Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile [Hardcover]

Verlyn Klinkenborg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0679407286 | ISBN-13: 978-0679407287 | Publication Date: February 7, 2006 | Edition: First Edition, First Printing

Few writers have attempted to explore the natural history of a particular animal by adopting the animal’s own sensibility. But Verlyn Klinkenborg—with his deeply empathetic relation to the world around him—has done just that, and done it brilliantly, in Timothy.

This is the story of a tortoise whose real life was observed by the eighteenth-century English curate Gilbert White, author of The Natural History of Selborne. For thirteen years, Timothy lived in White’s garden—making an occasional appearance in his journals. Now Klinkenborg gives the tortoise an unforgettable voice and powers of observation as keen as those of any bipedal naturalist. The happy result: Timothy regales us with an account of a gracefully paced (no unseemly hurry!) eight-day adventure outside the gate (“How do I escape from that nimble-tongued, fleet-footed race? . . . Walk through the holes in their attention”) and entertains us with shrewd observations about the curious habits and habitations of humanity. “To humans,” Timothy says with doleful understanding, “in and out are matters of life and death. Not to me. Warm earth waits just beneath me. . . . The humans’ own heat keeps them from sensing it.”

Wry and wise, unexpectedly moving, and enchanting at every—careful—turn, Timothy will surprise and delight readers of all ages.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In a gorgeous hybrid of naturalist observation, novelistic invention and philosophical meditation, Klinkenborg, a member of the New York Times editorial board and chronicler of the rural life (Making Hay), views the English countryside through the eyes of a tortoise and gives his human readers rich food for thought. For 13 years, Timothy the tortoise lived amid the bounty of 18th-century curate and amateur naturalist Gilbert White's garden. White, author of A Natural History of Selbourne, had inherited the reptile from his aunt, who had kept her (Timothy was a female, "stolen from the [Mediterranean] ruins I was basking on" and brought to "cold, manicured" England) for thrice as long. Timothy, as Klinkenborg imagines her, is melancholic, wise, resigned; her patient narration reveals extraordinary powers of observation and empathy: "the Hampshire sky staggers me now with loveliness. Creeping fogs in the pastures. Gossamer on the stubbles. The parish rings with light. Whole being of the world distilled into a moment." The only plot is the passage of time, and Timothy's scrutiny of life around her: humans are "great soft tottering beasts" who, blinded by their humanness, believe that "the language of the brute creation is no language at all." This "true story," as Klinkenborg describes it, offers studied, beautiful reflections on the present and memory, earth and weather, love and utility, human and beast. This is a wholly unexpected and astonishing book. (Feb.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Although Timothy technically lives on a shelf in London's Natural History Museum, in Klinkenborg's hands she's alive and kicking in White's garden. On the editorial board of the New York Times and author of "The Rural Life" column and three books, Klinkenborg (through Timothy's voice) turns small observations about nature into powerful ideas about beauty, nature, humanity, and our role in the natural world. In wise, opinionated, and truncated language, Timothy captures the vagaries and hypocrisies of humans while stressing his own, isolated life. Timothy, "a work of both speculative naturalism and speculative biography" (Los Angeles Times), is natural history at its best: thoughtful, meditative, and even magical.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition, First Printing edition (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679407286
• ISBN-13: 978-0679407287
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,186,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reptilian Sense and Sensibility, March 12, 2006

By 

Debra Morse (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile (Hardcover)

What a wry, original, disarming, imaginative, and instructive tale! Author Verlyn Klinkenborg considers the subjective journaling of 18th century English curate Gilbert White regarding a real life tortoise who lived on White's property in Selborne, and from White's biased human observations crafts a rebuttal unlike any other: a bestial philosophic treatise. Timothy is a sentient being who has much to teach us from her example (White in his paternalism erroneously concludes Timothy is male).

Through Timothy's narrative we are shown our own species' arrogance, cruelty, and bumbling tack. "How do I escape from that nimble-tongued, fleet footed race?.... Walk through the holes in their attention". Timothy's discourse on instinct versus reason is worthy of university level discussion. "Tottering, stilt-gaited beasts. A sad plight. Reason too often a will-o'-the-wisp. Instinct a relic within them."

Jane Austen in a carapace. Elegance amongst the asparagus.

As one reviewer notes, this is "one of the best meditations on slowness, patience, and endurance". It will make you re-consider humankinds place in the world. An excellent book club read, it will lead to many long discussions. One can also predict increasing crowds at the reliquary of Timothy's shell at the Natural History Museum in London.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unlikely Narrator, March 19, 2006

By 

Bart King (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile (Hardcover)

I've enthusiastically read Klinkenborg's columns for the New York Times for years, but I entered into this book with some misgivings. Even the title seemed strangely clunky, and after all, how many writers can really pull off a book told from the viewpoint of a tortoise?

My doubts were swiftly (by tortoise standards) allayed. This is certainly the most eloquent meditation on the natural world that I've ever read. (And coming from a lifetime Sierra Club member, that just might mean something.) Klinkenborg is not just an extraordinarily gifted writer. I believe he is an admirable human (and tortoise) as well.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, once you get past the writing style and the irony, April 8, 2006

By 

Soshan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile (Hardcover)

I chose this book for a book group I am in and out of 8 of us, only two really liked it. Nobody actually hated it, but here is what the problems were:

- The writing structure: The book is written from the perspective of the Tortoise and in attempting to offer a unique voice, the author chooses to use a device of fragmented sentences. It's very cumbersome to follow, especially at first. More than one person noted that about 2/3 of the way through, it suddenly got a lot easier and more flowing but we cannot pinpoint why.

- The writing style: The book fades in and out of an omniscient point of view from the Tortoise. Timothy remarks about things that he/she could never know. Timothy seems to know what Gilbert White says in his sermons, yet has never attended a service. Timothy seems to know that the blood rushes to one's head when one hangs upside-down from a tree. For some, Timothy simply knows too much, and it pulls the reader out of the story. Personally, I looked past this and let the story flow. I noticed it, and forgave it.

- The complete and utter irony of the premise: The book is basically a human, writing what he believes a Tortoise thinks, about humanity. There are several points where the book tries to point out how much we really DON'T know about nature or the way a creature thinks or the way this Tortoise thinks, and whenever the point is well-made from the animal's perspective, the reader is left thinking "wow, that's a little bold, considering that a HUMAN wrote this book." Granted, I think the author gives a nod to this irony by stating "Humans are blinded - even the naturalist - by being human. Barely able to witness what is not human." So, if you can look beyond this as a reader, the book will be more enjoyable.

Those were the main issues people had.

Personally, I found the philosophy in the book inspiring. It made me ask questions about humanity, religion and death. I give it 4 stars just for that.

Although do note that again, the writing style is tough to get used to. It was really hard for me to keep going in this book, but eventually it does get easier.