Product Description

These are the stories that catapulted James Herriot to literary fame. When this book was first published, it was merely a simple volume of memoirs by an unknown Scottish veterinarian. But within a year, the book became recognized as a masterpiece. And in the three decades that followed, Dr. Herriot became one of the most universally loved authors of our time.In this first volume of memoirs, then-newly-qualified vet James Herriot arrives in the small Yorkshire village of Darrowby and he has no idea what to expect. How will he get on with his new boss? With the local farmers? And what will the animals think? This program is filled with hilarious and touching tales of the unpredictable Siegfried Farnon, Siegfrieds zany brother, Tristan, and Herriots first encounters with a beautiful girl called Helen.Now as then, All Creatures Great and Small is full of humor, warmth, pathos, drama, and James Herriots love of life. His journeys across the Yorkshire dales, and his encounters with humans and dogs, cows, and kittens, are lovingly told by Christopher Timothy with all the fascination, affection, and joy that suffuses Dr. Herriots works.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #146160 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-13
• Formats: Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 12
• Binding: Audio CD

Review
"If there is any justice, All Creatures Great and Small will become a classic of its kind...With seemingly effortless art, this man tells his stories with perfect timing and optimum scale. Many more famous authors could work for a lifetime and not achieve more flawless literary control."--Alfred C. Ames, Chicago Tribune
-- Review

Review

From the Publisher
Here is the heartwarming true story of Dr. James Herriot, a country veterinarian whose unique courage, warmth, and natural storytelling ability have captured the heart of American in a very special way!

"A classic of its kind...'miraculous' is not too strong a word!" -- Chicago Times Book World

."Warm, joyous, often hilarious... shines with love of life." -- The New York Times Book Review.

Customer Reviews

Great and not-so-small
James Herriot was a country veterinarion who lived in Yorkshire before (and after) World War II. His stories are funny, heartwarming, sad, and highly educational. And after reading this, you will either want to be a vet or be very grateful that you aren't one.

The book opens (after a brief chapter taking place several months later) with James arriving in Yorkshire, to be the assistant to the eccentric but kindly Siegfried Farnon (yes, that is his name). He becomes accustomed to Siegfried, Siegfried's mischievous younger brother Tristan (yes, that is his name), and the gruff, kindly farmers who eke out a living in the Yorkshire Dales. Pampered pooches who are spoiled rotten, savage pigs who chase Tristan around the farm, a nightmarishly strict secretary who drives Siegfried up the wall, James's car-with-no-brakes, cows running on three cylinders, a sadistic vet who makes James wear a rubber bodysuit, and an elderly, immensely wealthy widow who adopts a pig. And through this, James falls in love with the beautiful Helen Alderson and worms his way into the trust of the farmers.

James Herriot (real name, James Wight) was truly a one-of-a-kind man. He let readers into his head throughout the book, where the cows kick him across the yard, farmers often treat him as an interloper or a nuisance, and his boss gives contradicting orders from one day to the next. But he never loses his drive or his love of animals. (Okay, he hates some animals, but only as individuals) He even lets the readers see him at his worst, when he's humiliated by some recalcitrant livestock, and one horrible scene where he and his date show up drunk and mud-smeared in front of the girl he adores. (Not to mention when Tristan got him to use very feminine-smelling bath salts) But don't think that all of these stories are funny or romantic -- quite a few are aggravating or outright sad. James didn't soften the blows at all.

The people around James are just as fantastic: Siegfried, his weird but genial boss who can kick Tristan out of the house and forget about it overnight; Tristan, the mischievous anti-scholar who usually manages to keep out of trouble; and Helen, who seems a little too saintly at times (which isn't surprising, since James married her). There are a lot of details about surgery and stuff like that that will gross out the squeamish, but at least you'll learn a lot of medical trivia. (For example, what is a torsion?)

It's sweet, sad, funny, romantic, dramatic. "All Creatures Great And Small" (and its four sequels) is a fantastic read for all ages.

Stories that never fail to make you laugh and cheer up
These stories are true treasures. While the BBC series is amusing, these stories are far more personal. You get to met Dr. Herriot (a pseudonym for James Alfred Wight) who starts as a young veternarian just out of school and joins a country practice. Cows get the better of him, the local Yorkshire farmers one-up him, he gets his car inevitably stuck in the mud and yet prevails as a caring, resourceful vet who loves his quirkly rural clients as much the animals he cares for. He also writes with such laugh-outloud humor and self-deprecation you just wish the book would go on and on. Fortunately, he wrote four more of these books (each named for a line in a hymn) and a memoir of his father, in whose practice he began. They really give you the flavor of rural life in England before and after WWII.

I can't believe these stories are 30 years old, and Dr. Herriot has passed on. Thankfully he left this legacy behind for us to savor. These are books to re-read on dreary days with a cup of tea or just when you really need something to lift your spirits.

A Timeless Classic
What can one say about a masterpiece. For this is truly what this novel is. This is a timeless classic that will endure for generation after generation.

Follow the true adventures of Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriott and his charming comrades as he traverses the Yorkshire dales in the 1930's attending to the ailing animals that he loved so dearly. You'll feel every mile as he bumps along over the fells and moors. You'll see all the wild beauty of the extraordinary Yorkshire territory of England. But most importantly, you'll feel all the emotions tugging at your heart from the hardened Yorkshire farmers to the humorous and warmhearted denizens of Darrowby. You'll meet the inimitable Seigfried Farnon, James's veterinary partner, whose constant contradictions nevertheless fail to conceal a heart truly without malice of any kind and filled with love and generosity. You'll meet Seigfried's brother, Tristan, with his, shall we say, overly relaxed view of life. There's also Helen, the woman who captures James's heart and the hysterically funny Granville Bennett whose eating and drinking prowess is not to be outdone by anyone. Yes, there are these lively characters and more that pepper the pages of this work of literary genius.

But most of all, this novel will leave you with the warmest and coziest of feelings. From the blazing fires in the drawing rooms to the shivering winter nights spent delivering precious new animal lives, you'll be drawn into this world of delight and joy. Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime to own this enchanting marvel!

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