Customer Reviews

All Things Wise and Wonderful

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My first experience with the late James Herriot's inspirational books took place in a bookstore in Singapore, in the 80's. I was barely 14 & had not heard of this writer/vet. But as soon as I started reading All Things Wise and Wonderful - my very first JH book, I knew I had to get the rest of the series.
Through his poignant, funny, sensitive and Yorkshire-accented writing, I relived his world as a practising vet. His was a world where decent, civic minded people lived with much love & respect for their pets and farm animals. A world where I wanted/want to be in.
It is true how one book reviewer put it: every chapter will have you either laughing out loud or shedding a quiet tear. To this day, I still remember some of his stories that touched my heart. The courtship years when a young JH was trying to impress Helen (who eventually became his very supportive wife); the timid little black stray cat, who with her last breath, would placed her one surviving kitten into the hands of a caring family; the endearing 'beggar' dog; the bored, pampered & misunderstood pet dog of a wealthy spinster...I could almost touch and see JH's characters through his vivid writing. I even felt his pride when his daughter also became a vet, & his son a doctor.
I am sorry that there were not more of his wonderful tales.

If you want a book that will take you back to the country life and its people with all their foibles and admirable qualities and love animals then his books will be pure enjoyment! I love the way he tells his stories. In his stories, he doesn't ever claim to be the best veterinarian around (I think he underrated himself), but you know he is a wonderful, kind, animal and people loving person. The way he speaks about the people and animals he comes in contact with, come to life and you feel you are right there with him. You will laugh, maybe cry, and cheer him on as you read. If you have animals, or raise them, you will love his books, although you don't have to own any to appreciate them.

James Harriot has that amazing ability to transport you into his world, take you into his confidence, and offer you his friendship.....all through a series of heartwarming stories taken from his life as a Yorkshire vet. It's so refreshing to read books that are not strewn with violence and sex...yet which captivate your attention. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants some good wholesome entertainment and an occasional chuckle.

I have read each of James Herriot's books many times (including this one) and still enjoy them every time I read them! This book is one of my favorite books of the series, and is highly recommended by me. If you have read the other books you will love this one just as much if not more! If you have not read any of the other books, this book would also be a good one to start off with. After reading it I can assure you that you will want to read all the others. NOTE: I also have all five of these books on audio tape (by Christopher Timothy) and would recommend these as well! It is great to listen to them while you do hobbies since you can actually do two things at the same time, and Christopher Timothy (who played James Herriot in the BBC series) really brings the characters to life, using different voices and accents.

The third book in the series and you know exactly what to expect. Yes, folks, it is every bit as entertaining as the first two, and that's probably all you need to know. But I'll go ahead and mention that he spends some time in the RAF during World War II, which we knew he would as the second book ended. I'll also mention that he and Helen have a baby, which you probably expected. One of the great joys of his writing is discovery, so I'd hate to screw that up with a spoiler, but these two tidbits are on the back cover anyway. Oh, and halfway through it, I predicted an ending in advance, and I only had to read 1000 pages by this guy before that happened. It's still great, great stuff, and you know you'll love it.

If you like animals you will enjoy all James Herriot's books. This is one of a series of delightful books. Reading one will make you want to read the next one. I can read them over and over.

I have the complete series of All Creatures Great and Small books now. This was the last one and I loved it as much as I loved the others. He was a fantastic writer and having been born and raised on a farm I can appreciate a lot of what he talks about. I also have his cat and dog stories books and loved them just as much.

To all who love many human beings and also who love animals, James Herriot's books are for you. He writes warmly, compassionately, with humor, and very intelligently about his life in northern England as a veterinarian. In this book, he starts off with his joining the RAF and bits of what he went through in his training. But the actual focus of this book, as the reader comes to see, are that his RAF training and the people he meets during this time, remind him of past veterinary experiences and one is then plunged into his wonderful stories of life with his animal patients and their owners. The book is delightful, written with a serenity not often found these days. His patients don't always get well, but mostly they do, and his intelligence, veterinary knowledge and skill, and particularly his creativity in putting facts together for his diagnoses is astonishing. I have heard people say that the story is too slow-moving. I say to them that they should put away their prejudices and look into this delightful, deeply compassionate and often funny, well-written, sensitive series of true stories.

Herriot's third collection of loosely autobiographical tales of veterinary practice in the Yorkshire dales ostensibly takes place while he is serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II. However, most of the chapters only begin with a paragraph or two about his military life which inevitably reminds him of someone or some animal-related event from his past. This was mildly disconcerting as the connections between the RAF event and the story to follow are sometimes quite a stretch. The tales are still quite entertaining and enjoyable, although it becomes slightly more clear that what is being related is becoming a bit more fictionalized than the incidents contained in the first two books of the series.

I read the Herriot books years and years ago. I learned that my husband had not. So when he needed more "going to sleep" books that could be read in short sections and would let him fall pleasantly to sleep after a few chapters, I ordered all the "Bright and Beautiful, Wise and Wonderful" series for him. After the first bedtime with the first one, he kept it next to him all day, to read just one more chapter when he had a few minutes free. He regales me with some of the tales that I have since forgotten, so I plan to re-read these wonderful snapshots of life, location, people, and animals for myself. They are actually even more refreshing now than when they first delighted me 30 years ago.