Marvelous Book for Animal Lovers

The life of a country Veterinarian may sound quite unexciting, and rather boring. However, it is anything but, and that is proven by the tales that James Herriot (aka James Wight) tells about his time working in a small Yorkshire Village as just that. Straight out of University, James is given a position as assistant to resident Veterinarian Siegfried Farnon - a quirky fellow with very short-term memory. Through tales of strange animals and even stranger people he has met up with, Dr. Herriot weaves together a marvelous story that will make you laugh, cry, and so much more. A lovely book for animal lovers.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

An adoring story to read!

All Creatures Great and Small is a heartfelt story about James Herriot, a local English veterinarian, and his adventures of being a vet.

Herriot begins his novel by talking about himself and what he does as a vet, "If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will never grow rich but you will have a life of endless interest and variety." He says. He uses flashbacks from college to relate to his work, "The old chap certainly wasn't kidding. Variety. That it was- variety." Herriot says, referring to his college professor. Herriot also describes his "love of life" in the nonfiction novel. James Herriot shares stories about his friends' pet pig or a dog he is caring for, during the period of time he needs for surgeries. He also comes across small problems, such as, cows with milk fever and a horse having difficulty getting up off the ground.

When I first began reading All Creatures Great and Small, I didn't know if I would finish the novel because of the amount of pages and chapters, but as I reached Chapter five, I was hooked because of his enchanting and joyful tone.

Don't let the number of pages fool you; if you love animals or are interested in becoming a veterinarian, this is such a great and loving novel to read.

A master storyteller with the perfect subject

Well, books of short stories just don't get much better than this, do they?

For me, Herriot is the only author in the world who can pull off heartwarming without being cloying. His amazing feel for the lives and dialogue of the Scottish farmers who he services gives each and every story a score of interesting details and conversation that is captivating for its novelty and authenticity.

In this first book of the series, Herriot has more to say than at any other point in his career. Not that his brand of storytelling ever gets old, but here there is the added excitement of reading his first stories, for the first time.

Another major draw for these stories is the look inside the nuts and bolts of veterinary practice, at a time when science was still struggling to overtake centuries of medieval techniques. Reading about sutures and powders and presentations is more fascinating than I ever would have thought possible.

The character of Herriot himself is unflaggingly goodhearted, and yet utterly realistic; we see in him the best part of ourselves, and this too makes the stories a joy to read.

I highly recommend reading this series chronologically, so that you can join Herriot as he moves from young apprentice to old master.

I wish there were a hundred books in this series, but at the same time I'm thrilled that there's even one book out there that acts as such a standard-bearer for excellence in storytelling.