We have voted for good reads of many varieties! Our autobiographical
March book, My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell, is
delightful, laugh-out-loud funny, and well-written! The author was especially good at description.
Since this was his first book, his later books definitely have promise. At
one point in the discussion, Marcia mentioned how funny she found the book, and
many of us laughed out loud just remembering some of the funny situations that
arose in the book! Every chapter described a different adventure, many of them
ending with the acquisition, usually by the author, of some kind of animal. The
animals joined the family household, which already included 1 human mother, her
4 children of ages ranging from elementary school age into adulthood, and 1
child’s spouse, who was not actually mentioned in the book. Thus, the book’s
title fits well.
Dennis led us through discussion questions. Since this book
was not only about childhood and nature and watching animals but also took
place during the years when most of us were children, we tended to diverge and
talk about some of our childhood experiences with the great outdoors and
nature. Rather than write about our personal histories, I’ll just say here that
you had to be there to enjoy these parts of the discussion! Highly shareable
and of particular interest was Lydia’s comment that Gerald Durrell was very
famous in England where she grew up, and this book was required reading in
school for Lydia. She also said the author had his own zoo and a long-running weekly
TV program from the zoo.
Question #1 asked who among us has been to Greece. Cindy T. went
to Santorini with her husband, who speaks the Greek language. They are watching
the serialized TV show on Amazon that is based on the characters from My
Family & Other Animals.
Question #3 asked how long any of us have spent time
watching animals. Dennis has a PhD in Ethology (the study of animal behavior),
so he is an expert! Marcia thought of how she enjoys people-watching – we are
all animals! I mentioned that I was a tour guide at the Bronx Zoo when I was in
college. Much of the time, I was stationed at one of several animal exhibits,
and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the animals during those hours. Joanne shared
a photo taken at night by an automated camera placed near a tree, to aid a PhD project
on coyotes. Among 380 random photos, the camera recorded 1 photo of a coyote. Further
discussion included wild animal sightings in Round Rock including vultures, birds
of prey, a bobcat, tortoises, and small birds.
Question #8 asked who was our favorite among the siblings in
the book, and why. This was our chance to gossip about these characters we had
just spent hours “with!” Margo: Because she was very dramatic and funny, she was
Carla’s favorite. Ken noted that Margo got romantically involved with one of
Gerry’s teachers, so the teacher was fired. Larry: He was Cindy’s favorite,
because he was witty and cynical. Joanne chimed in that Larry had “an edge.” Carla
did not feel that Larry was likeable. Dennis noted that Larry had a lot of
interesting friends. Ken found Larry to be entertaining. Theodore: Ken liked
the way he worked with Gerry and treated him like a colleague. Joanne thought Theodore
was a bit of a mystery. I always paid extra attention to Theodore’s parts in
the story; I found him interesting. Lugaretzia: Shirley chose her as her
favorite. She was what anyone in the family probably called “a character.” Last
but not least, Roger the dog was mentioned: Ken surprised us by bringing Roger
into the discussion as his favorite character. There was a general mumbling of
appreciation for Roger and for Ken’s idea of including him as a character.
Dennis said that Roger enjoyed life. Carla said he was a member of the family.
Gerry: He wrote the book, so his better aspects shone forth throughout, and
readers generally liked him. Dennis particularly related to him, having spent
some boyhood years exploring in the woods with his dog, as did Gerry.
Dennis gave us a list of more books written by members of
the Durrell family. The author of the book opened his own zoo as an adult;
although he is gone, the Zoo lives on: Learn more about Durrell’s Wildlife Conservation
Trust: https://www.durrell.org/wildlife/
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