All Creatures Great and Small

This book was a joy to read. The people are so well described and simple events are always written with wit and candor. Made me feel like I was actually there. I am already looking forward to the next one.

This is my second read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves animals and wants to learn a lot about what a veterinary doctor does.

I love all of James Herriot's books! They're as good as books by Paul Campbell!

I now completely understand why this book is so beloved. James Herriot somehow managed to hit all the right notes in his collection of vignettes. There is the humorous, the bittersweet, the heart-breaking, the nostalgic, the witty, and the fascinating amongst this loosely woven collection of stories. He paints his pictures of the Yorkshire Dales beautifully. He gives his human as well as his animal characters the utmost grace and compassion. Yet, he never once falls into the trap of sappiness. One of the great things about this book is that most of the stories take up just one chapter. So, if you are very busy or plan to be interrupted a great deal, you can pick it up and put it down again easily. I don't know that I've enjoyed a book quite this much in a long time, so I would highly recommend it, most especially to animal lovers and country folks.

Overall this is an enjoyable read, the writing is good, the characters are humorous and the tales in each chapter are interesting. It took me longer to read than it should have, though, because many chapters felt like little stand alone stories, nothing urged me to get to the next chapter to see what happened. I can see why this has been successfully turned into a TV series, the writing falls into “45 minute episodes “ nicely.

Enjoying this book after several seasons on TV. Book is very different from TV show, but good reading. Short chapters complete each animal visit.

Great travel gift for a friends daughter going off to vet school in London.

I bought the 20h Anniversary edition, but most of this review will be directed to the work itself. (I wanted a hard copy that matched the others on my shelf from the 70's... this one fit the bill.) When I was in high school, I was engrossed in James Herriot. The little stand-alone chapters accumulate into a life-story, making it easy to snatch a chapter in a time-cranny. Attune to Herriot's writing muse, I wrote a short story for a writing contest and promptly won. I am still proud of that story. Herriot's real name was Al Wight. (You can read about that in his son's biography of him, which is a fascinating insider's view of how Herriot came to his writing gift.) Herriot is a gracious, gentle, gentle spirit (what I call "the 3 G's"). He is a great corrective to the abusive spirit of the day. He writes of a time when an old way of life was giving way to a new world where plow horses were replaced by tractors, and the veterinary business was shifting from large animals to small animals (pets). While his stories revolve around animal care, the real narrative is his penetrating insights into the lives and hearts of the people of Yorkshire. Time and again he contrasts the small-holders and estate owners. These stories are a delightful and poignant testament to a day that has passed, and yet they remain relevant because human nature does not change. Savor these books... there are only 6 of them. note: Herriot came out of nowhere with this book. I used to use its opening paragraphs in a writing class to illustrate mastery of the elements of writing. Think about that. His first paragraphs in print as good or better than any I had ever read. When you read that first chapter in "All Creatures Great and Small," notice how many senses are drawn in. It is vivid from the very first, and so human.

Dit boek is met liefde en humor geschreven. Het neemt je mee in het leven van een beginnend dierenarts en het boerenleven van voor de 2e wereldoorlog in Yorkshire.

It is simple, humble, straightforward but entertaining, excellent English language, also very British if an Italian like me can say so. Delicoipus read as I titled.

I discovered Herriot's book a few year ago and loved them at first reading. He doen't try to give you a lesson, or to play the wise guy, or to make a stand... he just tells about the ups and downs of a young veterinary surgeon at the begining of the century (the 20th obviously). Funny, tender, witty... Herriots uses a language that is both rich and easy to read. He won't make you want to buy a cow, but he certainly made me want to take a trip to Yorkshire and visit the Dales.

This is one joyous book to pick up whenever one is feeling a bit blue. Open the book at any page, and read on, and you will end up feeling a glow of warmth and goodness spread all over your being. Like everything else James Herriot wrote, this book exudes goodness in every word, every page. I keep my copy where I can see it frequently. Thank you, James!

Lovely. Great flowing, witty style and funny. I should have ordered the series. It rwminds me of Switzerland and Austria where I come from.