My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

I’ve read and re-read this book many times since first coming across it as a child. But it’s been a long time since the last read possibly thirty years, so it was time to have another look at an old friend. The story of this madcap family moving to Corfu and their exploits over the five years they were there still made me laugh. What an eccentric lot they were. The animals Gerry acquires and the people they befriend retain their original charm even all these years later. But the Corfu they lived on no longer exists and that made me a little sad. You read Gerry’s descriptions and know that the places he is describing are covered by acres of concrete holiday developments and resorts. The people are no longer open and welcoming and friendly but used to mass tourism and have developed a keen commercial eye. I was interested in my response to the way the book was written after all this time. I realized that it really was just a collection of episodes strung together on a timeline. The characters are amusing stereotypes. And the writing is florid. The young Gerald Durrell had a passionate love affair with adjectives. Still, this is a wonderful book as much because of the authenticity of its feeling and experience as anything. It is laugh aloud material and was a great way to begin my holiday reading.