A Visit with an old Friend

I have just re-read a classic – My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. When I finished it this morning I felt a deep pleasure that started in my very middle and rose all the way up to manifest in a huge grin. I felt the satisfaction settle like a cloak over me.  Every bit of it was as good as I remembered. With a few words, Durrell was able to transport me right into his madly, chaotic, eccentric family on the equally mad, chaotic and eccentric island of Corfu. It was like meeting up with an old friend and finding that we could pick up exactly where we left off. Although I think that this time I read it with far more appreciation of the descriptive passages that he is so good at. 

I had an urge to share it with my children although I am not sure how well he will stand up to vampires, dragons and other unearthly creatures. Nevertheless, I cornered them with a few passages I could not resist reading out aloud.

... we…fled from the gloom of the English summer like a flock of migrating swallows ... 
... France rain-washed and sorrowful, Switzerland like a Christmas cake, Italy exuberant, noisy and smelly, were passed…
... the cypress-trees undulated gently in the breeze, as if they were busily painting the sky a still brighter blue for our arrival...

And that’s only in the first 20 pages or so.

I found myself laughing out loud at hilarious descriptions of his family and other characters who passed through his life while they were in Greece. I have stuck little coloured post-its all over the book to go back to ruminate over.  Ah, the simple pleasures in life! 

The 50th Anniversary Edition of My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell is published by Puffin