Encounters with Animals(Gerald Durrell, 1958)
4 Stars
Growing up, I longed to be a zoo keeper. My love of animals spurned on by the televisual exploits of heroes of the day Michaela Strachan, Chris Packham, and of course the one and only Sir David Attenborough.
The one naturalist who stood shoulders above every other, however, was the world-renowned collector and founder of Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, Gerald Durrell. Since reading his seminal work My Family and Other Animals at a very tender and impressionable age, I fell utterly in love with Durrell and his adventures across the globe in search of some of nature’s most curious creatures.
Of course, I grew up, and alas the trials of real life put something of a dampener on my dreams of becoming a saviour to the natural world. My passion for wildlife, however, as perhaps proven by recurring “Japanese Wildlife” feature, has waned very little, and this part week I found comfort once again in the memoirs of my childhood hero.
Encounters with Animals is a collection of articles and speeches from Durrell’s days as a broadcaster, recalling with a loving humour some of his more bizarre creature-catching tales. Some of them are familiar, told previously in other works, whilst others are told here for the first time, though each and every one abounds with life and wonder that only Durrell can recreate.
Fifty years after its publication, and indeed fifteen years since Durrell’s passing, his books are still more than relevant, bringing joy and wonder in every page, and reminder the reader just how delicate and marvellous the world around us can be.
Growing up, I longed to be a zoo keeper. My love of animals spurned on by the televisual exploits of heroes of the day Michaela Strachan, Chris Packham, and of course the one and only Sir David Attenborough.
The one naturalist who stood shoulders above every other, however, was the world-renowned collector and founder of Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, Gerald Durrell. Since reading his seminal work My Family and Other Animals at a very tender and impressionable age, I fell utterly in love with Durrell and his adventures across the globe in search of some of nature’s most curious creatures.
Of course, I grew up, and alas the trials of real life put something of a dampener on my dreams of becoming a saviour to the natural world. My passion for wildlife, however, as perhaps proven by recurring “Japanese Wildlife” feature, has waned very little, and this part week I found comfort once again in the memoirs of my childhood hero.
Encounters with Animals is a collection of articles and speeches from Durrell’s days as a broadcaster, recalling with a loving humour some of his more bizarre creature-catching tales. Some of them are familiar, told previously in other works, whilst others are told here for the first time, though each and every one abounds with life and wonder that only Durrell can recreate.
Fifty years after its publication, and indeed fifteen years since Durrell’s passing, his books are still more than relevant, bringing joy and wonder in every page, and reminder the reader just how delicate and marvellous the world around us can be.
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