dusty roads lined with ancient cypresses, he spends hours observing and marvelling at the natural environment around him, watching busy lines of ants or peering down the burrows of trap-door spiders. He describes the midnight fishing trips, the collecting expeditions and the island's natural beauty with a child-like wonder that he never fails to impart to his reader.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0142004405
• ISBN 13: 9780142004401
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248