Apr 01, 2016 10:41 PM
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It is rare to find an author who can subtly bridge from one subject to another, I .e. from veterinarian stories to human, without the audience realizing it.
Whether or not Herriot, himself, realized he was doing so-at the time-is known to no one but he, and yet it matters not.
As a young teenager, I was as uninterested in vets or farms as one can be. Reading this series not only opened my eyes to the many ailments the farming community dealt with, but also it gave an inroad to the lives of everyday folks in that time-period. Pre-WW2 England was something we were studying, and our teacher causally mentioned this book as a way of making the text lesson "more real" to us, even in a far more modern era. He was right, and it did. The farmers, the merchant, the townspeople, the many, many odd and wonderful characters that intersperse the cow dung, birthing and field operations and illnesses would make almost any read want to known more about commercial veterinary practices.
I most liked that the luxurious side of veterinarian work-barring one, notable exception-is absent from this collection of stories. Most of what Herriot dealt with was keeping the livelihood of family farms-and the masses they fed-intact and healthy. There is a real care for the animals' quality of life, not only from the vets but from their owners and-almost vicariously-there is concern for themselves and their loved ones. Alcohol is mentioned a good deal, but imbibing is frowned upon and when done leads to a fitting, ridiculous conclusion.
As with Durrell's series on his family, human folly is inserted in Herriot's pages where possible, causing uproarious laughter. It may seem strange to have so many amusing characters in one township, but I have witnessed such congregations before and have based many a book character on similar scenes. This book is perfect reading during a spring storm, a summer's day, a fall afternoon or a winter's night, and is as educational as it is hilarious.
