My Family and Other Animals

By Gerald Durrell

RM 29.95 @ Popular Bookstore

Brief Overview: Gerald and his family move from England to the island of Corfu, Greece, and the story evolves around, obviously, his family members and the animals that he finds on the island (by the way, he is a HUGE animal lover!) The flowers, trees and animals are described not only with plenty of detail but also you can feel that he really loves nature… I mean he can just spend the whole day just looking at tortoises! It’s just a pity that most of the plant and animals species aren’t inhabitants of the Malaysian tropical rainforest, which pretty much holds back your imagination by a notch… (Unless you look it up on the Net or something!)

What I like about the book: It’s really very funny, and I mean the laugh out loud kind of funny… Durrell really knows how to play with words, and just imagining the crazy antics of his family and the animals will really make you wonder—how different are we from animals? (Note the book title) I was reading this at the hairdressers’ and I reckon the customer next in line thought I was going cuckoo with me practically guffawing almost every 2 minutes!

Who should read the book: Not recommended for those who like fast-paced, mind-boggling and mystery-solving plots… This book has no actual “storyline” and it’s more like a “diary” in which Durrell indulges his thoughts and daily encounters. This book really is a combination of literature, documentary (you’ll know why you need to put a scorpion into a tin full of oil!) and adventure… It is definitely a breath of fresh air from all those page-turning thrillers that exudes more style than substance.

Read other reviews here & here.