It seems like a sweet enough book, but it's just not *grabbing* my attention. I may come back to it some other time, but for now, I'm putting it down. ( )

It probably helped that I watched the BBC show years before I read the book, so I was familiar with the characters and already loved them, but this book was very lighthearted, extremely funny, and had an appropriate amount of animal encounters and appreciation. The animals ranged from water snakes to mantises, although I felt that Gerry had been cruel a few times. However, his observations and specimens from Corfu from the ages of 10-15 were just the beginning. He later became a great naturalist with a conservation trust that survives today. I found that the dialogue was always pleasant to read, with the family’s squabbles being the best. The book certainly doesn’t help my desire to go to Greece. ( )

A fun and funny recounting of the time Gerald Durrell spent some of his childhood in Corfu, and the animal and human behavior he observed and comments on. It's all pretty good, but I would argue that chapters 10, 15 and 16 are the best. The bits when Gerry and his dog Roger are on an adventure are reliably good.
There are a fair number of quirky accessory characters, including Lugaretzia, the housekeeper, who always has an ailment to complain about: "Larry (Gerry's brother) suggested buying her a ball and chain. He pointed out that this would allow us time to escape, for Lugaretzia had developed the habit of creeping up behind one and groaning loudly and unexpectedly in one's ear. Larry started having breakfast in his bedroom after the morning when Lugaretzia took off her shoes in the dining room in order to show us exactly which toes were hurting."
And I was delighted to read Mrs. Kralefsky's (the mother of Gerry's tutor) view of aging: "They say that when you get old, your body slows down. I don't believe it. I have a theory that life slows down for you. Everything becomes languid, as it were, and you can notice so much more when things are in slow motion. The things you see! It is really a delightful adventure!" ( )

Charming memories of the idyllic years that Gerald Durrell spent as a boy in Corfu with his family. Not being an animal enthusiast, I found some of the description of the fauna and flora a bit boring, but when describing the antics of his family, the Greek natives and the chaos that Gerry's animals cause it can be quite amusing. I'm sure the author has taken some licenses with the facts to make them more funny, but that's OK. That time clearly was a lost Golden Age for the author, full of freedom. ( )

This is one of my all-time favorite books and the third time I've read it over a period of years. ( )