Where Humans Are Animals and Animals Are Human
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BOOK REVIEW Where Humans are great pleasure of devouring it in a short span of time. My pleasure was significantly en- Animals and Animals are hanced by the fact that I listened to the audio Human version, masterfully narrated by the famous British stage, television, and film actor – Nigel Raghavendra Gadagkar Davenport. My Family and Other Animals is indeed incredibly funny but at the same time, it is really inspiring and educational, deserv- ing to be put into the hands of every 10–15- year old boy and girl, about the age of Gerald Durrell in the book. I have included an image of Gerald Durrell’s The Amateur Naturalist (with his wife Lee Durrell, who of course does not figure in the book under review) alongside an image of My Family and Other Animals so as to contrast in the readers’ minds the protag- onist as well as the author of the book. Gerald Durrell was born in Jamshedpur in In- My Family and Other Animals dia in 1925. His family moved back to Eng- Gerald Malcolm Durrell (1925–1995) land in 1928, and he spent five years on the ffi Pu n Books 2016 Greek island of Corfu between 1933 and 1939, [First Published by in Great Briton along with his three siblings and his wid- by Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956] owed mother. Free from the burden of formal Pages (Paperback): 384 pages schooling, Gerald Durrell ‘ran wild’ and ex- | Price (Paperback): 315 plored the rich natural history of the island in a manner that would have made Darwin proud. In his introduction, Gerald Durrell says: When Tina Jordon, Preview Editor and Columnist at the New York Times Book Review “This is the story of a five-year sojourn that mentioned in the Inside the Book Review pod- I and my family made on the Greek island cast on March 9, 2018, that she was reading of Corfu. It was originally intended to be a the very funny book My Family and Other An- mildly nostalgic account of the natural history imals by Gerald Durrell, I was reminded to my of the island, but I made a grave mistake by in- embarrassment that I had so far not managed troducing my family into the book in the first to read this utterly famous book. few pages. Having got themselves on paper, they then proceeded to establish themselves I promptly made amends and have had the and invite various friends to share the chap- RESONANCE | May 2018 609 BOOK REVIEW ters. It was only with the greatest difficulty, book The Amateur Naturalist – A Practical and by exercising considerable cunning, that I Guide to the Natural World. Nevertheless, my managed to retain a few pages here and there belief needs further testing and I propose one. which I could devote exclusively to animals.” Checking his zoological facts against the lit- erature would make great assignments for stu- The book itself was written when Durrell was dents in a course in animal behavior, with the in his 30s and is hence a recapitulation of highest grade being reserved for the students events past – no mention is made whether it who find errors! Be that as it may, I whole was written from memory or based on a di- heartedly recommend My Family and Other ary. Although he says up front that “... I Animals to one and all between the ages of 10 would like to make a point of stressing that and >100. all the anecdotes about the island and the is- landers are absolutely true”, I got the feeling Gerald Durrell’s skill in anthropomorphizing from time to time that Gerald Durrell was em- his animals, far from being inappropriate, is bellishing his stories and conjuring up more really the high point of the book. Some mem- funny situations than is fair for any one per- orable examples are: son to have had the fortune of experiencing. “A tiny green grasshopper with a long, melan- Wikipedia says that “Although My Family is choly face sat twitching his hind legs ner- presented as autobiographical, [it is] not com- vously. A fragile snail sat on a moss sprig, pletely objective, [and] the events described meditating and waiting for the evening dew. A are not always true”. One product description plump scarlet mite, the size of a match-head, in amazon.com and elsewhere announces that struggled like a tubby huntsman through the “Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Ani- forest of moss.” mals is a charming and comic autobiographi- cal novel.” In any case, I would like to believe “The new arrival [a tortoise] was duly chris- that while Gerald Durrell may have embel- tened Achilles, and turned out to be a most lished his sociology, he did not need to do the intelligent