Customer Reviews

Curious Lives: Adventures from the Ferret Chronicles

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Hampton Roads reprint is an anthology of five small books written from the viewpoints of five sets of ferrets. Bringing these creatures' accounts under the roof of one book makes perfect sense here, because this really is one story. Furthermore, even as a sum of five books, Curious Lives is only 371 pages long.
This book is best read aloud at bedtime with your kids, spouse or lover. Its very nature and purpose entices the reader into a magical time zone to cuddle vicariously in the warmth of being cloaked in glistening soft fur.
It is undeniably wholesome; uplifting and inspiring without being sappy or preachy; poetic without being narcissistically grandiloquent. Though the ferret characters are endearing and tender, the author never succumbs to a facile cutesiness in his storytelling. Disney Films, Steven Spielberg and other purveyors of sentimental children's fare stand to learn a lot from Bach's honest, lucid story-telling and genuine wonderment at the deceptively simple things in life.
This particular reviewer had an unusually easy time suspending disbelief in order to embrace these ferrets' curiosity, love of the moment, psychologically realistic musings, and joyful message. This is saying a lot, given this reviewer's customary tone-deafness for other people's fantasy, hard-boiled cynicism toward magical thinking, suspiciousness of stories with a message, and difficulty tracking most visual descriptions.
I'd recommend saving this treat for a "cold and stormy night", accompanied by a soulful basso continuo of distant train song. Envelop yourself and your rapt audience in fur, whiskers and sweet thoughts.

Years ago, when I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I loved it and subsequently read the other books that Richard Bach wrote. It was exciting to me to find Bach's new book, a single volume of all five novels in the Ferret Chronicles, a world populated by admirable ferrets living by their code of ethics "The Courtesies". Some of the mottos that the ferrets live by are, the more ideas you have, the more shall you be given; you give who you are, the money follows - what you do with the money, there's a different test; we find our happiness only when we follow what we most love in all the world.
The chronicles are action packed tales about creativity, heroism, courage, and living a life for all to benefit.

This is a truly sweet and touching collection of stories about love, good conduct, trust, and living fully. One of the main themes is following your "highest right" and basing your actions on this ideal. In short, these stories are excellent entertainment and also provide good food for thought.

I can't speak as eloquently as the reviewers before me, but I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The gentle creatures warm your heart and give you hope for humankind. You will leave this book a better person than you were.

I loved the books as individual units and can't imagine "condensing" them into one volume, but since I can't find them in that format anymore I will be grateful to get what I can. The publisher states that they are not life-changing titles. That shows their mainstream mindset and short-sightedness. Budgeron Ferret is my hero, and one day I hope that I am open to my own rosy-whiskered dawn.

The most underrated of Richard Bach's books. If you think you are a Richard Bach fan, and you haven't read about the Ferret's, buy this book now! All the stories are conveniently and affordably collected together and are worth every minute you invest in reading them.

Brimming with true spiritual treasure, "Curious Lives" is perhaps Bach's finest achievement. These bright beings, with their mannerisms and journeys so cleverly depicted, do exactly what ferrets are good at. They get into places that are supposedly impassible and off-limits. In other words they get past our defense mechanisms, right into our hungry hearts and battered psyches. They are a highly evolved race, these ferrets. Theirs is a civilization without malice, greed or violence. With so much energy and imagination freed up for other things, they live in a world with few permanent limitations. Opportunities for adventure are everywhere: under the sea, in a museum, on planes and boats caught in stormy weather - even on a ranch where young ferrets, called kits, learn the ropes and study the stars. A former Air Force pilot and barnstormer who flies his own planes as often as possible, Bach continues to draw much from his own life in these tales. As a boy, he spent two years living on a ranch in Arizona and maintains enormous respect for the animal kingdom. Bach keeps writing books that show us how beautiful life could be if we only remembered the truth about ourselves. Somehow, he makes it easier to remember and to laugh at our own digressions.

"Ah mortals. They love to forget," says the an inner critic, portrayed as a dragon, in the story of two writer ferrets. The dragon has much more to say, of course, being a harsh critic and all. But what one ferret learns about the true nature of this entity will be deeply moving to anyone who creates with words. The dragon is given a name: Cinnamon. The writer, Budgeron Ferret, does get scorched, but he's never complete toast.

I have been reading Richard Bach books for over 40 years now. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a beacon for me - showing me my mission in this world. In fact, I still read Jonathan every now and then, to remember. I've read all of the books since, and I treasure each one of them - I've bought more copies than I can say, because I keep giving them away to people!

Last weekend, I was in Chicago for an action-packed seminar. My partner wanted to stop in at The Occult Bookstore on Milwaukee Avenue, and out of a store full of books, this book, Curious Lives, caught my eye. Curious Lives by Richard Bach? I never heard of it! How could it be that I didn't hear about this book by one of my absolute favorite authors of all time??? I read the back cover and had to laugh. Richard Bach had said, "If a reader is meant to find my books, she'll find them wherever they're hidden." He was talking to ME!

Out of all of the places I could have found it, it's meaningful that I found it in a small occult bookstore in Chicago, 2000 miles from my home in Scottsdale, AZ, and even more delicious that Occult means "Hidden."

I haven't been able to put it down. This book is a masterpiece! Brilliantly written with impactful, life-changing messages throughout.

When I read Budgeron and Danielle, I fell in love. I remembered The Bridge Across Forever, and One, and I knew that Bach was writing from his own experiences. It made my heart sing! And it also made me realize that my own dreams, my own mission in this world is still as clear to me today as it was then. I have spent over 40 years growing into the person I am meant to me, and stand on the brink of success. To be able to celebrate the successes of the characters in these stories just leads me closer to my own, I know.

Richard Bach, you are my hero. You've been a shining light in my life since I was a teenager, and I salute you, Sir, for the legacy you leave, and I will be adding Curious Lives to the repertoire of Bach books that I lend and give to others so that they can be as delighted and inspired as I have been.

In deep gratitude.

A friend lent this to me because I have five ferrets, and as any ferret owner will tell you, these animals completely change your lives for the better. I expected a book about ferret characters to be pretty lame, but knew I would like it simply because I get to picture adorable ferrets when I read it. Well, I was blown away by the author's amazing story-telling ability. The essence and character behind each ferret is unique but also contains the basic golden rule principle. There is no antihero. There is no ferret antagonist. Without the dramas of a book like Twilight or twists and turns you see in other novels, the author has succeeded in creating an amazing world of happy, well-adjusted ferrets who have big dreams and goals for themselves. On several occasions I teared up reading about things every ferret owner experiences like the Rainbow Bridge, dooking, etc. I loved how "hand" is replaced by "paw" every time. I find myself yearning for additional stories about ferrets who live as humans. Speaking of humans, the only things that pulled me out of the stories are the fact that humans are mentioned (I assumed the ferrets were the dominant species on the planet) and the fact that ferrets are eating vegetables and fruit. As any knowledgeable ferret owner will tell you, they're carnivores. Anyway, it was an awesome book! It deserves way more recognition.

I am still reading Curious Lives, but what I have read so far I love. I have enjoyed Richard Bach Books before. Up until Curious Lives my favorite book was and still is Jonthan Livingston Seagull.