and lovable beast, possessed of a same with his zoology. I think there is some peculiar sense of humour... As well as devel- evidence supporting my fond belief. Some- oping a passion for strawberries, Achilles also where in the middle of the book he tells us that developed a passion for human company... “He [Peter, his tutor] suggested a diary, but Achilles would be convinced that you were I was against this, pointing out that I already lying on the ground simply in order to pro- kept one on nature, in which was recorded ev- vide him with amusement. He would surge erything of interest that happened each day.” down the path and on to the rug with an ex- There is yet another, albeit indirect evidence, pression of bemused good humour on his face. to support my belief – the robustness and ac- He would pause, survey you thoughtfully, and curacy of his zoological facts in his excellent then choose a portion of your anatomy on 610 RESONANCE | May 2018 BOOK REVIEW which to practise mountaineering.” “With March came the spring, and the is- land was flower-filled, scented, and a-flutter “Owing to his unorthodox upbringing, and the with new leaves. The cypress-trees that had fact that he had no parents to teach him the tossed and hissed during the winds of win- facts of life, Quasimodo [a pigeon] became ter now stood straight and sleek against the convinced that he was not a bird at all, and sky, covered with a misty coat of greenish- refused to fly. Instead he walked everywhere. white cones. Waxy yellow crocuses appeared If he wanted to get on to a table, or a chair, he in great clusters, bubbling out among the tree- stood below it, ducking his head and cooing in roots and tumbling down the banks. Under the a rich contralto until someone lifted him up... myrtles, the grape-hyacinths lifted buds like [he] would even try to come for walks with magenta sugar-drops, and the gloom of the us ... should you get too far ahead you would oak-thickets was filled with the dim smoke of hear the most frantic and imploring coos and a thousand blue day-irises. Anemones, deli- turn round to find Quasimodo running desper- cate and easily wind-bruised, lifted ivory flow- ately after you, his tail wagging seductively, ers the petals of which seemed to have been his iridescent chest pouted out with indigna- dipped in wine. Vetch, marigold, asphodel, tion at your cruelty.” and a hundred others flooded the fields and Even more fascinating than his anthropomor- woods. Even the ancient olives, bent and hol- phisms are his (and let me now introduce lowed by a thousand springs, decked them- or perhaps coin a new term) ‘zoomorphisms’ selves in clusters of minute creamy flowers, – attribution of animal characteristics or be- modest and yet decorative, as became their haviours to humans: great age. It was no half-hearted spring, this: the whole island vibrated with it as though a “So we sold the house and fled from the gloom great, ringing chord had been struck. Every- of the English summer, like a flock of migrat- one and everything heard it and responded. It ing swallows.” was apparent in the gleam of flower-petals, “...the person I liked best was the old, shep- the flash of bird wings and the sparkle in herd Yani, a tall, slouching man with a great the dark, liquid eyes of the peasant girls. In hooked nose like an eagle...” the water-filled ditches the frogs that looked newly enamelled snored rapturous chorus in And indeed, the title itself – My Family and the lush weeds. In the village coffee-shops the Other Animals. wine seemed redder and, somehow, more po- Animal lovers have to make a special effort not tent. Blunt, work-calloused fingers plucked at to be merely lost in the zoology and ethology guitar strings with strange gentleness, and rich in My Family and Other Animals but to pause voices rose in lilting, haunting song.” and savour Gerald Durrell’s exquisite prose. Because he was educated mostly at home and Here’s an excellent example: RESONANCE | May 2018 611 BOOK REVIEW by private tutors, Gerald Durrell found it dif- them best sellers. It is difficult to name an- ficult to get proper jobs, but his talents and other more entertaining, educating and inspir- passion were enough to make him a world- ing book than this timeless classic. famous zoologist, conservationist, and writer – he wrote more than 30 books, some of Raghavendra Gadagkar Centre for Ecological Sciences and Centre for Contemporary Studies Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru 560 012, India Email: [email protected] http://ces.iisc.ac.in/hpg/ragh https://www.researchgate.net/profileRaghavendra_Gadagkar 612 RESONANCE | May 2018.